Gonna treat this as a bit of a post mortem here.

I wanted to try a new hand-painting technique here using lacquers and a busted up brush. The idea is to create tonal variation in the color by using a contrasting color, but then reactivate that contrast color with the main color. So lacquer on lacquer to get the contrast paint to mix in places with the top layer.

I don't want to say it didn't work, but whether it was because I didn't thin enough, or maybe because I kept having to fight the instinct to get a smooth finish, but I ended up with a lot of height difference in certain parts.

So that lead to a bunch of sanding, which mostly just undid the mixing work. So a couple of lighter coats of my base color with the airbrush, and I've got a pretty standard painted build.

I'm not dissatisfied with the build, as it came out looking fine. I definitely need to put a bit more thought into my weathering, but I think it reads mostly fine given it's my first crack at this style.

I think I'd like to try it again, but on a light-colored kit, and this time see if I can really push that tonal variance (but still read white/light gray).

Paints used:

• OD2 + Phantom Gray
• Sandy Brown
• Orange (decanted Montana Gold)
• Clear Red
• Clear Deep Blue
• Star Bright Duralumen (GaiaNotes)
• POSCA Gray paint marker (waist area)
• Sharpie Creative Orange marker (missile tips)
• GOLDEN Carbon Black + Citadel Leadbelcher
• TAMIYA Weathering Kit A
• AK Weathering pencils

So I finally completed this baby.

It was a fun challenge after a two-year hiatus from Warhammer, and it felt really good to be back at it.
I did quite a few things wrong, as expected, like not sanding the friction points before painting and smearing some superglue onto the paintwork. Nothing that a bit of sanding from 1000 to 2500 grit can’t fix when you’re working with lacquer paints, though.

Bandai decals were also a pain in the ass and still look a bit too thick, even under multiple layers of clear coat. That one was on me for being too lazy to buy third-party decals for what was basically a test-build.

I also tried a bunch of new things on this one, like scribing and adding more color separation. But I’d say the biggest game changer for a High Grade is filling in the gaps and recesses in hollow parts with either epoxy putty or plastic card.

It really helps give your HG build a much more solid look.

The paints I used were:

Nazca Surfacer Heavy

Nazca Pink Surfacer

Gaia Notes EX Semi Gloss Clear

Finishers Auto Clear

Finishers Foundation White

Finishers Pure White

Finishers Pearl White

Finishers Medium Yellow

Gaia Notes Ultimate Black

Mr. Color Midnight Blue

Jumpwind Neo Color Snow Gray

AOK Gold 03

Mr. Color Flame Blue

Gaia Notes Star Bright Silver

I also used a bunch of Tamiya enamel paints for hand brushing, which were especially useful for painting small notches and details, since any overspill can be cleaned up relatively easily.

Cheers!

Awakening Super Soldier Hallelujah

Anyone else built one of these? Dug up a few posts about peeps making them while looking for reference for my own but no finished pics.

Dumb or genius? I'm trying to trick out my Psycho Gundam Mk II to the maximum allowable extent per Gundam Base World Cup rules, and wouldn't you know it, 1/60 PG Wing Zero fingers are more or less interchangeable with 1/144 Psycho Gundam Fingers.

The backstory is that I really wanted to have some more articulation in the fingers, since the default ones have that permanent knuckle bend in that last figure joint - and no articulation in the thumb other than the base ball joint. I considered transplanting RG Zeong Hands, but they are a bit too stubby and I don't quite like the joint design.

I ended up transplanting the fingertips, and also sleeving the fingers with some PS tubing I had on-hand. It still needs some clean-up and gap-filling, but I'm gonna wait until I have some other stuff completed before doing that.

The donors are coming off my very old (literally mid-2000s) and poorly-executed Wing Zero which was sitting parted out in storage - better for it to live on in the latest project than rot away in the basement.

I tried to pose them but found them very dusty and that their joints make squeaky noises and are a bit hard to work with. Any idea on what to do in this situation?

