Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2024

 Shire Works would like to take this opportunity to wish you Selamat Hari Raya. May you and your loved ones be well and happy during this joyous occasion.

 If you are traveling back to your home town, please stay safe during the journey back home. And even if you're working during this period, do take care. 

Happy Year of the Dragon 2024

 Here at Shire Works I would like to take this opportunity to wish you wealth and happiness throughout this lunar new year.

 May you and your loved ones be well and happy in the Year of the Dragon!

Selected painting on your scale model kit projets - 1/144 scale Real Grade Tallgeese【For Sale】

 Any complex scale model kit that requires custom paint work to be done on it, will almost always put a damper on the initial enthusiasm once you realize the amount of time and effort that's needed to complete the project. That, at least, has been the bane of my life as a scale modeler. It's a problem that I have struggled with leading to many projects being left on the shelf to gather dust. But over time I've learned to temper my hobby-related OCD tendencies of having to paint every single part of a model kit. Nowadays I've learned to let go of this obsessive tendency when parts either already look good in their original molded-in colors and/or when they are completely hidden from view.

Bandai 1/144 scale Real Grade OZ-00MS Tallgeese EW: Custom-painted & detailed with water decals

A more zoomed-out view of the 1/144 scale Real Grade Tallgeese custom-paint project

 For the Bandai 1/144 scale Real Grade OZ-00MS Tallgeese EW that leaves only the parts that have a toy-like and/or plasticky appearance such the red, yellow, and gray parts. These were fully repainted. For dark colored parts (e.g. the bluish gray), I was able to top-coated them with a matte clear coat to achieve a paint-like finish without actually priming and painting them. Meanwhile the white parts wasn't painted because I felt their original molded-in color and finish look nearly as good as painted. In other words, the expected results of repainting the white parts did not justify the time and effort needed.

Real Grade Tallgeese sub-assemblies custom-painted, top-coated, panel-lined, and detailed with water decals (front view)

Real Grade Tallgeese sub-assemblies custom-painted, top-coated, panel-lined, and detailed with water decals (back view)

 While the decal/foil stickers set provided with the Real Grade scale model kit are serviceable, they aren't good enough of you want a high quality finish to your project. Decal stickers are easy to apply but tend to look terrible because their borders stand out and it's impossible to make them flush with the surface. The solution would be to used either official Bandai water decals if they are available or third-party ones if they are not. In my case I couldn't get hold of the former so I'm using the latter.

Sticker/foil stickers provided in the Real Grade Tallgeese EW scale model kit

While the official foil stickers tend to fare better, the caveat is they will peel off eventually especially if they have been applied onto curved or round surfaces. While the solution to this would be to paint the said surfaces instead, the original foil stickers were used in most cases for this project.

Third party water decals by Artisan's Club for the Real Grade Tallgeese EW scale model kit

Artisan's Club water decals for the Real Grade Tallgeese EW removed from its packaging

 Let's get things started with the Tallgeese's head and torso. For its head, the red plume, orange-yellow vents as well as metallic parts have been painted with Mr.Color lacquer paints while the white armor remains in its original molded-in color but is at least panel-lined with Mr.Weathering Color. As for the shiny turquoise mono-eye at the front, it's a foil sticker not paint. It should be noted that decal stickers of any kind on a curved/round surface tend to peel of after an extended period of time. Especially if they are tiny as is the case for the Tallgeese's mono-eye. But if it does, a simple solution would be to apply glue to the back of the mono-eye sticker decal and stick it back onto the head.

Head sub-assembly of the Real Grade Tallgeese EW (front view)

Head sub-assembly of the Real Grade Tallgeese EW (side view)

Head sub-assembly of the Real Grade Tallgeese EW (back view)

 Meanwhile, the painted sections of the torso comprise the orange-yellow vents and the metallic sections. The dark bluish gray arm extensions were only top-coated with the Mr. Super Smooth Clear lacquer-based matte clear coat. Similar to the head, the white armor remain in their in-mold plastic color with work done on them consisting of panel-lining and detailing with water decals.

Torso sub-assembly with extensions for attaching rocket vernier/thrusters (isometric view)

Torso sub-assembly with extensions for attaching rocket vernier/thrusters (front view)

Torso sub-assembly with extensions for attaching rocket vernier/thrusters (back view)

 Aside from the Tallgeese's torso itself, there is the intricate and complicated twin rocket verniers/thrusters that are to be attached to the back of the torso. The white armor parts received similar treatment as the torso and head, while the yellow sections were painted. Both rocket verniers/thrusters were also detailed with the third-party water decals. All of the inner sections were painted in metallic paint since they become visible when the rocket verniers/thrusters are in an 'open' position (see below).

Rocket verniers/thrusters sub-assemblies in a 'closed' position (isometric view)

Rocket verniers/thrusters sub-assemblies in an 'open' position (isometric view)

 Both of the Tallgeese's arms had a lot of work done on them, along similar lines to the rest of the parts shown so far: white armor was panel-lined and detailed with water decals; dark bluish gray parts top-coated with a clear matte coat and also detailed with foil stickers; and yellow stripes painted.

