Gunpla

I may attempt a diorama paired with Char's Zaku II.

This is my first Zaku build and I hope to develop it into my first diorama.

My initial build is finished. Next I have to explore options for a partial paint job.

I've completed the build, the touch up painting, panel lining, and decals. Even though I applied a clear coat on top, I got a fair bit of cracking from using an enamel panel liner. I switched to Mr Weathering Color and love it.

My first build. I hand painted some parts, like the shield, instead of using color correcting stickers. I used some water slide decals made for the RG version. I panel lined with a grey wash and then weathered it with gunmetal and silver. It has since received "battle damage" from my young nephew.

For my second build I tried to be more careful with my panel lining. This time I did use the color correcting stickers, but also hand painted a few bits to make it more color accurate. I wanted a cleaner look, but I did lightly weather it to reduce the plastic appearance.

This is one of two kits I was given to build as a gift. It also appears in the same series as my first kit. No decals, but I did a little hand painting and weathering.

This second gifted kit started as a fun build. I tried panel lining with a Gundam Marker and just using the provided stickers; the latter was infuriating. This kit is pretty fragile.

This was a fun build and went so much quicker than my first Real Grade. I'm not a wing fan, but this is a cool looking kit and the colors are awesome. The transformation is neat, but stressful with all the small parts.

This inexpensive pick up made for some good practice. I airbrushed the entire kit with a new color scheme and then weathered it, including my first attempt at a chipped look.

I opted to airbrush this little kit instead of use the awful stickers. As simple as the kit is, masking the details was very difficult. I also practiced removing seam-lines and did a fair job removing one from his head.

I rolled with another custom paint scheme for this little Barbatos. I made adjustments, including more hand painting, to navigate the challenges with masking the SD kits. I'm still learning.

I wanted a break from airbrushing and to build something SEED. Working through the stickers, decals, and finer details that I thought needed some paint seemed to take the most time. I also broke the V-Fin twice.

Another great Witch from Mercury kit. The reverse stickers were a bit of a pain to apply. I am irritated that I didn't notice a smudge before top coating, but it was such a fun build that I'd be happy to try again.

I used Mr. Hobby Aqueous paints for the first time on this custom painted SD. I tried hand painting more of the small details than the Barbatos.

I went back to using the airbrush more and only hand painted a couple spots that would be impossible to mask and touch ups. Masking was certainly time consuming, but the results are better.

The Witch from Mercury kits continue to be amazing to put together. I slightly damaged the saber blade, so made a replacement that I airbrushed a more anime accurate blue.

This is my first Master Grade and also my first attempt at shading.

This is one of my favorite builds. I love the engineering and form factor. I wish I had done a better job panel lining, but I may want to build him again.

It took a long time to decide how I wanted to approach the paint job on this kit. I originally landed on trying cell shading with the original paint scheme. However, once I finished laying down the base coat, I was happy with as it was (and dreading the masking and paint mixing), so I stopped there.

I hacked up and rebuilt the Gatling Shield, modified a few other parts, and gave the entire kit a darker paint scheme.

I definitely have a love-hate relationship with this kit. Despite all the intricate part separation, a lot of sections required painting to match the anime. Since color matching and masking was such a challenge, I opted to not do it all. I still love the form, especially when the Psycommu system is not active, and the colors. I might try this kit again with a complete paint job.

The Helios is a combination of several other mobile suits, including some of my favorites. I practiced a new shading technique that I think yielded better results. A light blue base for the white gives it a striking, almost cloud-like appearance.

From the proportions to the construction, this is the nicest RG I've built so far. I love how powerful it looks. I selectively painted parts instead of using the included stickers.

Filling the many SDEX gaps could have gone a lot better. Painting the combination of large, smooth sections and small details was not enjoyable. I just chalked up this rough experience as one of learning and practice.