Tutorial: How to Paint Gundam Eyes
Intro:
Most Master Grade Gundam models come with clear eye pieces. In this post I'm going to show you how to quickly and easily paint them!
Tools:
Paints: Acrylic based black & clear color (red, green and blue are most common,)Brush: 0 sized round brush
X-Acto Knife
Isopropyl Alcohol 90%+
Q-Tips
Steps:
Here are two eye pieces. The clear part on the left is from the MG Death Scythe Hell and the clear green part on the right is from the MG 00 Raiser.
Using your size 0 brush paint the entire eye plate black.
Using the isopropyl alcohol soaked Q-tips or and X-acto knife gently scrape the black off of the raised eye pieces.
Your Gundam's eyes should now look like this.
Use your clear colored paint to paint the raised eyes and sensor unit. Once the paint has dried you can assemble the head.
When you shine a light through the back of your kits head you can see the red sensor
Hi Dan,
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do for eye pieces that aren't clear (like the MG Heavyarms)? Thanks!
Paint the eye part with silver acrylic paint, then apply a coat of acrylic green. Once the green has dried paint on a layer of enamel black. Use lighter fluid to remove the black on the raised eye lens.
DeleteI may do a tutorial on this at some point because it's more involved.
Would this be feasible with kits that don't have that clear piece in the back of the head? I'm working on the MG Shining Gundam and it has a clear eyepiece but the head is solid - would it maybe work to use a pin vise to make a little hole in the back to let light through?
ReplyDeleteEven if you drill a hole it probably won't make the eyes very visible. I'm going to do a tutorial on this soon since it's a good question. Stay tuned for an alternative eye painting method!
DeleteWhat you could do for these is paint the entire eyepiece black, then put some silver/chrome paint, then paint the "eye" parts clear over the shiney paint. Also for the "standard" clear eye pieces, paint the back behind the eyes chrome/silver to give it a bit more reflectivity (for instance, MKII 2.0 or RX-78-2 2.0).
DeleteHey Dan
ReplyDeleteCan I suggest you do a guide on paint those tiny pilot figures from master grade kits?
That's a great suggestion. But I actually never paint my pilot figures. I don't have the eyesight, manual dexterity or patients to work on something that small. But I know someone who does. I'll see if I can't convince him to post something!
DeleteSince you use acrylic paint for this post I guess this is a good place to ask. Can you use acrylic paint and thinner for a panel wash on an unpainted kit?
ReplyDeleteI don't see why it wouldn't work. Give it a try!
Delete