Model kit project: 1/144 HGUC GM Cannon - 11

Update 11: Finished photos

Model kit project: 1/144 HGUC GM Cannon - 10

Update #10 - Seal it all away

I finished up painting the last major details (wrist plates, knees, chest vent) with my airbrush and proceeded to touch-ups using a traditional brush, for tiny flaws in masking and hard-to-reach spots.

Not pictured: tiny flaws and hard-to-reach spots.

Unfortunately, a minor disaster struck while painting the interior of the visor: one of the stupid antennas snapped off!

NOTAFINGA!

It tried to sabotage me on purpose. I didn't even see where the antenna landed, so reattachment wasn't an option. I moved on to finishing the remaining paint details and waited to obtain replacement antenna.

Six of these components are being good little model kit parts and behaving themselves by not breaking. One of them is intentionally trying to screw me.

My go-to for scale model antenna? Framing nails. I absconded with a couple from my supplier and, after removing the existing 1 and 1/2 antenna, used my pin drill to set holes into the antenna mounts on the back of the head. I ended up breaking my drill bit, mangling the antenna bases and having to resculpt them, and nearly supergluing my fingertips together. But I think they'll work as replacements.

I hope you're happy, GM.

Once in place, I masked and blasted them with a coat of primer and proceeded with clear-coat sealing the remaining components. I settled on a satin finish to better replicate the semi-glossy look of bare plastic and avoid looking too glossy (and too much like car paint for me) or too flat (like it's been left as unsealed hobby paint and reminds me too much of miniature figurine).

Also I've seen the full-scale Gundam statue in Toyko and it was semi-gloss, so there.

Clear coating is pretty much the same process as priming; secure parts to a board and spray outside. I went back later to the head after painting the new antenna to clear coat it as well. This involved cutting recommended dry times short but I figured in the worst case I'd simply have to strip and repaint a pair of nails white.

You're holding up the whole process. I could have reassembled the whole model by now.

It was well worth the rush. The GM Cannon is finally finished and more poseable than many other 1/144-scale High Grade kits of the last decade, let alone the old GM Cannon kit. I added some decals from both kits before clear coating as a last layer of detail.

Ta-da! Ta-da forever!

It's far from perfect but I know most of the flaws are hard to notice. More importantly I accomplished all the main features I wanted this conversion to include and pulled off a decent paint job, and with a project that was probably bigger than I should have tackled as my first 'major' project. So it'll be a centerpiece for my connection and the will be more to come in a similar vein.  I will take some more photos and upload a gallery as a final update.

Model kit project: 1/144 HGUC GM Cannon - 09

Update 09:Airbrushing!

I took my airbrush out for a spin this weekend, after waiting a week to both find and receive the right air compressor hose coupler (see, the first one I found was a 1/4" coupler but wasn't in stock locally to compare and confirm so I ordered it anyway off Amazon, which turned out to be the wrong size so I ordered and finally received the correct 1/8" coupler). I separated some of the parts that needed to be all-black and all-white and gave them a solid coat.

By the power of greyscale!

The airbrush is a G233 Master Airbrush, dual-action with a gravity-feed paint pot. It's pretty no-name as far as manufacturers go but for $30 I'm very impressed with it so far, especially since I swear I spent more than that on a plastic single-action airbrush 15 years ago (and hardly used it). This one is easier to maintain and clean than my past experiences, which let me switch colors without hassle.

I'm never going back to brushes again.

As usual, red acrylics take more layers to build up a decent saturation level, but the airbrush atomizes the paint so thinly it's ready for more coats in moments. I'm used to projects requiring several times longer to get to this stage, so I'm happy with the progress.

Close to completion.

 But enough gushing, I still need to give most parts another layer to touch up, paint the knees and wrist plates black, the left chest vent needs to be painted yellow, and quite a few parts of the torso need to be masked so it can be painted black and white where needed.

As requested, a shot of the robot's hinder.

Another evening of painting should take care of the remainder, so stay tuned.

Model kit project: 1/144 HGUC GM Cannon - 08

Update 08 - Ready to paint.


With the purchase of an airbrush it's time to add the few remaining parts and give the GM Cannon kit one last layer of sanding and priming. I cut out the parts for the hands and finally glued on those antennas.

Hopefully the 'rabbit-ear' look doesn't suddenly ruin the kit for anybody following this.

I added the remaining Greenstuff to bulk out the pistol grip. It's not well detailed but the hands will cover it most of the time. I end up carving out the barrel vents later and sanding/priming it again.

That scene in Star Wars where Obi-Wan cuts off Pondo Baba's arm in the Mos Eisley Cantina.

Next time I do this amount of resculpting I should add more putty than I think is needed and go heavier on the sanding, but I may need petty better suited to that amount of sanding and some more specialized sanding bits for my Dremel.

"Action" pose.

 The last parts needing prep work are sanded and taken outside to spray with another layer of primer.

These fossilized remains found in North America date back c. late December UC 0079.

I'm happy with the results, enough to re-assemble the kit simply to marvel at the results of all my kit-bashing and conversion and resculpting. I've done little sculpting changes on 28mm miniatures before and built/painted basic prop items but this is an extensive craft and painting project in my book.

"All I know is: I gots a statue!"

I'll update again this evening to bring the project to its real-time status, now that my airbrush setup is well underway.

Model kit project: 1/144 HGUC GM Cannon - 07

Update 07 - A healthy layer of spray primer.


With all the parts finished it's finally time to prime them all for painting.

Except those antennas. And the hands.

My primer of choice is Krylon's flat grey spray primer. It's easy to find at most hobby or hardware stores and dries enough to handle in about 10-15 minutes.

Don't spray prime on or next to anything you want to keep, such as the hood of your car.

The primer provides a surface for acrylic paint to adhere to strongly and consistently, as it easily chips off otherwise. I use grey as a compromise between white (which enhances bright colors) and black (which provides a well-shaded undercoat).

And there you have it! It's done!

Behold its flat grey majesty.

Actually it's not done, still a few places that are too rough or uneven that need to be sanded and given another coat of primer.

Or maybe I could pass it off as a White Dingo Squadron GM and call it a day.

I'll have another pass at priming shortly. After that and I'll need to take a break to practice with my new airbrush before tackling the GM Cannon.

No it's still not done yet. I'll tell you when it is done.