Alright, we’re heading into the actually interesting parts of this build. This will be my first build where, with two exceptions, everything is hand painted with lacquer paint! Now, we must remember that lacquer paints can be hazardous so throughout this process I worked outside on the balcony with an organic vapour mask strapped to my face. Safety first!
Frame, vents and thrusters.
The main colour – Teal
I began painting the main colour by simply blocking in the majority of the colour. I’m leaving it very uneven with plenty of the black primer showing through. It will give a cool texture to the finished model. Here’s the second layer… … and here is the third. The colour is fairly solid but has plenty of variation and visual interest. Here are the side skirts. The one on the left is after a single coat, the one on the right is after the second coat. Here are the core parts after the final layer.
The Shield – white
I first learned about painting with a sponge when I saw it on the Grimoire Red Beret video by Lincoln Wright (sponging is only available for Patreon subscribers, but here is the link to the free version.) It’s easy, quick, and the weathered effect it creates is perfect for a shield.
It’s important when doing this not to lay down too much paint, so after loading the sponge it’s essential to unload excess paint. How much to unload will depend on how thin the paint is so I recommend you practice this technique on some scrap plastic before working on the actual model.
Here is the shoulder shield after the first layer of sponged on white. And here it is after two layers. Very happy with this.
The Heat Sinks – Silver
I tried hand painting these heat sinks, but it really didn’t look right, so I reverted to airbrushing silver over a black base. It’s important to give each side plenty of drying time or else the blutac will pull up the paint, I recommend 24 hours per side.
The Beam Sabre – Pearl Orange
This was a three step process. First I primed the blades with spray can grey primer. In an ideal world I would use white primer, but I wanted to be quick and I don’t have spray can white. Grey was close enough. Here is the blade after several layers of gloss pearl. Unfortunately the camera doesn’t pick up the pearl effect well so it looks like nothing has changed, but trust me, it’s obvious in person. Finally, a few layers of clear orange. Look at the shine! So far, this is my favourite ‘look’ for bearm effects. Definitely will be doing more of this.
The EYES!! – Fluorescent Red
Here is the eye lense with a layer of fluorescent red lacquer hand painted over gunmetal. It’s too dull for my taste. So I went over it again with a layer of white paint… … and then another layer of fluorescent red. The lesson is clear: if you want the final color to be bright and brilliant, you need the white base coat.
The painted product
So here is the Dijeh once the painting is done. You can see I finished the armour with yellow and grey, which was applied using the same method as the teal armour.
It was quite nerve wracking when I first started the hand painting, but once I got used to it I settled into a real zen state and really enjoyed myself. Combine that with the fact the results look great and I can highly recommend you give it a shot.
Next week is weathering, where I’ll be trying a bunch of different products to add more interest to the model.