WIP: 1/144 HG MSZ-008A1 ZII-A1 Amuro Custom

Inspiration: 

    When the Gunpla Time UC Competition was announced in the Discord server, I felt like this was the inspiration I needed to build gunpla again. I took the opportunity to go to Discount Hobby Warehouse in San Diego, CA and look at their stock of kits. After browsing their selection, I opted to go for the unusual design of the ZII over the other typical options due to its origins in the Mobile Suit Variations. 

Being a Zeta series Mobile Suit, I looked to other Federation and AEUG designs for inspiration, which is when I came upon the Zeta Plus. While the grey variation seemed monotone and hard to pull off in plastic form, I really liked the red and white version, especially with the Amuro connotation.

Since I knew what colors I wanted, I looked online and was relieved to find that there was lineart that was compatible with Microsoft Paint. This helped save some time in the long run. Now I just had to play around with the layout - did I want to go for a straight pallete swap or something closer to the "inspiring" mobile suit. I was stuck on three options, so I put out a call for help which @TimberNewtype on Twitter responded to quickly. I sent him the three choices and we came together to come up with the final design below.

You can follow my progress on my Twitter @chetario starting on October 9th, 2018.

Process:

    Assembly: 

        Pretty standard construction. Snipped, assembled, and skewered the blue parts for painting

    Painting: 

        Colors:

• Mission Models Mecha Master Acrylic Primer - White
• Red: craftsmart Acrylic Paint Bright Red, Orange, White custom mix
• White: craftsmart Acrylic Paint White, Tan
• Frame: craftsmart Acrylic Paint Brown, Gray, Tan
• Light Grey: craftmart Acrylic Paint Grey, White
• Yellow: craftsmart Acrylic Paint Yellow, White
• Green: craftsmart Acrylic Paint Green, White
• Vallejo Gloss Varnish
• Vallejo Matte Varnish
• Vallejo Model Wash - Black

Primed all the parts using Mission Models Mecha Master Primer - White. 

Sprayed the red using a combination of  craftsmart Acrylic Paint Bright Red, Orange, White custom mix

Sprayed the grey - craftsmart Dark Grey, White mix

Sprayed the Yellow using craftsmart Acrylic Paint Bright Yellow, White

Sprayed the off-white - adding a bit of Bright Yellow & Golden Brown

Masked off the stripe

Sprayed the Oil-Rubbed Bronze mix - my favorite frame color.

Testing all the colors together for the first time.

Assembled all the pieces. I lined and detailed the kit. 

Took this opportunity to see the MA mode.

Stay tuned for the post with all the finished photos.

The pictures above were taken with a Samsung Galaxy S9+.

Thank you for reading this post and the support. Constructive criticism is always welcome and I will likely respond to each comment. Advice on how I can improve is also appreciated.

Keep Building, My Friends!