take a gander here, and check out some of the other builds on this site for gundam kits.
http://www.mechaskunk.com/store.htm
As far as the tubes, I mean the parts that go from the from of the head to the back, that have the ringlets that you place over a tube.
As far as colors, I never found a liking for the colors they used in the anime and box art, to cartoony, I always use more real colors, while keeping with the scheme. Like, I did a Cima Garahau custom Gyan, instead of painting it her colors of flat gold and a pinkish Magenta, I did it metalic gold and high gloss purple. I did a Groundpounder Gundam RX-79[g] instead of the classic whole white and blue, I did the white a off white tan, the blue I did OD green, and the red was done panzer gray. I did a PG Char's Zaku II, instead of pink and light red I did it a blood red and a deep red.
I always deepen or change the colors a bit, I always go with either pastels or deeper/darker colors, I use blue angel blue for and gundam blue color, I use blood red for any gundam red, and I use deep yellow for any yellow. Panzer schwartzgrau for most grays, etc etc
(pardon the poor quality of the builds, and the dust there older kits, except for the Gyan, if the paint didnt chip off a spot or two uder the arms, and the head didnt get a bit of a fingerprint in it, I'd enter that in a competition)