After a week long absence, the arm parts I previously sprayed should have fully cured by now. But it was after taking this shot that I realize that Italian Red and Metal Red look virtually the same on camera. I had some suspicions this might happen when I selected the pairing of the red colors so I initially planned on using a flat coat on Italian Red and apply an extra gloss coat to Metal Red to highlight the difference. This all backfired on me while spraying the flat coat onto the blue painted parts when the flat coat kept frosting on the pieces. After a tedious run of pain-striping-then-repsraying, I opted to drop top coating altogether leaving me with Metal Red and Italian Red pieces that can be differentiated on the actual kit but look identical on camera.
Ah. The wonders of using black enamel for panel lining.
Unlike the Gundam Marker Pen, the black enamel doesn't leave a stain on the paint job even after being wiped with alcohol. Fortunately I tested using black enamel wash on a couple of spare pieces painted with Olive Green. After being left to settle for 24 hours the enamel wash can be easily wiped off with a very small amount of thinner (Tamiya X-20).
Now the best part of Gundam building... going into the assembly phase, even if its just the arms.
I just love how the blue arm looks. It even looks great on camera. The red arm however, well it depends on the angle angle of the shot and the lighting to see the difference between Italian Red and Metal Red on camera.
There is one advantage the red colors had over the Blue painted parts though. The black enamel I used for lining was clearly visible on the red side while the darker parts of the blue arm were almost hiding the lines. Put both arms side by side and they look great.
