HGUC RGM-79G GM Command WIP Part 2

In this part I'll go over the other hand painting I did, as well as the beginning of the weathering.

Current mess of my work mat.  All of the detail/hand painting is done at this point.

Added black, then red, and finally grey to the small thrusters on the backpack.

Grey for the teeny head vulcans.

Added some grey to the shield for the minus molds.  Also added a touch of grey to the recessed part on the dark part.

After the dark grey on the underside of the shield dried, I added some normal grey to the upper panel and the spare ammo packs.  Added steel to the circles shapes behind the minus molds.

The bazooka was pretty simple.  The barrel is gun metal and the rest is dark grey.  Went in with some steel for details.  Also added some red for the 'rounds' that are visible out the back.

By far the most tedious painting task on this kit were the small verniers on the legs and front skirts.  Just simple base coat of black and touch up with red.

Added grey and dark blue to the machine gun.  This is how this gun is colored in Gundam Crossfire, with the blue on the front stock.  I just decided to replicate that here.

A usual thing I do is paint the insides of thrusters.  Just like most late 0079-0080 mobile suits the canon-color is red.

I went through some debate but finally decided to paint the inside of the visor with fluorescent green.  When test fitting with the head it has this nifty effect of there being a line of light inside of the visor. 

Onto the weathering.  Again, using Tamiya Weathering Master.  This time I treated myself to the "A" set which contains Sand, Light Sand, and Mud.  Should be able to do some proper dirt effects with this.  Using Rust as dirt coloring on my Gouf Custom turned out ok but I'm sure the actual dirt colors will work better.

Basically just went around and added base layers of Soot and Mud to the edges.  I really only used the Mud on the lower legs.

Since I now have the actual dirt set I decided to use the Rust color for some rust effects.  I tried to keep it subtle.  I've got this spot on the front skirt and...

...this spot on the back skirt.  I was really happy with how this came out except... when the beam saber hilts are on, the effect is totally covered.  Ooo well.

The last bit of rusty effect I added was to the shield.  I have to say, I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Basically just layered up some Rust under the minus molds and kind of dragged it down the shield.

Well unfortunately this is all I have for the WIP's.  I had a set of pictures for doing the dirt effects but they were lost while my laptop was under repair.  Basically just used the Sand and Mud around the bottoms of the feet/legs and a bit on the bottom of the shield.  I also went in and added more Soot around where the thrusters and verniers would be blowing flame out.  Just gotta always think when weathering: where would the dirt and grime actually be?

So that's all for now.  I've already started shooting the final gallery and it should be up tomorrow morning.

Til next time...

HGUC RGM-79G GM Command WIP Part 1

Basically at this stage all I'm doing is filling seam lines and laying down some base coats for detail painting.

The first glaring thing that needed handled on this kit were seam lines.  Particularly the forearms and the lower legs.  As you can see, it's just a simple 2 halves assembly with some polycaps.  

The next minor thing I decided to take care of were the shoulder joints.  After about a week on my shelf the shoulder started lowering under the weight of the shield (which isn't all that heavy, most old polycap joints just tend to be loose).  We're just gonna dab some super glue on the polycap pegs to thicken them a tad and strengthen the connection (FYI this trick will work on most loose peg-hole and ball joint connections).

The 'tools' I'll be using for this are Mr. Cement for the seam lines and some Loctite Super Glue.  Regular super glue works just fine.  This is just the stuff I use around the house.  It has the bonus of having a fine tip and some... pressure control I guess is what you'd call it.

Starting with the seam lines.  I just kinda liberally apply the cement all around the edge where the seam is.  Then ya just firmly close the pieces and let the cement cure.

Lots of people have different methods for the super glue trick.  I think most people glue the peg, insert it, and kinda turn or work it around so the glue stays and dries put doesn't glue the connection.  I prefer to just dab some on and sand it down until it fits well.  Quick note: I've tried a few different super glues with gunpla and in my experience Loctite (any kind of Loctite really) cures harder and sands easier than the other ones I've tried.

