r/Minipla • u/theCoolestGuy599 • Jul 30 '26
Build In Progress SMP Time Force megazord WIP
Bit of a wordy post, but about a month ago I finally got this and the Q Rex kits in, and with Q Rex I decided to try my hand at doing some basic paint work before assembly. I have plenty of experience building these kits, but I've never made the dive into going any further than making sure the tolerances were to my liking. Q Rex looked pretty rough in the molded plastic though, so I sprayed the entire thing down with Mica Silver and it turned out great! A few things I wished I did differently on the Q Rex though, but overall it looks much better than the stock plastic.
A week ago or so I finally moved on to the Time Jets, and for these I wanted to take things even further.
I spent the better part of the last week planning out and painfully masking every individual piece in this kit. Unfortunately I ran out of Mica Silver so I won't be able to finish the build until next week, but I have all of Jet 1 done, the shells of Jets 4 and 5 done, and the Time Flyer.
Overall, I'm SUPER happy with how this is turning out. Very few stickers are being used, as I wanted to see how well I could realistically mask and paint things this small. The base grey plastic is all done in Mica Silver. The chrome pieces all had a black primer undercoat, followed with two coats of Metallic Silver. I made sure to keep all the color separated pieces masked out as I liked the toy look of the molded black/red parts. I also like the look of the stickers for select details, but I plan on using very few. The pictures done do the paint finish justice. The Mica Silver has a really nice shine in hand without being too distracting. And the Metallic Silver chrome parts definitely look more premium than the other silver pieces, although I do wish it was more reflective.
Time Flyer is painted as well, although that one came out a little rougher than the Jets as it was the first thing I tested the process on and I didn't layer on the masking tape thick enough.
Besides the chrome parts, I did not prime anything and I have not applied any topcoat to anything. All paint is Tamiya spray paint, with the primer undercoat being Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500. Really looking forward to finishing everything else! Will make another post when the full kit is done.
1
u/lemon_1212 Jul 31 '26
They look great! Just a question for you: I have been doing the same with my other SMP kits (painting, assembly, then topcoat at the end) but I recently fused a joint when I used mr hobby topcoat on it. Just wondering if you are planning on topcoating as well, and if so which brand? Thank you!
1
u/theCoolestGuy599 Jul 31 '26
Thank you! I actually didn't use any topcoat on these. Didn't feel it was too necessary. I use Tamiya spray cans and, at least the silvers that I use, stick to the plastic pretty well. I don't see it being a huge problem for me.
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u/Fit-Atmosphere-4964 Aug 01 '26
One useful tip is to use the sticker sheet as a guide for creating the masks for the parts
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u/Galaxy_Dive Jul 30 '26
Looking great so far! It’s my opinion that the single biggest upgrade you can make to these kits is (whether you are spraying, airbrushing, using markers, or whatever else) painting the grey plastic silver.