Just wanted to share with you something on my “must buy” list.

This figure is awesome!!!

I’m a sucker for tan-bikini lines too…. Rawwwwrrr!

It’s not cheap, though… Am currently saving up for this, a little below $100.

But methinks it’s well worth it!

Peace!

This has got to be the coolest USB hub ever.

Okay, so it’s a USB hub, right?

Not just your ordinary USB hub, dweebs!

• It talks
• It powers up your USB devices
• And has flashing lights and sounds!

Gotta get me one of these!

Available for $29.99 HERE

Don’t let Megatron or The Fallen get it before you do!

Kweek-kwok-kwik-week -week (stupid transforming sound)

Here’s something I did over the weekend last March. I got this Finemolds Tie Interceptor via Ebay for around $25. The detail on the kit is impressive. There were just a few parts and since the Tie Interceptor has a single, major color, it wasn’t hard to paint. Overall, assembly to finished product took around a single weekend (3 days).

More pics…

What’s hard though, were the details on the cockpit and painting the diminutive pilot. After the primer, I airbrushed it with Tamiya Neutral Gray with a touch of blue. Once that dried, a wash of dark gray and some pastel weathering completed the details. I also handpainted and airbrushed Tamiya smoke on various parts such as the side mechanisms and the guns.

I wished I chose a lighter shade of gray since the wash darkened it a bit too dark for my taste.

But I’d say I did a fairly decent job. Not bad for my first Star Wars model kit, eh?

Here are more photos…

Via GM Tristan

Here’s the 3rd and final installment of the completed M1A1 Abrams Tank kit

Just in case you missed it, here’s PART 1 and PART 2 of the work-in-progress for this M1A1 Abrams Tank 1:35 model kit project.

Last week, I stopped the post right after the rust effects. There are only 3 stages left to do; Sand/mud effects, dusting and then the final flat coat.

Sand and Mud

This effect will be applied mostly to the tank wheels and threads. After spraying the wheels with the base color (desert yellow), I handbrush each with Tamiya Flat Black… which is pretty useless since this will all be caked in Iraqi sand later. Oh well, so much for my being OC.

Here are the wheels…

For the sanding effect, here’s the reference photo:

The Iraqi desert is surely unforgiving. To mimic this effect, here’s a nice technique I learned from my online research - Baby powder!

The dust/sand concoction is a mixure of Tamiya Buff (XF-57), White (X-2), baby powder and denatured alchohol. Once you get the consistency of thick milk, you can then apply this to wheels and threads with a medium-sized brush.

Here’s what you get if done properly…

Cool! Just like real desert sand!

Meanwhile, it’s time to put in the threads and then the side armor plating…

Looking good!

Dusting

For more weathering, I just thinned my sand mixture above and lightly mist-spray it on the tank. The dust settles mostly on the sides, front and rear as per my reference photos.

Here it is…

Before applying the dust, I masked the exhaust. I wouldn’t want to waste all the nice exhaust paint I did earlier…

Here it is with the masking below, both in tape and sticky tack for the tail lights.

Once that dried, I painted and did some final detailing on the machine guns… some scratches here and there, and dry brushing effects again…

I let everything dry for 72 hours and gave the entire tank a couple of coats of Tamiya Flat Clear.

Now, let’s see the final kit with the best light source for photography - natural sunlight;

That was a great build. Hope you guys learned a thing or two. Feel free to shoot your questions via the comments below

In  case you missed it here’s

• Part 1 and
• Part 2

Last post we finished at applying Future (Johnson’s Wipe and Shine) to the kit. Now the kit is ready for the decals.

That’s stage 7 of 15.

Still more work to do.

Decal and Detailing

Now that I’ve applied a future coat, the decals will have a nice, gloss base. This makes for better adhesion.

But before that (and while waiting for stuff to dry). I detailed the jerry cans and other accessories first by painting them Olive Drab and then applying a light green drybrush on the edges just to bring out some detail.