Next up is the shield.  There's an embossed Federation symbol in between the minus molds.  Personally, I've never really liked embossed symbols like this on gunpla.  I think they look tacky and toyish.  So...

Off it comes.  Some quick work with the file and voila.  Smooth shield.  I'll probably add a EFF symbol decal in its place later on.

I'm still having issues deciding what to do about the overly clear visor.  Basically it just shows how hollow and non robot the head actually is.  I'm thinking I'm gonna hit the inside of it with some chrome or gloss black paint.

Using my old friend Tamiya Dark Grey to hit all the undersides of armor and the shield.  The first coat always looks terrible on this big an area.  Looks like all of this will be good to go after a second coat though.

I then layed down some base layers of black on the minus molds of the shield, the small thrusters on the legs, and the small ones on the backpack.  Also added some black to the vents on the cheeks.

Finally, threw some black in the vents on the chest.  Thought about putting black in the lower vents but decided the one panel line would show up better in grey.

Well that's all for now.  I've actually done quite a bit of painting since I took these pics.  I just find it hard to take pictures while messing with paints and cleaning brushes.  So the next WIP will mostly be going over the paint apps and detailing I decided to do.  Then the 3rd WIP will most likely be the final one and consist of weathering and final touches.

Til next time..

HGUC RGM-79G GM Command WIP Part 0 Overview

I didn't want to waste any time starting on my next kit.  Basically I'm anxious to use the Tamiya Weathering Maser sets again.  Well my next project is an older High Grade, the GM Command.  I like the way it looks despite its age.  Even next to my GM Sniper II it didn't scream that it was outdated.  Anyway, I'm going to use this Part to go over my plans with the kit.  For the most part I'm going to be doing it the same way I did my Gouf Custom.

There's some nice detail to be found on the backpack and the bottom of the feet.  All of the inner bells and thrusters are going to be painted red, as is canon for this suit.  I'll be painting the bottom of the feet grey as usual.

As you can see there's actually good parts separation going on in the upper half.  There's one grey piece that pokes through the chest for the vents.  The red piece just goes in.  The red chin actually forms part of the ball joint connection for the head.  The vulcans, vents, and innards of the head will be painted grey.  I'll talk about the 'innards' later.

I was surprised to find that the beam sabers actually peg into the back skirt.  

This peg hole happens to be the right size for standard HG beam sabers.  The kit didn't come with these effect parts though.  It came a beam saber-hand molded in one color poop toothpick that I didn't even bother cutting off the sprue.  Why bother with that when you can give it some spare beam sabers.

The knee bends farther than I thought it would while building.  The ankle is a bit eh though.  There's a nasty seam line running up the middle of the leg that'll have to be removed with cement.  I split it apart a bit here to it would be easier to see.  The top hip part is going to be grey.

Moving from the legs to the arms and guess what.  Another nasty seam line to be filled.  I think that's where this kit really shows its age.  A lot of the parts are basically 2 halves snapped together and back then no out of the way attempt was really made to hide seam lines.  The small vents on the shoulders actually move which I thought was nice.  The hands are a tad big and cartoony for my taste.  I'll have to dig through my spare parts to see if I have a matching Federation hand set to replace them.

Yet another ugly seam line.  Not much else to say about the torso.

There's a seam line going up the side of the head but it's hidden in the design for the most part.  So I most likely won't fuss with it.

Here you can see the innards I was mentioning earlier.  The visor is a nice bright clear green.  Actually too clear in this case.  You can see right through it to the ball joint socket for the neck.  That just screams toy-ish to me so something has to be done about it.  I'm not sure what yet but I'm bouncing a few ideas around in my head.

