Wingin' It

All week I've managed squeeze in Gunpla and gaming between preparing meals and cleaning up, while catching up on my reading at work.  And just when I find my groove, I catch a cold from all the electric fans buzzing around at my job.  Apparently, that didn't stop me from carrying on with my routine (except for leaving my last shift early) and I've even managed to (finally!) finish a Gundam model.

1/144 EG Wing Gundam

After working on it bit by bit every day, I was at the final assembly stage with my Wing Gundam and the Wing Unit option set from 30 Minutes Missions.  With the Gundam, I really just painted the yellow parts with gold and a clear yellow overcoat, followed by a clear gloss coat.  Then I colored the panel lines with an enamel wash and added third-party decals meant for the Real Grade Wing Gundam.  I also painted the all-white wings with gold, red and a blue mixture to match the rest of the model before sealing it all with clear matte coat.

And this is the result.  Though satisfied overall, I've come across some issues that only matter if you look real close.  The clear yellow I added to the gold was old and left smudges mostly on the wings.  And speaking of clear coats, the matte finish came from spray cans for convenience and have not only tightened the parts to wear they can break or scrape paint, but may also have been the cause of some discolored decals on the shield.

The paint, thinner and panel wash have also made the tiny 'talons' on the Gundam's arms brittle and they broke when I tried clipping them on.  And I could've modified the shield to latch onto the backpack and recreate the Wing's transformation into Bird Mode, thought obviously it wouldn't have been lore-accurate.

Whether I'm doing straight builds or a full paint job, I always seal unwanted seam lines with cement and sand the surface.  Watching closely, I didn't completely erase the seams on the legs.  In which case I could've gone over the surface with putty, sanded until smooth and painted that particular area.  Or if I really didn't want to paint, another option was to snip bits of plastic from the white runner, melt them in cement, add that to the seam and then sand the surface.  Though the results still wouldn't have looked any better than if painted.

With this model finally done, I hope to carry what I've learned onto the other Gunpla taking up my living space, starting with a certain mesh of skewered green bits you may have caught behind Wing Gundam in these pics.  As I jump on that, make sure to catch me next time as I continue making my way up to the Top of the Heap.