I finally got off my ass to finish the sucker. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working very slowly to finish up the weapons and final touch ups on the kit. There was Thanksgiving, then there was that stupid Assassin’s Creed game, not the new one mind you, the old one that came out several years ago; yeah, I got suckered into it while watching a friend of mine play Assassin’s Creed 2. Regardless, I was able to slip in some work on the kit now and then. The benefit of having long stretches of time between clear coats and paint drying is that it allows for the paints and clear coats to fully cure up. With the weapons completed, the kit is thrown together and pictures are taken.
Painting complete on weapons, followed by a clear coat a few days after all the paint has cured. Decals were placed on a week or so after the clear coat application. Then decals and decal weathering. Also in this set of pictures is some paint chipping on one of the aluminum thruster bells. The thing I hate about working with metal option parts is how difficult it is to have paint stick to the surface. This is even after sanding and priming the part. I may need to switch primers, try Mr Metal Primer or something from the hardware store that may have more bite to it than the primers formulated for styrene.
The weapons are then dry brushed with some enamel silver and flat coated to finish everything up.
With the weapons done and the final touch ups completed, the kit is gathered together for pictures. All in all, I’m fairly satisfied with the final product. When I had finished pulling the masking tape off from the digital cameo painting sessions, I wasn’t entirely sure I was happy with how it turned out. I was contemplating whether or not I should strip it and start anew. I think the weathering processes, clear coats, and decals help tone things down and balance things out. I had a really good time building the weapons and doing the small modifications. I can see the allure of full scratch building things. It’s amazing to see things so randomly strewn together come out to look fairly solid as if it was originally designed in such a manner. Well, enough blabbering, all around full body pictures:
A few close up shots:
More completed pictures can be found here: http://gamerabaenre.com/sniper_custom_complete.htm
The complete build progression can be found here: http://gamerabaenre.com/sniper_custom_prog.htm
looks great!
Dude…that’s pretty awesome. Nice work on the weathering! I like the idea of using a Zaku shoulder armor too, nice touch! The weapons look fantastic too!