This week’s challenge on Xi was white, and how to paint it. I’ve always found white paint a challenge in that it seems to show every imperfection, and as often you need multiple layers of paint to build up a decent white, that just amplifies the issues.

I tried some different mixes of the Createx white paint (because I have a massive bottle of it), and:

• 99% isopropyl alcohol turns it to cheese
• Tamiya Lacquer thinner mostly works, but there’s some cheese that rapidly clogs the brush or projects small pieces of cheese onto the piece
• my previously used mix of Future Finish and Tamiya acrylic thinner works the best, but you do need at least 2 layers, the first one being very thin.

 Once the white pieces where done, more assembly could begin. I went through the instructions in order, which is somewhat strange for me. The fit on the head sections was very tight. I had to take the side off, open up a hole where to top peg was to go and re-try to make it fit. Here’s all the white pieces getting their panel lines done. I used my usual oil paint wash, and that works very well over the white with a Future Finish top-coat to protect the paint.  The main chest section assembled reasonably well. It’s strange though that the front blue piece sits over what looks to be a smaller mech’s armour on the inside. Was this kit designed around the shell of another kit?  I’d got some free metal thrusters with an Ebay order, and they fit just great on the backpack here! I just had to trim and sand the pins a little to get them to fit. The lower red section was a very very tight fit. I had to trim the red piece to ensure it could fit. The trickiest bits so far are these wing sections that fit over the shoulders. You have to slide the wings on from the back and locate a peg (that bit was easy) and then place the side panel on to lock it all in place. The side panel is a tight fit, and the pegs so tight that it’s really hard to get enough force in to close everything together well. Then you add these smaller sections to the front into the polycaps of the rear wing section. These triangular shoulder wings went together well, but their fit onto the shoulders isn’t too strong, and it’s hard to get pressure onto the shoulders to snugly hold them in place. The skirt section went together reasonably well, but again you’re building outer armour on top of other armour pieces that look to come from another mech. Same with the arms where the large side sections snap over what looks to be complete arm armour from another kit. The shoulders are a tricky fit, and they could really do with a top section to hold the two sides together better.Detail and panel lines are good.Onto the legs, again we build inner armour, over which more armour will be fitted. Hobbymate supplied two metal thrusters with this kit, so the next thing was to mod the existing leg thrusters to adapt over to the metal ones.I took the plastic thrusters and cut off the bell, and sanded down what was left. I drilled out the hole until it was a good fit for the metal thruster’s pin.And now we have two nice metal thrusters with plastic mounts to replace the plastic thrusters!The legs have good panel detail, and I do like these blue sections.The feet are pretty basic with limited articulation on a ball joint polycap.I do like the detail on the shield. I masked to make these dotted sections grey to match in with the similar patterned sections on the main body of the kit.And putting it all together, it does stand without falling!The shield clips on firmly which is nice.And from the back you can see the nice detail on on the leg and the metal thrusters.

I guess now it’s time for decals, and there’s lots of them……