You know what makes this hobby absolutely toxic? When you get some kind of brilliant idea that you need to act on right away, otherwise you’re going to forget about it. Of course, I still have a backlog, but I don’t care! Chances are, if you give up on that idea it’ll get swept under the rug and you’ll forget about it. My current Master Grade addiction has proven to be toxic, but I’m gaining some pretty good skills out of it. Most of my projects lately have been strict out-of box affairs, but this one is going to be something a little different…
With my current Zeta Gundam kick, I felt it was wise to get a Hyaku Shiki. Problem is, there are three Master Grades of this thing. The first is the original release, with that SUPER gaudy chrome (not really my thing). The second version has no chrome; instead, a glossy yellow finish, and comes with the Ballute. The most recent release is the “High Definition” version, which has the same subdued finish as the HGUC with the Gryphios War set. Ideally, I’d like to get that version, but it’s impossible to find now. So, since I wanted to have a little painting project, I figured I’d grab the Ballute version, which also happens to be the cheapest. Go figure.
I was starting to realize the Mark II was going to have plenty of decals left over. Since the Titans don’t really have many Master Grades, I wanted to do something cool: Titans Hyaku Shiki. But I’m sure you’re saying, “But Sophie, those colors are so overdone!” Well yes, they are. Because of that, I’m doing the Titans colors from the Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam game.
…which are essentially Char colors.
In the game, there’s an alternate timeline where the Zabis survive the One Year War and Char joins the Titans as Quattro to take them down. He gets a pretty slick Hyaku Shiki out of the deal, too. So, I wanted to make that one. Char custom Hyaku Shikis have been done before but I don’t really like most of them. They either look too red or too pink. I think this color palette gets it just right, by basically translating the Zaku II’s palette over.
The red I’m using for the base is a mix of two parts white, one part yellow, and one part red. Yeah, I made a LOT of this. The other red is going to be British Crimson, a great choice for dark reds on Gunpla. The rest of the color scheme is just your typical blacks, gold, red, etc. I’ll probably top coat this with pearl coat. On purpose, this time!
But I’m not ready to be down with just a cool color scheme and decals, no way. I went the extra mile and grabbed one of the old light-up heads! It hasn’t come in yet, sadly. The problem is, it’s made for the old chrome kit, so I’ll have to strip the chrome off. I hear 409 cleaner works…
This is kind of a pre-game for this project, as I won’t be able to start this until I at least finish my High Mobility Zaku, so you’ll just have to wait and see! In the meantime, start your own projects with kits from FPNYC!
