Kotobukiya D-Style Type-J9 Griffon verDC23

I got this awesome Kotobukiya D-Style Type-J9 Griffon kit ( expensive kit for its size ) from my generous partner Greattoysonline.com as usual.

I sanded the parts for a couple of hours last Friday night, I did not even bother with the seam lines ( although I removed them, but did not perfect the sanding ) and just primed it with Vallejo Surface Primer the same night.

I just wanted to test some new Vallejo Premium Paints I got. Vallejo Premium Paints are basically super strong polyurethane acrylic paints used for RC cars and motorcycle helmets that could withstand direct heat and are very resistant to scratches. I needed to see if they cure thin enough to use for Gundam internal parts.

Vallejo Premium paints requires 30psi to shoot from an airbrush ( I have an old monster compressor that can shoot up to 100 psi - lol ). I used my siphon fed dual action .3nozzle airbrush for the job. Did not want to ruin my Badger 100LG Fine tip ( .2nozzle ) for this project. Although you have to shoot a a high psi, the paints went through my airbrush really well. I painted this for around 4 hours including drying time of a few minutes in between coats and it turned up pretty well. I left the kit to cure for around 6 hours while I go out with wifey and kids.

Voila! Experiment was a success! I did not even put top coat on this kit and the candy tone finish is glossy enough! Could be glossier with a top coat but I did not want to waste more paints on a paint test kit. I am solved! I will no longer need to use lacquers ever again. Although I have a handful of bottles of Gaianotes lacquer paints, I am super happy with the results I got and will just use my remaining lacquer paints just for the sake of using them.

I will go as far as saying that the Vallejo Premium Paints has solved my problem! I do not want to switch paint types during painting as that will require different thinning and cleaning agents. I only like acrylic paints as my airbrush can be quickly cleaned in between color change by diving it in a tub of water! I will now exclusively use these paints for the internal parts of my Gundam kits from now on.

Acrylic paints for life for me!

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RG Aile Strike Gundam commission & other hauls

I closed a quick deal with a simple OOTB commission of the RG Aile Strike Gundam last week. Although I have done a handful of projects for clients in the US, The client of this RG is from the UK this time. Although I need to at least finish 1 of my MG Zeta commish before actually working on this little guy, I had to buy him now as the client already sent the downpayment last week.

I almost grabbed a RG Zaku yesterday, but then thought of enjoying the RG Aile Strike commission first and get a feel of working with a Real Grade before buying one for myself. The RG is a bit on the expensive side, so I opted to get a SD Sinanju and a D-style kit instead. I highly doubt I could even snapfit these small kits during this week though, as I will be super busy for our MAC anniversary party until the end of the week.

Anyways even though the RG Aile Strike Gundam commission work is just an OOTB build, I am looking forward to getting my hands on those tiny little MG like parts soon. Bandai is just crazy for even thinking of this line. I just can't describe how small those armor parts are. :)

Oh and it's still my birthday today! THANK YOU so much to ALL ( roughly around 100 LOL ) people who greeted me here in my blog, facebook, ZeroGunz and MAC forums! Love you ALL guys! :)

Thanks or dropping by guys! Til' next post! :)

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