Perfect Grade kits are not something I’d consider building for myself these days. Ever since I learned how to actually paint kits I find them too much work and I can’t say I’m a big fan of the newer kits in the line either. My last PG build was the GP01 back in 2004, as as more and more PGs were released, I wasn’t particularly impressed at how the construction of the inner frame became simplified over time. Anyway a commission request came along my way and I decided I’d give it a chance.
After building the Exia, my fears were pretty much confirmed; this couldn’t live up to the nostalgia of building that old MkII or GP01, and felt pretty much like an upscaled MG with RG separation. To me the real joy of the Perfect Grade build is seeing the inner working of the inner frame and have it actually feel like you were building up a Mobile Suit rather than sandwiching six parts together to make a leg.
Anyway this kit took a whopping three months to finish, and it wasn’t even because there were a lot of parts to paint, but I lost motivation quite a few times and had to distract myself with a few other projects. I’m definately not cut out for building PG kits anymore and I probably won’t be tackling another Perfect Grade build in the near future, if ever. In the end though I’m very happy with how it turned out and I think it fit the client’s brief perfectly.
Painting
The client wanted an asymmetric greyish scheme with in the RG two-tone style, so I decided to experiment with some Gaianotes paints. There’s a series of greys in the standard line called Neutral Grey I-V, so essentially what I did was stack the greys on top of each other to create the highlighting effect. The main armour that’s usually white was Neutral Grey V, followed by Neutral Grey IV for shading, and the where the light grey would be is Neutral Grey IV, with Neutral Grey III for shading, and so on. It worked out quite well as I always had the exact colours on hand.
The client also wanted green decals, so I just got some 3rd party PG Banshee Final Battle ones from Delpidecal.
Black – Gaianotes EX-Black (100%) base coat. White added for highlights
Dark grey (white replacement) – Neutral Grey V base coat. Neutral Grey IV used for highlights.
Light grey (light grey replacement) – Neutral Grey IV base coat. Neutral Grey III used for hightlights.
Dark grey (right shoulder) – Neutral Grey V base coat, Neutral Grey III used for highlight
Light grey (right shoulder) – Neutral Grey IV base coat. Neutral Grey II used for highlight
Right Arm White – Neutral Grey III base coat, EX-White used for highlights
Blue (yellow replacement) – Gaianotes Cobalt Blue + Gaianotes Stone Green (can’t remember the mix)
Internals – SMS Gunmetal
