GM Sniper Custom

Charlie and the Disneyland Trip; Slow Sniper Progress, and Mars

Work on the sniper is slow but continues; somewhere in the middle of all this is a trip to Disneyland, and picture of Orion and Mars taken last night while Helen and I were out way past our bed times watching the Leonid meteor shower. The sniper is coming along, but visible progress is very slow as the techniques used in the finishing and weathering processes need time to cure with layers of clear protecting subsequent layers. But the results and ease of which each layer is applied makes the wait all the more worthwhile.

Charlie decided to surprise me for my birthday by showing up without letting me know she was coming. Thanks to Angel, Nicky, Helen, and Brian who all knew of the plan and helped execute it, I got a nice little surprise Thursday night. My normal schedule had me off the following Friday, however, we had a deployment at work and I was needed, and we were working late. So as with most plans, things never go as planned. I haven’t been to Disneyland in years; so it’s nice to see a few subtle changes here and there.

Last night was also the peak of the Leonid meteor shower, so Helen and I trekked up to Anaheim hills near the Weir Canyon park to gaze at the sky. A very clear night, we saw quite a few meteors. I brought the tripod so that I could take some night photos. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to snag any of the meteors streaking across the sky; but I got some nice pictures of Orion and Mars. We didn’t get home until 2:30 AM.

(more…)

Continue ReadingCharlie and the Disneyland Trip; Slow Sniper Progress, and Mars

Sniper Progress: Rifle work, decals, light up saber

Update from the weekend and the past few days. First will be work on the main sniper rifle. I still need to get down and finish up the work on the other weapons. There quite a bit of down time while working on the kit as each layer needs a protective clear coat to sandwich each successive step. The process is fairly tedious, but in the long run, saves rework when mistakes are made or issues of incompatible products cause problems. The process is the following:
Paint cured
– clear gloss is sprayed
– decals
– clear gloss
– panel lines
– clear gloss
– paint chipping
– clear gloss
– filter/fade
– clear flat
– pastel weathering
– final clear flat

Allowing each clear coat to cure over night, the quickest I could complete the kit at this point would be about a week. Down time between curing sessions will allow me to work on the gun and hopefully finish everything some time next week.

(more…)

Continue ReadingSniper Progress: Rifle work, decals, light up saber

Sniper Progress: paint – mask – paint – repeat

The past few days I’ve been at home nursing a cold, so what better way to pass the time then cycles of painting and masking. Before my trip out to VA, Got the base coats of cobalt blue down, and over this I sprayed a clear flat. The flat coast is a test for masking, since the surface of the kit is now slightly rough and not ultra smooth as it would be with a glossy finish, the masking tape should be even less tacky, hence the chance for paint lifting is decreased. This update will mostly cover the work done over the past few days.

(more…)

Continue ReadingSniper Progress: paint – mask – paint – repeat

GM Sniper: Primed

I rarely have time over the weekend to just sit down and build for a day, so work on any kit is usually nonexistent save for a few moments before I crash out. This past weekend was no exception. The updates so far start from last week, and the past few week nights of work. Since i want the kit finished as soon as possible, I skipped out on the purple power soak and opted for a paper towel and some Mr Color Thinner and wiped all the parts. I plan on doing some extensive masking so hopefully the thinner wipe is enough to degrease the parts.

On skewers and ready for primer, all the parts were primed, and left to cure for a day. Hopefully I won’t get any paint lifts when get into painting and masking. I’ll probably take some masking tape and do some cursory tests.

(more…)

Continue ReadingGM Sniper: Primed
Older Posts