MG Sinanju Ver. Ka Part 2

Surfacer day
Time to get started on Master Grade Sinanju Ver. Ka after the lengthy introduction yesterday. ^^ The definite highlight of the show - all the golden emblems will be painted first. ^^

There are many way to get the golden emblems. Using either the included foil stickers or water slide decals are two of the method already. I've also seen modelers did it with straight-to-the-target hand painting on all the black parts to get the emblems. For modelers with airbrush or spray can, there is also the somewhat lengthy method of spraying all the parts black first, then applying tons of masking tapes to conceal all the intended black areas before spraying all the parts again, in gold this time in order to get the emblems to stand out.

Personally, I would prefer the last method since it can give all the parts a more balanced paint effect, especially for those large parts with wide black areas to preserve. There are quite a few of such parts on Sinanju given its intrinsic size. The shield and chest pieces are the most obvious ones from this "category" of parts, and both of them bear the largest pieces of Neo Zeon insignia that represent this MS, so they must be done right! ^^

So, my general plan to paint all the parts with emblems (all the black parts):
(1) Surfacer to turn all of them to gray,
(2) Spray can black to paint them black,
(3) Hand paint all the emblems gold,
(4) Repaint with black bottle paint or panel line the emblems to get rid of all the excessive gold paint,
(5) Top coat all the parts to protect the painted areas.

The plan is not the same as the one involving masking tape obviously, since none of the tape is mentioned. ^^ It's not that I don't have that tool, but what's missing in my inventory is spray can gold. ^^; And it's not that there's none in the market for me to get as well, but the experience of finishing one whole can of a really expensive one just on the armor parts of MG Shin Musha Gundam (personal error is the main fault to blame for that) is quite a bummer for me to get by to pay for another one. ^^; Looking at how all the emblems are delicate in their design, I think I can manage with hand painting. ^^

Referencing the prior experience of painting the armor parts on MG Shin Musha Gundam, turning all the parts intended for the paint work gray using surfacer will come first. ^^


(Left) All the golden emblems are the obvious parts for the work,
(Right) All the vents on the skirt armors, legs and shoulder armors are shown to be in gold in the manual, so they are to be included in this paint work as well.


All the black parts to be painted are removed from Runner A.


All the yellow parts to be painted are from Runner B.


(Left) One of the part for the abdomen (A15 to be specific) is not included since the areas to be painted on it are just two horizontal bars. I think Gundam Marker Gold is well up for the task. ^^
(Right) The red bottom part for the shield is not included as well, since the long curves in the middle can be hand painted directly. ^^


All the targeted parts with their nub marks removed are grouped in a single paper box.


Exactly like the same work on MG Shin Musha Gundam, paper cardboard and bamboo skewers are used to hold the parts. ^^




Smaller parts or the ones without any insertion point on the back are pinned to the cardboard using Tack-It adhesive.


The larger ones or those with some insertion point on the back are supported by bamboo skewers.


Two bamboo skewers for the shield part for extra stability in its support. ^^


The same (leftover) surfacer from the paint work on MG Shin Musha Gundam: Mr. Hobby's Mr. Surfacer 1200.
The image is obviously a reused one from that previous posting, just to show how the can looks like. ^^




And all the parts turn to gray. ^^
After about an hour:




All the painted parts seem to have dried already, but taking no chances with this whole task, the next round of black spray can session will only come in a day after leaving all the parts to dry more. There's no rush anyway. ^^

By the way, it's after the entire work that I realized those yellow vent parts don't really need a layer of surfacer before they are painted gold actually, since all of them are already in a light color that can be painted over very easily. ^^;

A bit of wasted resources and effort already?!


... but I cannot undo it. ^^;