We interrupt this build for a COMPETITION!
Hells yeah! I’ve been wanting to do something to really test where my Gunpla skills are so the sudden announcement of TAGCC’s 2018 model making competition really got me.
Irritatingly though, the competition was announced on the 1st of March and the submission on the 21st March. <_< 20 days to put together a good kit is much faster than my usual schedule; but to put a positive spin on it, this should be a good challenge.
Given the short time given I’m using a kit that I have already assembled, is simple, and that I don’t have a diorama planned for: the MG Duel Gundam Assault Shroud.
Mike Rinaldi – applying realistic military modelling techniques to Gundam
I’ve got a relatively simple kit and a short amount of time, so I can’t do anything too fancy. Definitely I’ll be doing a custom paint scheme, but I want to try something new. I bought Mike Rinaldi’s SM.03 modelling guide, where he applies his military style model making skills to the MG Sazabi ver Ka.
Yeah, a nice easy introduction to Gunpla there Mike, to quote that guy on Black Adder Goes Forth: ‘I have to admire your balls.’
He applies two main techniques: (1) hair spray chipping, &, (2) Oil Paint Rendering, which he has written extensively on these two techniques in online articles and his book series’ Tank Arts and SM, linked here.
I’ll be trying to replicate this.
Colour Scheme
I wanted a colour scheme very different to the blue, white, light blue of the OOB Duel, and which would fit Yzak’s fiery temperament better. So I turned to Overwatch and settled on the Cinnabar colour scheme for Overwatch’s Genji.
There is a nice symmetry between Yzak and Genji: both were reckless in their youth, received physical scars, but later mellowed.
BTW, there are so many characters and about a dozen alternate skins for each of them, so Overwatch is a fantastic source of colour schemes.
Anyway, here’s what I did:
Inner frame
- Black primer
I followed Rinaldi’s lead here and left the frame black so as not to draw attention away from the armour, and to save some time.
White armour
- Black primer
- Hairspray
- 95% White + 5% tan
- Chip paint – 1 minute after spraying is finished scrub with an old damp brush
- Apply water slide decals
- Apply semi-gloss coat
- Oil Paint Rendering (or at least my first attempt at it)
Burnt orange armour
- Black primer
- Hairspray
- Brown + orange mix
- Chip paint – 1 minute after spraying is finished scrub with an old damp brush
- 70% Clear red + 30% clear yellow (At this point I wasn’t happy with the colour as it was far closer to tan than orange, so clear orange was a simple way of solving this)
- Apply water slide decals
- Apply semi-gloss coat
- Oil Paint Rendering
Pink armour (note: I screwed the pink up. If you look at the reference images the pink is much darker, almost a pinkish brown; my paintjob however, is more of a chalky pink. But contest deadlines being what they are I decided to move on instead of stripping and repainting it.)
- Black primer
- Hairspray
- Red + clear red + white mix (sorry I can’t remember the exact ratio)
- Chip paint – 1 minute after spraying is finished scrub with an old damp brush
- Apply water slide decals
- Apply semi-gloss coat
- Oil Paint Rendering
Silver armour
- Black primer
- Hairspray
- Bright silver
- Chip paint – 1 minute after spraying is finished scrub with an old damp brush
- Apply water slide decals
- Apply semi-gloss coat
- Oil Paint Rendering
Dark grey armour
- Black primer
- Hairspray
- 90% Grey + 10% Black
- Chip paint – 1 minute after spraying is finished scrub with an old damp brush
- Apply water slide decals
- Apply semi-gloss coat
- Oil Paint Rendering
Railgun and Beam rifle
- Black primer
- Hairspray
- MS Blue
- Chip paint – 1 minute after spraying is finished scrub with an old damp brush
- Apply water slide decals
- Apply semi-gloss coat
- Oil Paint Rendering
Base
- Black primer
- Hairspray
- Grey
- Chip paint
- Polka dot weathering (i.e. Oil Paint Rendering’s faster, simpler, less precise cousin).
For the base I was really running out of time to work on this kit so I put on dabs of different oil paints (grey, black, white & blue), waited a minute, and then streaked it down the base using a brush damp with thinner. I’ll do a full tutorial on different weathering styles down the line.
Other steps
- Hand painting the grey vents on the back of the head.
Breakdown of the chipping:
I was happy with the hairspray chipping and pleasantly surprised that it worked with my lacquer paints. To get good results, however, it seems I must do the chipping almost immediately after painting each individual piece since the lacquer paint becomes almost impermeable once it begins to cure. For bigger pieces, (for example the base) I will need to paint and chip a section, before moving onto the next section for this to work.
While I liked the black chips, I do find the kit darker than I would like, so next time I will aim for white or grey chips instead; perhaps mixed with some pre-shading.
Breakdown of the Oil Paint Rendering:
This I am not happy with, but at the same time I’m not surprised; Rinaldi makes it clear in his book that this technique takes time and a fair amount of practice, neither of which I had for this build. To me, my Duel doesn’t look like it has had OPR poorly applied, it doesn’t even look like OPR in the slightest. Will try again next project, after all, you only get good at a technique via practice, which means a bunch of poor attempts.
Completed Model Gallery