I bought the original kit when new, so no Fleabay (Freebay) pricing!

My figure painting friend has painted metallics on figures before and achieved good gradation.  How, I do not know.

Might have fluctuated a bit but 4800 is really cheap, going by closed search on yahoo Japan auctions it's going between 15000 to 25000 yen.

https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/closedsearch/closedsearch?auccat=&tab_ex=commerce&ei=utf-8&aq=-1&oq=&sc_i=&exflg=&p=%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%90%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3with%E3%82%B9%E3%83%9A%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3%E3%83%AB%E3%83%99%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB&x=38&y=23

The problem is the details are all 'metallic' which are somewhat difficult to paint with a brush for a smooth finish. Mostly because good metallic paints are not brush paintable...

Armornut,

Heh-heh, no.  "Hairy stick" was cribbed from the guys over on Britmodeller!  Fude (foo-de) is Japanese for brush.  

A friend of mine is very good at brush painting, so I'll be consulting with him for tips.

    Sorry Neal but I gotta ask....is " hairy stick" a direct translation from Japanese?? Just trying to have alittle fun my friend.. Paint brushes are really becoming a lost art, in modeling anyway.

    Looking foreard to your magic on this figure good sir.

Actually, the JPN price for the original vinyl kit was about the same as the new plastic kit!    I also had the vinyl kit, but bought it in Japan, so I paid about 4,800 Yen.  I never built it, so I sold it to a friend.  I can imagine buying it in the USA or another country other than Japan would have doubled the price.

The filigree detail admittedly looks challenging, but I figure what better chance to hone the old "hairy stick" technique?

I have the vinyl kit this was based off on, and was one of those 'IT' kits back in the days for how ahead of the (vinyl) time it was. So also bought this for a fraction of the cost of the vinyl kit. The masking though...someone need to produce a masking set for this..

My thoughts were to go for a muted organic palette with metallic filigree.

That's cool! Like the organic Western knight type design. As much as I like the samurai look this is a nice change of pace. 

Are you going with something like Alclad chrome for the armour look?

Perry,

The kit measures about 7 inches to the top of the crest.  In terms of head height, it is about the same as a 1/144 Gundam.

I hope Max Factory can do a plastic kit of the OVA version of the Zwarth, but Kotobukiya was the company that did the resin kit.  The TV versions of the aura battlers are kind of outdated in appearance.

You should see the others in the series.  I have one or two in the garage.

   That is so cool Neal, you Islanders always get the cool kits LOL. Figs are not my fortay however those who do them have my respect. Man that is neat. 1/72? About how tall?