First Real Paint

Just finished putting on the first layer of real paint. I decided to start with the hands and exo skeleton. I have been using a 2 part paint system for "metal" looking parts. I use Alcad LAcquer paint for all of my metal finishes, the Magnesium being the color I use for most of my frame work for the Gundams. It's a 2 part system, with the first step being a lacquer gloss black and the second part being the metal finish. They also make Aluminum, Chrome, Pearl and Burnt Aluminum as well. I haven't decided yet on an overall paint scheme, so it may wait till after I return from Maine.

Last 2 projects. Finished pics, pics of new kit.

This is the current kit on my work bench, the MG Rick Dias.

These shots are of the MG Wing Gundam ver Ka I finished just before Christmas.

This is the MG MK II Titans.

MG Rick Dias

Haven't published in a while, so I need to post some pics of the MG Rick Dias as I start paint. I have laid down the primer coat using Duplicolor sandable auto primer. It is the most even coat I've used and its sandable with 1000 grit and gives a great base for color. I have done some minor mods to panels adding panel lines and accenting shallow panel lines to emphasize depth. I will post pics of the upcoming gun mods and the color scheme I'm working on.

Painting Tutorial and Pics

So, I have primed all of the kit and have even painted the yellow pieces, but alas, Christmas is here and my wife has put the kaibash on purchasing Gunpla related items until after Christmas because the things I wish to purchase would fit snugly into a stocking, so a friend of mine who is a newbie to Gunpla asked for a painting tutorial. So Nate, here goes.......

First, I received last Christmas an air compressor and an airbrush. It is wonderful. I can save money on paint by mixing my own and wasting less. I can get more effects like pre and post shading and it allows me more control over what gets painted. With that said, I have only painted 2 kits with the airbrush, the last being the RX78-2 ver Ka. The diorama and the Sandrock were both painted with Tamiya spray cans and primer.

First, clean and sand the kits and finish any mods you want to do to your kit. Second, purchase a primer like Tamiya spray primer, Mr. Surfacer 1000 or 1200 by Mr. Hobby, or run down to PepBoys and buy a $5 can of Duplicolor white sandable surface primer.

This is probably 1/3 of the kit still pegged after priming and the yellow pieces painted. Next, how to set up a paint station. First find a couple of pieces of styrofoam.
Next go to the local grocery store and pick up a couple bags of shish kabob sticks.
And some teacher's poster putty.
And in the Wal Mart automotive department, next to the electronics circuit testers, pick up some alligator clips. PICK UP A LOT. There are a lot of pieces to a Gundam kit. So use the teacher's putty on pieces that do not have connector points for the alligator clips to hold on to. Use the alligator clips on everything else. Attach the teacher's putty and the alligator clips to the shish kabob sticks so you can hold onto the stick and not the piece while you paint. When the piece is painted, stick the stick into the styrofoam until the piece is dry. Before you prime, it is a good idea to write the eventual color of the piece on a small piece of tape on the bottom of the stick, because once the pieces are primed, they are all white and identical. This also allows you to work in batches when you are laying paint, all of the red, all of the yellow etc. etc. Now when you are done painting is is important to seal all of the pieces so the paint doesn't chip or fade. Tamiya and Testors both make glossy and flat clear coats and if you are using an airbrush, Future Floor Polish by Pledge is where it is at. You can use it straight into the airbush, no thinning and it goes on glossy, perfect for applying decals. If you want a final flat coat, mix the Future with a little Tamiya flat clear.
So there it is, the painting tutorial. When color starts to go on after Christmas I will update with more in progress pics.

Thruster MODs

So I have been priming away at this kit and I have neared the end. I was ready to prime the thrusters when I decided to try a mod that was inspired by some after market parts I have seen on the internet. There are several websites out there that sell metal replacement thrusters for Gunpla, MechaSkunk and G-Temple being the most popular. But due to price restrictions and the feeling I have about buying replacement parts for a model(I don't consider that modeling, but rather buying), I decided to give it a go and try and improve the look of the thrusters on the backpack. The picture below is of one of the 4 backpack thrusters on this kit. The issue I have is that a thruster would not have an enclosed space in the middle. The propellant should have an exit, so I decided to drill out the middle and replace it with a jewelery crimp I used earlier on the foot/ankle mod.These are the tools I used for the mod, a pinvice drill(right) and a round plastic Tamiya file(left). First I drilled out the small circle and drilled clean through the circle in the middle of the thruster. Then I slowly turned the rounded file into the hole to enlarge the opening and to smooth out the edges. Every so often, I would check the jeweler's crimp against the opening to make sure I had not enlarged the hole too much. I wanted the crimp to just slightly sink into the opening to give the effect of a small nozzle.
Here is the opening after the drilling and the file have been used.
And here is the piece with the jeweler's crimp installed. The crimp will be inserted after painting is complete so the nozzle will appear to be chromed.
And there it is, an inexpensive mod that will save you about $20 in metal thrusters for a $50 kit. Soon, painting will begin and hopefully the updates will be more regular.

Foot/Ankle mods.....

So, this is the anklet cover for the foot. During the build, I noticed that the anklet is made up of 3 parts, the band across the foot, and 2 panels that cover where in human anatomy the ankle bones would be. The panels connect to the band by 2 posts on the band, and one of the posts pushes through the hole on the panel to give the appearance of a bolt. But when you put them together, you get something like the picture below.It leaves a little something to be desired. So, as I thought of a solution, inspiration hit me.

I had picked up these crimp tubes at A.C. Moore, because I thought they might be used on a gun or as a bolt, and to my luck, they would come in handy.
So, the first thing to do is to snip the post on the anklet where the post shows through, but leave 1/16 of an inch so the crimp tube can peek through the hole slightly. Sand the post smooth and then put the 3 pieces together. After they are assembled, using a pair of tweezers, push the crimp tube through the hole in the anklet panel until it stops. Now you have modded the anklet, and improved the look of your model.
The crimp tube can be removed for painting, leaving the "seal" chrome or it can be painted to blend in to the anklet. I think I might leave it chrome, but we'll see when final paint goes on.

Ya gotta have legs......

No pics yet, but the leg sub assemblies have been started. As I was building, more inspiration for mods, panel scribing and some possible mods on the endo skeleton. I'll do all of the mods on the first leg, and then build the second leg to show before and after shots, and then a full tutorial on all of the mods as I do them to the second leg. The endoskeleton on the legs has a fair amount of detail but as I was finishing the prelim build of the first leg, you could see how much of the endo showed so to do the model justice, a little pizazz is in order. Shots coming soon.......

And if you are into genius poets, check out my brother's blog, he is listed as one of the blogs I follow. His pen name is Jak Cardini, and he's the man.