Blade Liger Completed

My completed work

I wanted to create a scene with the blade liger leaping off a slope but it seems the base is too small.

There are a lot of new things that I tried with this project like using an airbrush, a hobby knife, a side cutter during assembly of the kit (I used to use scissor and nail clipper), various weathering techniques and try making a custom base. 

 

I think the weathering is overdone, that it looks a bit too dirty. Perhaps some battle damage may make it look a bit better but I just couldn't bear to damage this kit as blade liger is my favourite zoid.

 I added zeke in the last two photos, it kind of blend well to the background. I am using the action base 1 stand to support the liger since it is not made for it, the support is kind of wobbly. 

By the time I started on this post, the group build is a ready over. I find the group build to be an eye-opening experience with lots of impressive entries. Lots of room for me to improve on my work, especially in the basics. 

Thanks for dropping by.

WIP Blade Liger

Lots of delay in the work due to the need to wait for both airbrush and spraybooth to be available. The spraybooth even broke down after a week due to the faulty adapter. I also damaged my airbrush nozzle which I have to get spare part as it is my first time airbrushing.

One of the reason I bought an airbrush is to try the hair spray technique for weathering. I find the technique quite difficult to get a good result as the base coat get in the way of the blue color tone, making it darker than I liked.

Hair spray technique consist of spraying the inner coat of paint with hairspray and sprinkled with salt. Then spray the intended color over it and when it drys use a toothbrush to brush of the salt to reveal the inner coat of paint. The type of salt used cannot be too fine as the more I paint the more of it get dissolved and the numerous coats of paint also make it hard to create the chipping effect especially on those parts without the salt.

The second weathering technique I used on the non-blue parts is the sponge technique which involve using a sponge with minimal paint to add rust effects. It is a much easier technique and it looks great. Although, it may not be the most realistic looking, it is the easiest to do.

The third technique I used is oil wash. It basically used to tinge the surface with a darker tone. I used brown oil paint thinned with enamel thinner till it is very diluted to cover the whole kit after the painting is done.

The last technique I used is tamiya weathering master. It is more of an add on. It can make certain parts have a more rusted look. It is quite easy to apply as it comes in compact packages with a brush.

HMM Blade Liger AB Bang Ver. Unboxing

 

The Blade Liger has always been one of the iconic zoids from the anime Zoids The Chaotic Century and subsequently The Guardian Force. The anime is also one of my favourite animes which I watch when I was in primary school but it was quite long ago so I have forgotten some of its story. If you are wondering who is Bang, it is actually Van if you watch the english dub version of the anime.

 Opening the box, you will see the runners. Nothing surprising here, if you are used to building gunpla. As you can see the pieces are already colored so you do not have to paint them if you do not want to. 

  Here you can see sliver and gold pieces and the clear parts. There are springs provided as well.

The instruction booklet and the decal sheet here but it is strange that the instruction does not show you where to put the decals on. The Van, Fiona, zeke and the zeke fused zoid core are all painted, something seldom done in gunpla so good job to Kotobukiya.

This is my second HMM zoid and I am looking forward to building it. I am thinking of trying something new on it like weathering techniques, diorama etc. I hope that it will turn out well and hope that I will be able to finish it in time for the group build.