I use kits like this to try out new things. The basecoat is pretty simple. Sprayed it black, then hit it with a fairly heavy dustcoat of red. Then I went back in with some browns, blues, and more black (all from a spray can). This gave me a little deapth and variety on the back. No real pattern, just played around with what felt right.
I had already painted the mouth and teeth before assembly and masked them before spraying. Then I detailed the claws. After that I went back with a thinned down red and blended the transition with the belly a little. This can really be seen in the last picture.
I also went in with a really thinned down black and highlighted a few of the creases in the body as well.
After that I started playing with watercolors. I've been itching to try them since I saw the demo at WF this year.
I went over the belly with a little yellow and brown. That have it a nice sickly yellow feel.
Then I went with some blue/green and did some wide striping on the back. Went back to the blue and and added a thin line in the middle of the stripes. After both steps, I went back over it with a wide dry brush and featherd it a bit to blend it. I really like the effect. The pictures show a few of the stripes a little darker than they actually appear when looking at the kit though.
I can't wait for more opportunities to use watercolors and get more familiar with them.
It's a good thing I tried the motor before I put it together also. It was really slow and didn't work very well. I lubricated all the gears and other working parts with some 3in1 oil, and it worked wonders.
As for building the kit itself, the parts fit surprisingly well considering the age of this kit. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't bother with any putty, part of the reason was that there wasn't a need for very much. There were very few gaps that weren't taken care of with a little extra glue during assembly.
I just wish the detail was a little better on this model. Over all, it's pretty plain and boring. If it wasn't for the nostalgic value, I don't think I would have even bothered with it. That being said, I did have fun building this. Just slapping it together without worrying about small problems and detailing was very refreshing. It won't win any contests (that's for sure) but it is one of many fun modeling memories I will have.
Almost forgot to mention how well
it walks.
Which isn't very well. As I mentioned on one of the
modeling bulletin boards, kind of reminds me of a
cartoon. A lot of leg movement with very little forward
progress. The legs just go and go and go, but the model
just sort of crawls along while rocking side to side.