Moving along at a steady pace (Week 4+5)

It turns out posting on time has been a bit harder than expected. I'm technically a week behind, but I got more done between this week and last week, just haven't had the time to log it.

So, let's jump right into this week's update! Hi-Mock is fully primed and ready for the next stage! That means this week's assignment is to finalize a color scheme and a game plan to paint and mask properly to avoid extra work. Proper planning is the key to success here.

So, I gave in and did a test fitting on the Hi-Mock shortly after I posted the last update... Nothing scratched, which was good. Seeing how smoothly (in my opinion, anyways) the primer was, and seeing how most of the sanding mistakes got covered up was pretty rewarding. But, obviously, Mr. Surfacer isn't a cure-all, so some of the bigger mistakes are still noticeable, much to my displeasure. I made a note to pick up some modelling putty for the small touch ups in the future, but I think those scuffs will be a good motivator for me to try chipping with either salt or a sponge, but at the very least, this thing is getting some dry brushing.

I also managed to squeeze in some time in the morning this last weekend to finish painting the lower half. Of course, in the rush of things, I had cracked one of the foot pieces that connects on top of the sole, so I had to set that aside for cementing. I also ran out of primer with a lower leg left over, and figured I'd have to paint the cemented part another day anyways, and called that a day.

24 hours later, I finally finished priming everything, and I think I finally figured out how to get all my hardware to work with me, instead of me having to work around them. It was mostly the compressor not keeping consistent pressure, and the airbrush not spraying smoothly.

This was the most I could put together without running the risk of scratching on disassembly. I think I'm going to lightly do some preshading with just black. I know the ideal way is using a darker shade of the base color, but I don't think I'll have a set color decided for a while, and didn't want that to hold up this project. I'm also going with the caution stripes, so I figured it wouldn't be practical to shade with orange for the yellow, seeing how I don't think it would go well with the other darker shading. But then again, this would be my first real attempt at shading on a kit, so I don't even know how well it'll go. I don't have a good feel of where my lines are when I free-hand the lines. I'll have to practice on some cardboard or paper so I know what my thicknesses and accuracy look like, and how much paint I can/should use without dripping or pooling.

That's it for today I guess. The hard part starts here. The month is also coming to a close, and I do not have a kit ready for Model of the Month... I'll figure something out! Gotta keep Goufing around if I wanna get that experience!