Bandai’s High Grade 1/144 Graze Custom: Release the Funky Blue Frame of Funkiness!

A few weeks ago, I built my first Gundam model kit. I’d just sort of slapped it together- a little drybrushing, a little weathering. The purpose was more about understanding how the construction of these kits worked than getting a spectacular result. (A quest in which I succeeded…. 😉 )

I quickly discovered that I could tear the kit back down (it’s snap together!), and then build it back up. So a decision was made to redo the kit, and spend a bit more time on the painting and weathering.

I’d seen some various examples of cool looking metallic frames from other Gunpla builders, so after a coat of black primer, I gave mine a heavy drybrush of Tamiya Chrome Silver. As I looked at the results, I saw my bottle of Tamiya Clear Blue sitting on other shelf. And I wondered….

A few mist coats later, I had the Funky Blue Frame of Funkiness! 

For the outer armor, I wanted to work on various weathering, shading, and modulation techniques. While some of these are used in aircraft modeling, which is where my background is, the appeal of these kits is being able to go over the top. Because it’s all made up anyway, who’s to say it’s wrong? (Fixed slats? We don’t need no stinkin’ fixed slats?)

(Yes, that is an inside joke for one particular person. Well, an acquaintance.)

I started with a base coat of Tamiya Dark Green, and then began a process of fading, shading, pencil lining, oil streaking, and modulation. It went fairly well… I did find out that when doing modulation, it’s important to remember where the light source is in relation to the piece being modulated. So apologies if a few parts seem oddly modulated. My story is he’s actually in a disco, so the lights are bouncing all around. (He is wearing his Funky Blue Frame of Funkiness for an evening out…)

I think the biggest thing I’ve learned from this- besides how much fun I had doing it- is that my fingers don’t work well with this smaller scale. The kit is quite fun though, and the whole “Gunpla is freedom” slogan really applied here.

Expect to see many more Gundam kits on these pages!

 


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