D-Style Shield Liger - WIP 2

 Holy Cow, That's A Lot Of Fine Details

Having completed 2 kits: RG GP01 and Kamiki Burning Gundam, 1 in mid build and now starting another, I feel "Operation Reduce Backlog" is off to a great start. Although the kits I brought over are small kits except for the PG Gundam Mk-II, it is still a good progress.

While removing the nub marks from the pieces, I couldn't stop being impressed on how much detail there are on the kit compared to SD Gundam kits. This will require a lot of detail painting to bring out its full potential which is a bit stressful and yet exciting at the same time.

   

Lots of pipes, hydraulics and even suspension springs for the leg

   

Rivets can be seen along the armor section

   

Assuming these are exhaust filters

Had a few color options in mind: Light Blue, Candy Blue or the blue used for Kamiki Burning Gundam. Did not go with Candy Blue as I could not find more in Mr. Diy so saving that for the Astray Blue Frame. Light Blue would not look as nice against the steel color for the inner frame and the blue used for the Burning Gundam is too dark, Looked through my collection of paint and found a Metallic Blue paint which will require the replenishing treatment before use.

Started the painting process with the blue armor parts 

Used undercoat silver rattle can for basecoat of the Metallic Blue but it was at the end of its life and did not give a nice finishing so switched to Chrome which has a nice finish and better covering. Just one light pass is enough to cover the original paint. This is also another trick to change dark color parts to light colors.

   

Pieces with chrome basecoat

Sprayed chrome for the teeth as well

             

Frosting on the paintjob

After letting the paint dry, noticed the paints have some frosting on them. Did some research and it was an error on my part. I did not shake the rattle can vigorously for 4 minutes before using hence all the parts of the paints in the can did not mix properly before being forced out. Was not very worried as I will be painting them over with the Metallic Blue.

   

   

First pass of Metallic Blue paint. Brush strokes are very visible

   

Decided to keep the 'radar' at the ears chrome so had to carefully painted the metallic blue around it

Maintained the chrome color for the bottom jaw as well. Don't think this part will be very visible once everything has been assembled

   

Some areas which are not painted Metallic Blue during the first layer of painting due to the position of the crocodile clips are given the same paint treatment

   

Second pass of Metallic Blue. There are still visible brush strokes, but I hope that once the completed model is on display the brush strokes won't be so noticeable

Might have figured out the reason of brush strokes on the finish paintjob. Was using a small brush to paint a large area and lacquer paints dry faster hence the visible brush strokes. I have a wider but stiffer brush which will not be able to get the job done as well. This means I will have to drop by Mr. Diy, Daiso or Ace Hardware to look for a more suitable brush.

Bought some softer and wider brushes form Mr Diy. The missus suggested the make-up brush as those are softer than the usual paint brushes so got it to test it out

All the blue armor parts have been panel lined and protected with a layer of Future

Below are some comparisons between the painted and original parts:

   
   

   

Completed the armor parts of the paint work. Next post working on detailing up the cockpit and painting of the pilot before starting the body which has the most minute details.