MG Gundam Epyon "The Hydra" WIP Part 10

For this 2 week,i was planning to finish everything and get all the remaining parts set for painting.It was very rush,but i was able to finish most of the parts and prime them.So i will be able to start painting them next week.I also found the waterslides for this,which i have been looking for a long time.This is great news because if i wasn't able to find this,i will have to stop work after painting and wait for samual decal or bandai to come out with it.

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I know you guys are eager to know what i have added to the NG Nataku's claw.So lets start off with the beam cannon that i got from some zoids parts.The inner part of the claw was very empty,since there isn't a frame so i wanted to put something in it.I don't really have the time nor the skills to build a frame so i thought of adding a cannon.I attached 2 joints to the cannon,1 for it to be attached to the head and the other is for the neck(Epyon's whip) to attach to it.

Next,i have 2 scratched build thrusters/vents that i placed on the back of the head.I couldn't find suitable thrusters from my collection of gundam parts,so i have to try scratch building them.Luckily it turned out ok,i was worried because i don't have much confidence in my scratch building skills.

Thrusters still need some more work.

I also noticed that the head have a lot of crave areas which i don't really like,so i sanded them flat and give them some edges.I can't really explained why i don't like them but it just look "toyish"to me,but this is just my own personal opinion.I also went to sharpened the claw to make them look more menacing.

I really like the whip parts but it's a challenge to fix them.I have to find a way to separate the "round things" on the sides,so that i can have them painted different colors.I know i can mask them,but round parts are hard to mask.If the sides are even,i can still use blue tack to cover them for painting but its uneven.Luckily,i found an article showing how to do this and that is to cut them out before cementing and put them back after painting.

Nothing much to talk about the wing,its always the same process of puttying and sanding.However,i'm very happy and excited to finally have it ready for painting.

I think i have covered all the stuff i did over the past 2 week.I still need to do some detailing to the head,so i will probably have a short update when that is done next week.I hope you guys liked the overall look of the backpack and thank you for reading.Cheers!

MG Kampfer(Completed)

I have finally finished the MG Kampfer for the "Universal Century vs Alternate Universe" group build on Gundam Eclipse forum and i'm so glad that i managed to finish it before the dateline.MG Kampfer is an awesome kit,the design looks cool and it has tons of weapons.My only problem was its frame,since it uses an older frame design some of the joints weren't very strong which make posing it a challenge. My original concept for this model is to make it into a machine that have gone through many battles,however i wasn't able to completely stick to that idea.

I've made 2 mistakes during the work process,the first mistake lies with the damages i've added.It wasn't enough nor sever enough to give the impression of a war machine.Aside from adding more big slash marks,burn holes and bullet holes,i also should have added some cast iron effect on the kit.

Secondly,i've overlooked the importance of "washing" during the weathering process.The washing technique is very crucial if you want a nice weathered kit,because if done correctly it helps to show the age of the machine,by introducing rust and other weather elements to the kit,just like a real old machine would have.I skipped this step because to prepare for the washing process,another clear coat must be added after panel lining to seal the panel lines.However,the weather was bad and i couldn't spray that layer of clear coat in time.I thought i can achieve the same effect by using pastel but i was wrong,it was really a shame.

Although i wished that i could have avoided these mistakes,i am still very proud of this.Everytime i finish a kit,i always get this "wow" feeling,i'm sure some or all of you will understand this.Maybe its because of the effort i've put into the kits or maybe its just how different the kit look after it has been painted.I hope you guys like this kit as much as i do and i can't wait to get back to my Epyon gundam.Cheers:)

How to do pre-shading and highlight on your gundam

Before applying any color paint be sure to spray a coat of primer(i use mr hobby 1000 grey primer),this will help the paint to stick better to the surface and also reduce the risk of "flooding"(too much paint at one area causing thick and ugly paint marks).(Primer also help to find faults on your model)

Base paint-This will be the first layer of color paint and it's usually a darker tone of the final color.For example,if you want to paint light green on your model,your base color would be dark green.

For this piece here,I used dark grey as base because I will spray dark blue next.

Shading-How well you shade,comes with practice.The more you practice,the better the result.Shading is basically leaving a darker color tone on the edges.Make sure that the top color is vivid.(For example,when spraying white,there will be a lot of instances when the white is a little grayish. Thats because the white coat is not thick enough or the base coat was too dark causing the white parts to look like very light grey parts.)

Blending-This is an important step to blend the darker parts with the original color,and to do so,we need to thin the main color more by adding thinner.Spray it at a distance,and see the base color getting closer to the main color but still remaining its darker tone.

Highlighting-Add white paint to lighten the color tone more.Lightly spray this at the center of the pieces,do not go too close to the edges or it would erase the effect of the previous shading.