HGUC Zaku Sniper

July 27, 2015 at 01:11 | Posted in 1/144 scale | 6 Comments
Tags: HGUC Zaku Sniper, kitbash, sniper rifle, weathering, Zeon Remnant Project

Introduction:

I’ve had this kit for a while now but never got to building it. I didn’t like the proportions of the original kit so I knew had to modify it; I just couldn’t decide how. My initial plan was just to transplant the backpack & sniper rifle to a RG Zaku kit that has better proportions & articulation. But I changed my mind when I found spare parts from more recent HGUC Zaku kits. Instead of going crazy with detailing, I decided to go for a simple look but with my own customizations.

Materials & methods:

The work in progress page can be found here. Some last minute changes: I bought the backpack of the Zaku Sniper (Unicorn version) which had two additional black cylinders at the sides. I used that instead of the original backpack.

In addition to the above modifications, there were a lot of seam lines that needed fixing. The most problematic parts were the lower legs. I had to paint the knee joints first, mask them, and then glue the lower leg parts together. After all that, the parts were primed and painted as follows:

• Joints: German gray
• Body: Khaki + some drops of Off-white
• Limbs: ~40% brown + ~55% Off-white + a few drops of orange-yellow & smoke grey
• Backpack: Olive drab + Off-white
• Weapons: Combination of Wooden Deck Tan, Yellow-Brown & German grey

After the paint has dried, I applied some decals and sprayed a layer of gloss topcoat. Then comes some weathering via enamel wash and some dry brushing. Finally it’s the flat topcoat layer.

Results:

Discussion:

Considering that the Zaku Sniper is one of my favorite Zeon mobile suits, I knew I had to give the old HGUC kit a makeover. By combining bits from recent HGUC kits, I think it now looks much better than the original kit. Although I’m quite happy with the outcome, I noticed some hairline cracks after I made final assembly. Most notable ones are on the left forearm and left shoulder. I’m not sure what caused it, but it’s too late to fix it without starting over.

Now that this one’s done, there’s 4 more kits left for the Zeon Remnants Project. I saved the most difficult ones for last; hopefully I can remain motivated enough to complete all of them. In case you’re wondering, the last few pictures included the 1/12 scale Little Armory SCAR-H rifle. I’ll make a proper post about it once I have some free time.