Sorry for the Delay in Updates.....

I've been battling it out at my work this week, starting my new position and whatnot. I'll update soon!

- Jaa

S Gundam: Oh My! It's Thursday!

Whoops. It's Thursday already. This week slipped by so fast!

Just about done with the shoulders of the S. I've been reading my cameral manual non-stop so hopefully I'll be able to take some actually view-able pictures tonight or tomorrow.

I have to admit, there is a lot of beauty to the inner frame of the S Gundam's shoulders. None of which is seen unless you're willing to disassemble and un-do a few screws. Yes, screws. The S Gundam was produced back when Bandai still included parts that needed screws for a firm connection. Regardless, the final product should be a beauty.

Anyway, I'll post pictures once the shoulders are done.

Until then,

Jaa ~

S Gundam Update

A few updates tonight.:

First, finished the wing stabilizers. I think they turned out pretty good. I used Wave System's decals for the striping on the mounts. I had to mix Light Ghost Grey, Engine Grey and just a drop or two of Flat Black to get the Light Grey of the mounts.

I also finished the inner shoulder armor frames. Unfortunately, I had cancel my plans to do the shoulder armor split. I have a small hack saw which would work, but quite frankly, I just don't want to risk it. I'll make my own modifications, including an idea I had for the INCOM unit in the head.

I like to use a Gold Gundam marker for the detailing. I also use a Chrome Silver Sharpie brand marker. The gold and silver work great for hydraulics.

I also finished the shoulder lift bars. The fin blade stabilizer that sticks out of the shoulder frame is Light Grey like the mount.

Finally, I have to say, I've fallen in love with a new brand of paint. I made it known last post that I use Testors Acrylic paints, but I came across Tamiya Paint this weekend, and picked up a Metallic Grey for various parts on the Gundam. I love it. It looks fantastic, goes on perfectly smooth and still is Acrylic so it washes out with water. I may have to switch over all my paint to Tamiya after this.

More to come this week. I'm hoping on finishing both arms/shoulders in full.

Jaa~

MG S Gundam

Quick update tonight,

Finished the forearms and top stabilizer wings (base). I like the how the red turned out, I ended up mixing International Orange with Guard Red for a nice, deep combat Red.

Had a little trouble detailing the Red outline on the wing. It'll take some more work, I think.

I also finished painting the wing mounts tonight as well.

More to come, I plan on having the wings completely done, including the latch clips and mounts. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Jaa~

MG S Gundam: First Post

Well here we are, this is my first post and the beginning of the S Gundam construction.

To begin every kit I build, I first wash all the sheets with warm water and a little soap or detergent.

Then its on to the primer. Primer comes in 3 main colors: white, grey and black. The darker the primer, the dark your colors will end up when painting. Priming the pieces also serves as a surfacer, filling small holes, and also gives the paint something to cling to.




I usually spray a fine layer from about 6 inches away. Once this dries, construction can begin. Each part requires sanding, as to remove the excess primer, leaving the bare minimum. Clipping the parts with a spur-nipper and sanding down the spur flash needs to be done anyway.








Before Air brushing, I still hand paint a layer first, this creates a much more adhering surface, and gives a much smoother final surface for the final product. Here are two pieces for the forearm of the S Gundam. I normally will build a unit's core fighter (if available) first, however, with the S, I decided to start from the begining, which is the arms.



Here's a close-up of a forearm panel so you can see what the final product will look like. Typically, I will detail in sections. So once all the forearm parts are painted, I put them all together, then add detail lining and decals before moving on.

White tends to be the most difficult color to air brush. However, I use (oddly enough) Testors Acryllic paints, so when air brushing with white, the paint tends to dry almost on contact, which avoids any "pooling" on the parts. I do recommend buying a bottle of acryllic thinner. Many say that water works fine, but in my experience, one small drop of thinner does wonders to avoid any clogging in the air brush (which happens if you let paint sit for a while and it dries within the passage ways).

I stopped here tonight. I really wish this picture was more clear and I'm going to have to figure out my new camera at some point because the close-ups turn out terrible. Anyway, what you see here is one of the back stabilizer wings. In the G Cruiser mode, this surves as main wing of the fighter. The reason I took this picture is to show what trouble can be found in a part that should have two seperate colors, but Bandai molded in one (for cost effective reasons). The edge of the wing should be Red. The wing itself should be white. See the issue? What I will end up doing is, now that the edge has been air brushed, I will use masking tape and cover the red sections, re-sand and paint the rest of the wing with white. Remove the tape and I should have a nice looking duel colored wing.

Stay tuned for more!

Trying something new..

Hey gang,

So I've decided, as I'm becoming more and more excited and obsessive about my MG S Gundam project, that I'm going to, starting tonight, document and post full updates on my progression and progress!

This way, you can see just how I go about painting, and assembling a kit step by step.

I don't plan on having every single moment documented, but once or twice a week show where I am.

Also, any modifications, or steps taken 'out of the norm' will be fully explained so that you don't see a plain piece in one picture, and a completely changed final result with no discription.

So until tonight (and believe me, getting through the rest of this day is going to be a pain!)

Jaa~