Just wanted to share some quick work I have done on my 1/48 Mega Size Zaku I got from GreattoysOnline.com. The original plan was just to straight build the kit, remove seam lines and place on top of a diorama as inspired by Julius Lim's 1/48 Zaku diorama " LOST ".
However I thought of doing some quick scratch building for the waist of the Zaku to practice for my future sbing projects. I always dislike the short skirts of the Zaku as it looks like girlie skirts or boxer shorts. The Zaku skirts just looks too revealing for me.
So I decided to add another layer of skirts to the existing skirts. Note that instead of replacing the existing skirts, I added another layer which adds up to the complexity of the overall look. The sb'ed skirts does not totally cover the original skirt armors thus giving it a layered armor. I also did a quick crotch for the kit as I also find the original crotch not too manly enough. The butt skirt was also extended and might bulk it up a bit with either putty or more pla plates.
Aside from the white scratch built parts, and the tedious seam line removal. I re-drilled the holes all over the kit as they look too shallow. I also removed a section on the left shoulder armor and have yet to decide what to put in it. A mesh is the quickest way to cover that or layering of pla plates. Notice also that I sawed portions of the head part so that I could access the mono eyes even after seam line removal.
IMPORTANT SB TIP!
I am not much of a scratch builder. In fact this is the year that I will try to practice my basic scratch building skills a little bit more. BUT I would like to share a tip out of observation.
Make sure that you clean up scratch built parts much more your detailing.
Notice that I stopped the scratch building at this stage of the build and blogged about it? See that the crotch part is totally clean already even without the use of putty?
Basically the tip is simple, make sure that the " base " shape is clean already before you move on to detailing. It is easier to sand and file simple square boxes before you add those tiny little details that you might over sand while trying to clean up initial mistakes and imperfections. Anyway this tip will be much clearer as you follow this project. Now here are some photos guys...
good tip about cleaning as you go along rather than after all is said and done. will definitely learn from this. the zaku looks really cool already! definitely want to see more :)
ReplyDeleteYeah... clean up before moving on. Thanks man. :)
ReplyDeleteAgree with clean as you go! It's a looooot harder to sand corners once you've cemented them on a part. Nice tip.
ReplyDeleteAnd you'll tend to have a very hard time sanding if you have slapped pla plates already. :)
ReplyDeleteWow that looks great, I love the skirts and the center section. I just received a 1/48 RX 78-2 for Christmas. I would love to do something similar to the skirts on the RX, but I have no scratch building skills at all. That would be a great tutorial. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteThanks sir! I am not comfortable scratch building myself... you should give it a try on a smaller scale though. Goodluck! :)
ReplyDeleteLooking good Don. Could've learned these before I started pla-plating. Hahaha :D Oh well, charge it to experience. xD
ReplyDeleteThanks Pao! hehehe... charge to experience bro. Always clean up before slapping pla plates. :)
ReplyDelete