Friday, October 16, 2015

HMM Zoids 1/72 Red Horn Part 9

Unfinished mini pod and leg business

Done with the review on Play Arts Kai Gabranth, I finally gathered enough determination and bad ideas (XD) to pick up the work on Kotobukiya's HMM Zoids 1/72 Red Horn, which I left uncompleted back in June. ^^

First order of business is to detail what I consider the most interesting part in this entire kit: the Zoids Core.




For Red Horn, the core is shown to be completely left as a clear red ball in the instruction manual, even though it can be pretty ornate when detailed, like that in Shield Liger (right image).
Image of Shield Liger is from Hobby Search.


(Left) The molded line details are treated using Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (Gray) first.
(Right) With excessive panel liner solution on the part cleaned off using cotton swab soaked with thinner.


The round dots on the core are painted using silver Sharpie marker.


Done for the detailing on Red Horn's Zoids Core.


The recon pods' thrusters which were painted in Parts 4 (red) and 5 (dark gray) and are panel lined.
The interior of the thrusters are painted black using normal marker.


Test fitting the detailed parts onto the back of the recon pod to see how the thrusters would turn out when assembled. ^^


The painted cockpit seats from Part 4.


The narrow slits and tight corners inside the cockpits are treated using Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (Black).


Normal panel lining completes the overall detailing of the three parts, including the painted seats themselves.


The molded details outside the main cockpit are done using Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (Gray) as the light color would be able to reveal the details much better than black. ^^


Test fitting the cockpit module parts to see how the painted seat would turn out when assembled. ^^
The top part is going to be panel lined using Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (Gray) as well.


For the recon pods' cockpits, the vents located beneath them can be painted to emphasize the components' flight capability. ^^


(Left) The vents are painted red using Gundam Marker.
(Right) Touchup on the paint work, more panel lines are added to the part as well.


Test fitting the detailed parts to see how the interior of the mini pod would turn out when assembled. ^^


While the cockpit seats, thrusters and vents are all optional paint work, the missing scope on top of each hatch definitely needs to be added.


The scopes are simply painted using normal metallic green pen.


(Left) The tail of the main cockpit module has a section of raised platform but no additional thruster details.
(Right) The tail will stick out behind the head on the completed model, so some additional details would definitely enhance its image. On the other hand, since there is space behind the tail, it's safe to assume that any added detail will neither obstruct the assembly nor the head's movement. ^^
Image is from Dalong.


Adding thruster nozzles using external parts is something I did many times in the past, so not much planning is needed. ^^
The nozzles parts to be for the cockpit modules can be obtained from Kotobukiya's Modeling Support Goods (M.S.G.) P-114 Round Mold II. ^^


Comparing the different nozzles to the back of the part to find the one with the most suitable size for it.


Two sets of nozzle parts selected to form the additional thrusters.


(Left) The smaller pair are painted red using Gundam Marker.
(Right) The larger "containers" are painted black using normal marker.
Both sets of parts are really difficult to paint due to their puny size. ^^;


After the paint has dried, the smaller red parts are snapped into the "containers" to form the thrusters I wanted.


With the extra thrusters attached to the back of the cockpit module using cement for plastic models.


Extra detailing planned for the mecha details of the hind legs, and in particular, ...


... the fixed pair of pipes on each of the four parts.


The pipes are painted gold and silver using Sharpie markers of the two respective colors.


As I still have plans to detail some other areas of the leg parts, the spilled over silver paint is not treated at the moment.
The excessive gold paint will be trimmed off though.


Tiny red rings, which are designed purely for decorative purpose and not used as attachment points for the parts' assembly, are going to be painted red to emphasize their appearance. ^^


Since the vents on top the 3-Shot Surface-to-Surface Missile Pod were painted red (Part 4), then I guess the same part on the 80mm Surface-to-Air Double-barreled Beam Cannon should be painted the same color as well. ^^


The leg rings, including those on the four front leg parts are painted using Mr. Gundam Color UG04 MS Red Semi Gloss.


Closeups on a few of the 32 painted red rings. ^^


Besides the beam cannon's vents, the vents on top the main backpack part (left untouched since Part 6) are painted red as well.


Touchup on the paint work, more panel lines are added to the two parts.


Simple panel lining for another two backpack parts that are grouped with the main part.


A couple of the round details on the parts are painted using gold and silver Sharpie markers to highlight their appearance. ^^


As planned since Part 6, the mesh pipes inside the three backpack parts are painted silver using a normal pen.
The spilled over silver paint is going to be treated later when the paint has dried.


Continuing with the practice of detailing the small dots on large parts, two tiny dots on each of the side parts for the backpack are painted silver using Sharpie marker.
I have no idea what those dots mean for Red Horn, but I painted them silver anyway. XD


Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (Black) is used to detailed some of the narrow slits on the large backpack cover.


More round dots? More Sharpie paint then. ^^


Other parts for the backpack cover are detailed using a combination of normal panel liner and
Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (Black).


Sections of external armor pieces are painted black using normal marker to highlight their appearance on the parts.


Test fitting the painted parts with the backpack cover to see how the contrast between the different black segments would turn out when the backpack is assembled. ^^

More painting and detailing on the leg parts and a couple other components in the next posting. ^^

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