This is the final work in progress post of my Gouf Custom project. Since priming my kit 2 months ago (WIP#3), I've finally finished painting. I used several different types of paints applied by hand and by airbrush.
I started with the inner frame and airbushed Mr. Color Burnt Iron (#61) on most parts, followed by some Mr. Color Copper (#10) as details. Silver was added by Gundam marker since I had no enamels at the time. For some parts such as the gun barrel and backpack thrusters, I wanted a chrome finish. So I airbrushed Alclad II gloss black followed by Alclad chrome. I then sprayed Alclad clear indigo to make it look like heat stains on these chrome parts. I then sealed the inner frame with Mr. Super Clear Gloss and gave it a wash of Mr. Weathering Color Black.
On to the base coat for the armour pieces. I used different ratios of the following Mr. Color paints: Midnight Blue (#71), Neutral Gray (#13), Cobalt Blue (#80) and Sky Blue (#34). The exact ratios are unclear since I kept tweaking it until I got the colours I liked. I wanted a darker, muted tone and 2 or more different shades of the base colour on each armour piece. This required a ton of masking which was particularly hellish with the round shapes on the shoulders. I then hand-painted small surface details with Model Master enamel paints (Green Zinc Chromate and Neutral Gray).
Next I sealed the base coat and enamel details using Pledge floor care finish. The smooth surface also made it easy to apply waterslide decals. I applied Gundam Decals for the Gouf 2.0 kit, then sealed the decals with a second coat of Pledge. I then did some edge chipping with enamels and panel lined the pieces using Mr. Weathering Color Black.
Next I did some preliminary weathering using real touch markers. I tried to do some streaking in some of the vent holes. The use of these markers took some practice, as they do dry fairly quickly so it needed to be wiped off right after application to avoid pooling. The brown stains are a bit too subtle to pick up with my phone camera. I'm not totally sure that this was the right stage to apply these markers.
I sealed the paint job with a topcoat of Tamiya TS-80 matte. I was very pleased with the final colour. It was dark and muted just as I wanted.
I then reassembled the chrome parts such as the custom piping for the legs. The parts are looking quite nice.
The worst of it was adding the waist piping. I got flashbacks of cleaning these pipe pieces 1 by 1 months ago. I also had to keep the head, backpack and waist inner frame intact due to the way the LEDs are wired. This made manipulating the skirt armour while assembling the piping more of a challenge. Fortunately though, the torso came together just fine.
Finally, I tested for LED functionality. Still works!
I still have a few more things to do to complete the kit, including:
- Add metal detail parts with superglue
- Additional weather using Tamiya weathering pigments.
- Hand-paint the 1/100 scale pilot figures
Full photoshoot and the completed build post are coming soon, along with my thoughts about this project. Stay tuned!
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