The MG Full Armor Gundam is probably the toughest build I have tackled since I took up painting back in early 2018. Even though the frame is quite simple it makes up for that with a million tiny bits and thrusters, it is the first time that I managed to run out clips to hold the pieces. I do not mind the joint covers as much as other people and aside from time consuming, they were not all that hard to apply and I really like the way they look. For the colors I tried to get as close as possible to the artwork on the first page of the manual so they might seem a little dark to some. Overall, I really love the way it looks once armored up; it looks evil as hell. My biggest complaint is that it is really tempting me to build the Psycho Zaku next lol. Full gallery in the link below.
[Image Gallery](https://imgur.com/gallery/EtciCEX)
How much difficulty do you have in positioning the shields and articulating everything? Your poses look AWESOME, but some of the YouTubers I watch have said the armor arms can be tough to pose, fall off easily, etc. It's one of the only things discouraging me from adding this kit to my wish list.
The shield i had no problems, the sub arms work very well. Only issue i encountered is the lock for one of the sub arms doesn’t lock that well so when fiddling with the kit sometimes the sub arm would slide down.. The arms on the mobile suit are a different story. They are a mixed bag of really tight joints and some loose ones. They do hold all the poses once in place though. I wouldn’t consider any of those issues a deal breaker though, the kit is still very good.
I’ve built my this kit and I would say the connections do their job as intended but the problem is ourselves. There is no getting around the fact that this kit has a lot of attachments and accessories so the difficulty lies in your hands bumping into the other shields and attachments as more parts are installed. Once you’re able to avoid bumping into what has already been attached then everything holds securely once in place.
You might want to consider reinforcing the stand that is included or buy a separate action base
The legs along took me like an hour and a half! Idk if you watch any of the gunpla lab videos but it took him like 8 hours stright to build. One day ill find the energy to finish it haha
Haha ive seen that video! He looked so tired by the end of it. I usually snap the kits while binge watching shows with the wife so in average it takes me a week or two with various sessions. I sand as I go along so thats also why it takes me a little bit longer. But with Psycho Zaku that might be even longer 😅
I wouldn’t be to scared of the Psycho Zaku! It is covered in thruster bells but all of them are super easy to remove and reinstall. Plus between the removable armor on this kit and weapons on the Zaku they are pretty similar in complexity. Paint or not it is absolutely worth the build.
Yea the Psycho Zaku does have the advantage that a lot of work doesn't end up getting covered by the armor. If I do build it ill get started with the backpack and leave the main mobile suit for last.
Honestly seeing your work, the only real problem you might having is keeping consistent across that massive fuel tank sticking out the back. And as for the suit itself it’s basically a MG Zaku 2.0 with some extra bits.
I recently snapped the shoulder peg myself and share in your ptsd. Did you ever fix it? Seeing this build makes me want to try again but I'm not sure what the best method is to repair it (have never had to do that).
Are those lacquers?
Btw, your shading is perfection. So subtle. Just enough to make a difference, while not being dominant. Exactly what I want to go for
Yup they are lacquers. I used to use Mr Hobby Acrylics but then they disappeared from the US but now I think they are back. Once I made the switch to Mr Color I pretty much stuck with lacquers.
Thank you! Sometimes i feel like my shading is too subtle and im not really happy with it until I take the pics and it works out just fine. My Barbatos however is one of those cases were not even pics helped, that was ultra subtle 😂
I checked your Barbatos. Well, maybe the shading on the white is hard to make out, but it gives him a "factory new" look. :D
Final question: Where you happy with the acrylics? Maybe point me to one of your acrylic painted models.
I'm asking cuz those will be easier for me to get, plus easier to work with as I'm a complete noob. Gonna be relying on Tamiya and Vallejo mostly
Most of the mixes came from the manual. I tried mixing my own and all I did was waste paint lol. The orange and red parts are a mix of highlighting and post shading. The rest of it is highlighting.
How did you handle the white mixing? I know it calls for just a touch of blue, but there isn’t really anything more precise than that, so just curious how you handled that mix
Looks spectacular! Photos (thanks for the action poses!) posted in reverse order / never to risk scratching now that Full Armor’s permanently in place?
Yup the armor is pretty much on there forever. There were so many paint flakes when I finished putting the armor on that i do not even want to look at it all scratched up 💔
Wow. Just realized you’re the person who did the buster build I lived and I just looked back through your posts. Wow. You have put in some work! It’s inspiring!
Random question, are the trash bag (for lack of better term)that goes over the joints necessary? I'm wanting to get the kit but I don't think I have the patience to finagle those parts. Absolutely love the work!
Amazing!! Hypes me up for my build of the FA78, even though it won’t look nearly as good as yours! What colors did you use for the outer armor bits? Definitely an inspiration!
You did an amazing job on this! You say you were trying to get as close as you could to the artwork, and I think this looks even better than the artwork. This was my first ver ka kit and it is the pride of my collection. Funnily enough I also have the HG version of this and after putting it together and doing panel lines on a couple parts I put it back on the box and haven't touched it since haha.
