Jazz up your old model kits with candy coat hues

 Gunpla technology has come a long way, and nowadays you can find molded plastic parts with bright, vibrant colors as well as excellent finishes that can look as good as painted pieces. But for older scale models kit, it's not unusual to find either dull color schemes or a very plasticky finish on the molded parts. All is not lost though if you aren't one of the collectors/modelers who do not fancy the old school look of a model kit. You can always jazz up these old kits with coats of metallic candy finish.

Bandai LM-HG Evangelion Unit-01 Test Type with a candy metallic finish ...

... seen here in a squatting pose, against a white background (front view) ...

... and here is the same squatting post seen from the back view.

 In this 'jazzing up project', the old kit in question is the Bandai Limited High Grade (LM-HG) Evangelion Unit-01 Test Type scale model kit, which was released way back in 1996 or nearly 25 years ago. While the original out-of-the-box color scheme isn't too bad, the hues were fairly muted, and the parts had a plasticky finish to them (see unboxing post of the kit). As such this kit was deemed a good candidate for the aforementioned project.

Evangelion (Eva) Unit-01 Test Type custom candy metallic finish (closeup view)

Fully-painted individual parts/sub-assemblies of the Eva-01 Test Type, prior to final assembly

 So what is a candy coat? Well it's layer of paint resulting from a painting technique in which a clear vibrant color is airbrushed over a chrome-like metallic basecoat. The specifics of this technique is beyond this post, so if you're interested in the hows then by all means check out this blog post by our resident painter FourEyedMonster => Candy Paint Finishes - A Test on Plastic Spoons.

When a black background was used to shoot photos of the Eva-01 Test Type ...

... it was found that the candy metallic finish will partly reflect/mirror its dark surroundings ...

... thus accentuating the overall dimness of the surroundings the Eva-01 was posed in ...

... this was especially true if the candy metallic hues were the darker purples and blues ...

... but a white background reflects its brighter surroundings thus showing the Eva's details more clearly

 Shown here is the fully custom painted Bandai Evangelion Unit-00 Test Type - in candy metallic colors - against either a black or white background. Because the painted candy metallic hues consisted largely of dark blues and purples, it was noted that the details on the kit were more visible against a white background. This could be because the shiny candy metallic surfaces will partly reflect its surroundings. As such, darker backgrounds will tend to obscure the kit's details (see above photo for comparison).

Eva Unit-01 Test Type (isometric view, front left)

Eva Unit-01 Test Type (back view)

Eva Unit-01 Test Type (isometric view, rear left)

Eva Unit-01 Test Type (isometric view, rear right)

Eva Unit-01 Test Type (isometric view, right side)

Eva Unit-01 Test Type (isometric view, front right)

Eva Unit-01 Test Type (isometric view, left side)

 So don't fret if you have an old kit that you deem to have dull, muted colors, and a plasticky finish to their molded parts. One way to overcome this is to repaint the kit in question in a candy metallic finish. It's not the only way, but a good one if you wish to have a vibrant, shiny color scheme in the final finish.

 Well, that's it for this post. If you're a collector in Malaysia who wants someone to custom paint your old kit, don't hesitate to contact our resident painter Kuan Hua aka FourEyedMonster at shireworks@gmail.com for details as terms and conditions will change depending on the project requirements. And as always, be safe, be well and be happy.

Star Wars 1/12 Scale Speeder Bike with Scout Trooper, Fully Painted Model Kit (Return of the Jedi version)

 It has been a long time since the last fully-painted Star Wars model kit was posted in the Shire Works blog. Now, another one has finally been completed. And it has taken  a bit longer than usual because it's a two-in-one combo namely the 1/12 scale Star Wars Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike. So essentially there are two separate kits in this set comprising the Imperial Scout Trooper as well as the Aratech 74-Z Military Speeder Bike.

 A YouTube video of showcasing a 30 degree view of the completed project can be seen above while detailed photos of the Scout Trooper are shown below.

 Meanwhile detailed photos of the Aratech 74-Z Military Speeder Bike are shown below.

 Fully painted to resemble the Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike as seen in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, this Star Wars 1/12 scale model kit retails for RM799 inclusive of shipping which will be on a cash-on-delivery basis to selected public malls in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. The reason for a face-to-face meet up to hand over the product is due to the extremely fragile nature of a fully-painted and completed work. 

 Also included is a Bandai Action Base 2 (color depends on availability), which will be needed to prop up and display the model kit. Interested parties please email us at shireworks@gmail.com for more info on the purchasing process.

 If you are interested to view videos of other projects from our resident painter FourEyedMonster, do check out his YouTube channel via the following line (click here) or click on the banner immediately below this paragraph. Thanks dear readers for taking the time to view this post. See you again in our next post. Until then, stay safe and be well.

A challenging couple of years

 Hello dear readers, 2022 is nearly a month in, and I hope our first post of the new year finds you well. These past two years has been extremely challenging to everyone, with the pandemic and all, and it's no different to us at Shire Works. Even our resident painter had not completed a single project to be put up for sale these past two years.

 Going forward the pandemic seems never-ending, but at least our resident painter has started painting again at https://foureyed-monster.blogspot.com/. Please visit that blog site for more frequent and regular updates.

 As mentioned previously, Shire Works's business model has evolved to emphasize the sale of fully painted miniatures and scale model kits as completed by our resident modeller FourEyedMonster at https://foureyed-monster.blogspot.com/. While unpainted miniatures and model kits that require assembly will still be sold by us, going forward we'll focus on assembling and painting them up before selling them.

 In addition over the past few years, we've been and will continue to purchase off-the-shelf miniatures and scale model kit in order to:- assemble and build them up, paint them, weather them, and even sometimes place them in dioramas before putting them up for sale. The prices for such pieces will vary depending on the cost of the miniature and scale model kit, the cost of painting materials and the cost of man hours put in to paint them.

 As always, thank you for taking the time to read this post. Be safe and be well.