Once ready, the cans and ammo boxes were glued to the kit

Next, the water-slide decals were affixed;

Washes

Next up would be a couple of washes to bring out the detail and to add some grime, dirt and muck (weathering) to the tank. No, a wash isn’t “washing” your kit with soap and water.

Basically, a wash is a mixture of paint + thinner (around 10:90) ratio… or the consistency of dirty thinner. Since I used Acrylic paints, it’s important to do your wash with another paint type. For this project, I used an Enamel wash. Pros prefer to use oils.

What you do is just use a medium sized brush and just lazily dab and brush it on. Capillary action will let the paint go into the panels and other details. Wait for it to dry for a few minutes and you can use cotton buds damped with some thinner to take away the excess.

Here’s the effect after the procedure.

Notice how the details now stand out? Quite different from just the base coat a few photos ago, eh?

For that wash, I used flat black.

I apply a second wash of Buff and White once that dried for more weathring and to simulate sand discoloration.

Paint Chipping and Battle Damage

Once the washes were all done, it’s time to apply some paint chips.

Before randomly painting away, it’s important to know how factories painted the tanks in real life. After the base metal, primer is applied. The color is usually grey or a shade of red or maroon. Next would be several coats of the base paint. Logically, when the paint chips, it shows an “onion” type of effect. Here’s a real-life photo on an Abram

There are several methods to do paint chips. My preferred method below:

• Use a small brush and paint out light gray (Sky Grey) outlines on the edges or where you want the paint chips to be (not too much. Don’t overdo it)
• Let it dry for 30 minutes
• Overlay the gray with Olive Drab
• Optional to put some Rust (Nato Brown + Orange) on the chips
• For the bare metal to show, just use an HB pencil and rub it in

Here’s the actual effect once done…

Rust Effects

For my rust mixture, I used Tamiya Nato Brown mixed with Orange and Red. I then applied it via airbrush (with masking) to the tracks and then via hand-brush to some parts. I think the gas tank will have rust so there’s more there…

Whew! That was a long post.

Only 4 more stages to go: Sand/Mud, Dusting and the final flat coat. We’re almost there.

Stick around and visit everyday to check out on the progress of my tank…

Hope you enjoyed! Meanwhile, you can check out some of my other finished model kits below

• M1A1 1:35 Part 1
• Gundam Blitz 1:100 (High Grade)
• 1997 Ford Mustang (unfinished)
• MG06-J Zaku 2 (MG) 1:100
• MG Gundam Destiny 1:100
• Gundam Red Astray 1:100

US M1A1 Abrams tank model kit. From Academy. See how Geekzkrieg builds it!

As promised during my last modeling post about the Gundam Blitz, I worked on my new 1/35 scale M1A1 Abrams during the Lenten break. I had a lot of fun and the entire thing was relaxing and somewhat therapeutic.

The Abrams is the main battle tank of the US armed forces and saw action in Iraq in 2003. The kit is from Academy of Korea and is very nicely detailed with sharp seams and a good fit.

As a bit of trivia, no US M1A1 Abrams was ever destroyed by opposing enemy fire. This beast is the most powerful tank in the world and it’s one of the reasons why I have to have it for my collection, moreso, it being one of my first detailed modern military armor to be assembled.

Work in progress reports and pics after the jump…

The Project

To make it simpler (and to be a little bit organized), I divided the project into major components below

1. Assembly – which included sanding, filing, putty and adjustments
2. Primer
3. Adjustments – the primer will let you see some flaws which you can then “adjust” via sanding or putty later
4. First base coat (desert yellow)
5. Pre-shading with Nato Brown
6. Second base coat (with shading now)
7. Future (floor wax) coat (clear coating to prepare for the decals and wash)
8. Decals
9. Wash 1
10. Wash 2
11. Paint chipping and battle damage
12. Rust Effects
13. Sand effects
14. Dusting
15. Final flat coat

As you can see, there are 15 steps. Each step has a sub-task to it, whew! All-in-all, the project took around 2 weeks from start to finish.

Now, on the progress reports.

