I’ve been continuing with the exclusive Patreon build of the RG Sazabi. So far I’ve got the inner frame painted up, as well as the legs and the body.
Next up is the arms!
More Sazabi paint.
Prime time
I’ve primed the leg armour for the Sazabi.
I am still unsure how many of you paint so many pieces of kit at once. This is just the armour pieces for the legs. Not even the inner frame bits, just the armour.
I have arranged them so I know what blocks need to be painted in the different reds and the black.
Once the primer is properly dry I will be putting the colours down. Then I’ll be able to see if I need to do anymore detail work and apply the decals.
Sazabi painting.
I’ve begun the process of painting the Sazabi, as I like to do with many sci-fi kits I have started with a primer coat of UMP gloss black.
It won’t actually make too much difference what primer I use with the mecha colour paints, as they have such a good coverage that it actually goes over any primer very well with one coat.
I intend to do the inner frame in steel, then adding some detail work by brush. I have both dark and light steel for this, as well as some golds and grey.
I’ll be doing the armour panels in the traditional red, but I might well mix up the shades on different panels to the stock version.
Every time I prime a kit in the gloss black I want to leave it as it is. The gloss gives a nice shine, and a lovely deep shadowing. It really brings out the detail in the kit. It’s almost a shame the vast majority of the frame will be covered up!
Deeeecals!
I have received my first ever pack of upgrade decals.
The RG Sazabi I’m building came with stickers. Don’t get me wrong, stickers have their place, but it isn’t on a nice kit. If you’re snapping together a small, simple model then they are fine to add some detail and colour. But if you’re doing a full paint job on a complex model you want something that properly conforms to the surface and blends in at the edges. Thick stickers just don’t give the same quality finish.
Bandai do lots of kits. The Star Wars range they do is second to none. High detail, great fit of parts, good colours. And they supply BOTH stickers for the “quick job” modeller and waterslide decals for the more “professional “ finish. But gunpla kits? Nope. Stickers. Ohh, we will sell you some water slides. But by the time you’ve added shipping to the cost they are somewhat expensive.
I was pointed towards some decals and went to buy them but for whatever reason they were not for sale in the UK. So I found some others.
Never having bought them separate before I had no idea if they were any good or not. My main criteria was cost and if they would actually supply them to me! It turns out the ones I got are actually quite a good brand.
Now, looking at them next to the stickers, there are notable differences. The most apparent is the fact there are fewer on my new sheet. As you might have imagined, the highly shiny metallic stickers don’t have a waterslide equivalent so I have to decide if I’m going to use them or paint the detail. As I’m going to be painting some detail I will have a look and see where they are meant to go and how they will look.
Sazabi strip
After completing the build of the Bandai RG Sazabi, I’ve started taking it apart.
As I’d only built one other Real Grade gundam, I wasn’t too sure about the fit, how it should look, the colour, basically most of the build. So I have been assembling it as the instructions show to get a feel for it.
Now it’s all together I can see how the articulation works, the colour separation on the armour, how much of the inner frame is going to be visible, and everything now works perfectly in my mental picture of it. (Yeah, right)
So, time has come to strip him back down.
I’m basically dismembering him and taking the skin off. I hope this post doesn’t get me in trouble……
I started with pulling him apart into the component sections- arms, legs, waist, etc. Then I started the armour removal. I’ve done a leg so far.
I did film the process, and it will become a part of the build series. It’s also there so I can check how it goes back together……
When I’ve got it all apart down to the frame I’ll be priming and painting it, then it will be time to see if I remember how it goes together…..