2019 is slowly turning into the year of the Mecha Musume for me. As of this post, I’ve built three, and now I’m pretty hooked.
So before I get started on any of the Frame Arms Girls and the Megami Device kits (which I consider to be the Hard mode of the Mecha Musume genre), I wanted to practice on on something a bit simpler first so I could kinda get the feel on painting flesh tones. I specifically chose one of these Figurise Kits because the Bandai engineering tends to be a bit more forgiving than the average Kotobukiya girl kit. For this project I would be re-painting her into a KOS-MOS ver.4 colour scheme. Inidentally, that kit is also being reissued this December, so this would be good practice for it.
Painting
For a musume kit, there aren’t actually that many seamlines at all. Thanks to Bandai’s engineering, the only ones are on the thighs and shoulders. As per HG kits, there are still quite a few areas that needed some detail painting, mainly the stripes on the body, but also the visor, and the cat ears. The forearm is also molded in one piece, so I had to mask it to achieve the black/white split.
For me this was my first time attempting flesh tones (in the modern era), for my first try I think it ended up okay, though it could’ve done with a bit more Flesh Pink overall.
But for me, the toughest part was by far painting the eyes. To be perfectly honest, my handbrush skills are pretty crap, and while it looks okay from afar, it’s pretty rough when viewed closely.
White – Grey FS (100%) Base coat, followed by Mr Color GX Cool White (100%) for shading effect
Hair (Blue) – Gaianotes Purple for shadows, Gaianotes Cobalt Blue (100%), White is added for highlights
Gold – Gaianotes EX-Gold
Black – Gaianotes EX-Black
Blue (suit) – Gaianotes Cobalt Blue (80%) + Gaianotes Purple (20%)
Skin tone – White primer, followed by Gaianotes Flesh White. Gaianotes Flesh Pink and Flesh Orange are applied in shadow areas, followed by some light coats of Gaianotes Flesh.
Gallery
Pinup pose
With Armour
With weapons
Action Pose
