At this point, the Gundam is not yet complete, but with so many individual pieces now assembled, I decided it was time to give them some topcoat. When I built the Zaku, I ended up going through an entire can of paint. In fact, I ran out as I was spraying the last piece, before I could cover it all (thankfully this didn't result in any obvious cosmetic flaws). I resolved to do better this time by being more accurate and efficient at this process.
My biggest mistake when painting the Zaku was that I held the spray can too far away from the pieces. After a single spray, the part would look like it had been left out during a light rain. It took far too many sprays to coat any one section of the model. This time around, I looked up tips on spraying techiniques, as well as on the best distance for holding the can. Did these techniques help save any paint? The jury is still out. I feel like I used less, but I did have to make multiple passes on several pieces. The can feels light, but it felt relatively light when I bought it, so I can't quite gauge how much is in there. We'll find out sooner or later, since I still have to paint some of the model's biggest pieces.
And how about the results? Once again, I think I did a better job at this step in the build process than I did with the Zaku, but I still have a lot of room for improvement. The leg piece and the Core Fighter look gorgeous; in particular, the clear parts of the stickers look entirely invisible on the white and grey armor of the leg. The feet took well to the paint, but the front sticker on one of them looks nasty. These standard issue decals already stand out against dark colored plastic, but if they suffer any amount of discoloration or warping during application, the topcoat makes them stand out that much more.
Most problematic of all, however, were the accessories. The Bazooka and Beam Rifle took multiple coats of paint, but still look a bit spotty. With the rifle, this actually resulted in giving it a realistic, gunmetal-type effect. The bazooka looks fine in all but one area, which I may spray one more time at the end if I have any paint left. Then there is the shield, which took the most amount of work. The paint just didn't seem to want to stick (This might be the result of the cold weather). I managed to cover the whole shield eventually, but for some reason one half of it has some weird discoloration. It isn't foggy, but dark in tone. You can't see it unless you're right up close, but I'm puzzled as to its cause.
The biggest lesson I learned from this round of painting was to be patient. My excitement got the better of me, and as a result I tried to do this on a day with less than ideal temperatures. Futhermore, I originally planned to clean off each piece with a soft cloth before painting, so as to remove fingerprints and sweat. I forgot to actually use it on all but a few pieces. I've gotten better at taking it slow and steady with every other step of the process. Why don't I do the same when painting? If I had to answer, I see it as the one step of the process which has the highest chances of screwing up the look of the model, so I want to get it done and over with before my obsessiveness lets me screw it up. I need to find a better balance.
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