Gekko_1

OK, so now I'm trying to replicate the run-off of dust, dirt fluids etc from the center section. Using AK Interactive pencils dry for this first step. Next the pencil was blended with Matisse Drying Retarder. I let that dry for a day then sprayed Tamiya rattle can TS-80 Flat Clear. After letting that dry for about half a day I began chipping the toes and edges of the foot with Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen Cold Grey VI 235. After doing this step I discovered by accident that one can blend the Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen with Matisse Drying Retarder too! However this was NOT what I wanted to do at this stage as it was chipping, so I wanted a hard edge. HOWEVER! I will be experimenting with this serendipitous (yes that's a big word and yes I had to look it up!) discovery tomorrow! 😜 The Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen dries with a slightly semi gloss finish so I will be giving it another rattle can Matt coat later today. The initial trial of run-off of dust, dirt fluids etc from the center section with pencil proved to be too faint this time around, so after the Matt coat has sufficiently dried I will be trying that again. Oh, and before I forget, again, I've found the new AK Interactive 3rd generation paint and pencils to both be very very good and worth the investment!

No......................I think it was at the beginning of a YouTube Star Wars show? However, I just watched the AT-AT attack on Hoth (as you suggested) on YouTube @ 4K ............................ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esdnOSo2-sY .............................. and YES! One can quite clearly see the top of the foot depress down into the bottom of the foot! So that sorts out that little issue!

Actually I remember seeing somewhere??? that that part of the foot depresses down into the base of the foot as weight is brought down on it. Wish I could recall where I saw that? So yeah, it would tend to be quite grungy around that area. Oh and Happy Birthday Pete!

Managed to improve things a little. One lesson learned though, was not to use acrylic paint with the Glaze medium hoping to blend it like the Vallejo Model Washes! No no no no no! That didn't work the same at all! The Vallejo Model Wash must be an ink?? Not sure? Used that mix in the offending area of the white tide mark, only to realise immediately after that it wouldn't blend-out like the Vallejo Model Wash does! 😵 Much happier with the shadows emphasizing the paneling along the bottom edge around the foot. This was done with various darker AK Interactive pencils liquefied with water and then mixed with a little Matisse Drying Retarder. This mix was painted along the edge of the panel, then blended with another small brush and Matisse Drying Retarder. (⬅️ I love this stuff!!) Keep in mind looking at these photos that the foot is only 30mm across. 🧐 Now.............................on with more weathering layers!

This isn't a model of one of those AT-AT's on that sun, sand and beaches for pansy easy going types on Scarif! 🌴🏄‍♂️ This is a model of a hardened battle scarred AT-AT for hard core types💪, on the rocky jagered mountains and wadis of the Judland Wastes! 😜

Started adding shadows around some of the panels............. That white tide mark re-appeared after the Matisse drying retarder had dried! I was going to have another go at getting rid of it, but I developed an eye strain headache, so that was the end of my modelling for today. I have a pretty good idea how to get rid of it..............................more tomorrow.

Sometimes the Vallejo Glaze Medium has a slight shine to it. Very slight though. However, I needed a very Matt surface for the pencils to get a grip to for some of the finer chips. (those pencils used are Faber - Castell Polychromos pencils that are a harder more durable pencil, not a water colour pencil. And are great for adding small chips. More on them later) So the Matt Varnish was to help with that. The wash 'formula' is still a work in progress, but I'm happy with it so far.

