During the last post of my work-in-progress build report for the Gundam Tieren, I showed you how I assembled the model kit and did the initial coat of paint.

Now, it’s time to go through how I did the decals, followed by the wash and (my favorite part) doing battle damage, paint chips, rust and over-all weathering to give it that “battle scarred veteran look”

On to the photos…

APPLYING THE DECALS

The kit did not come with any decals. So, while waiting for paint to dry, I headed off to Lil’s in Makati and got myself some Gundam water-slide decals. Water slides are the best because a) they don’t show any “seams” unlike the sticker types and b) mistakes are easier to correct. Just apply more water and adjust.

I also hand-detailed ALL the screws and painted them using Tamiya Titanium enamel.

Here are the pics…

WASH AND WEATHERING

Now, it’s time to apply the wash. The “wash” is a common model kit technique which is simply paint mixed with a lot of thinner and applied to the entire model. This is to bring out the fine details and to give it a “weathered and aged” look. I applied the wash using Tamiya enamel black mixed with enamel thinner. This was hand-brushed using a large brush and dabbed to the model. I give it around a couple of days to dry.

Once the wash was dry, I used the Tamiya weathering kit to make rust marks and streaks. The weathering kit looks like a lady’s makeup kit and you apply it using the sponge applicator and brush.

PAINT CHIPS

And now for the fun part! The decals were done, the initial wash is now dry… but the Tieren still needs to look beat-up and worn. Time to apply some paint chips and battle damage. Using the techniques I learned and experimented with my M1A1 Abrams Tank project, here’s how I did it:

1. With a small, thin brush apply chrome or silver on the parts you want to be chipped and worn. Remember to use enamel if your base coat is acrylic (and vice versa)
2. Let it dry for a couple of hours (better overnight)
3. Apply a slightly smaller portion on top of it using Olvie Drab
4. Done!

Some pics of the “paint-chipped” parts

For the red parts (the shoulder shields and the leg shield) I dry-brushed titanium silver to give it a weathered look;

Finally, I applied some touch-ups to the other parts using orange-rust and some more dry-brushing to bring out some metals from the torso and legs.

I also airbrushed the weapons first with a base flat coat of german gray then misted some black into it. Finally, I gave it a light coat of Gun Metal and then dry brushed it with Titanium Silver. Since I lost the “cap” on the forehead, I replaced it with an actual steel ball-bearing. Methinks it looks better anyway.

Here are more photos of the (almost) finished kit;

I plan to make a diorama with this one and maybe enter it in the coming BAKUC Philippines contest (if I have time). Hope you guys learned a thing or two! Thanks for visiting.

If you missed it, here’s the first part of the Gundam Tieren Build.

Don’t go yet! Check out my other posts on my model kits

• Gundam Wing
• Star Wars Tie Interceptor
• M1A1 Abrams Tank USA
• In-progress: 1997 Ford Mustang
• Gundam Blitz
• MS-06J Zaku II
• Gundam Destiny
• Gundam Red Astray

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