Gunpla

Things are slowly coming along. I've been having some trouble painting key orange pieces yellow. I'm probably going to have to prime all of them on my Titans Unicorn. :/

Project N-Unicorn/Nu-nicorn/νnicorn has swung into high gear. At least 80% of the pieces on this kit are getting individual attention. The brunt of the pieces being left alone are of the orange psycho frame. Aside from a few internal frame pieces that never see the light of day the rest are either being painted grey, a shade of silver, or being left alone and dull coated. The shades of grey are just slightly different enough that it breaks up the frame nicely. Though those subtle differences will likely be lost in the end photos.

Since I want to leave the psycho frame alone, every outer armor piece needs to be dull coated individually. Yes, every one. Most of the white one will remain clean, others will get a decal or two, and still others be painted in line with the Nu Gundam colour scheme. Black, red, and yellow. A few bits here and there, such as the shield, are also receiving some light grey internal tones to help break up the white.

And it's finished, my first airbrushed kit in a long time. It looks okay, not terribly fond of it, but overall not a bad testbed. Especially since, aside from construction, there's maybe only a weekend worth of work into this guy.

Discussing paint types is perhaps the most difficult thing I've done on this guide. Frankly, I have a limited experience when it comes to working with different types of paint. When I find something that works for me I tend to stick with it rather than risk messing up a kit or investing in paint I'll never use. While my experiences generally match those of professional modelers I've found that those professional experiences at times conflict with each other. All I can do is offer what I believe to be the best, most useful information for a general builder.

Paint Types

In the hobby world there are typically three different types of paint we use, enamels, acrylic, and lacquer.

Here's a list of my completed projects in more-or-less order from the most recent completion to when I first got back into the hobby in 2007. You'll notice various spurts of improvements and, if you're like me, may cringe at some of my earlier works. Below are all of the projects that I've completed. The number of projects currently straight built or in mid-project state are too numerous to count. For a better list of those check out my Flickr gallery.

Don't forget to check out my overall collect and the kit reviews I've done.

This is an idea I've been tinkering with since 2012. New friends to the hobby often ask questions about what order to perform some steps, or whether or not one is even necessary for their project. To help answer I've created this little flowchart with some of the most basic steps that goes into an average build. Over all I tried to keep it as simple as possible so it's easy to understand and applies to the greater number of builders. It's okay to add or remove steps here and there if it fits your personal style or is necessary for the project you're working on. I've added comments below the chart to highlight some key talking points and related tutorials. Make sure you check them out.

Click to Enlarge | On Flickr

I'd like to present another one of my many works in progress, the AGE-1 Titus "Ground Grunt."

Of my three upcoming MG Unicorn projects this is the second, project N-Unicorn*. It's going to be a standard MG Unicorn, with the MG Banshee yellowish psycho frame, and a Nu Gundam color scheme. Here are a few pictures of the kit pre-paint. Frankly I think the clear yellowish pieces look pretty good with the white armor.

Click to Enlarge | On Flickr

Click to Enlarge | On Flickr

Finally complete, yay!