Joe's Models - Building Horizon's ED-209 (Page IV)

- A QUICK LOOK AT THE POSE -

Things have really been moving...I had the week off after X-Mas (2004) so that helped! I finished one leg and began the other, this time starting with the thigh first since I dreaded having to build up the rails again. I got the hydraulics modified rather quickly and had the chopped up piece sewn up in no time. Fixing the top part of the lower leg was done simultaneously with the thigh. As you can see, both corners slant inwards a bit so I used small strips of styrene and putty to begin building them up so that they look straighter, much like I did on the other leg. Before moving on I thought I would assemble the whole model again real quick just to get another idea of how big the kit is.	Warped Corners ED-209 vs. Peanut Fixing The Pose
I used very small drops of super glue and tape to hold it up. I had done this about 8 months back before I began filling it with foam which made the model feel like a toy. I think the foam gives it just the right amount of weight...not too much but enough to give it an added sense of quality. Oh and this kit is big!
I'm very glad I decided to do this as I found a few things that may have been a problem if I had proceeded with construction. For one, the right toe was lifting. Also, the right thigh was higher than the left thigh causing the hip to slant a little. I solved this by simply swapping both lower legs and thighs, keeping the rails in their original position. That pretty much did it.
The next day I began the rails for the left leg. This time, I didn't have to cut off the cap on top of the rails. I was able to squeeze my fingers in and build up all the walls saving lots of time. With that exception, construction was the same as the other leg.

- finishing up construction details -

Awesome! I finally finished work on the other rail part! This is the last piece that needed work. As mentioned before, I didn't have to cut off the top cap piece which saved me a butt-load of headaches. It's strange how much more confidence and skill you gain in just a month and a half. I had to chop up the other rail piece to build up the inner walls, this time I just roughed it out and got the same result!

Now it's time to go over the whole model with 2000-grit sandpaper to smooth the primer out and prepare it for painting.

- painting -

I was going to order quality acrylic paints but the fact that construction of this model has just entered month #10, I decided to pay Wal-Mart a visit and look into those awful craft paints that I hear so much about (usually in warnings). I went with Delta Ceramcoat which sell for $.88 each.

I ended up mixing Delta Ceramcoat Quaker Grey, Blue Jay, white and added some Testors flat black until I got what I felt was a good color. Mixing different brand paints is probably not recommended but I didn't really care. I used what I had in front of me and it's working so far. Lot's of Windex was used to thin the fairly thick craft paints.

I just wanted to point out something about the paints I ended up using. I don't have much experience with acrylics and I really wanted to go with Model Master or Tamiya paints as I've always heard good things about them. However, I do not regret using Delta Ceramcoat despite all the negative things I've read about them. Airbrushing went on rather nice, no splattering at all. I did get a slightly bumpy, flat texture due to the fact that I may have not sanded the primer as well as I thought I did. But, thanks to a couple of the awesome members over at FineScale Modeler, I discovered that paper coffee filters are a great way to fine-sand acrylics. A couple of coats of Future should take care of the rest later. Overall though, I may have cut a corner with the paints but time was saved since I didn't have to order my paints and I got a very nice, even color. Not bad for cheap paints!

I let the paint dry overnight and will continue to do so for about 12 more hours. Touch-ups, masking and the application of darker colors on various parts will come next.	First Coat Base Coat Painting Details Fixing Some Spots
You know, I bought my double-action airbrush about a year prior and had not used it until about a month ago because I was a bit intimidated. I did have a single action long ago but only used it a few times. I have decided that airbrushing is one of the most enjoyable aspects of model building, IMO. I've been allowing each new coat of paint to dry off for a few days after which I will add a few coats of Future so that I can mask and paint certain areas darker shades of gray.
Some mistakes were made, such as when I completely painted the box things on the upper part of the lower leg a darker grey. In the following pic, you can see what I am talking about. I went back, mixed up some paint and re-touched these areas. I've also had to fix overspray, lifting paint, scraped paint from dropping the model, and scratches in the soft acrylic coat to name a few. Nothing that can't be learned from, I guess.
Painting the front part of the head and guns black were the point where the model started coming to life. I used Testors Acryl Gloss Black. I proceeded to detail some of the metallic areas by using Bare Metal Foil. I was not satisfied with the result, it looked very toyish so I scrapped that. I paid Hobbytown USA in Charlotte, NC a visit and bought some Alclad 2 Aluminum and Polished Aluminum instead. I'm still a bit intimidated by using anything other than acrylics but the heck with it, I'm gonna dive in and try it out! In the meantime, check out some of the recent painted pics of the head.