Reference Photos

If you want to have a realistic finish on your models, it pays to do a little bit of research. In the old days, you’ll have to buy reference books, magazines, materials or perhaps visit a library. Today, the Internet means that everything you need right is right in your fingertips. That’s one of the advantages of doing this hobby together with technology.

So I yanked out a little elbow grease and did some searching together with my good friend, Google. Here are some of the reference photos that I came up with.

If you notice, you will see the Iraqi desert sand is very unforgiving, it cakes and coats almost everything… I’ll have to take that into account when doing the finishing details for the kit. There’s also an antenna, which doesn’t come with the box. I’ll have to scratch-build that later.

Assembly

Assembly is straight-forward with some flash here and there. All in all, the kit was finely detailed and the instructions were easy to follow. There were some problems on the fit of the top-bottom of the turret assembly but nothing that a little putty and sanding won’t solve.

Here are some pics

Priming Time

The kit, now fully assembled will be primed with Mr. Surfacer 500.

Below is the seam-fit problem of the turret assembly. I used polytuff (or “masilya” for automobiles), let it dry overnight and then sand it away. You can see the ‘before and after’ photos below:

Base Coat and Pre-Shading

Once everything was cool, I then airbrushed the base coat of Tamiya Desert Yellow. It still looks dull and flat at this point and the details won’t stand out (yet). That’s ok… that’s what the other stages of the project are for, washing and weathering later.

Meanwhile, once the Desert Yellow was allowed to dry overnight, I did a little bit of pre-shading with Nato Brown. Pre-shading is a simple painting technique where you airbrush the darker shade (over panel lines and divisions) and then spray over a lighter shade of the base coat to bring out highlights. The final output is a graduated (or gradient) pattern of light, dark and shadow. Cool, huh?

Below are the pics with the pre-shaded Tamiya Nato Brown;

Second Base Coat (shading)

Here’s the second spraying of a slightly lighter hue of Desert Yellow (mixed with white)…

Notice how the panels and the preshaded areas are slightly darker. That’s the effect that I wanted to achieve. So far, so good. The only thing left if for this to dry overnight. The next day, I apply a thin coat of Johnson’s Wipe and Shine (unthinned). This is equivalent to what pro-modelers call “Future”. This protects the model by giving it a coat of acrylic and forming a glossy base for the decals and for the wash.

Don’t worry about the gloss, the wash and weathering will get rid of that later.

For the hull, I airbrushed a coat of Dark Copper followed by Flat Black on the exhaust port to achieve a realistic exhaust and oxidation effect (thank you, reference photos!). Oh yes, this was done before spraying it with Future. I also hand painted the tail-lights Red and the front lights Silver Chrome.

That’s it for Part 1 of this series. Notice that I finished stage 1 through 7. (whew!) There are 8 stages left.

Next up would be applying the decals and finally the wash. That’ll be exciting.

I’ll be updating and uploading pics ASAP, okay?

Via GM Tristan

Get a low-down of all Marvel collectibles, action figures, etc. as Marvel.com releases its new online segment, Geek-Lactus. Featured in their premiere episode are the new toys from Hasbro, Hot Toys, Kotobukiya, etc.

Geek-Lactus? Sounds like a milk-drinking intergalactic demi-god, but check out the full first episode here:

More on Marvel.com.

Hey! This is my latest Gundam build and paint job. Check it out.

This is my 4th Gundam model kit for this year, and my second “China” model. Since these kits cost below $6, they’re good for practice and experimenting with the different techniques I either learned throughout the months I’ve been back in modeling or those gleaned from research over the web.

Check out the work-in-progress (WIP) photos after the break.

For this build, I wanted to do entirely brand new Gundam, without the weathering and scratches. Since the Blitz is a “ninja-type” Gundam, it will logically be without dents or bruises.

This model is the GAT-X207 Blitz, and is one of five initial designs that the Alliance secretly builds with Orb. The Blitz Gundam’s design is geared towards melee combat and stealth missions. Like the other prototype Gundams, the Blitz Gundam is equipped with the new Phase Shift (PS) armor technology. When in Phase Shift mode, the Blitz Gundam is nearly impervious to attacks from shell-firing artillery or melee weapons.

