This is a conversion of the 1/35 Hasegawa Gustav into a Gucker. At first you wouldn't think it wouldn't take that long, but there are a lot of tiny details and minor modifications (especially in this scale) that took a bit of effort.
Below is the build diary for the Gucker.
Basic Construction
The major changes were the side pods and the new engine cover. The pods were made from lumps of epoxy putty while the engine cover is styrene sheet, Wave Option parts and lumps of epoxy putty. The actual fun part was the tiny joint covers. I sculpted them the same way I do the 1/20 ones. Pack the arms and legs with epoxy, drill and insert solder wire - thought a bit smaller this time, create an under structure and later sculpt the actual joint covers.
It's not perfect and still needs some tiny bolts added. I still need to build the flip up cover for the side pod and clean up a few seams, but it's mostly done.
Final details and primer
A few last details were added.
Paint
I first base coated with Tamiya Black and mist coated it with Flat Brown for worn metal spots to show through the HS. The HS worked out pretty well for such a smal l model, but I overdid it with the Satin top cot and it reacted with the paint/HS combo on the dark areas, so I over-painted the dark gray by hand with Gunze lacqure acrylics thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. I think my lungs still hurt from that. Jeeze that's powerful stuff! Decals are from the 1/20 Gucker.
Detail Paint and Weathering
I airbrushed a Matt coat and applied a few filters to cut down the contrast in the camo. I also started on the rubble groundwork. The large slabs are pieces of thin plaster cracked with a hammer. The bulk of the debris is sand and gravel mixed into Matt Acrylic Gel. A few model bits were added for variety. It still needs more bits and pieces for variety.
Figure Painting and Groundwork
The head is a modification of the emotionless kit head with a resin replacement from Hornet. I found the closest thing to the 1/20 Gucker scream sculpted by Yoschi. the figure is painted with Vallejo Acrylics while the helmet is painted with oils as I find these easier to blend over larger surfaces.
Suit weathering and debris
The suit has had additional oils and pigments applied to dirty the suit up. The goal was a suit that has been in urban combat area for some time so a lot of dust and grime was applied but no dried on mud and dirt. The debris are fine sand, brick dust and fine ground concrete set with watered down Matte Gel Acrylic Medium. When dry, it was dusted with pigments.
