I was supposed to start my Gundam SEED kit build binge in January, but since I’ve already completed my second Lah Gundam earlier this week, I might as well build a kit some days in advance. And there’s no better way to kick things off but with a kit I’ve been delaying the build because of reasons.
Following my HG Force Impulse Gundam build towards the end of 2022, I am ending 2023 with Shin Asuka’s upgrade, the HG Destiny Gundam. Not the highly regarded HGCE kit, just the HG released in 2005. The older HG GUNDAM SEED kits didn’t have the best color separation, and with the Destiny Gundam reliant on specific color application for its design, expect to spend time on masking and painting.
Case in point the torso section pictured above. The torso is just made of solid blue pieces sandwiched together. And it may not look obvious at first glance, but the torso unit of the Destiny Gundam has several key color applications. These include the signature pale blue sections on the chest vents, the gray collar sections and chest vent details, and a small red strip on top of the torso.
You can just imagine the multiple rounds of masking needed just to paint these areas, something I’ve been dreading whenever I think of building this kit.
Fortunately, it’s still the holidays so I basically spent a good portion of the day on those several rounds of masking and painting. Deciding on the order of painting the section which will have minimal impact on each other is key to this build. I started with the gray vent details, followed by a second round of masking and painting for the pale blue sections, then rinse and repeat to cover the gray collar armor and finally with the red strip on the front collar armor. It may not be the best but I’m really satisfied with how everything turned out that I went ahead and built the other parts you see above.
There are still other parts that would require paint but as far as multiple masking sessions go, I’ve probably cleared them already.
