RX-178 Gundam MK-II FINISHED!

I am really happy with the sumi ire/washing which turned out quite good. The weapons (Beam rifle & Bazooka) still have to be painted, but I'll leave that for another time.

For my next kits i ordered a bunch CCA HGUC kits (Quess and Gyunei Jagd Dogas and a Nu Gundam). The Re-GZ and Sazabi will follow once the Sazabi is released.

Gundam MK-II Progress

So I made so pretty good progress with the MK-II. All left to do is painting the white armor and sumi-ire & decals. Looks pretty good imo :)

MK-II Inner Frame

Painted the inner frame now with a mix between Tamiya Gun Metal, Royal Blue and White. While the 2.0 frame is nice and all, they have a shitload of parts to paint.


I'm not too convinced with the golden parts, will probably change them back to yellow later.

MK-II progress

So I started working on the MK-II again. Bought some german brand primer (Graupner Haft-Grund) which costs about 1/4th of the Tamiya one, but the color pigments and finish are a bit too rough :/
For the next batch of parts I'll maybe try to extract the color from the can and spray it with the airbrush.

MK-II Snapfit

I snapfitted the Mk-II now. It has excellent detail, poseability and still was relatively easy and straightforward to build. As I am a bit short on time at the moment, painting will probably have to wait till next month.
Oh, and i updated the videos with a bunch of new episodes.

RX-178 Gundam MK-II Launch

Got the kit now. A RX-178 Gundam MK-II in A.E.U.G. colors. It's the 2.0 version of the MG kit. Will start building it this week.

Hyaku-Shiki done for real

I repainted the red parts now, (actually twice as i wasn't happy with the first red which was too bright). I'll make some more pics when the light is better.

Hyaku-Shiki finished.

well, more or less finished.


I plan on repainting the red parts, as the Clear Red is sticking really shitty to the Chrome Silver.
Also the guns aren't painted yet. Otherwise I am quite satisfied. :)

I updated the plamo tutorial videos as well with two new videos from season 2 of puramo tsukurou. (a German tank and a Ford GT40)

Hyaku-Shiki inner frame & more

Finished the inner frame with a mix of Gun Metal and Black. Also the metallic red parts, which i painted with Clear Red mixed with a bit of Red and Brown over Chrome Silver (all Tamiya acryl colors) to get a dark red metallic effect. Can't say the color is sticking too well to the chrome silver. Also painted the main body armor and the 'backpack' in Black mixed with Royal Blue.

I also started with the gold armor parts, gave them a black base coat and sprayed Alclad2 Gold color on them. It's important to spray it in THIN layers I found out.... and the surface you apply it to has to be smooth and clean, you will see everything afterwards. But the gold sure does look good.

Hyaku-Shiki Hasshin!!

I started building the Hyakushiki. As with the Qubeley I did a snapfit first, without paint or glue.
The yellow plastic parts feel a bit brittle compared to the other parts and the Qubeley plastic, but I didn't really have any problems. The kit felt a bit easier to build than the Qubeley and painting should be easier too. My plan for coloring is Gold (got Alclad 2 gold, which according to the internet ist the best gold paint ever graced the earth) for the golden armor, Gray/Gun Metal for the internal parts and flat Black for the torso (and not dark blue). The red parts I'll paint metallic red.


Oh and I ditched the Ballute System, no need for that.

Qubeley

*Update: made some new pics*




*endupdate*

I repainted the gray parts in a darker gray. Looks better now, and I got an Action Base 1 for it.

AMX-004 Qubeley finished!

Yesterday I did some weathering and sumire (panel line coloring) on the parts. The panel lines I painted with a wash of brown email color. The weathering on some parts I did with the dry brush technique with brown email color. Next I dry brushed the internal mechanic parts with silver email color.


Today I added a few decals, clear coated everything with Future mixed with Tamiya Acryl Flat Base for a flat finish and built the Qubeley again.
Here it is:

I will make some more pictures tomorrow when the light is better.

Oh and today my Hyakushiki (+ ballute system) arrived!

The gray Qubeley parts

Airbrushed all the gray parts today. (except the jointed hands, how the hell am i supposed to paint those !?) The gray, I call it sand-gray, turned out really well. For the gray I mixed White, Brown and a bit Black together. I didn't prime the parts before painting, didn't see the point when painting gray.

Color mixing is difficult

I painted some more parts today. As I plan to alternate the color scheme a little bit, I painted the blue parts black and the purple parts in a grayish gun metal blue green with a hint of purple. The color didn't really turn out the way I intended to, but it doesn't look bad. I mixed Royal Blue, Gun Metal, some Purple, a bit Black and a bit White (all Tamiya acryls). It turned out like a dark blue/gray with a bit metallic effect.
Up next are the gray and the pink parts and I'm done with the main coloring.
After that i will do some sumire in a light brownish color and I plan some subtle weathering.
... We'll see how that turns out.

Painting & shading all the white parts.

My second package hangs at the customs, but i managed to fill the dent with glue and lots of sanding. I painted all the white parts with white and a HINT of brown. Did about two coats of that. Then I put some shading on a few parts. At the 'vents' on the wings for example. Last I painted it again, but with pure white, mainly in the center of the parts, for highlight.
Then i added a glossy clear coat of Future for adding some decals later on. The final finish will be matte.
All this stuff i read on forums and tutorials. This video of a professional builder building a Qubeley was helpful too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFixV8jwDLA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D64BCJkiKs

Qubeley head modification, priming

I glued the two head parts together and cut out a little bridge so i can fit in the 'eyes' after painting it. This should give me less hassle than masking the eyes and removes a quite visible seam between the two head parts. Sanding away the excessive glue made the seam smooth, but i found another small dent at the front of the head, so i still need my putty :(




Next i primed the white parts with white Tamiya primer. My priming technique sucks! Used up almost the whole can (large) for only the white parts. I think i have to buy another can for the rest of the parts, plus i also need primer for the Hyaku.



Other news is that i got notice from my local customs office, they are holding my package with the Hyaku Shiki and the Putty and want me to show them some bills and stuff.

Qubeley sanding, and some tools

Sanded the white parts with P1000 wet-sanding paper today. All except the head unit as i am still waiting for my second parcel to arrive which contains the Hyaku Shiki and some Tamiya Putty which I need to close some seams in the head unit.



Here's a pic of my airbrush, colors and the German version of Future.