With the release of the new Wave Gustav, I thought it might make sense build another of my pile of Nitto Gustavs. The has got to be my top SF3D design. As iconic as the SAFS, Falke, or Melusine is, the Gustav is still my favorite. My next is the PKA H1, so you can see I'm a sucker for side windows that don't glue in properly.
Construction
Base kit is the Nitto Gustav. I added the arm, hip, and ankle armor from a Wonder Festival resin detail set. The set was 5 pieces in a bag, nothing special. I raided my spare box for the extra arm and the hands are from a Koto MSG set. The resin figure is a nice sculpt from Yoschi. This is the older release in the cream color resin.
I also started on another Gustav torso with a Fliege back end, but more on that some other post.
Basic paint and decals
I started with a black base coat and airbrushed several brown and rusty tones for a mottled effect. I then applied a light coat of Gunze Clear from a spray can. Over this I sprayed a couple of coats of hairspray from the can. The green base is custom mix Tamiya and this was airbrushed over the HS. Chips were created by lightly scrubbing the paint with a damp brush until the HS loosened and paint could be chipped, scratched and flaked. This was later sealed with another clear coat and decals were applied from the Wave Ketzer decal sheet.
White wash and weathering
Base is Tamiya white mixed with a little gray and lightly airbrushed over a couple of layers of hairspray. Then a little white on top of that. The HS was scrubbed off with water. I used white gouache to add a few little bright areas. Next I used MIG Dark and Neutral wash to accent the details. I then airbrushed a filter of a couple of different brown SIN filters. Then more filters and more washes. I then applied pigments, more washes, more pigments, more washes, some filters, more pigments and then a couple more washes. Seriously, it was a a lot of steps to get this variety of finish.
Figure and Groundwork
The bust has been painted with Vallejo Acrylics. This is probably the quickest figure figure I have panited. It still took time, but I didn't put it off and dread working on it like I normaly do. Just plowed on through.
The groundwork is a new mixture of Acrylic Matt Gel, dirt, pigments, and tile grout. I th ink I used a bit too mucj water as it is slowly starting to crack and pull back from the edges and lift off the base. I'll give it a few more days to completly dry and then see what kind of patch work is needed.