I’m taking a few well-deserved days off, and I’m diving into a project that fans of superheroes and gunplas are sure to enjoy! Right now, I’m working on assembling Bandai’s Batman kit, an impressive model that brings together the Dark Knight’s universe with the fun of model-building.
It’s always a pleasure to see each piece come together, and I can’t wait to share my progress with you. Stay tuned—photos will be coming soon!
If you wanna see the work made before : Previously
The Leynos’s rifle
I assembled and glued the rifle, and sanded the joints.
Then I worked on the legs. I modifed a few parts to enable me to easily assemble and disassemble the various parts that compose the legs. The aim was to paint the sub-assemblies in different colors, while keeping the parts glued and the joints as inconspicuous as possible.
So I sawed off the legs … There’s no other way to put it
Problem with the feet : How to insert articulation on a gunpla
And as is often the case when I’m assembling, I forget some parts in the corner of the desk … except in this case, the parts had been glued for 24 hours.
To fix this, I cut out the lugs on the grey part, then inserted it into the free slot on the foot and glued it in place.
Final result : The legs
And that’s it, the legs are finished. The thighs, knees, calves, feet and their toes can be disassembled and assembled without a hitch, and with the joints invisible (on the photo, you can see some of the joints, but it was taken before the sanding was finished).
I hope you appreciate this post on the leynos model kit which is a really nice kit.
I’ve started to work on a new mech robot model kit of an original robot. It’s made by PLUM and it’s called LEYNOS. It’s inspired by the video game Assault Suit Leynos. In this article, I present my first minutes (hours?) of assembly.
Nice Details
I wasn’t familiar with PLUM’s models, and I must admit, I was surprised when I opened the box. The parts are highly detailed, with rivets and screw heads. This will require a little brushwork to highlight them.
Building the robot model kit
Assembly goes smoothly. The parts fit together without problem. I opted for glue to complete the joints.
You’ll need to paint some parts to make the kit a little more interesting. The sprues only come in 2 colors, which lacks variation. It’s a nice change from Bandai kits, which are usually very colorful. But I like painting the little details.
Next step
In a future post, I will finish to prepare all the part of this mech robot model kit. I will show you a straight build to check if there is no problem. And I hope to begin the paint.
I’m working with my first entry grade RX-78-2 gundam kit. It’s really simple to build it. But it don’t have a lot of details.
So I decided to improve it with a custom paint. I kept the original color scheme and I added shadows and scratches in order to create a more realistic mecha.
Black Primer and multicolor pre-shading
I chosen a black primer in cans to begin , then I used 3 base colors (red, blue and yellow) from GreenStuffWorld to prepare the pre-shading.
Base coat
It’s time to paint the base coat with the airbrush (0,2mm nozzle), I decided to work with the MIG Ammo acrylics paints for this part and specially with a special set made for gunpla. But this paint cover a lot the under coat, so I used a specific product called « transparator » to improve the transparency of the base coat.
Two coats is enough to cover the armor and to keep the pre-shading work. It work perfectly for the white, the red and the blue. I hand painted the yellow parts to avoid to mask all the model. And to finish I dried brush the articulations.
Weathering
I added some grey scrathes by brush on the colored parts, and brown scratches on the white parts. I continue with enamel washes to make rust streaks and dirt effects on specific locations.
« An old RX-79 mobile suit that had been lying around in the forest for a long time. It was fix to go and help out those partner of the 8th team who fell in battle in the guerrilla zones. It has suffered a lot during its career but it still works. It can also be used as a support unit with its 180mm gun.«
Today, we speak about a ‘simple’ technic to creating chipping on model kits : The salt. Yes ! You’re read correctly, a simple salt to obtain a nice chipping on your gunpla. It’s a technic which work with an airbrush. I think it cannot work with brush … But I’m not sure. Maybe I will test one day.
I make a HG Jo hound model kit few month , and I wanted to obtain a heavy chipping. I decided to use only my brushes and little pieces of sponges. But this time, I decide to use the salt.
Prepare your model
First, you need to prepare the surface of your gunpla. For the example, I use the hand of the HG RX-79 ‘Ground type’ (1/144) from « the 08th team » anime.
Like for a classic preparation, I use a primer. In this case, I was a black primer from Vallejo mecha color. After, I added the rust coat. I used a red/brown primer color from GreenStuffWorld. You must a really hard paint because we will be ‘violent’ in a future step.
The Salt technic
Now, it’s time to use the salt.
Put some water gently at the surface of the piece where you want obtain chipping (often on the edges). Personnaly, I used a little sponge. Then put the salt directly on the piece like it’s raining salt. It will be trap by the water. To obtain various effect, try to use different sizes of salt. In my example, I used a really fine salt to try to respect scale.
Some advises :
Don’t forget to protect the parts where you do not want salt.
You can do that directly in your kitchen … because you’re going to salt everywhere … Believe me.
WAIT ! To paint, you need to have a dry salt, so wait ! … 8 or 12h in a dry place ?
It’s seems to be dirt, don’t worry !
Paint (when the salt is dry)
Paint your part as usual, the salt will work like a mask. You can use a pre-shading if you want. But becareful to the pressure you use on your airbrush. If the pressure is too high, the salt will be remove. On this example, I worked with the Mr. color white C1 diluated at 50% and applied at 1bar.
Salt chipping
To finish, You must remove the salt. I used a toothbrush with some water and I brush … brush … and brush again. If you remember, I said you must use a hard and dry paints. That is the moment where you’re going to see if your paint it’s good.
Salt chipping on gunpla is a good way to have random chips on a your paint. I think it’s a simple technic which give good results.