[Project][WIP] Penelope Ep2: Simple Experiment for the Model Comprehend 1/144 RX-104 Penelope Gundoom build

Penelope Gundoom WIP#2: Paint Trial

どうも！
Last time, I finished painting the inner frame of this kit.  Next is kind of a side-track for this build and required me to do a simple experiment for my planned paint scheme - candy-toning.


Check out the first WIP log of this build here!

The Plan

My main plan in terms of the color-scheme for this build is basically an almost copy-from-the-box color scheme for the Penelope.  I will not be changing the colors but I will add more gray here and there.  That is simple enough. but to add in contrast of textures, I am going to be candy-toning the yellow parts of this kit.

If you've seen my build log for the HG GP02 MLRS, I turned the blue shoulder panels into candy blue which basically made a quite appealing contrast in textures.  Those were for only 2 blue small parts and I technically just used the basic procedure for this:

1. A smooth black base coat
2. A bright and smooth silver/aluminum coat
3. Pre-shaded the edges with a black tint (smoke) paint (optional)
4. A clear/transparent blue layer with a lacquer retardant mixed in

Following steps 1-4, the below are generally the result:

This was actually an experiment for the HG GP02 build
I tested both the transparent blue and red paints I had

Pre-shaded with black tint paint over the silver before painting over the blue

This time, the yellow parts will be showcased.  But before doing so, I needed to check how the yellow paint will react or what result it will have.

I actually already have 'pre-made' parts which I already have chromed and they have been curing for months now - they were supposed to be just test parts to test chrome paints I got months before.  Now they will be subjected to this candy-experiment.

Subject 1: The spoon

 

 This is a simple one: gloss black, Alclad II Polished Aluminum, and black tint for pre-shading.  I didn't achieve a good glossy base for this since the black paint resulted to an orange peel texture (probably due to some external factors), but it is the least of my concerns because my objective at that time was just to test my new Alclad paint and for this time, it will just work well enough.

Subject 2: The spear

This actually came with the Dragon Momoko Tallgeese II kit.  My younger brother built it but never truly finished so I just scrapped it.  I used it to test a new primer I came across and also to test the Bosny Chrome I got.  Note that Bosny Chrome is enamel-based, given so I have the least expectation of the result of the candy-toning on it as I am pretty sure the chrome paint will be eaten by the lacquer I will putting on (lessening the shine to begin with) but still worth to try it on.

For the spoon, the pre-shading used was just the ordinary black tint.  Since it is a yellow tint that I will be using, I wanted to check if a red tint can be used used as a pre-shade and so I did two preshading patterns for this one:

 This one above was pre-shaded with Bosny Honda Red, tinting the edges and recesses with red.  I think I might've gone too much as there was less chrome left and more of the red covering the surfaces, not to mention that the read was no longer a 'tint' coat as it already became a top coat.  Nonetheless, it still is a good scenario for this experiment

For the other side of the spear, I only tinted one half of the edge with red and the other with black.  The black tint is actually more transparent than the red and I already see that the paint started dissolving the enamel beneath it.  Anyway, it still is workable.

The Results

Now it's time to lay that transparent yellow on the subjects.  For this experiment, I used Bosny Yellow.  Here are the results:

The spear looks good enough but due to overdone red pre-shading, it's more red than the yellow I aimed for - it's actually more Iron Man-esque.  The other side, having more chrome left, showed the same effect actually but with the yellow more dominant.  But for this, you will notice that the chrome's metallic shine degraded.  The shine is basically no longer a metallic one but rather just the shine that comes from the paint's glossiness.  This is to be expected since the chrome used was enamel-based.  Also, I guess the red pre-shading will still also work if I don't overdo it the next time.  Lesson learned!

I think the spoon got the better results for this experiment.  The metallic shine from the Alclad coat did not degrade at significantly, allowing it to contribute better to the mirror-finish of the paint job.  The black tint also was able to create a shadowing/shading illusion.  One thing I have to note about the Alclad Polished Aluminum is that it innately has a darker chrome tint.  I noticed that it has a darker finish than the other 'Aluminum' metallic paints I used before, let alone the Bosny Chrome I used for the spear.  Still it has that nice dark gold finish which is worth trying out in the future.

The Verdict

I think for the Penelope, I will be going for the Spoon's results.  I think the black pre-shading is still appealing and more good-looking than the red pre-shading (but I would say the red pre-shading can be applied in my future projects).  Also for the silver/chrome layer, I will also try other paints for it.  I think I can produce a brighter/more vibrant result if used DS Paints' High-Shine Aluminum or Bosny Aluminum Silver as I found both of them to be the brightest so far.  Another great extra step (which I skipped in this experiment) that I will surely do in my build is to apply a clear gloss coat after the silver/chrome layer.  I will use an acrylic coating, the trusty Pledge Wipe & Shine (after the silver/chrome has fully cured) or the Vallejo Polyurethane-Acrylic Gloss Varnish I have for a long time now.  I am using non-lacquers as acrylic coats will not degrade the metallic shine too significantly and also adds an extra dash of glossiness for your candy paint to adhere to.

Now that the experiment is done, I'd like to list the paints used in this experiment.

Credits Rolling

Like I said before, I predominantly use non-hobby brand paints.  Most of these are decanted spraypaints which are, for me, easy to use and easier to acquire (and cheaper too) - of course minus the process you have to do for the decanting itself.

Bosny Black Tint for the black/smoke pre-shading

Bosny Honda Red for the red pre-shading

Bosny Honda Yellow for the Yellow Candy Coat

Alclad II Lacquer Polished Aluminum for the silver/chrome layer

With this I end this WIP log, hope you enjoyed and learned something from this.  More WIP logs to come :D