"Today, we take the battle to THEM."
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:51 pmHey guys!! This is the OP model kit from the the Japanese Dark of the Moon line. I loved the kit out of the box, as I like gundam models, and this is pretty much the best representation of Movie OP there is.. Seeing how it doesn't transform it's not restricted by any parts placement issues, not that the leader prime has many to begin with, lol. So, I started off by actually building the kit (SO TIME CONSUMING!!!). I wanted to see if I actually wanted to paint it, or simply add some touch-ups to it. I really could have gotten away with just the touch-ups, but I decided to paint it anyway. I wanted the blue to have the metallic paint on it, and the yellow to red fade to be more subtle than what's on the kit. The blue is Tamiya's blue covered with their racing blue metallic over it. The red on the fenders and upper body is testors emamel guards red, and the fade is turn signal amber enamel also from testors. All solid steel and gold colored parts are the testors metalizers steel and brass. The thigh armor is the metalizer's magnesium, just not buffed down, which gives it more of a dark steel, which I really liked a lot. Finally, the entire inner fram of the kit was sprayed with Games Workshop's Gunbolt Metal. Once everything was base coated, I went into details and such. not the easiest of kits to detail.. Especially the chipping.. I think I may have spent about 3 hours per limb and torso (I'm new to the method I went with, so it was a learning process for me as well.). the drum brakes on the ankles and a couple details on the waist area were painted in a black green color, and the little armor pieces that come off of the inner leg around the ankle is a mix of red and orange (came out pretty good if I do say so myself). The knuckles and some inner frame details were painted in a copper/gold enamel mix (which came out more copper than I wanted..). I"m still debating if I should black wash this guy or not, so if you have suggestions on that then feel free to comment on that. Anyway, I know i didn't take any picture of him with his face plate panel, but I didn't feel like taking his head apart to swap them out . I was outside taking the pics, and I didn't want to lose either face plate. But The battle mask face is painted as well. OH! THE FACES!! Almost forgot about those beady little eyes of his.. creepy, VERY CREEPY!!! BUT!! I removed the clear pieces from the face plates, painted the pupils white, and the "sockets" in flat sky blue. Came out pretty good I think. And lastly are the blades... ugh, first time I've done anything like it, what with, fades, and low pressures in the airbrush, and... yea, small scale is not fun to paint fast drying paints with.. Anyway, all shades on the blades (HA! That rhymed.) are custom mixed, and I couldn't even tell you with what ratios. I know There's orange/red at it's darkest, and the lightest on the edges are a yellow/white, white/yellow, something of that nature, lol. Edges were then dry brushed withe semi-gloss white. Anyway, I'm hoping that's enough of my ramblings for the time being. ONTO PICTURES!
just hope he goes to a good home..