Restartt Hobby

Well, I already know a few things I'd do differently on this serpent custom.  Namely, Instead of doing all this work to each piece, I'd still do nub removal as I go, but I'd assembly the whole kit unprimed, and sand down seams and whatnot. Then I'd dssassemble back into sub assemblies (basically solid pieces, taking apart at each joint), and wash those.  Once dry, I'd just mask any interior joint parts, and then prime then paint as assemblies. But anyways, don't expect a lot of progress today.  This is a post to update on why I haven't made progress, though not for lack of effort.  But sometimes, when doing something new, it takes some time.  You've got to try a lot of things, and some wont work, and that's OK, that's part of the process. Just keep experimenting and never giving up. So: I was going to do blue digital camo.  I had like 6mm masking tape as my smallest masking tape.  This stuff: Now, this stuff seems just too wide to get a ...

As mentioned, I'll be handpainting this 1/100 serpent custom.  Today beings that process!  With a thunderstorm this evening I wont be able to prime more, but thats fine.  A nice shipment of more kits arrived, so I can start one of those in any downtime! I'm not sponsored, but I included the Newtype sticker because they had a good site, good selection, good deals, and things got to me pretty quickly.  I did do a lot of shopping around first, so I'll probably put up a post on my findings from that at some point, as several stores were just as worth looking at depending on who had what in stock and the amount and cost/kit of stuff you were buying. Anyways, back to the serpent!  Fun fact, this serpent is old enough to enjoy a nice drink after work (the dials indicate the month and year the sprue was produced). We last left off with the first few steps, the legs and torso, of the kit primed.  Well now we're going to print off a copy of that design we...

Just a short update today, but an important one! Now that all my parts are dry, I began priming! This is huge because once the primer dries on even a small subset of parts, I can begin the digital camo patterns, which will easily be the most time consuming part, and prime the rest while i'm doing my painting. Speaking of which, I need to double check I have all the shades of blue I need, and maybe amazon a few more - vallejo are my paints of choice, acrylic all the way! I tend to like a dark primer and the Model Color line for realistic stuff, where as I'd use a grey or white primer and the Game color line for more vibrant/cartoony looks. Both can look great on a gundam. I stick to the separate metal color line for metallics. Anyways, back on topic. First Thing I did is take my primer, put it in a ziploc bag (rolled tight so theres very little air). Then I shook it up and let it sit in warm water for 15-20 minutes. I find even on a nice, sunndy day like today, this ...

When we last left our intrepid hero, almost all the parts were off the runners, trimmed, and sanded. Now, they're ALL that way. It took quite a toll on the first round of sandpaper sticks, but hey, there's plenty more of those cheap babies left. So what to do next? We go the extra mile. I'm going to give everything a quick wash with some lukewarm soapy water, then carefully rinse them off and dry them. Why? Well, a few reasons. Historically, sometimes plastic miniatures came with some mold release still on the part. I'm told Bandai has been really good about this not being a problem recently, but its an older kit anyway and it never hurts to wash it. Secondly, I've been sanding these parts and want to get all the little dust bits off. I probably could with just some compressed air, but this is another, slightly more comprehensive way to go about it. Finally, I've been getting my fingers ALL OVER these parts, and human skin leaves oil on things,...