MG Gundam AGE-1 Normal Part 3

I want me some hydraulic pipes!
Finished with the more "generic" panel lining work in the previous posting, it's time to revisit all the parts with another round of panel lining - the "conventional" method for me this time to highlight all of MG Gundam AGE-1 Normal's details. ^^

But before that, the inner frame parts of the thighs have a nice Easter Egg design feature (in my opinion). ^^


The connecting pin and slot right in front of the parts look very much like hydraulic pipes to me. ^^ The pin is going to be completely covered up when the parts are firmly attached to each others, but a little bit of work can be done to reveal that, which is why I called it an Easter Egg feature. Some effort must be done to take advantage of this feature. ^^

The idea is very simple: Just saw off a tiny portion of the connector so that when the pin is attached to it, not all of it would be "buried" inside. Paint the former gold and the latter silver, and a fixed hydraulic pipe is done. ^^

The two thigh parts can be connected to each others very firmly without needing that single pair of frontal connector and pin, so this little bit of modification won't hurt at all I believe. ^^


(Left) Since the pin is pretty short, 1mm of "exposure" is a safe measurement I think.
(Right) Placed the markers on the connectors using panel liner.


Instead of depending entirely on how well I can hold the saw for the work, a little guide to minimize error in cutting is much welcomed. ^^
Slices of double tapes are used as "ruler" to guide the saw after this.


A few simple vertical and horizontal slices using Tamiya Handy Craft Saw (introduced in the work on 1/100 scale Zaku Warrior with Blaze Wizard and Gunner Wizard packs' shoulder shield) and the unwanted 1mm-thick piece is off the connector. ^^


Immediate result after the work is foreseeable not pretty at all. ^^;


Done for the other thigh part as well.


(Left) The double tape guides used just now double as convenient little helpers to clean off plastic dusts around the parts. ^^
(Right) There's the hydraulic pipe I'm talking about earlier on. ^^


The rough edges around the connectors are smoothened using paper file.
The parts are well treated really, as I didn't put in a lot of time and effort for this task. ^^;


(Left) To create a protruding end on the connector, a piece of foil sticker is measured and positioned on the part.
(Right) Painted over using Gundam Marker Gold, the foil sticker attached earlier on becomes a fake part on the fake hydraulic pipe XD


With panel lines reapplied when the paint has dried.


For a little bit of extra details, the two little dots on each thigh part are painted red using Gundam Marker. ^^


(Left) On the bottom thigh parts, the pins are painted silver using Pilot Super Color Silver Extra Fine.
(Right) The molded parting line between the top and bottom parts is explicitly revealed using Gundam Marker Black.


Test fitting the painted parts to see how the components would turn out when assembled. ^^
And that's how extra details are created. ^^ It's really not so much on the intention of creating more details for this kit, but the fun of trying something extra instead. ^^ I always do that for my model kits, especially Master Grade kits since they have more parts and details, so it's not hard locating one or two parts in those kits with possibilities for some special details to be applied. ^^

Onto the detailing work of other leg parts:


The molded parting line between the left and right knee joint parts is explicitly revealed using Gundam Marker Black.


(Left) The segment beneath the knee armor and the inner frame part behind it can be painted to show a closer connection between the two parts.
(Right) The white connecting point between the knee armor and the inner frame part should be painted.


(Left) The protruding parting line is painted black using Gundam Marker, while the small area behind it is painted using Gundam Marker Gray.
(Right) The connecting point between the knee parts is painted using Gundam Marker Gray.


Painted the parting line areas on the lower leg armor parts black as well.


In case you're wondering, the painted parting line will form a more visible gap between certain areas on the leg, as seen on the line art illustration of the Gundam in the manual.



Simple panel lining for all the other armor and inner frame parts.


Repetition of all the same panel line ...


... and paint work for parts from the other leg. ^^
Will move on to painting the two figures in the next posting. ^^