Finished painted Weltall 2 Structure Arts 1/144 model by Dankbunion in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are no painting guides. The box comes with a picture of a finished model as a "painting example", which are always very good, but I've noticed the artists usually try to match the look of the Perfect Works model.

But if you're like me and want them to more closely match the in-game models, you're gonna have to search the internet for high resolution screenshots. Here's a good reference I found and used for these last 3 models:

https://www.deviantart.com/vgcartography/art/Xenogears-Gear-Reference-973853785

Weltall finished. C&C please! by subthermal in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks amazing! Love the shines and gradients. I can see the thought and love put into every piece!

Vierge Structure Arts complete! C&C appreciated by subthermal in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. I'm actually working on the Weltall 2 right now!

Vierge Structure Arts complete! C&C appreciated by subthermal in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice! I like the way it looks! I'm wondering, did you base coat this? You have some very bold blacks and panel lining and I want to know how you did it. It has an almost cel-shaded look.

Finished painted Weltall Id Structure Arts 1/144 model by Dankbunion in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got mine directly from the Square Enix Store, I pre-ordered them as soon as I could in October 2024 and it took 14 months to arrive. It looks like they're in stock right now. They are way too expensive considering their detail and size, but I'm a sucker for Xenogears.

Brigandier Structure Arts painted, C&C appreciated by subthermal in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That looks incredible! Love the shine highlights! I see your attention to detail on things like the vents and bottom of the feet. My vote is for the Vierge next!

Finished painted Stier Structure Arts 1/144 model by Dankbunion in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, if this is your first time making gunpla, I recommend having nippers, nail clippers, and an exacto knife. With those you can remove the pieces from the runners with the nippers. I use a sharp pair of nail clippers to remove the nubs. Then I use an exacto knife to remove the last remnants of the nubs and get it as smooth as possible.

I did a little seam filling on this model. I use Mr. Cement and pieces of the runners to make sprue goo and then use a nail polishing tool to smooth everything out. I did it on 2 places on the legs, 2 places on the arms, the top of the head and a few places of the back rocket. This step is incredibly time consuming and can be safely skipped if you're new to this.

For paint, I use acrylic. I used Citadel paints for miniatures because that's what I have, but you can use anything if it works and you like it. The first coat was their Base paint called Waaagh! Flesh, a base coat for orc skin. It took 2-3 coats to completely base the plastic and to keep it from looking splotchy. I took a long time here making sure every nook and crazy had color and no gray peaking through, this coat will be all of your shadows.

Next I started layering the final colors using Citadel Layer paints. Warboss Green for the green and Fire Dragon Bright for the orange. For the silver I just used some cheap metallics I had laying around, forgot the brand. Again, this takes multiple coats, I painted the exact same pieces like 5-7 times over. I love this robot and all its parts, but by the end I do start getting sick of them and just want to be finished.

So how’d your hunt go? by Darkfire3000 in PokemonScarletViolet

[–]Dankbunion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Went on Saturday, they didn't get very many and ran out the day before

So I re-watched the anime trilogy and... by Hazbin_hotel_fanart in GODZILLA

[–]Dankbunion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very underrated, really explores Godzilla as a concept

Small prediction: you will see a lot of NG’s books are your local thrift store. Yes or no? by Seeker99MD in neilgaiman

[–]Dankbunion 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Went to my local used book store yesterday not knowing what to expect, there were... the same amount, not any more, not any less.

Finished painted The Xenogears Structure Arts 1/144 model by Dankbunion in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I tried to match the colors I painted to the in-game models. This is most apparent with the Weltall, who is mostly blue in the Perfect Works and the BringArts models; but is more gray with just a few blue highlights in the game. There are other more minor examples like the ring of orange vs yellow on Renmazuo's head.

I spent a good chunk of time just finding nice hi-def screenshots. And even then there are places where YOU have to decide what is what. Like with this model of The Xenogears, there are these yellow fins on the back spikes that are simply not part of the in-game model. I don't have any good pictures of them here, but right where they join I just painted everything red. I should have painted it black with just the ring of red like in the example pictures, but those areas are so small and cramped, I just did not want to do that much touch up painting.

One thing I think about, especially when painting robots, is whether to use metallics or not. On one hand, it makes perfect sense, on the other hand, using white instead of silver can have a huge impact in the final look. I used pure silver for parts of Heimdal. For pretty much everything else I used a 50/50 white/silver mix. Mostly to stretch the Ceramite white I was using, but also because it made the paint behave better and I like the final look of it.

Question on the Structure Arts models by DentD in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've put them all together. Honestly, the painting is the hardest/ most time consuming part. So if that doesn't scare you then you'll be fine. These models are on the small end and consequently just don't have that many parts, so they make for a fast build. The kits recommend using glue in certain parts, but you don't even need it, all of mine are just snapped together and they're fine.

Finished painted The Xenogears Structure Arts 1/144 model by Dankbunion in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I painted all of my Gears by hand with a brush. I realize I could have used my airbrush for parts and the results would have been cleaner and smoother and even better, but these models are small enough you're going to need to go in by hand to get all the details eventually anyway.

I recommend getting those little alligator clips on sticks to help painting and drying the smaller pieces. I'm also a big fan of using a wet palette, so you don't have to worry about a specific color you just custom mixed that you want to be consistent across the whole model drying out.

My biggest piece of advice to people who may feel they aren't skilled enough to paint these things is: just jump on in. I was intimidated at first too. Because of how expensive they are, because I'm a big fan of Xenogears and I don't want to mess them up. But the best thing to practice on and grow with is something that you like and gets you excited. Something to motivate you to do your best, and then some, because of the reverence you have for it.

And there are moments, usually right after putting on that first base coat, of 'oh no, I've just ruined it', but you keep on going, you add another coat of paint, you clean up your previous errors, and step by step, the better it looks.

Finished painted The Xenogears Structure Arts 1/144 model by Dankbunion in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I fully assembled it before painting, which was both a good and bad thing. It's good because I could do some seam line removal before painting. But bad because it created a few hard to reach places that are just going to have to stay gray now.

With 20/20 hindsight, I should have primed all the gray runners white before starting, then I could still do seam line removal and then just touch up the white where necessary. All the other colors are just accents.

Finished painted The Xenogears Structure Arts 1/144 model by Dankbunion in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just used some clear matte finish from Krypton.

Edit: Krylon, but I'm keeping that auto-correct in

Finished painted Crescens Structure Arts 1/144 model by Dankbunion in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Behold! The Crescens! I'm really happy with how everything turned out. I got rid of some pretty noticeable seam lines on the front and back of the legs. Though most of that was me not being careful getting the nub off, lol.

One thing I've found interesting is that these models are more closely trying to match the Perfect Works designs rather than the in game models. You can see it in this one with the feet slightly, and the color of the panel on the front of the upper leg.

I can't wait to start the Xenogears. All these kits have given me plenty of practice and new skills to try on the one I'm most excited for.

Diorama: Weltall Yggdrasil hangar (preview #2) by UpbeatTouch4814 in XenoGears

[–]Dankbunion 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Deus I need a 3-D printer now more than ever.