Quick shot of the weapons.  This kit only comes with the Bullpup Machine Gun.  I borrowed the Hyper Bazooka from a HGUC RX-78 to give to this GM.  Pretty much the only reason being an old PS3 game called Gundam Crossfire.  The GM Command can use this bazooka in the game and is my prefered weapon when using the suit.  Like most older weapons (and some new ones) there's a seam line that runs the length of both of these guns.  I feel like I'm going to spend the better part of this one just cementing and sanding these away.

The shield has some decent detail but is need of paint in obvious places.  I've always liked this style Federation shield.  Not too sure if I like the molded in EFF symbol though.  I'm probably going to sand it off and dig for a matching decal to replace it.

On the back its ok.  There's a bit of false detail from the hollowness of it.  Pretty much gonna coat the whole inside in dark grey.  Then go in with some light grey for some details like the circle bits.

One interesting thing to note about this kit.  There are spare magazines for the machine gun molded into the shield, which is nice.  However, these really don't match the clip that's in the gun.  At all.  The same is true on the newer GM Sniper II I have.  Just odd that Bandai wouldn't match the size more.

Well that's all for now.  Next step, seam lines and little modifications.  Til next time...

HGUC MS-07B-3 Gouf Custom

The Gouf Custom.  What else can I say.  People who know the suit don't need any convincing on how badass it is.  I liked this design ever since I saw it in the 08th MS Team OVA.  In fact just YouTube Gouf Custom and watch the fight scene from 08th MS Team.  There's plenty to like about this design too.  As far as I know, Hajime Katoki took the original Gouf lineart and added some edges and made it meaner looking.  Did I mention how much I like Katoki designs?  Well that's enough ranting.  Onto the rest of the gallery.

The Good:
-Just like the rest of the modern HG Zeon grunts, this thing is solid.
-No real weight issues anywhere.  There's a little lock joint in the should to help the Gatling stay up.  That huge gun will throw you some balance issues occasionally but what do you expect.
-Huge shield mounted Gatling Gun.  Nuff said.

The Bad:
-Over time the left shoulder will start to weaken under the weight of the gatling.  But thanks to that locking joint it's not a huge issue.
-Could be an isolated case but on my kit all of the hands' ball joints are extremely loose aside from the right gripping hand.
-Like it's modern HGUC Zaku II brethren the Gouf Custom is a solid build and kit overall.  But I did find things like the knees and hips are a bit looser on this kit than the Zaku's.
-Small issue: The 3-Barrel Machine Gun can't really be removed cause it leaves an ugly peg connection.  Not a huge issue but it is there.

WIP Notes:
-Hand painted some tic marks with Grey for some detail.  Also threw some Red in the thrusters.
-Went at the kit pretty heavy with Tamiya Weathering Master, darkening edges and adding some 'dirt' to the feet and lower legs.  Also added some silver to the weapons for some metal wear effect.
-Dry brushed Tamiya Smoke on the weapons and joints to give an oily effect.
-Machine Gun came from a HGUC Zaku II (the original, old one).

Fully Loaded

Final Thoughts:

I don't think it's a secret that I like grunty mono-eye mobile suits.  This Gouf Custom is no exception.  Unless you dislike the actual design there's no real reason to dislike the model.  The few issues the kit has are outweighed by the positives and the aesthetics.  

I don't own the Master Grade Gouf Custom but from what I've seen it's safe to say that this High Grade is superior overall.  The MG looks very good, but it is older and will turn into a loose-joint brick kit pretty quickly.  The HG on the other hand looks good and manages to keep decent articulation while still being pretty sturdy.

If you like older Zeon suits, The 08th MS Team OVA, Katoki designs, or even HGUC's in general this kit won't disappoint you.  Even just sitting on a shelf, the hard edges and Gatling Gun give it a mean, imposing vibe.  Especially if you've got it sitting next to some Zaku's.  This thing really does have some shelf presence even for being a standard sized HG.

I feel this kit didn't kit the attention it deserved as it was released right after the HGUC Sinanju.  Regardless it is a solid kit and worth checking out.  The design itself, even the color scheme, isn't something you see everyday in the Gundam world.

Til next time...