My two great modelling loves are camouflage schemes and weathering. When I was a young boy I used to love to paint-up my Airfix 32nd scale soldiers and take them out into the yard and see how well they looked in amongst the grass and sticks. This then progressed on to my Matchbox cars, Dinky Toys and model tanks. Later on in life I took this learning to a whole new level as an Infantry soldier. Camouflage and concealment was something I excelled at. I remember well one day out in the bush a junior Officer asked my Section Corporal where I was, only to be told I was "there". There, being approximately 2 meters away from him, lying down next to a gum tree. His startled reply was.............."Oh". The 'selling' of the concept of this tri-colour desert camouflage scheme will rely on me conveying its scale through weathering. And so with the non-destructive (for Bandai plastic kits) weathering materials all sorted out its on to the scheme and weathering techniques! With that in mind I thought I'd start off with something simple. So I decided to do a foot and use that as the test piece going forward. With the scheme roughly penciled-in I applied painters tape and silly putty for the dark brown. Then for the light sand. Here we see it with the first of the acrylic washes applied. The wash consisted of: 2 x Vallejo Model Wash 76523 European Dust 1 x Vallejo Model Wash 76515 Light Grey 8 x Vallejo Glaze Medium 4 x water 6 x dish washing liquid diluted mix 3 x Vallejo Matt Varnish. Here we see it after three coats of the above wash applied with about a days worth of drying time in between. The white mess you can see is the reaction caused by me spraying Tamiya rattle can Matt varnish too soon, before the wash had dried properly. Not to worry! The solution was to spray some Mr Color GX UV Cut Flat Super Clear over it. Sorted! (next time Richard don't be so bloody impatient! ) As you can see, some of the chipping and rust etc has begun. Much more to come yet for that little foot!

The best is yet to come! There'll be 'a foot' in the right direction next!

So, as I mentioned above, I managed to get myself some AK Interactive pencils and a few bottles of the new 3rd generation acrylic paint. I'll be using the Leather Brown in the camouflage scheme. The Rubber Black and Off White to lighten or darken and the Florescent Magenta for identification panels on the top of the AT-AT. These two colours will be mixed 50/50 to replicate the Vallejo Radome Tan. Two more shots of the underside showing additional staining, rust streaks etc this time using the AK Interactive pencils and Matisse Drying Retarder. Testing out a wash using Vallejo Model Washes and Glaze Medium. Here still wet........................... .............................and dry. Silver base being prepared for hairspray technique............................. After the hairspray had dried I applied a coat of Ammo Mig 041 Dark Rust. I sped-up the drying time using a hair dryer. For some reason this caused the cracking that you see here. After water applied by brush, chipping the paint down to the silver. And here after a wash.

Next are some more images of the process just before I managed to get my hands on some of the new AK Interactive Pencils and 3rd generation acrylic paints to test out for myself. The effect I'm going for here is a heavy industrialised, worn, mechanical, greasy, dirty look. I'm trying to bring an element of real-world realism into this science fiction subject to give it a little more believe-ability. Cheers Richard.

Hi guys, sorry about the lack of updates. I've been quite busy with weathering experiments though, just haven't been able to upload all of it yet. I work as a Nightfiller at a Supermarket here in South Australia and to say things have become scary would be an understatement! Its so strange that people like me have gone from being ignored, bullied and disrespected by the majority of people, to a now front-line well respected and thanked essential service worker! It just makes me laugh (on the inside) that now I'm "so important" whereas nothing has actually changed in my job at all. I guess its just that now people have realised that without the 'little people' like me doing what we do "they" could actually face starvation? Its also quite frightening that any of "them" could now actually make me very ill or even kill me if they're infected with this Corona Virus. ☣️ Anyway, enough of that! My intention on this build is to demonstrate the ability to weather these Bandai Star Wars kits without any risk of plastic breaking, stressing or cracking that is commonly experienced by using enamel based weathering products on Bandai kits. First off we have the 4 main Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens that I’ve used in this build. They being: Walnut Brown 177 Warm Grey V 274 Cold Grey IV 233 Raw Umber 180 Next are the Derwent watercolour pencils.............. Burnt Sienna 62 Chocolate 66 Ivory Black 67 And the final component are the Vallejo Model Washes: 76.521 Oiled Earth 76.516 Grey 76.518 Black The Faber-Castell markers are manipulated using Isopropyl alcohol just like you’d use odorless enamel thinners for enamel weathering products. The Derwent watercolour pencils and Vallejo Model Washes are thinned and or manipulated with Vallejo Retarder Medium 70597......................................... Vallejo Glaze Medium 73596........................................................ and Matisse Drying Retarder. Here's some examples of all of these products combined............................ As you'll see in upcoming installments, the weathering of the underside will go through many adjustments and additions as newer products are introduced enhancing things even more! Cheers Richard.

