Although the backlog is large, it’s only going to get smaller by picking a kit to build next. I’d had enough time to think where I wanted to go next, and that was Sazabi.
It’s a big kit! It comes in a box 1/2 the size of the PG 00 Raiser that came in the same large shipping box from HLJ. That makes this a big MG kit, with lots of runners. 
So where do you start on a kit like this? Well, I started with the two guns. They’re nicely detailed, so I went with Tamiya gunmetal for both of them (even though one is black plastic, the other grey). I did the large shield piece at the same time, and after protecting the surface with a good spray of Future Finish, I went for a black oil paint wash. I let it dry before wiping off, then added a few touch-ups.
While the oil wash was drying, I started on the yellow pieces, which I’d decided were going to be copper. I really like the Alclad copper that I used on some of the small details on RX-78-2 v3.0, and I’m not that keen on bright yellow parts on a mech. I enjoyed the bright orange that I used on the Geera Doga for its thrusters, but that was a green suit, and I’m going with the standard red for Sazabi. So copper it is, and I’m hoping the end result looks great.
I quickly took off the red detail pieces for the guns, and thus was able to assemble them. The red is my stock Createx pearl red with Tamiya clear red on top. I’ll be using that formula for the main armour pieces too, but I’ll be using black, grey or white undercoat to keep the part colour differentiation.
Here’s a quick water-slide on the stock of the gun. As much as I find water-slides finicky, tricky and slow to put on, they do look good. I’ll cover all the water-slides with Future Finish to fix them in place, and then finally add a top coat of Alclad flat to complete the look.
Those pieces came out awesome. Especially the copper pieces but those guns look awesome as well. Great work so far
The copper is looking good, but I’ve also done a lot of the frame detail pieces in polished brass, and they’re looking really great. It’s nice to mix up a bit on the metallics for a different look. I should be able to post more WIP pictures later.
How did you decide which parts to paint??? I just purchased this kit and feel like i’m over my head on what to paint what color and what not to paint… Did you assemble the kit first then disassemble it to paint or painted before ever putting it together….
thanks for the advice.
That’s a tricky question to answer. Generally what I do is try to figure out what colour to paint each piece as I go. I’ll read the instructions and study pictures to see how it’s going to go together without actually building it first. But I know other people like to build first, disassemble and then paint. With a good MG kit like this though, the colour separation is all there in the different pieces, and that makes life a lot easier.
I just purchased this kit. How did you know which parts to color which color?? I’m looking at the kit and want to do a custom paint job. But dont want to have to assemble everything and then dis-assemble it all to paint it what colors i want the parts to be to get the desired look… any advice is greatly appreciated.