Gunpla Build: RG 22 Sinanju MSN-06S (1/144): Complete!

 Hey folks, welcome back! 

After a couple months of labor, this kit is finally done. This post will mostly focus on the base, which was a fun opportunity for me to flex my terrain-building skills.

I started by mounting a leftover chunk of 2x4 to a clay and cork roundel I found in the garden center at Lowe's. I wanted a nice, strong, sturdy base that wouldn't ultimately betray me, so I drilled out a hole in the wooden block and used a fairly heavy duty copper rod as the flight stand.

Riveting, unbelievable.

I next used some plaster rocks, actual rocks, sand, and Sculptamold Modeling Compound. I then primed the whole thing with grey primer.

Next up, I washed the whole thing with Woodland Scenics Earth Undercoat. I love this stuff and can't recommend it enough.

Once the Earth Undercoat dried, I gave the base a drybrush of some cheap grey paint. I just use generic brands from Michael's etc for this, rather than some pricey Vallejo or Games Workshop bottle.

To give the base a bit more realism, I broke out the weathering powders and went to town. I used a combination of grey, green, and ruddy powders to make a more convincing palette, rather than monotonous grey. These were blended using alcohol and a grubby brush.

Finally, I used a coat of hairspray to bind the powder down. As I've mentioned in other posts, hairspray seems to work most effectively without sacrificing too much of the dusty look powders bestow.

With the dirt done, I moved on to vegetation. I love adding trees, grasses, bushes, shrubs, and flowers to terrain and bases. Were it not for my desperate love of tabletop gaming, I would probably just make random landscapes and terrain features.

Once I was happy with the overall look, I painted the rims of the base with black primer to tidy up the overall look. I also glued on a felt circle cut to size, giving the base a nice, even bottom for secure seating. This was some primo work.

With the base ready, I then mounted my gundam. I drilled a small hole in the sinanju's jet pack and mounted the rod there, though I elected not to use glue. I'm sure I'll need to transport this thing at some point in the future, so keeping the two components separate seemed like a good idea.

I'm really proud of how this build turned out, especially as it's my first gundam kit. I learned a lot after working on this project, so hopefully these lessons will help me out in future builds. Here are a few key items I figured out via trial and error.

1. Poseable kits are a trap. Figure out the pose, then pin and glue the kit into that position.

2. If a kit comes with stickers, don't use them. They react badly to paint and are always glossy. I ended up peeling most of mine off during the painting process.

3. Flight stands are cool, but in the future I will probably magnetize or glue minis to the bases. This thing is wobbly and a little scary.

4. Edge highlights should be used sparingly. Fine detailing is fine, but for larger scaled kits like these, they tend to be extremely time consuming and don't necessarily add to the overall effect. Likewise, given the scale of the kit, the edge highlights can make things look cartoony.

5. Oil washes can be really cool, but aren't great for large areas. I had trouble keeping things consistent across the multiple parts and sub assemblies. Also, oil washes are sticky and can pick up paper towel dust, lint, etc.

6. If you're going to paint individual parts by color, make sure to mask off the connecting bits. I made this mistake and it cost me, badly.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this build! I'm sure there will be more gundams, MaK, Evas, and other large kits in the future, though I think I want to focus on 28mm and (my favorite) 15mm scale miniatures for a bit. There's something nice about being able to finish a miniature or small unit in one sitting.

Stay tuned for more updates,

-Nick