Entry Grade RX-78-2 1/144

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.

Entry grade gundam model RX-78-2 black primer

Entry grade gundam model RX-78-2 preshading with multicolor coat

GreenStuffWorld blue, red and yellow paints used for 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.

Entry grade gundam model RX-78-2 base coat on the leg

Rx-78-2 chest painted with a pre-shading

RX-78-2 shield painted with a pre-shading

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.

To finish, I put medium rust pigments.