The Build – Construction

Construction, mods and painting took me almost two weeks of working around 2-4 days in a week. Bulk of the work would come in on weekends, of course.

The China kit is horribly designed. It has a LOT of flash and seams and I spent more hours repairing them and sanding than the actual build and paint. You get what you pay for. Sigh.

Let’s check out the photo of the box first

After a lot of sanding and putty work, I finally had the thing ready for assembly after around 4 days. Dang! My arms hurt!

While planning for the project, one of my goals was how to replace the ugly plastic thrusters. When a friend suggested that ballpen caps can be used, I actually tried to see if it’ll work.

Here are several ballpens that you can get for less than P20 each.

Just take away the faux metal casings and you have this. Compare it to the horrendous thruster included in the kit. Much better, eh?

Here’s test-fitting the new thruster! Coolnezz!

Meanwhile, I modded part of the legs to make it “sharper”. It’s actually SIM-card plastic (Gamer Sim), cemented together then I used Water Stop sealant as putty. This was dried and cured for 48 hours before filing, sanding and finishing.

Below: Fully assembled Blitz now ready for painting

Painting

For the paint scheme, I retained the black, red and purple look. Although I used a darker shade of purple compared to the light violet as suggested in the instructions. It kinda looked better.

Before painting, all the parts were washed in a basin with Joy dishwashing cleaner. Time to take a bath!

Washing takes away all the dust and dirt from the sanding as well as oils left in the plastic injection molds.

All the parts were then strained and left to dry

Prepping up for the actual painting, all parts of the same color got separated into individual containers…

Here’s the cast of colors: Flat black for the body, Red for the highlights, Purple for the other armor parts, Yellow for the claws and horns, Neutral Gray for the gun and Titanium Silver for the other metallic parts such as the insides of the legs. All paints were Tamiya except for the purple one, Gunze Sangyo.

After a primer of Tamiya Surface Primer (thinned with lacquer thinner), parts were placed in skewers and airbrushed. This was left to dry and cure for around 48 hours.

Once cured, I assembled the torso, legs and arms separately and gave them all a coat of Tamiya Flat Clear (gloss) in preparation for adding the decals.

Since the kit didn’t come with any decals, I scrounged around my spare-part-bin and used the leftovers from the Zaku. Here are the results

The metal part on the arm is an earing “pakaw” drilled and glued.

Here’s the thruster now…

The shield-gun was masked and painted red and neutral gray. I then masked the divider and painted in white for a cool effect.

Claws were puttied and painted yellow. You can see the other thrusters on the claw assembly

And now for the photos of the finished Gundam Blitz…

For added detail in the shield assembly, I glued an RF Online symbol. I got this from the keychain that we had made as give-aways during LIVE 2008. Hehe.

There you have it! The finished Bltiz. This is currently my favorite Gundam at the moment and I can honestly say that I learned a lot through experience and had fun during the entire process.

Next stop in my modeling project is a 1/35 M1A1 Abrams Tank (the main battle tank of the US Army used in Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003). I’ll be doing that over the Holy Week and hopefully I’ll be posting in-progress updates every now and then.

You’ll have to drop by regularly here to see it.

Peace!

Get a closer look at the newly released TF Masterpiece, Grimlock!

It’s been a 2 years since news started leaking out of a Grimlock Masterpiece release from Takara. And during that time, all the anticipation that Transformers Masterpiece collectors built up has now finally been realized. Released just last month (March 2009), collectors have been on their toes to get ‘im. I’ll review Grimlock in a general approach, just to point out the features and fun factors you can expect…

Packaging

As with any Takara Masterpiece boxes, Grimlock’s is no different – all sealed up in a big black box that’s about 18 inches tall, just a glance will really make you do a double-take. Photos abound on the front, sides, and back of the box. Features are well-documented on the back as well. Surely just seeing this in your favorite (or any) toy store and looking at the photos on the back will make you reach for your wallet to say “sorry, but you have to lose weight…NOW!”

