Because I had to prime and spray paint so many different body parts, this was not one of those neat, orderly builds where I went from one section to another. Quite the opposite in fact; it was as chaotic and disorganized as any build I’ve ever done.
All of which is to say that I have almost no work-in-progress photos, and as a result, this particular post is rather light on photos (and most of them are from the finished build).
Speaking of which, here is the finished build:
It came out (mostly) fine! Hooray!
The Runners
Let’s start by looking at the runners:
A few observations:
- First, that’s a lot of runners for a High Grade, and there’s some big ones too. That’s due in part to the fact that it’s got a few very large pieces. But as I came to learn, it’s also because this is a combination of reused runners from the regular Gelgoog Marine, and some new ones with parts that are exclusive to this Commander unit.
- See those polycaps? This kit uses almost all of them. By the time I was done, I only had three left.
- In the grand scheme of things, there aren’t that many “puke yellow” parts, but there are still enough that I initially worried about whether or not I’d have enough grey spray paint (Spoiler: I did, but just barely).
Painting and Priming
Let’s address the big question - how was the experience of priming and (spray)painting this model?
Answer - Not quite as perfect as I would have liked, but nowhere close to the level of disaster I feared.
First off, I don’t think I needed to use primer, since I’m pretty sure spray cans already include some amount of primer in the mix.
That being said, I don’t think it was necessarily a bad thing either. As you might expect, paint doesn’t always cling well to hard angles and edges. Usually a second coat takes care of this, but not always. Without primer, this would run the risk of letting the puke yellow color show through. The primer keeps that color hidden, and if it gets exposed it looks (at worst) like a bit of light shading (which can easily be hidden with a bit of dark shading).
I also ran into an issue in which air bubbles formed on the surface of the paint. When they eventually popped, they ended up creating little pockmarks across several of the pieces:
Most of them are in inconspicuous areas, and the ones that weren’t could be covered up with paint and weathering compound. But it’s still a problem I need to solve if I intend to use spray paint like this again (or possibly an airbrush). Sooner or later it could lead to a nasty looking (and noticeable) blemish.
Paint Durability
At first, the grey spray paint was remarkably sturdy. I painted panel lines and other details, and wiped and even scratched off the excess without scraping away the grey coat.
However, later in the build I ended up dropping both of the feet onto the ground, and they both ended up suffering severe scratches that I had to cover up with weathering marks:
Later still I found other, inexplicable scratches on the leg:
I am reminded of an old piece of advice I read in Reddit: “Once a model is painted, try not to pose it too much”. True, this wasn’t caused by posing, but I think the advice can easily be extrapolated to “Try not to MOVE it too much”. You never know when you might unintentionally cause wear and tear, and of course, the more you handle a piece, the greater the odds of an accident.
Discoloration
My first time using the grey spray paint was during the Zaku I build, where I learned that it warps when covered in cheap Krylon clear coat. It created a nice weathered look on the Zaku’s weapons, one that I wanted to recreate for some the Gelgoog’s accessories (such as its propellant tanks and beam sabers).
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as planned. The discoloration was relegated to a few specific spots, rather than creating an overall marbling effect. It looked like a bad paint job, and nothing more.
On the propellant tanks, I ended up doctoring these flaws with a ton of weathering compound, weathering marks, and finally a bit of Mr. Hobby clear coat. They’re not perfect, but I they look better than they did initially.
For the beam sabers, I left them alone. No one’s going to notice the discoloration when they’re equipped.
God Hand Brush
This is the first model in which I really got to test out my new God Hand paint brush, and it made a world of difference. I normally hate doing this kind of fine detailing in extremely small spaces, but because this brush is so finely tipped (and because it holds its shape remarkably well), I was able to get in and work with a minimal amount of mistakes. Dareisay that it actually felt pleasant this time.
God Hand Nippers
This was also the first build in which I got to test out the God Hand Nippers (though only near the very end, since most of the parts were snipped and prepped before I got them).
Let’s be clear about one thing - these nippers do not - or at least don’t always - shave spure marks clean off of a part. In most cases, it can trim them down to a very thin and very clean mark, which you can then more easily remove with my hobby knife or a file without cutting into the plastic and leaving a mark.
That’s still useful, though I’m not yet convinced it’s worth the price of the tool.
Extra Parts
I never expected the Gelgoog Marine Commander Type to use quite so many unique parts compared to the standard Gelgoog Marine, but look at how much was left over after the build:
To be specific, we have:
- A different piece for the head (makes sense, since the base model has no commander antenna)
- Separate torso pieces
- Separate thrusters (not sure where they would go on the base model)
- Separate shoulder vents (seems like a minor detail they could have left the same)
- A separate antenna (same thing)
- Some - but not all - of the pieces of the knuckle shield
I was mainly surprised at the presence of such different torso pieces. So surprised, in fact, that I ended up going back and taking a closer look at the two designs. Sure enough, there are a lot more differences between them than I realized. Here’s a comparison photo I cribbed from another blog: pay attention to their midsections:
The standard Gelgoog Marine’s upper torso is much boxier, and is closer in resemblence to the original Gelgoog. This happens from time to time, where it takes me a little while to zero in on minor (and even not so minor) details and differences.
Having Fun
Yes, this build took me almost exactly a month to complete. Yes, that’s a slower pace than I’m used to.
Yes, it was chaotic build, where I my workbench was covered in parts. Yes, I did things out of order, and barely thought about taking photos.
But you know what? Doing all those things helped me have more fun.
It was fun not to stress about stopping my work to take pictures or write posts. It was even weirdly fun to have such a messy bench.
It was also fun not stress out about whether I’d have a new build complete for January (I mean, this still counts right ….?)
I didn’t push myself to treat the build like an obligation with a deadline to meet. Instead I treated it as, well, a hobby, as something to do for fun, and only when I was in the mood. It may sound silly, but it made a world of difference.
It also made me realize just how much I was pushing myself last year to work on things for the sake of creating “Content”, rather than because it was something I wanted to do. It was such a foolish, pointless, aimless thing to do, and I’m embarrassed that I let myself get carried away. Hopefully this is a sign that 2023 will be better.
More to Come
There’s still more to come. I want to show you some of the particular details of this model that I’m fond of, but first I have to take some photos. But we’ll reconvene soon.