by Keith
GENTLEMEN, BEHOLD! ANOTHER ARTICLE!
It’s been kind of a long road working on the Arche so far, and progress to this point has been relatively slow. Thankfully, that won’t be the case this time! I motored through this week and finished up the Arche and I’ll be documenting it here for you.
When last we left off, we had tinted the Arche’s various clear bits and assembled the drive core and most of the lower legs, so this time around we’ll start there. The shin-plates come next. The kneepads get sprayed Vallejo GC Skull White, same as the other white parts, and the big red bits Gore Red as per the rest of the red parts, then assembled as per instructions. Thighs are assembled and painted, then pegged into the polycaps in the knees; the assembled legs can now be affixed to the groin assembly we built and painted before.
Next up is the torso and arms. The top and bottom of the upper torso were painted Gore Red before the yellow vents in the torso were painted Testors Model Master Acryl Insignia Yellow and inserted into the former, which were then closed up. There is a strip of technological detail on the top of the upper torso, in the neck area, that gets painted the same color as the frame, and a similar stripe on the bottom of the backpack; these were masked and painted in the manner I described a couple articles back. After adding the cockpit cover to the upper torso, it and the backpack can be attached to the torso GN drive.
Forearms next! It’s a good idea to spray the parts of the forearms near the elbow joints red before assembly, then the bottoms of the arms after assembly of the forearms and wrists to minimize visible seams. Paint the bicep sheathes, then assemble with the forearm/elbow jobbies and shoulders and attach your now-complete arms to the torso.
Next up is the head, and this is a bit tricky. I painted the back of the head and the face red, and the chin in the frame color, then hand-painted the eyes with an undercoat of Vallejo GC Gunmetal Metal and went over that with a little of the purple ink (unthinned) I used last time for a nice purple shine. The sides of the head were painted red before assembly and the cheek vents handpainted in the frame color (3:2 Gunmetal Metal and MC Beige Red) then the chin added to the face, face and back assembled with the head sides, and the top of the head sprayed red again to hide the seam. The white antennae (Don’t forget to remove those unsightly lobes they mold on the antennae to keep kids from poking themselves) and forehead sensor were sprayed white, and the lens on the latter painted the same way as the eyes. These bits can then be added to the head, and blammo!
Before moving on to the weapons, some other details need attention. The inset detail on the shoulders and the wingtip lights on the backpack get painted in the same manner as the eyes. The innards of the GN Fang containers also got painted here, the Fangs handbrushed with Skull White, the surfaces they rest on left the gray they were sprayed in, and the gray overspray painted over Gory Red by hand as well.
Almost there! The GN Shield halves get sprayed skull white and the vanes gory red. Time for the main event- the GN Buster Sword. The handle is sprayed white and the barrel in our frame color, then assembled into the back half of the blade, and the front half assembled over it, with the handle masked off and the blade sprayed gore red. (while closed! This is important!) The weird rectangular detail bits are then masked and sprayed in the same manner as the white bits and torso bits way back when.
All the assembly is now complete, but we’re not quite done yet! Give everything a good coat of your topcoat of choice- I use Model Master Acryl Clear Flat, and I recommend it to you- it eliminates the toylike sheen kits often display and dries satiny smooth and not rough or pebbly. Mate backpack, body, and weaponry, and you’re done! I recommend display on one of Bandai’s Action Bases, conveniently available in a sparkly translucent red evocative of a stream of exhaust from a GN Tau drive.
Thanks so much for reading , folks! I’m not sure when I’ll be back, or what I’ll be showing you on my return, but it should be pretty good!