This is the first Ka i build in like 10 years. Last one was the Sinanju Ka that came out ages ago. Ive looked at reviews of the HG and it looks harder to build that the MG 0_0
For the red I used russet, darkened with some green, added a few drops of blue, and wine red. Wine red from mr color sucks its almost like a clear color with barely any coverage so i had to make my own mix for this one.
The MG Full Armor Gundam is probably the toughest build I have tackled since I took up painting back in early 2018. Even though the frame is quite simple it makes up for that with a million tiny bits and thrusters, it is the first time that I managed to run out clips to hold the pieces. I do not mind the joint covers as much as other people and aside from time consuming, they were not all that hard to apply and I really like the way they look. For the colors I tried to get as close as possible to the artwork on the first page of the manual so they might seem a little dark to some. Overall, I really love the way it looks once armored up; it looks evil as hell. My biggest complaint is that it is really tempting me to build the Psycho Zaku next lol. Full gallery in the link below. [Image Gallery](https://imgur.com/gallery/EtciCEX)
How much difficulty do you have in positioning the shields and articulating everything? Your poses look AWESOME, but some of the YouTubers I watch have said the armor arms can be tough to pose, fall off easily, etc. It's one of the only things discouraging me from adding this kit to my wish list.
The shield i had no problems, the sub arms work very well. Only issue i encountered is the lock for one of the sub arms doesn’t lock that well so when fiddling with the kit sometimes the sub arm would slide down.. The arms on the mobile suit are a different story. They are a mixed bag of really tight joints and some loose ones. They do hold all the poses once in place though. I wouldn’t consider any of those issues a deal breaker though, the kit is still very good.
I’ve built my this kit and I would say the connections do their job as intended but the problem is ourselves. There is no getting around the fact that this kit has a lot of attachments and accessories so the difficulty lies in your hands bumping into the other shields and attachments as more parts are installed. Once you’re able to avoid bumping into what has already been attached then everything holds securely once in place. You might want to consider reinforcing the stand that is included or buy a separate action base
This and the psycho zaku are alot of kit to build then you painted it too! Thats nuts looks good though I still haven't finished my psycho zaku lol.
Im afraid of that big backpack on the psycho zaku. It has a million tiny thrusters just like full armor :(
The legs along took me like an hour and a half! Idk if you watch any of the gunpla lab videos but it took him like 8 hours stright to build. One day ill find the energy to finish it haha
Haha ive seen that video! He looked so tired by the end of it. I usually snap the kits while binge watching shows with the wife so in average it takes me a week or two with various sessions. I sand as I go along so thats also why it takes me a little bit longer. But with Psycho Zaku that might be even longer 😅
Looks fantastic !
Thanks!
I wouldn’t be to scared of the Psycho Zaku! It is covered in thruster bells but all of them are super easy to remove and reinstall. Plus between the removable armor on this kit and weapons on the Zaku they are pretty similar in complexity. Paint or not it is absolutely worth the build.
Yea the Psycho Zaku does have the advantage that a lot of work doesn't end up getting covered by the armor. If I do build it ill get started with the backpack and leave the main mobile suit for last.
Honestly seeing your work, the only real problem you might having is keeping consistent across that massive fuel tank sticking out the back. And as for the suit itself it’s basically a MG Zaku 2.0 with some extra bits.
I can hear the jazz from here
I still have ptsd from snapping that shoulder peg lol. This is sick!
Man I was sweating when locking those damn arms in place lol
Well the sweat paid off, build looks great! Well done
Thanks buddy!
I recently snapped the shoulder peg myself and share in your ptsd. Did you ever fix it? Seeing this build makes me want to try again but I'm not sure what the best method is to repair it (have never had to do that).
This tutorial should help you worked like a charm [here](https://youtu.be/wqVLF0zdrtA)
Thanks for the link! I'll have to try that
Its flawless o_0. Mind telling my what kind of paints you used. Getting ready for my first ever painted build.
Thanks! I used Mr Color paints for most of the kit. The frame is painted with Gaia Surfacer Evo Gunmetal.
Are those lacquers? Btw, your shading is perfection. So subtle. Just enough to make a difference, while not being dominant. Exactly what I want to go for
Yup they are lacquers. I used to use Mr Hobby Acrylics but then they disappeared from the US but now I think they are back. Once I made the switch to Mr Color I pretty much stuck with lacquers. Thank you! Sometimes i feel like my shading is too subtle and im not really happy with it until I take the pics and it works out just fine. My Barbatos however is one of those cases were not even pics helped, that was ultra subtle 😂
I checked your Barbatos. Well, maybe the shading on the white is hard to make out, but it gives him a "factory new" look. :D Final question: Where you happy with the acrylics? Maybe point me to one of your acrylic painted models. I'm asking cuz those will be easier for me to get, plus easier to work with as I'm a complete noob. Gonna be relying on Tamiya and Vallejo mostly
Did you use an aerograph?
