MG Gunner Zaku Warrior build post-mortem

I’m going to trial a new approach when it comes to documenting my builds. Since god knows when I’ll actually get to taking proper pictures of all my kits, I’m doing to do these post-mortems after each build while the experience is still fresh in my mind.

So basically here are the paint mixes I used:

The manual recommends Salmon Pink 75% + Russet 25% for the pinkish red, however there is no lacquer Mr Color equivalent for the Salmon Pink. I substituted Gundam Color Char’s Pink instead, and the mix was swapped around (75% Russet with 25% Char’s Pink). I then added yellow + white for shading, but this didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted, so I had to do quite a lot of corrections. I ended up having to mist a Russet + Yellow mixture over and kind of post shade with this colour on the edges as well as more highlights.

The dark red is Russet plus a bit of black, my first attempt I added too much black and I ended up with a dark purplish red instead. I then added yellow and a bit of white for shading.

The purple is White + bit of russet and a bit of purple. I then added more white for shading. For the front skirts, I first painted the back a dark frame grey, masked it off and then painted the purple parts.

This kit reminded me that Red is probably my least favourite colour to paint and I think on most if not all of the Red colour MS I’ve painted I’ve never been able to get it right on my first go. As a note to myself, never add white without adding yellow first if trying to shade red, and adding black to red makes it purple. If you want a darkish red it’s better to add green instead.

For the internals, I used Gaia Gunmetal, for the more visible parts like the cables and knees, I used a very light mist of SMS Stainless Steel over a gloss black.

For the monoeye I used one of these stickers I recently bought from Delpidecal. Once I applied it to the camera the clear piece A7 couldn’t fit anymore so I just left it out.

Also the Wizard Gunner has some of the worst seams in any modern MG kit, so I had to do the following:

• Fix seam J15+J16 with B23 assembled inside (Step 13-4)
• Trim pegs on G1-1 (scope), this will allow it to be easily installed after painting
• Fix seam J6+J7 (omit I2-5) (Step 13-5)
• Fix seam J4+J5 (Step 13-7)
• Cut piece I2-5 (the red gun sight) in half, so that the triangular piece can be slotted in after the seam is fixed and painted
• Install step 13-4, 13-5, 13-7, J10 and seal seam J2+J11
• Once the gun is painted I2-5 can be installed.

For the sight, I first painted the blue sensor where the sticker normally would go, did a black enamel wash, then masked it off and painted the white.