Upon opening the box, you’ll see Grimlock in robot mode, encased in a transparent plastic casing, with all the accessories neatly spread around him. The manual and the tech specs card are also inside, sealed in a thick plastic bag. This is probably the next thing you’ll open after you get Mr. Grimlock out of his encasement. And yeah, you’ll probably have him stand somewhere, looking over you while you’re reading the manual, and you’ll maybe catch a few glimpses of him very once in awhile. Yiheee…. :p

Robot mode (sculpt)

Speaking of glances, this bad boy really commands attention – he has an icy stare (probably because he doesn’t have the usual humanoid face, duh!). Quite bulky, robot mode Grimlock has over-sized shoulders around his head. This is due part to his shoulders being his legs in dino-form. Broad chest area has a plastic panel over his Autobot insignia – though what’s notable about his gold chest is that it’s diecast. This, along with the pelvic area (this maintains the center of balance), and the gold claws on his arms.

Notice the load of parts on his back – with the weight that they’re all packed back there, the compensation of the diecast pelvic area definitely helps carry these for balance. There were no problems in having the big guy stand in robot form.

FEATURES:
1. You can change the eyes/visor color from red to blue and back – there’s a little switch on the back of his head to do just this
2. Right hand has a LED power-up contact – you put in the gun or the sword on his right hand – both of which have LED’s built into them – and voila! Either one lights up red when you press the button under his right arm. Now that’s just neanderthal!

Paint
No repaints here – this is the new Masterpiece sculpt – Grimlock will be the only one using it, unlike the previous Starscream and Optimus repaints (Thundercracker, SkyWarp, and Ultra Magnus respectively). Paint apps kept to a minimum, as always. You’ll see gray plastic parts for legs, arms, and back, black for the head and legs, red for the diecast pelvic area. Gold-colored parts are diecast – the chest and the claws. Chrome is used for the tail, and dino-arms and teeth. Needless to say, the gold and chrome parts act as magnets for thumbprints, with their shiny finish. Overall, the paints serve their purpose.

Articulation
Hmm, where do I begin? Let’s start with his robot mode: He’s got a balljointed neck, which can turn 90 degrees easily. His shoulders are ball joints as well, so his arms move freely, which help him in dino-form also. A swivel-cut is also present before the elbows. Elbows are – egad! – double-jointed! Wrist swivel is present on the inside of his ‘sleeves’ as well. As mentioned in the FEATURES above, his right hand has a contact point for making the weapons light-up – so this hand is fixed on the open-grip, no articulation. His left hand has a ball-jointed thumb and hinge grip – no individual fingers though.
His hips have swivel, with thighs having the swivel-hinge combination so he move his legs forward, at the same time, able to do leg splits (there’s also a swivel there so you can turn the leg orientation around)! Knees are single-joint and are very stable – they have click-locks (like Revoltech joints) so they don’t crumple under the weight easily. A hinge joint is located underneath the knee for transforming purposes. His feet are connected by a ball-joint on the front and prove to be totally stable, allowing for tilting ankle support poses.

This guy’s like a beefed-up, over-scaled Revoltech with all the articulation. Quite impressive (all Masterpiece editions are!).

Scale

Ok, here is the part where most collectors are in contention. Looking at the size difference between Grimlock and Optimus Prime, some do not agree with the latter’s smaller scale. No need to fight over it though…

However, it’s Takara’s tribute to the Autobot leader that he be the biggest MP there is – as with Megatron being the biggest among his ‘fleet’ (of repainted air boys). So it’s really up to collectors if the scale ticks them off vs. all the features and neat extras we enumerated here. We’ll get to that later, so read on…

Accessories

1. Grimlock’s blaster – which lights up red when in the right hand. It can also be held on his left hand.

2. The notoriously hilarious mind transfer device from the old Transformers animated series episode “Grimlock’s New Brain”. To view part 1 of that episode, click here.