Excellent! Well done. 👍

Excellent and inspiring stuff there Andy! R-33K certainly has been through a lot! I wonder if there's a movie in the making! 🤪 Richard.

Yes. Have you seen my AT-ST? Plus more profiles here: This one will be magnetised onto a block of wood sprayed semi-gloss black. Cheers Richard.

The painting begins! The usual acrylic issues raised their ugly head. You know...........blockages, spitting, clogging etc I will persevere with acrylics for this build, but may do an AT-ST in lacquer paints next time. This underneath section will be the first to receive the weathering treatment. The tops of the feet needed some more filling! Notice how well I manages to get rid of the join line here? Cheers Richard.

So what is it about the body pattern of 663 that you guys like so much? Richard.

😁 Noted! I haven't made any concrete decisions yet, so we'll see! I may even create some completely new variations for this build. Plus starboard side and top patterns. Richard.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen! In this build I intend creating a somewhat different looking AT-AT from the canon version many of you are used to. Hopefully this won't upset too many of you! Those of you familiar with my crazy thinking know what's in store! Below are some examples of the type of thing I'm looking to achieve. 😜 My rational behind a scheme like this is that the Empire was looking to both improve the survivability of its mobile heavy assets and intimidate the enemy with an imposing scheme. With something as big as an AT-AT being difficult to hide in a desert environment I decided to base this scheme(s) on the Dazzle camouflage as used on ships during World War One. Plus, it looks cool! Also, because of the sensitive nature of Bandai plastic I won't be using any enamel based weathering products. Instead I'll be using Derwent water colour pencils, Prismacolor pencils, Faber-Castell PITT artists pens, Vallejo Model Wash, Vallejo Retarder Medium 70597, Vallejo Glaze Medium 70596 and Matisse Drying Retarder to achieve all the weathering on this model. I'll explain all their uses along the way. 🎓 But first, the boring stuff! Seams filled with Mr Hobby - Mr White Putty R, thinned with Mr Hobby - Mr Color Leveling Thinner 400. With regards to the top of the feet, I decided to remove the molded on detail provided on the kit part and just keep it plain and flat. The feet will get a lot of attention later on, as I will be showing the dirt/wear marks left by the compression of the feet (as illustrated below). The neck section received a lot of work to get rid of the join seam. This was achieved using files and Tamiya Extra Thin glue to help melt the plastic and hide the file marks. Next, with all the parts (except the legs) ready to go, the parts were sprayed Stynylrez Black thinned with Isopropyl alcohol. Don't forget the inside of the main body............................ ......................and the inside of the head. The red cockpit part (blue arrow) will be added later, after painting is finished. Next step will be to check over the primed parts and see if anything needs sanding etc. Then on to the painting! Cheers Richard.

Hi John, unfortunately I didn't do a WIP as I was pressed for time and was going flat-out to make the deadline. I will however be doing a YouTube video about it all in a couple of months time which will cover everything. Check Studio Gekko on YouTube early next year. Cheers Richard.

Bandai has quite a few new design options to model from the Rise of Skywalker movie if they wish to. To me it seems like nothing has really moved on from the basic 1976 Star Wars designs. I mean, in something like 100 years we've gone from the likes of the Sopwith Camel to the F-35 Fighter. Yet in this science fictional universe that spans how many years? things have progressed very little indeed! Richard.

Maybe (hopefully) they're only like a stage 1 type of release with the newer vehicles to be released after the movie's release, slated for a Christmas release?? It looks like there are going to be several new droid designs, a new Walker version and a modded AT-ST in the new Mandalorian movie. So maybe they'll be released at a later stage too?? And we know (going off the posters) there's 3 new tie fighter based designs coming, several new characters (thus figures), some sort of rocket powered bike, and what looks like it may be a new design of Star Destroyer?

Thanks BackToZeon, here's some more shots of them..................

Found these. I'm guessing they're the new kits? I really like those new X-wings!