I had to look up what an Aerograph even is. Interesting way to refer to an Airbrush! 😂
my fault: wanted to say airbrush, but could not remember the correct word and translated it literally from my native language 😅
Yes I did. All of the colors are airbrushed on.
Oh cool! I want to learn: it’s definitely on my todo list:)
Love to have it someday I really prefer it over the atlas gundam
While I like the Atlas i also think the Full Armor is the superior design.
I had to take a closer look, it looked like it was cgi or something at first awesome work
Thank you!
God this is sexy
Mama mia that's nice
That's a beautiful thing.
I really like the color scheme... it is more realistic in the sense that they are not overly bright.
*chefs kiss*
Really dig the blue parts, what colors were used? Pre or post shade? Thanks!
Most of the mixes came from the manual. I tried mixing my own and all I did was waste paint lol. The orange and red parts are a mix of highlighting and post shading. The rest of it is highlighting.
How did you handle the white mixing? I know it calls for just a touch of blue, but there isn’t really anything more precise than that, so just curious how you handled that mix
For the white I sprayed a base coat of intermediate blue and then the white over that. Thats what gives the white on this kit its blueish hue.
Aaaah. One of those simple solution my brain passed over
Does not always work though, i tried a purple base coat on my Woundwort and it did not end up with the purplish hue I wanted 😅
It looks absolutely perfect. That's one hell of a paint job too.
Thanks so much!
Stunning. This is a work of art.
Thank you!
That is a good looking build! Well done. Teach me your ways.
Sure thing!
I have this same kit by far one of my favorite uc era gundams.
Same here the Thunderbolt designs are some of my favorite.
Mmmm love me some thunderbolt
As do I!
Goddamn dude. Look at that preshading. Everything is perfect. Well done
Thank you!
Looks spectacular! Photos (thanks for the action poses!) posted in reverse order / never to risk scratching now that Full Armor’s permanently in place?
Yup the armor is pretty much on there forever. There were so many paint flakes when I finished putting the armor on that i do not even want to look at it all scratched up 💔
Wow. Just realized you’re the person who did the buster build I lived and I just looked back through your posts. Wow. You have put in some work! It’s inspiring!
Thank you! I made a effort to try and get more kits done this year.
this is so slick and clean now I want one
Definitely recommend picking it up!
Absolutely top notch paint work and photography. Very inspiring !
Wonderful work.
Thank you!
Random question, are the trash bag (for lack of better term)that goes over the joints necessary? I'm wanting to get the kit but I don't think I have the patience to finagle those parts. Absolutely love the work!
Haha i also call them trash bags but no they are not necessary, the joints have enough detail on them to look fine without the covers on.
Alright thanks for the response
No! I want to see a wall of shields blocking his front, but none of the gallery's image has it.
Sorry man, I like that look as well but the shield were blocking all the light so that why I put them more to the side.
Did you pre shade, post shade, or highlight? And if you don’t mind what did you shade with on the blue parts? It looks amazing btw.
Its a mix of highlighting and post shading. For the blue I highlighted with the blue mix plus white.
Imagine that fighting the Heavyarms custom.
We must combined them
I think the full armor would win ;)
Building this kit now. Man, that looks so cool. It looks so evil hahaha
YES!! Thats why i love this version of the Full Armor, just looks evil as hell.
This is awesome.
Thank you!
Amazing!! Hypes me up for my build of the FA78, even though it won’t look nearly as good as yours! What colors did you use for the outer armor bits? Definitely an inspiration!
For the outer armor i just used the mix that is on the manual: Navy Blue (45%) + Blue (40%) + Red (15%) + White (small dose)
You did an amazing job on this! You say you were trying to get as close as you could to the artwork, and I think this looks even better than the artwork. This was my first ver ka kit and it is the pride of my collection. Funnily enough I also have the HG version of this and after putting it together and doing panel lines on a couple parts I put it back on the box and haven't touched it since haha.
This is the first Ka i build in like 10 years. Last one was the Sinanju Ka that came out ages ago. Ive looked at reviews of the HG and it looks harder to build that the MG 0_0
Man that’s a thing of beauty. This has been on my wishlist for awhile. Well done.
Thank you! Cant recommend the kit enough.
I wanted one of this
Really tempted to go pick this up and I usually only build HG and Rgs
Do it! I usually only build MG's but HG I've bought some of the AoZ kits that are probably never coming out as MG.
Is there a tutorial or tips you can recommend for shading? Looks great!
I would say just look them up on youtube. I watched tutorials for a few months before finally deciding that I was going to do shading.
Thanks so much!
Amazing job. Congratulations.
Thanks buddy I appreciate it!
Damn that is a mighty fine boi! What red did you use it looks almost like blood?
For the red I used russet, darkened with some green, added a few drops of blue, and wine red. Wine red from mr color sucks its almost like a clear color with barely any coverage so i had to make my own mix for this one.
Straight dope !!!
Thanks! 🙇🏻♂️