3. The bow-tie and apron from “Madman’s Paradise” – the series after the Transformers movie. Click here for part 1 of that episode.

4. Complete with the glasses and waiter’s tray! Don’t ever miss a tip for this waiter!

5. Grimlock’s big-a$$ sword – which lights-up when in the right hand. It can’t be held in the left hand, though, pegs forbid it. You can dual-wield his gun and sword, but the sword should always be in the right hand when doing so.

Though as originally rumoured, there should have been a crown for king Grimlock somewhere, but it’s not included anymore. That would’ve been a nifty addition – but all the accessories above prove how adorable the big guy’s been in the animated series.

On to Grimlock’s fondest transformation: his T-Rex dino-mode…

Much like how the other renditions of Transformers G1 Grimlock have been released through the years, it’s still pretty much the canon (sorry it’s not in order!):

1.His chest area flips down to become his dino-belly, leaving his head in its place.

2. His “wings” have the dino-arms, close over his head and become the thick dino-upper neck.(Note that the head is not as further in on his chest as per other G1 renditions, which had the head totally away from the front of his chest).

3. “Boots” flip outwards to become the massive lower area of his body, and his underside.

4. From his boots, you can flip out the middle-portion of his dino-tail.

5. The very tips of his dino-tail also flip outwards.

6. Lastly, the dino-head, still hinged on his back, will flip over.

7. Yep his arms serve as the dino-legs, his hands retract inwards, leaving the claws for support.

Sorry about typing in ‘dino” over and over, but that’s what he is! :p

FEATURES in DINO MODE:

1. You can change his eyes (yes, the eyes themselves) – to change their color from red to blue, and vice versa.

The designer for this feature must’ve been one heckuva genius to even think of how this would work!

You lift the forehead, and pull out a rotating wheel, matching which color you want his eyes to be…

2. Rotating neck – when you first handle Grimlock, don’t be alarmed if the dino-neck is a bit loose. It turns very loosely and can only be fixed on a certain position by really turning it to one side. In dino-mode, his neck will rotate from side to side by either swinging his tail or rotating it. Nice, huh? Rawrr, hehe.

Other nifty stuff in dino-mode? He’s got ball-jointed dino-arms, with a swivel in the middle and individually hinged fingers (yes, all 3 talons). His dino-palm has a hole to accomodate the peg on the waiter’s tray, but to get it into position, you have to rotate the entire arm around and use the swivel. Looks weird, but the result’s priceless with Grimlock being your waiter for the evening…

You can also see that when you open his sharp-teethed mouth, there’s his flamethrower muzzle.

Whew. As you’ve read – Grimlock’s loaded with enough features, accessories, articulation to make him a true winner in any aspect in considering TF-MP purchases. The overall form in robot mode and dino-mode is impressive, with no compromise by the/on the articulation – needless to say, that with great articulation comes great transformability!

The features are fun, ingenius, and surprising. The inclusion of several accessories (to bring about nostalgia from watching the animated series, breeding familiarity) and providing light-up battery-powered delight makes this a complete package.

Note that Grimlock is about US$ 130, especially on ebay. My friend got his (yes, I’m reviewing what’s not mine…but someday…) for about US$ 125 in the local toy shop. Pricey? Maybe… and wait a while till the prices go down? Up to you…

Worth it? Hell yeah!

More photos for your viewing pleasure….

After the weathering and damaging the Zaku, it’s time to do the opposite and have “bling-bling” paint for my new model kit – an AMT/ERTL 1997 Ford Mustang muscle car (1:25 scale).

One of the challenges in doing is kit is trying to be patient. There are a lot of paint layers and they each have to dry and cure before applying the next one. And, like a real car, you have to do perfect priming, examine the body and then do putty jobs, wet sanding and more wet sanding before the actual painting of the body can begin.

After finishing the Zaku project, I worked on the car right away. That was Valentine’s Day, to be exact. Of course, I didn’t forget the wife to trade her for modeling. Well, after a dinner date, I finally went to the workshop and opened the box.

