Superjedi's Animefan Budget for MB

[superjedi]

I finished the remaining damage on the dome. Now I can start working on the cheeks.

 

[superjedi]

I blocked in the dark color on the outer cheeks.

 

[superjedi]

The right cheek is finished. This kit came with a resin Borden and I'll be installing that after all the weathering is done.

 

[superjedi]

I finished the left cheek also.
Next step will be to mask everything off and lay down the red!

 

[superjedi]

Red! This really changes the overall appearance of the helmet.

 

[superjedi]

I added the damage on the keyslot area. I'll start working on the red band next.

 

[superjedi]

I finished the central part of the red band.

 

[superjedi]

Here's the left side of the band. I'll add the white thumbprints later during weathering.

 

[superjedi]

I finished the right side of the band as well. Now I'll go back to working on the front.

 

[superjedi]

I finished the left side of the brow.

 

[superjedi]

To wrap up the weekend, here's the right half of the brow. Mandibles, here we come!

 

[superjedi]

Here we go! The helmet is now half mandibled.

 

[Searay758]

Love seeing any kind of WIP thread, especially one of such caliber!

Mind answering some questions? (apologies if you've already answered these elsewhere and I'm bad at the search function here).

• Is it all acrylic, or are there enamels used as well?
  • What do you use for thinning your paints?
• I take it you airbrush the larger base coats then hand-paint the damages for areas like the dome/mandibles, when doing this is there a trick to reducing visible brush strokes?
• Lastly (not to jump the gun), what is your preferred sealer?

Thanks!

 

[superjedi]

To answer your questions, I work almost exclusively with acrylics. Most of the colors are from Archive-X and a couple are Model Master.
I do airbrush the main colors and add the damage topically with fine brushes. I just play with the thinning ratio to find a good mix that levels out well without leaving brush strokes.
I've used a few different clear coats over the years. Testors dull coat was great but it was discontinued. Vallejo makes good quality clear coats too. I've tried Krylon but it doesn't spray very smoothly.

 

[superjedi]

Not enough time today to get into the right mandible so I did the white thumbprints.

 

[shabad]

Another awesome Superjedi wip! You are amazing. I’ve been away and miss seeing your work, glad you are still at it! You must be a master now.

 

[superjedi]

Shabad! Now that's a name I haven't heard for a long time.
Thanks man! Hope you're doing well.

 

[superjedi]

The upper section of the right mandible is packed with so much detail! Just as with the big scrape on the right rear panel, it takes me a few sessions to get it done.
As usual I'm posting a collage of what this area looks like as I build the detail topically.

 

[superjedi]

The right mandible is all done!
This completes the basic painting on the helmet itself. I'll work on the ears next.

 

[superjedi]

I masked the helmet and sprayed the green on the left ear.