After waiting ages for the 1/60 Strike + Stiker Weapon System Pack to arrive, I’d already built the RG, and didn’t feel like building this kit at all. And then I had the idea to try a more custom version. I’d been really happy with how MG Sinanju had come out, and wanted to do the same red finish on the Strike, but the Strike is all boxy, not curvy.The shiny red finish shows up best on curves, so I took all the outer armour pieces and sanded them until all the bevelled edges were gone leaving a very smooth looking mech. I then added some small extra details to break up the flat areas – you can see them most clearly on the legs and shoulders.The red armour sections got the Createx pearl red followed by Tamiya clear red treatment, and lots of Finish floor polish on top! Hand shading was done with the Payne’s grey, and then more Finish.Feet are Alclad Gunmetal, and the rest of the grey or black areas either pure Alclad gloss black, or with added shading with Alclad Chrome, all finished on top with Finish.Here you can clearly see the added detail section and the smoother armour. The detail sections have some Alclad chrome on them, so they catch the light differently from the surrounding areas, even though the “colour” is the same, dominated by the coat of Tamiya clear red on top.It was tricky to choose the right colour combination for the V fins, but ended up with the larger ones in Alclad pale gold (I used this throughout for all the gold on the model) and Alclad Gunmetal for the smaller V fin. I just had to add the detail of the gold section to break up the backpack, again in Alclad pale gold.