I got this kit off ebay.ph for around P700. Not bad for my first 1:25 model car. Like any modeling project, it’s important to do research. Scouring the web with my good friend, Google, I was able to find some nice real-life reference photos of the 97 Mustang…

The goal is to try to study the actual car to see details such as the engine, the wheels and various paint schemes and colors.

After doing initial research. Here were my options on painting

1. Paint the body with Tamiya spray cans – there were more pastel colors available with this option. The problem is, I’ll prolly burn through 2 to 3 cans with the various layers, and that’s expensive.
2. Using automotive paints – I recently went to Ace hardware to check out automotive spray cans. At around P200 each, it was a viable plan. The option was to “decant” the spray cans and then paint it with the airbrush. I kinda liked the Yamaha Red I bought.
3. Airbrush it with Acrylics – the Tamiya red is kinda pale and bland. Plus, in order to get a metallic finish, I’ll have to spray on a metallic base coat on it before layering in the red. However, I just purchased a metallic blue acrylic for my Mazinger Z kit… that’s also an option. So many choices! Dang!

I’ll worry about painting later, I’ll have to assemble the model first. Let’s check the progress build below…

Feb 14, 2009

The AMT ERTL kit has a lot of “flash”, these are the left-over plastic at the edges from the injection process at the factory. It took me many hours of sanding, filing and various test-fitting just to complete the body and the engine… time which could have been spent on painting. Damn! My arms ached from all that sanding. After sanding, I seprated the small parts into the various colors

After cutting out the parts, it’s time to mask off some of ‘em in preparation for painting…

After sanding, it’s time to wash the body with Joy dishwashing detergent and lotsa water. It’s important not to wipe it with ANYTHING, just allow it to dry naturally. Wiping it with cloth or tissue may leave lint on the body which will damage your paint.

Here’s a shot of the body drying out

Using Tamiya spray cans, I painted the glossy black parts that night. Here’s a shot of the axle

And the engine painted aluminum and semi-gloss black

And look at the cool wheels all chromed out! Woot!

Feb 15, 2009

It’s primer time!

The primer is a mix of Tamiya Surface Primer (great stuff!) thinned with Gunze Mr. Color lacquer thinner.

Primer all done. GM T Tip: Use an old Gatorade bottle with water and blue-tack the body to it as a base for painting.

I let it dry overnight…

Feb 17, 2009

Once the primer dried, it was time to wetsand the body with 1200 grit sandpaper. Here’s the finished product all ready for putty work and the base coat of white… that’s even BEFORE any color is applied. Sheesh!

Meanwhile, it was time to do some putty work on some seams and imperfections. I used Tamiya White Putty purhased at Lils (around P220)

Just apply it using a plastic spatula to the parts. The bumper had a huge seam due the improper fit of the plastic mold

And so did the flooring of the chassis

I let this dry overnight for ultimate curing.

Feb 18, 2009

Tonight, the putty’s all cured and it’s time to for some tedious sanding work. Using a 400 grit sand, I initially trimmed the excess putty away and then wet-sanded it with 1200 finer grit. Here’s the bumper nice and smooth…

Tomorrow or the weekend, it’s time to apply the white base coat and then do the paint layers for the body…

Saturday, Feb 21, 2009

Today, I met friends Alex and Jeff and went to Greenhills. There, we got some paint, took a short trip to the hardware store (Ace) for thinners, sandpaper and bought a German-made Dremel kit for P1,500.00. It’s a great find. I finally have a Dremel (rotary tool) for future projects. We then went to my place to do some serious modeling the entire day. Alex worked on his Slave 1 and Jeff did repairs and re-painting of his MG Exia gundam.

Meanwhile, I did some masking of the car, painted some engine parts and started to do the first two “mist coats” (lightly spraying it over the white coat) for the car body.

Of course, I took tons of pics but I still haven’t uploaded it. I’ll be updating this post sometime this week for more, ayt?

…until then.

GM T