The Bandai PG Unicorn was an amazing kit, but when I saw the first picture of the Dragon Momoko version, I had to get it. In my opinion, they really improved on the design.
When painting a Unicorn kit, you run the risk of it being completely the same as other repaints. There's only so much you can do with an all white mobile suit. I put together many different color schemes in Photoshop. None of them really worked, and I kept coming back to the original colors.
I decided to paint them in the original colors. It may be boring, but it'll still look damn nice on a shelf. I decided to change it up a little though: purple feet and backpack instead of the dark blue ones.
Later I decided to add little tan details here and there to make the design 'mine', to differentiate from the large number of 'boxart'-repaints.
Painting this guy seemed like such a daunting task. I decided to paint it by-limb. So first the head completely, then the torso and then the limbs separately.
I didn't paint any inner frame bits, I was worried about the fitting and not to mention the many many many hours it would all take. I had 2 weeks off from work and I had to do it all in that time.
My painting technique is very simple, really:
I took off all the armor bits of piece (limb, head, whatever) and I airbrushed a grey primer on each part.
After it's dry (I use Vallejo acrylics, so after 30 minutes, I'm good to go) I highlighted (also with an airbrush of course) the white with a white primer.
If I paint anything between black, grey and white, I'll use primers, never regular paints.
It was the first time I used Pledge floor wax (with future shine or something!) as a gloss coat. It dries up fast and hard. After about 30 minutes a part is dry to touch. I applied panellines with an unbranded acrylic marker. The marker dries slower than a gundam marker, so mistakes are easily fixed. I then proceeded to apply the waterslide decals.
I then leave all the parts to fully dry out with the floorwax. At the end of the day I airbrush them with a matte coat and I leave that to dry overnight.
I carefully assemble the limb the next day, since the matte coat might still be vulnerable and then it's rinse and repeat for the other parts.
(It all seems a bit rushed and it was!)
After that's all done, I used a toothpick to paint in the tiny tan details. I'm not that good with a brush for precise painting, so a just poking the tip of a toothpick in a little puddle of paint and then 'draw' the paint on is the safer choice for me.
I didn't get the wiring in all neat and cleanly, but I don't mind. It's a big, intimidating kit and the LED set that came with it tops it off! Of course, it shines a bit less bright, since the painted plastic doesn't let any light through, but that adds to the realism.
Wether you paint/mod or not, this kit is highly, highly recommended. It's pretty easy to paint the armor too, since it has pretty big parts!
