HGUC Gouf Custom WIP #2

Well here's the second and final work in progress for the Gouf Custom.  As I type this the model is sitting on my desk complete.  So on that note I should have the gallery up in the next couple days.  But for now, on with the WIP.  Pretty much just weathering and top coat left to do.

At this point all of the sanding and detail painting are done.  I had just finished up all of the panel lining as well.  I mostly used the dark grey Gundam Real Touch Marker for the lining.

Quick shot of the arm before weathering.

So somehow I managed to lose 2 things on this kit.  The first and not pictured thing is the left closed fist hand.  I have the hand cover but the fist is gone.  Second being the 'closed' piece for the Heat Wire.  There's supposed to be a small round gray piece that pops into that bottom peg hole.  It's tiny and probably fell on the carpet never to be seen again.  This is what I get for building a kit and letting it sit for a few months before I work on it. -_-

Some other painting I did that I forgot to take pictures of.  Added some Model Masters Gun Metal to the barrels of the Gatling Gun and the Zaku Machine Gun.  I like this gun metal more than others because it actually has a nice bluish hint to it, looking a bit more like real gun metal.  From what I've seen most gun metal paints are some variant of a kinda generic metallic grey.  I think every Gunplar and their grandmother has used the metallic grey gun metal on a kit at some point (me included).

Sorry for the tangent.  Anyway, I didn't bother using it on the 3-Barrel Machine Gun because the visible 'barrels' on that gun are actually covers or guards of some sort.  If you look down inside you can actually see the small indent that's supposed to be the real barrel.

I had to recheck the anime but the sword hilt is supposed to be blue.  The same dark blue as the Gouf itself from what I could tell.  Well I threw some Tamiya Blue (which is actually pretty dark) on it and it matches enough in my eyes.  Also threw some black in the groove running down the blade.

On to the weathering.  I'll be using the Tamiya Weathering Master B and C sets on this kit.  I've used these once on a Master Grade Zaku and liked how it came out for the most part.  I do feel and hope they'll look better on the smaller High Grade scale.

Left, weathered.  Right, Unweathered.

So I'll mainly be using the Soot (Black) and Rust (Brown) colors from the B set.  Pretty much just hitting all the edges with the Soot to basically emulate Post-Shading.  It works pretty well but you do have to be careful.  It's very easy to apply too much and have black all over your piece.  I found myself using slight damp q-tips to clean it up and sorta sharpen the edges.  I decided to put some Rust (which really is just brown) around the feet simply because the Gouf is a ground pounder and it would only make sense that it'd have dirty shoes.

Left, unweathered.  Right, weathered.  Sorry for the flip flop.

On the bottoms of the feet I just lathered that brown around.  I actually ended up putting on more during my last minute check before top coat.

Unweathered

Weathered

Some better before-after shots of the feet.

Lower leg comparisons

Just followed the same pattern of hitting the edges with the black.  Added some brown to the bottom of the bells.  These almost hit the ground anyway.  Also hit the knees with the brown but its pretty subtle.  Just trying to think: What would actually have dirt on it if this thing was real?  I didn't add brown anywhere else as I didn't think the top half of him would have actual dirt on it.

All parts weathered, ready for top coat.

One thing to note about the Tamiya weathering sets is that they are messy.  Not cover your work area messy, but your fingers will be coated in the stuff.  I did mean to take more individual pictures but I really didn't want to get the stuff on my camera or wash my hands constantly.  

I did use the Silver from the C set on the weapons.  I also put touches of it on the shield and the black part on the chest.  I found it odd but I had some issues getting the silver to... well its hard to describe.  Its like I would lay down a bit of glitter but no actual silver.  Ended up just layering it on kinda heavy and some silver did start to show up thankfully.

After flat top coat.

Sorry, not sure why these pics came out so yellow.  Anyway, I used my go-to flat coat on this kit.  Two quick notes about Tamiya Weathering Master sets and flat coating that I noticed on this.  1: The blacks and browns sorta fade down and get a bit more subdued.  2: The silver got well... more noticeable.  If you look at the sword you'll notice quite a bit of silver on the blade.  Before flat coating it wasn't nearly that noticeable.  

My go-to flat coat is Alcad II Lacquer Flat Kote.  I decided to throw my airbrush in the pic since I had just finished cleaning it.  It's a Badger 105 Patriot.

Well that does it for this WIP.  I do want to mention that I actually had some fun messing with the weathering sets.  So much so that I can't wait to use them on another HG.  I have noticed that there isn't too much about these sets on the net.  Especially relating to Gunpla.  I think after I have some more experience with them I'll post a tutorial on them.

Look forward to the Gouf Custom's Gallery to up in the next couple days.

Til next time...