MG Gundam MK II ver 2.0 - Titans Prototype Mobile Suit

Whoa. That's pretty cool. I like the way you 'reverse shaded' the panel lines. I never thought to do that, it looks good.

I'm currently building the MG Kampfer in similar colors (my first MG). Care to share the technique used to paint the metallic blue color, particularly that on the gun?

The gun barrel is clear blue over chrome. The barrel itself is aluminium tubing that I polished with fine grit sandpaper.

More info is here.

another cool effect is to use clear orange over chrome paint.  I used that as my skeletal color for my Ball, with one panel removed it made a nice contrast.

David

I've also used Transparent colors over Silver, Chrome, Gold, Copper..... You can come up with some really interesting effects that way. Transparent blues, reds, oranges, greens and so on. They make for some really cool metallic and semi metallic  effects.

I agree, that paint job is awesome.  I've built some Gundam models but I'm new to customizing and painting them.  I haven't started painting any yet, except a 4 no grade Buster Gundam for practice.  My question is, where do you guys get those cool bases for the models?  Do you have to make them or do they sell them somewhere?

The base I have used on this one is a simple brushed metal picture frame which I painted with Clear Blue and added a picture quickly put together in Photoshop.

Oh that's a great idea.  I'll have to remember that.  I'm going to try painting for the first time with my MG Hizack that should be arriving soon.  Right now I'm just playing around with Gundam Markers to change my HG Mobil Ginn.  I'm changing the really light sea-foam green thats on the wings and arms and legs to red.  But the G Markers are really inconsistant, sometimes thay go down darker or lighter.  And when I try to put on a second coat even a couple days later, the marker starts stripping the previous layer off.  But I love that base idea, I'm gonna try something like that with my Hizack. 

I used Gundam Markers myself when I began building Gunpla and I agree that they are very inconsistent and, to be honest, crap.

Buying an air brush was the best thing I ever did. I rarely use markers now - only really the fine tip ones for panel lines sometimes - and rely on hand and air brushing my kits.

I cant afford an air brush, but I will not paint my models using Gundam Markers, although I just used them to change the color scheme for my Ginn. I would like to hand paint my model but even though I've been looking for a week I haven't found much on hand painting these models. Almost everyone has an airbrush. Do you have any tips for hand painting? I can use the same paints right? And I'd really like some tips on how to keep it from having paint lines.

The trick is to thin the paint (less than you would to air brush) and do lots of thin coats with each coat in the opposite direction to the previous one (ie up/down then left/right then up/down again etc etc) until you get the correct colour.

I'm not a fan of hand brushing large areas, I only use brushes to do detailing and repairing bad masking.

Oh you would thin it even more?  So what ratio would you use?  I'm in the prebuilding step right now and I'm thinking about paint colors. 

Hey SG. I don't know your level of skill, so I'm just gonna tell you all the basics. I'm not trying to be condescending. I hope this gives no offence.

If you're painting w/ brushes, I offer the following advice:

Invest in a good set of brushes. This investment pays dividends on every model you build.

Red sable brushes are best, but nylon brushes are cheaper, and an acceptable alternative in most cases. Take care of your brushes, and they will be good to you.

Never paint right out of the bottle. The paint is never the right consistency, and having an open bottle causes it to begin to cure, which will eventually leave you w/ a bottle shaped lump of dried paint.

Instead, get yourself a paint palette from a craft store, the kind w/ little separate cups. They cost like $2. (There's a picture of one in  Buddho's "Unknown Starship #2" thread, in the background of the fourth and fifth picture down, on the first page.)

Put a few drops of paint on the palette, and close up the original container. Thin the paint w/ the appropriate thinner, so that it flows off the brush, but not so much that it starts to get watery. there's no formula for this, you just have to eyeball it. Keep a paper towel right there, to soak any excess paint off the bristles. Paint w/ fluid strokes, in one direction only.

Paint only one coat at a time. Going over wet paint w/ a brush will only create ‘brush-strokes' that might have to be sanded out later.

Allow the paint to dry completely before adding another coat. If you're using acrylics, this could be minutes. For enamels, it could be 24 hours.

If the paint is still transparent after it dries, apply another coat, in the same way, following the same direction as before. Never ‘cross paint'.

The nice thing about painting w/ a palette is that you can mix small amounts of paint right on the spot, for shading and highlighting effects.

Let's say, you're painting a set of grills/louvers. You paint them a medium grey (for instance). You can then take the same grey, mix in a little black (30% or so) and then paint the inside of the grill louvers, wherever there would be shadows on the ‘real' thing. Dry brush w/ the original color, and now you have added depth to your paint.

Then, mix some white w/ the original grey (again 30% or so) and drybrush the highlights. This gives a much more three dimensional appearance to your work, and its super easy.

Finally, if there is any way you can swing it, get yourself an airbrush. It will cut your painting time in half, and get you better results.

Hope I helped -JC

This is all brilliant and helpful information, perhaps you should think of doing some tutorials. :D I know I'm always willing to learn from someone who has your level of skill. 

 

Cosmic J wrote:

Hey SG. I don't know your level of skill, so I'm just gonna tell you all the basics. I'm not trying to be condescending. I hope this gives no offence. If you're painting w/ brushes, I offer the following advice: Invest in a good set of brushes. This investment pays dividends on every model you build. Red sable brushes are best, but nylon brushes are cheaper, and an acceptable alternative in most cases. Take care of your brushes, and they will be good to you. Never paint right out of the bottle. The paint is never the right consistency, and having an open bottle causes it to begin to cure, which will eventually leave you w/ a bottle shaped lump of dried paint. Instead, get yourself a paint palette from a craft store, the kind w/ little separate cups. They cost like $2. (There's a picture of one in  Buddho's "Unknown Starship #2" thread, in the background of the fourth and fifth picture down, on the first page.) Put a few drops of paint on the palette, and close up the original container. Thin the paint w/ the appropriate thinner, so that it flows off the brush, but not so much that it starts to get watery. there's no formula for this, you just have to eyeball it. Keep a paper towel right there, to soak any excess paint off the bristles. Paint w/ fluid strokes, in one direction only. Paint only one coat at a time. Going over wet paint w/ a brush will only create ‘brush-strokes' that might have to be sanded out later. Allow the paint to dry completely before adding another coat. If you're using acrylics, this could be minutes. For enamels, it could be 24 hours. If the paint is still transparent after it dries, apply another coat, in the same way, following the same direction as before. Never ‘cross paint'. The nice thing about painting w/ a palette is that you can mix small amounts of paint right on the spot, for shading and highlighting effects. Let's say, you're painting a set of grills/louvers. You paint them a medium grey (for instance). You can then take the same grey, mix in a little black (30% or so) and then paint the inside of the grill louvers, wherever there would be shadows on the ‘real' thing. Dry brush w/ the original color, and now you have added depth to your paint. Then, mix some white w/ the original grey (again 30% or so) and drybrush the highlights. This gives a much more three dimensional appearance to your work, and its super easy. Finally, if there is any way you can swing it, get yourself an airbrush. It will cut your painting time in half, and get you better results. Hope I helped -JC