1/144 HG Hi-Nu Gundam

A couple of weeks spent on this one on and off. Although I am not entirely happy with the result its still OK. The greys turned out a little too dark for my liking, but the deck tan grey was a nice offset and added a little variety to the model. Panel lining was a little hit-and-miss this time. I am getting better, but a fault in the gloss coat unfortunately resulted in some heavy blotching - especially in the binders. Lessons again learned :)

Some pics: (bizarrely to the side..please tip your head. Thanks blogger!)

End of May update

Just a quick update on what's been going down in the gundamUK world. Having spent the past 4 days away from the normal day-to-day in Norfolk with the wife and the boy I have returned refreshed and ready to get the Hi-ν Gundam (Pronounced "Hi-Nu", the little v is "Nu" in the Greek alphabet in case you were wondering) completed in its customised colouring scheme. 

I have decided quite simply to exchange the blues for a lime green, and the whites for 2 shades of grey. The grey is taking some time as I had to mix it myself, and totally forgot the ratio I did it to so I shall have to purchase some specific shades of Tamiya. The green however turned out smashing. The inner frame will of course be trusty 'ol gun metal, with some grey I think on the weaponry to add a little more interest. 

Tried a slightly different method this time while building the Hi-ν, I snap-fitted the whole kit first (after sanding down the nubs), separated the arms, legs, head and backpack parts and airbrushed over the whole thing with a coat of revell "aqua color" base coat. Clear on application, it actually did a smashing job as I have had no problems applying the Tamiya acrylic on top of it, with no plastic colour showing through after only 1 coat. Reminded me of really thinned down PVA glue as it carries the same vinegary smell. A little thinning with water was all that was required, and one layer was sufficient. 

After the base coating, taking it apart again was almost painless, I snapped one part of the shield along the top with one part flinging off into my cup of tea which was.. shit, but managed to glue it back together and sand it down to a un-noticeable degree thank fork. 

So, one of the green parts so far next to a grey bit, sorry about the poor picture its for illustrative purpose only, not a photographic magnum opus of airbrushed gunpla parts sorry. 

Bit of the shield, and a bit of the backpack under an eerie shadow of doom. 

Looking at another 2 weeks till completion on this one, while i again wait for supplies dammit. Back to gaming for a bit I guess..but not "Gundam: Target in sight" which is one of the most disappointing Gundam games of all time I think.. and no decent Gundam games ever come out in Europe! I shall also be watching some G-Gundam which is terrible but funny at the same time. The character "Chibodee" is a legend with his English-styled curse words (who, oddly enough is the same voice actor as Jaraya AKA Erroi Sennin from Naruto, and a character from Turn-A Gundam i forget his name... anyway..) I only have Victory Gundam to go and I have watched all Gundam anime.. I intend to watch them all again, in chronological order in which they were made. Oh yeah. Back to doing stuff.. thanks for reading :)

Febuary Update

What have I been up to then since completing the Jagd Doga? Well, as I previously mentioned I have now moved away from using Tamiya sprays exclusivly to using them concurrently with an airbrush. With the airbrush (cheapo one off ebay, thought I should not go all out and get an expensive one, especially if working with the airbrush turns out to me be my thing) I have been experimenting with a few techniques such as getting used to how to control the dual-action on the airbrush, learning about pressures, colour mixtures, thinning ratios and generally practising handling it. So far its working out OK with guidance from google and youtube, and am hoping to soon have my first airbrushed model completed.

Talking of models, have made a couple of purchases. First off, and the model I am currently experimenting with using the airbrush is the 1/144 High Grade Buster Gundam. Nope, this one is not a recent seed series rehash from Bandai, its the original one I got in the HLJ sale. Bargain at only £7!

Painting this one all in original-ish colours, hoping for a nice chrome on the barrels of those guns. You can see how its going below (although I recently found out I am supposed to use gloss enamel, not matt. oppsy) This'll probably look more like aluminium rather than chrome when covered in the arclad paint.

 

Also got this nifty no-grade 1/100 Regen duel Gundam, again in the HLJ sale. Was really digging the colouring on this one and fancied making something a little different. 

Also got a good 'ol trusty Hi-Nu Gundam, 1/144 HG. And why not, it looks bad ass. 

In the meantime I have also been working my way through the beats known as the full armour Unicorn MG. All 28 odd runners have now been cut loose, and each an every part has been sanded ready for first assembly which will probably commence today. I still cant get over the tiny miniatures you get with master grades. Check out the tiny Banagher!

Full Armour Unicorn Gundam MG, and a nearly completed cup of tea. 

Ha! Its a weeeee man!

That's about all really. Will be updating again soon with a proper WIP for the full armour and other stuff. I am also working on a new youtube vid for the Buster - although it it turns out no-so-good I wont bother with that and start filming on the next build :) I am hoping also to do a quick tut on using an airbrush - despite the wonderful power of the Internet you can never seem to find all your info on using an airbrush in Gunpla in one place, and simply covering the basics. Perhaps an article on here first.

Oh, and worth mentioning.. You may have noticed I have made up a whole load o f new graphics for this blog. Hope you like. I like green. It is nice.

Later.