MG Sinanju

[mz3]

So I wanted to start something new and something I've never worked on before.



I've wanted to build this for a very long time, but just never got around to it. I found this at Hobby Lobby for 40% off. Time to get one done.



Its mostly built, I am going to go againts my normal weathering and paint this shiny shiny. There are ALOT of gold trims all over this thing. The kit has decals for these parts, but I want to paint them. I'm also going to break everything down and paint everything. Which means a ton of work. I also found some aftermarket decals to use instead of the stickers and dry tranfers.




For those in the know, I did try to fix the waist issue. I ran a thick gauge copper wire down the peg and filled in the open space inside the waist parts with apoxie sculpt. Let it dry and it still broke. The hole for the peg is just too tight. I sanded down the peg and slightly ground out the hole. I think it's still going to be too tight. So when everything is painted I will cement the waist together so nothing happens after it is done.



Fun fun

[kyledehart5]

Very cool! That is a neat looking unit. I am not in the know on that waist issue but looks like you’ve got that handled. Looking forward to seeing it come back together.

[mz3]

The waist won't be an issue at all. If you read about it online it seems to be a big deal. But having more experience then a typical gunpla builder comes in handy.

Anyway, fully built...












Right now the weapons are still dirty. I don't usually clean the nubs and seams on these until later in the build. These weapons are some of the best I've come across in Gundam. They can break down into different components and reconfigure in different ways.

Now time to break it all down.

[kyledehart5]

This looks like a super cool kit and it looks awesome built up already. Really am looking forward to seeing where you go with it from here.

[Real G]

I look forward to seeing this get built!  Such a cool and iconic mobile suit!

[Medicman71]

Very cool! I'm gonna be following and taking notes.

[mz3]

Neked robot....





Overts yer eye chit'rin

[kyledehart5]

[spook]

Dude that's Narley !

[mz3]

Ready for some frame stew...




Everything for the frame is sanded and cleaned. Time for seasoning.

[Real G]

Some shoyu for the Shinanju? 😁

Un, shoppaku te, yappari umai!

[mz3]

Tomato soup....





The plastic for the frame seems much softer then normal. I had 3 more small breaks. Nothing serious, I only had to pin this one.



There are 2 versions of this kit. The "Ver. Ka" version and the "OVA" version. The ver ka came out in 2008 and used ABS for the frame. Supposedly it was too stiff and kept breaking. The joints were too tight. This version, the OVA, uses polystyrene. But the joints are still pretty stiff. Obviously since I a few breaks.


Edit- technically there are 3 versions of this kit. Technically, technically there are 6. Maybe 7, I'm not exactly sure at this point.

[mz3]

145ish paint sticks later...







Frame parts are primed. There are like 160ish parts just for the frame. Mr surfacer 1500 black. I'll go over each part again and check for flaws in them. I already found a handful that need more work. After that I plan on painting all of it mr color metalic black.

[dupes]

That is a LOT of paint sticks. 😬

[mz3]

The joys of painting gunpla.

[mz3]

Blah...






Small update. Everything got a thin shot of mr color metallic black. I pulled out all the joint and upper torso parts for detail painting. And there's alot.




It will be a mix of brush and spraying.

[Real G]

Great googly-moogly, that is a LOT of paint sticks!

Are you going to do the multi metallic color frame thing that seems to be in vogue nowadays?

[mz3]

Honestly with the amount of parts, I think I'm just going to pick out details on the visible parts and not worry about anything else. I was always planning just a black frame. The metallic black was a spur of the moment decision.

[kyledehart5]

Man, that is a TON of parts. Wow.

[mz3]

It is, honestly I didn't really understand how many parts there were until I took it apart.

But enough of the boring stuff, time fo detail.paint...








I'm using AK real color markers for some of the painting. I was a little hesitant to tey these, bad experiences in the past with Gundam markers. But I think these are good. I'm only using aluminum and gunmetal. I also bought a liquid chrome marker from hobby lobby, using it very sparingly. The rest is being sprayed, mr color bunrt iron. There's a bunch of touch ups already, I did most of this after work when I was a little tired. Hopefully I'll do better today.

[mz3]

My eyes are killing me right now...














