1/100 Zerstore part 1

Because I’m not painting the blue or white pieces (actually I’m thinking I might mask the white pieces and paint some grey on them) I started with the small red detail pieces, the hydraulics etc. that I would need done ahead of frame assembly. I went for a classic candy coat combination of Alclad gloss black -> Alclad chrome -> Tamiya clear red.DSC09778 DSC09779 I love hydraulics on a kit, and these are great. I really like how the candy coat red looks on them.DSC09780The red pieces are moulded in a ghastly orange. They really need painting!DSC09781 DSC09782To ensure I got good results I used Alclad grey undercoat first to cover all the orange. I then used my now familiar combination of Createx pearl red topped with a coat of Tamiya clear red. This makes for a really strong, deep red. DSC09783 For painting and assembling the frame I’ve got into a routine of watching the instruction video through, pausing to separate each named piece from the runner, de-nubbing each piece, painting, and then watching through again for the assembly. The videos are painful and just completely the wrong idea, especially for the complexity of this kit. DSC09785 There’s not too much red on this kit, so I’m using red as my accent colour on the frame. Glossy Tamiya clear red contrasts lovely with the flat gunmetal.DSC09786 This is part of the knee.DSC09787There’s still some details to bring out with some Tamiya smoke, but I’m leaving that stage until more assembly is done. DSC09788 The hydraulics attach with small metal pins. This is a bit of a fiddle, but seems to work ok.DSC09789 DSC09790 The are the first two sections of the frame complete. They look pretty nice, but they will require more detailing as I get them all assembled together.DSC09791 Now for the first major assembly issue! The polycaps don’t fit. Some do with a minor trim on their edges, just enough to get them started. These ones needed extensive trimming.DSC09792And still they don’t fit.  DSC09794 But with more trimming and some brute force, they eventually fit.DSC09795Here’s the legs with their accent colour applied and drying. DSC09796More of the pieces for this section drying. DSC09797Here’s all the small pieces and polycaps for the rest of this assembly. Yes, that’s the metal lid of a whisky bottle packaging. They work great for water for decals, paint, or for stopping you loosing small pieces on your workbench!

4 thoughts on “1/100 Zerstore part 1”

  1. looking at your work and your discription i could feel the pain you must suffer 😛 I am painting my HG Fenice Rinascita and it is extremly exhausting as i have to be careful so i double check everything. Imagine checking things over and over again for a kit this big make me wanna quit, but hey you did a splendid job here, keep it going, i love it:D

  2. A lot of the pain would go with a proper printed manual! I got the legs finished, so I’ll get piccies of them posted. They look nice, but it was a tonne of work to get them done.

  3. Have you come up with a close color match for the blue? I realized the “down side” of the pre printed “camo” parts is that you cannot paint them, and if I paint the other blue parts they won’t match. Love your reds, I am totally going to poach the idea of the red highlights!

  4. Although I’d love to do my normal blue on those parts, I’m going to leave them as is, but detail them up with a panel line wash etc. Basically, once I’ve got the frame and the yellow pieces painted, that’s going to be all the paint I’m doing on this kit. I know if feels kinda weird but it’s probably going to make for the best overall results.

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