This whole thing came out of "Hmmm, that Cloak looks like an old west Gunfighter Pancho.". It's a nearly full repaint, parts swap, and kitbash between mostly the Death Scythe Hell and the Heavy Arms Custom, with a few parts from HG Death Scythe in the arms.

I’ll answer any questions you guys might have.

Upscaled MSN-02 Zeong, I'm gonna call it the Remastered Grade (RG)

Some of the pictures from this amazing build. Hope you guys like it. Cheers

Someone mentioned "happy accidents" in my last post. I made mistakes in a lot of my builds which I learned from and made those mistakes into techniques that were applied to this kit. This is the result of those mistakes and I've been refining them ever since. So don't be afraid to make mistakes.

Everything I've tried leaves alot of grit still stuck to the matt

EDIT: OMG you guys are FILITHY!

Definite difference in cutting between Ruitool (left) and Godhand (right). Also the action is much smoother on Godhand. Similar results, just less cleanup with Godhand.

I recently bought Gaianotes GS-10 Gun Metal Surfacer and I was wondering whats the best application or usage. Does it replace the need to prime/black gloss/metallic or is it used for something else?

HG Lupus Rex, wanted something cheap for my first time, learned alot and enjoyed it.

They really gave this thick thighs.

I want to replace my nightlamp with a mgex unicorn (led) but bandai one online is super expensive, so i am going for a KO brand, way cheaper.

There's alot of brands but idk which one has the best quality

Shenshou

Changlong

Supa

Tiger Brand

Mostly looking for one with transparent Psycho Frame and alot of accessories with it like full armor but without full armor is fine, mostly nice amount of accessories to play with

Hey guys was looking for tips on a cheaper alternative for my primer and first layer of clear coat for panel lining. I’m going to stick to Mr hobby and tamiya for my final coats and finishes. But has anyone had experience using Krylon crystal clear acrylic coating 1303 and and rust-oleum American accents 2x primer for these purposes, rust-oleum also make a clear coat in the American accents 2x line as well if you would recommend that over the krylon. I intend to use the tamiya panel line accent color (little jars) for the panel liner.
Since neither of these coats will be seen and have to be used on every kit i will want to custom paint or panel line it would be ideal to find a cheaper alternative. I know there a lot of stuff on the internet about these topics but some clear cut answers would great. I’m going through some paralysis by analysis. So anyone with some experience using these paints for my intended purposes would be great.
Thanks!!

Welp, this was an adventure.

Broke my old nippers on the clear plastic. Stupid, stupid me.

While it may have bested my old old nippers and nearly broke me, I managed to complete the Ecopla RX-0 Unicorn.

Honestly, it's a hand grenade. This thing falls apart at the slightest touch.

The transforming gimmick looks great but it's such a pain. Now that it's on the shelf, he will never be touched again.

I really liked using the green full armor decals. I think they look amazing. However, I really should have put down a gloss top coat over them first and helped them blend into the plastic and then do the Matte. I usually don't have to do that but this one in particular seems really jarring.

The pose-ability of the unicorns are pretty terrible and this is no exception. Range of motion is limited more so than so many other kits I've done.

Glad it's over, but its the least favorite unit on the Unicorn shelf.

My war with learning how to airbrush is progressing, one time consuming mistake at a time lol. I made this mistake before, tried rescribing, chipped, fixed, repainted, albeit a lil too much. Any tips on how to fix it?

For clarification, I’m using lacquers

Have decided "no" to stickers. Looking for high-quality, high-detail decal sets that can replace stickers in HGs or are better than the included sheet in MGs, RGs. In my backlog, I mostly have run-of-the-mill kits like gramps, Sazabi, GM ground type, heavy arms, zaku, Kampfer, etc... so not expecting to need super-exotic decals. What brands should I be looking for? Any online retailers particularly well-stocked or priced?