Starting another kit already? Well I’ve been waiting for this Slash Zaku for a few months now (no thanks to COVID), I eventually bit the bullet and got my fixer Joel from The Hangar Bay to DHL this guy to me.
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So here’s a top tip from me if you want to keep your building energy up, is to start your next kit before you finish your current one. Don’t underestimate the power of momentum, because this is what can give you the motivation and energy to finish 20+ kits in a year.
I also recently experienced this for myself, where I had just finished the Stormbringer Gundam. With no projects left to move on to, it was a real struggle to find the energy to even open the next box to work on.
But anyway, onto the build:
First up, this wtf is this blue?! There must be some kind of black magic in play, because while it looks kinda crap in person but my phone camera makes it look alright and even almost the kinda colour I might keep. But I think it’s gotta go, so off to Pinterest for some colour shopping.
Official Arts
Assault Shroud
I feel the colours on this kit are a bit of a throwback to the Assault Shroud:
http://inspiration999.web.fc2.com/duelgundam.as/duelas.html
Gouf Custom
Next is time to search up the Gouf Custom, which I think is the next closest thing in terms of colours. I really like these purplish blues as well as the faded jeans kind of blue, it’s pretty tough to decide which one I want.
Other
Here is an Instagram post by Ryan Lau who recently did this crazy over on a candy toy Xeku Eins. I kinda like the blue he went with, which is Titans Blue 2 + white.
Finally here’s what the MS looks like from the old PS2 game Rengou vs Zaft 2. It’s more of a muted greyish colour, but again I somewhat prefer a more purplish blue.
After visiting my local hobby store I picked up some paints which I think are kinda a close match to the colours I’m after. Azure Blue looks very promising and the colour of the cap reminds me much of the Assault Shroud blue on the Duel Gundam. The other two blues look like pretty good candidates for the secondary blue on the Zaku.
Rarely, rarely, do I ever resort to doing spoon tests for my colours. But since I’m VERY particular on my blues and this kit is predominantly my colour I decide to play it safe and do some tests on some of the spare parts on the kit. From left to right basecoats, Cobalt Blue + White, Azure Blue, Azure Blue + bit of Gaianotes Blue Grey, Mr Color Blue + White.
I kinda like the faded colour of the Azure, but the richness of the Blue + White, so I think I’ll do something that’s slightly in between.
This is what I end up deciding to go with. The base coat of Azure Blue + a tiny bit of Cobalt Blue. Painting with Cobalt is always a bit of a risk for me, as it’s somewhat flourescent and be overpowering. It can look very different under various conditions.
Next up is to dunk some white into the mix and spray some highlights.
I want to get closer to that faded look, so I add even more white to the mix and do a second round of highlighting.
Here is the final result compared to the original plastic. It looks a bit more satuated in the photo compared to what I feel it looks like in person. Again, a side effect of cobalt blue.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the results of today’s session, paint was coming out much smoother compared to when I was painting the Kyrios.