Still got touch ups, but I think everything I wanted painted on the frame is done. It's a combination of airbrushing(mostly), brush and the markers. The markers seem like they need 2 coats to get good coverage.

I just noticed there's one more thing to paint. 

[406 Silverado]

Somehow I missed this thread when you started it MZ. I really enjoy watching you not only build these up but paint and weather them as well. You just keep putting layer after layer of wear and tear into your builds bud.

Bookmarked!!!

[kyledehart5]

My eyes bleed for you!! Nice work.

[mz3]

Nov 11, 2024 19:01:05 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

I really enjoy watching you not only build these up but paint and weather them as well. You just keep putting layer after layer of wear and tear into your builds bud.

This one is supposed to be glossy and shiny. It's taking everything I got to not start damaging it. It's very hard for me!!! LoL!

Update...

I have started to reassemble the frame. I'm going over ever part again and making sure anything that shows will look nice.




Some of the red and black parts are built into the frame, so I have to leave some of it apart for now.

Some parts needed to be resanded and finished again...




The eye in the head was first painted with the liquid chrome marker then hit with tamiya clear green. It looks alot better irl....





The Neo Zeon symbol on the upper chest piece is like misshapen or not formed properly. I didn't even notice it until I was masking for the vents under it. It brush painted it and then hit it with black oil paint. It just looks weird. I'll try to paint it again with the gold after the oil dries...



And finally...



I thought I lost this part. It goes on the back and holds the tube and beads in place. I started tearing my desk apart for it. Luckily I found it in the small cup where I have all the thruster bells. Don't ask me how it got there. Mild heart attack avoided.

[mz3]

Update...










Most everything is together, I won't put the upper on to the waist until everything is done. I went over all the painted areas with a gloss lacquer to help protect the paint. It's was a waste of time on some of the parts.





The paint on the front of the joints on both elbows are rubbing somehow. I didn't anticipate this and I'm kind of stuck with it. I think the joint is flexing and causing the scratches. But, I had to glue the back of the elbows together to fix another problem. So there it is. Maybe I'll put a small amount of weathering on this to cover, there are some other small problems that are pissing me off right now.

That gold part under the chin, posted about above, looks like crap! I tried to touch it up and all it do was make it look worse. I took a macro pic of it and there are lines going across it unevenly. So I'll probably try to sand it down a bit and see if I can atleast hide them better. A wash seems to make them more pronounced.

Other than those, I'm really enjoying this build.

I got Full Frontal (the pilot) painted and install, but you can only see his boots.




Lame! 😆

[Real G]

That character sure had an odd name! I guess he doesn’t like company. I sure would not want to go around asking people if they know where I can find Full Frontal. 😳

The frame is coming along nicely! It looks like a functioning piece of hardware.

[mz3]

I always thought it was a weird name. Like something was translated wrong.

So, I think I fixed the elbows. I'm putting alot of work in to this one and didn't want to get screwed over by small scratches.

Last night I cemented the front of the elbows and clamped them forna few hours...




Then took a fresh exacto blade and carefully went into the gap between the joints and with the back of the blade started scrapping out material with the back of the blade...




I will have to sand the copper areas AGAIN and repaint them AGAIN. But I think I got enough of the plastic that was scratching out.

I also sannded the emblem on the chest piece...




Not exactly sure what I'll do here, but I think it's smoothish now.

Then I wasted an hour or so watching garbage...

[kyledehart5]

Excellent work. Nice job getting through the issues. I like the canopy with the pilot, whatever his name might be. lol.

[project510]

Dammit this is cool.

[mz3]

Small update....

I started working on the black armor parts. I went over each part with 2000 and 3000 sanding sponges to make sure they are smooth. Primed with mr surfacer 1500 grey.




Most of these parts will have gold accents on them, I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do this. I'm probably going to try a reverse wash. I'm not big on terms, it's basically just removing a top layer of paint on the raised areas.

I also only had 1 color of red, Tamiya xf7, so I ordered a few different shades...




I don't want the red parts to be just one shade. Right now I'm leaning towards using the Italian and Wine reds. I want the red parts to be a little more flamboyant than what I normally paint.