Hand, arm, and shoulder sub-assemblies of the Tallgeese were custom-painted, top-coated, panel-lined, and detailed with foil stickers and water decals ...

... similar to other sub-assemblies of the Bandai 1/144 scale Real Grade Tallgeese EW

 As for the Dober Gun, the main task was to paint its gun barrel with chrome metallic paint while the ammo clip was painted in a less shiny iron-like metallic paint mixture. The rest of the gun i.e. its dark bluish sections were top-coated in a clear matte coat and then detailed with water decals. For the shield, the key process I was afraid of messing up was the application of that big eagle water decal onto its front. Thankfully all went well, as did the painting process for the yellow and metallic sections. That beautiful glossy shine on the white sections of the shield are the original molded-in plastic color. The shoulder extensions for both the gun and shield were top-coated with a clear matte coat only.

Dober Gun with its metal sections painted, and the dark bluish gray section top-coated/detailed with water decals, together with the extension that connects the gun to the shoudler

Shield (front view) with the yellow and metallic parts painted, but white sections remain in their original glossy white molded-in plastic color with water decals applied onto its surface

Shield (back view) with the yellow and metallic parts painted, but white sections remain in their original glossy white molded-in plastic color; as well as the top-coated bluish gray extension on the left

 At the waist section, the innards were left in their original plasticky state because they will be largely hidden from view once assembly is done. The same could be done for the outer (and more visible) white armor because the finish on the molded-in white color and finish look much less plasticky and toy-like than the gray parts. However, some work was done on them i.e. panel-lining. Other areas such as the yellow and metallic sections were all fully painted as well as panel-lined.

Waist section sans the side skirts (top-down isometric view)

Waist section sans the side skirts (bottom-up isometric view)

 On the back and side skirts,the work done was mainly to paint the innards in an iron-like metallic paint while the white armor was just panel-lined and detailed with water decals. Meanwhile the work done on the legs are similar to the arms/hands with the addition of painting the metallic parts.

Back skirts (view of outer section) with painted metallic parts, and unpainted white armor still in its original molded-in color and detailed with water decals; both panel-lined with black wash

Back skirts (view of inner section) with painted metallic parts, and unpainted white armor still in its original molded-in color; both panel-lined with black wash

Back skirts in the 'open' position thus exposing the rocket verniers/thrusters, which were painted with Mr.Hobby Mr.Color Super Metallic 2 lacquer paint

Side skirts (isometric view) with painted metallic parts, and unpainted white armor still in its original molded-in color and detailed with water decals; both panel-lined with black wash

Side skirts (view of inner section) with painted metallic parts, and unpainted white armor still in its original molded-in color; both panel-lined with black wash

Legs of the Tallgeese with (i) the white armor in their original molded-in plastic color, and detailed with water decals; (ii) the yellow and metallic parts painted with lacquer paint; (iii) the bluish gray parts top-coated with a clear matte coat - panel-lining was applied where applicable

 Below are yet more photos of the completed Real Grade Tallgeese. Multiple shots were taken from slightly different angles to showcase the Tallgeese in a sort of static 360 degree view (see first dozen photos immediately below this paragraph). For a continuous and uninterrupted video shot of the Tallgeese rotating 360 degrees, please check out the embedded YouTube video towards the end of this post. That video also includes the final assembly process as well as detailed explanations of the work that had been carried out on the Real Grade Gundam scale model kit.

 As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the following are YouTube videos of the Real Grade Tallgeese project for those of you who would like to see the scale model kit being examined, assembled, and reviewed in recorded real-time.

 As much as I would like to keep this kit in my collection, but I believe I'll need to try and sell it in order to generate funds for hobby-related activities. With that in mind, I''m putting the custom painted 1/144 scale Real Grade OZ-00MS Tallgeese EW up for sale at RM595 for collectors in the Klang Valley. Due to the fragile nature of the completed kit, the sale is via COD (cash on delivery) only to selected locations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. So if you're interested please contact me via my email address as stated in the contacts tab above. That's all for this post. Until we meet again, be well and be happy!

Happy New Year 2024 - May You Be Well & Happy!

 Hello everyone! Happy New Year! So 2024 is upon us and it's time to look ahead at another year of hobby-related fun. As mentioned in an earlier post, Shire Works will continue to do custom-painted miniature and scale model kit projects, and post the relevant results on our sister blog i.e. Art & Musings of a Miniature Hobbyist.

 And provided we're able to garner enough subscribers to the FourEyedMonster Miniatures YouTube channel, Shire Works is also trying to generate income via social media. Here, you'll get to view videos related to custom-painted kits/figurines from Shire Works's product offerings as well as from the unboxing and reviews of FourEyedMonster's personal pre-painted figure collection. We are not there yet so please do subscribe to the channel if you like the content :)

 For a recap of how our business model is evolving, please check a previous post here => https://shireworks.blogspot.com/2023/03/spotlight-on-foureyedmonster-miniatures.html

 Anyway, here's hoping you have a great year ahead in 2024. May you be well and happy!