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  • Dlinker posted an update in the group Group logo of Gundam Forums Gundam Forums 9 years ago

    KA Update:

    Been busy handpainting the darn thing and I still have a lot left to do. Here’s an arm, which is pretty much done in terms of paint. First time applying metallics by dry-brushing only and I’m loving it. The round part and the sides of the elbow are Natural Steel, bicep is Chainmail Silver. Greens are two-tone, but the pic may not show it.

    • Are the greens handpainted, too? If so, how’d you do that?

      • Yep, greens and purple are handpainted. Priming the parts played a huge role in making it easy to lay down a consistent coat. After that, it’s just thinning the paints a little bit more than 1:1 using distilled water and 90% ISO alcohol (3 parts water, 1 part alcohol).

        Once it’s thinned, I brushed on a wet layer and made sure there wasn’t any heavy pooling. Waited about 15 min to dry, then put on a second coat the same way. Surprisingly, this involved no changes to the brush stroke. I went up and down for all layers.

        • That end result looks great. Was the primer handbrushed as well, or just the usual spray?

          • Thanks, man 🙂

            I’m happy with the results, considering I was fearing it will take me days and lots of frustration to get a good finish. The primer I airbrushed on a rare warm-ish day. Handpainting the stuff is something I never got the hand of.

        • I can sort of tell the shade difference between the greens, in guessing you did not want too much of difference?

          Also that’s awesome you got such a smooth finish with the hand painting,I’m guessing you used Vallejo? Once again glad you recommended those they hand paint so well

          • Yeah, I wanted a warmer contrast between them similar to how the Lugnut toy’s greens are. Some weathering later on should help enhance it just a bit.

            And yeah, man, Vallejo all the way with this. I thought they were amazing before, but this just blows those previous experiences out of the water, haha. Glad to see you enjoy using them too. Gots to keep that brand in business.

            • ace replied 9 years ago

              Thats a beautiful smooth finish

              • What a wonderful color scheme. Bright greens are usually overlooked in Gunpla. And what a smooth finish. If you told me it was sprayed, I would believe you.

                • Thanks for the kind words, guys. Seeing the paint job as it happens makes all the hard work worth it. Sadly, it’s not all perfect. The other forearm has an obvious boo-boo and instead of stripping and starting over, I’m going to try make it look like weathering/damage.

    • You amaze me with your hand painting skills man. That is some impressive work. And the metallics are looking great.

      • Many thanks, good sir. Just doing as much as I can with what I got. It can be frustrating and stressful, but it’s very rewarding. Which reminds me: can’t wait to see what detail work you’ll put your KA. The pretty details on your recent MG Kampfer are still fresh in my head.

    • What brand of paint are you using for the metallics?

      • Vallejo Model Color and Vallejo Game Color. Natural Steel and Chainmail Silver, respectively. I find dry-brushing them to yield a slightly better finish normal wet brushing.

        • yeah I’ve had to dry brush the metallics myself. They don’t go on very well wet!

          • Which is a shame. I still have yet to find an acrylic metallic that can be wet brushed to a good finish. Maybe Citadel stuff is the only option, haha. All of the vids show them looking really good even with wet brushing.

    • wow, blowing my mind man! i am beyond excited to see how your KA turns out

      • You and me both, man. I think the main suit should be done by the weekend, leaving only the weapons left. Since it’s getting slightly warmer, I might just airbrush the basecoat on the weapon binders. Way too big to handpaint with my size 4 brush, haha.

    • Now THAT is some slick hand painting. I always love drybrushing. It’s a cathartic experience for me to bring out the details ever so slightly 😀

      • Thanks, good sir. I think handpainting this thing will be the surprise of the year for me in terms of finished kits. I find dry-brushing to be pretty fulfilling so far, which is strange because it can actually take more work and more time. Mysteries of the hobby, haha.