Gyantaurus WIP

Ok so this will be the next medium size project and will also be my first kit bash. Depending on how this project goes I may end up entering this in @usagundam Mecha Musume Contest. There are a couple of things I still need to figure out and I don't know even if I will have enough time to finish it in. However am going to at least make an attempt. First shot is the kits I intend to use, specifically the upper part of the the Gyanko and the lower part of the Barbataurus. 

Second picture is a very rough (combination of first time really using a Wacom tablet to draw and sucking at drawing in the first place) sketch of what the finish piece will look like. Now one are that I am still trying to figure out is the positioning of the arms. Once I get her snapped together I will post a follow up showing the different posing ideas I have and their respective pros and cons. There are a couple of smaller details that I might add or change but this is for the most part my overall idea for this entry.  

So update on the Gyantaurus. Got her snapped together and slightly posed. I know there are several areas where I am gonna be doing some modification.  

First I am going to recast her eye parts and then dremel out the irises before filling them with clear resin that I will tint. Alternatively if that does not work I will paint the drilled parts first then fill the entire piece with clear resin. 

Next is the hair. Here I am undecided. Probably tomorrow I will crack open one of the 30MS hair sets I have and see if the will fit. If not then I will stick with the base hair and decide if I want to use the Gyan shield hair ties she comes with or opt for something else.  

Another area that needs work is her neck. As the kit includes parts around this area that otherwise cover most of it up. However as on mine she will be bare I am going to need to shorten it. Have not decided by how much, may end up casting a copy of this part and working with that as a precaution. 

Moving on is the connection point between the two kits at the waist. This was an area I knew I would have problems with out of the gate. So what I need to do is two fold. First need to figure out which side will be the male end and which will be the female end (leaning towards the gyanko side being female side as how here torso is designed is more favorable to this). Second I need to figure out how I will do the connection surface between the two so as to make it seem like the two are naturally one. 

Next I need to make a decision on the arms. Right now I think I have two options for what I will do with them. I can recast the arms and dramatically thin them or see if the arms out of a 30MS kit will work. I am going to keep the hands as that are just about what I was looking for, however will as try some 30MS hands as well just to see if I like one of them more. 

Last item is her bust. What I am going to do is first recast her whole torso and unify the two parts of it more organically. After this I will start modifying her by using a dremel to remove the center blouse detail. Then I will enlarge and reshape her bosom. Will also remove details on her back and replace it. 

Alright here is where I am at with posing of her upper body. Now initially I was just deciding between poses 1 and 2 (and their left/right variations). However when I was shooting the pictures last night I left her in a pose close to 3 and liked it enough to refine it to pose 3 and actively consider it. So here are the pros and cons of the 3 poses as I see it:

1 Pros)
Covers all the important bits
Would be able to enter the Mecha Musume contest
Would deviate the least from original vision

1 Cons)
Would be most complex with the modification
Would need to figure out the arm situation before modifying the bust
May also need to modify the hands for better positioning holding her bust

2 Pros)
Boobies
Would be able to work on the bust prior to figuring the arms out
Think aesthetically I like this one a little more
Boobies

2 Cons)
Would not be able to enter Mecha Mustume contest
Would deviate some from original design idea

3 Pros)
BOOBA!!!!
Would be able to work on all parts independently
Would be able to change design elements without having to worry about any interactions
I also kinda like the pose and the story telling aspects

3 Cons)
Would not be able to enter Mecha Musume contest
Might not be able to enter
Pose is on the basic side

I added full size versions of each following the message for people to get a better look. Would love some input on this. 

I also checked to see if the 30MS hair would work and unfortunately they are too small. Was worth trying if only to find out. 

Did some experimenting for the eyes on the Gyantaurus. First shot is the first set of possible eye colors that I tried, both as an experiment to see if this would even work in the first place and as a proof of concept. of the three base colors I liked the Turquoise the most. 

Second photo is further experimentation but with an additional clear layer applied over top to show what a finished piece would in theory look like. Now the Carbon black I intend to use for the dark part of the pupil so I was almost 100% certain that that would work and was not disappointed. Now as for the other color possibilities I think I am going to go with the Turquoise + Sparkling Copper combination. Unfortunately it does not show up well in the photo as it does in person. 

So back to work on the Gyantaurus. To start I got the first couple of molds for the parts that I am going to recast done. Unfortunately I was not able to cast them as the cap on one of the bottles to the resin I have glued itself shut. Most likely because of residue on the edge that was missed last time I used it. Fortunately there was very little left, forgot I had used a bunch on a different project. So catch-22 this actually worked out as I had a light bulb moment and changed up my plans slightly. I will now case the eye parts in clear with the pigment powder mixed in. I think this will be easier then trying to drill out the eyes to refill with clear. Granted I will now paint the black part of the eyes but I think this way will be better. 

Next I clipped out one of the 30MS kit arms to see how they would work. Pictured together with the kit's arm I think it will work better. 

Also pictured is the arm placed on the torso and posed with the other kit arm for comparison. 

Now I did think I would have an issue trying to adapt the kit's hands to work with the 30MS arms. I then remembered I had picked up the 30MS hand options set, and it had the exact hands I needed. Now I am going also cast these as well, this way I will be able to have all the hands I need and so that should I decide to change finger positioning I won't have to worry about needing to get another set. 

Last shot shows another comparison between the 30MS arm and the kit's, but I have positioned them such to give an idea of how much I am going to need to lengthen the 30MS arms. Mind you that is with the base kit bust.

So at this point I think I have a bit of a plan of action moving forward. First, I will need to make molds for the torso to recast that. Second, remove the odd bits off the torso. Third, need to sculpt the new bust. Forth, determine how much I need to lengthen the arms.

As an additional note I think I have a plan that will allow the 3rd pose option and keep it in the contest. 

Today's progress on the Gyantaurus. Got the resin poured for the eyes and torso connector. Right now those parts are still curing as the resin is a slow cure type needing 24 hours to cure. As of the time of writing the resin is still on the soft side. So we will see, this is the first time using this resin and I think I may have added too much hardener. 

In other news I got the chest part preped for mold making. Used a little bit of play dough to fill in some of the odd bits to save time after casting. 

Unfortunately I did not mix enough rubber on the first go to hilarious results. 

Thankfully I had prepared the hands to also mold so not a big deal at the end of the day. Overall a productive day. 

Progress update on the Gyantaurus. So removed the pieces from the mold and both pieces failed. First the eye piece, which color wise was fine but had massive air bubbles form in the middle of both eyes. The eye brows also did not come out. 

Additionally, and is more visible with the torso piece. Both pieces came out soft and malible. So I check and it does appear I mixed the resin correctly after all. So thinking I got a bad batch I returned it and got a different brand.  

So I tried again, this time I tried flexing the mold a little to see if I could help get the resin into all the parts of the mold. Well the results were still not great. They were an improvement but still a fail. Same problem with the air bubbles but a little better. 

I also had the same problem with the torso part. Now I am more than certain that I mixed it correctly so I am going to try on the next attempt using less pigment powder as it may be interacting with the resin. I am also going to try manually forcing the resin into the mold to try and get it to at least get the eyes right.  

Not pictured I also got the molds for the hands and torso finally done. I unfortunately ran out of rubber with just a tiny bit needing covering. This delayed getting those parts cast. 

While that was setting up I got to work adding details to the horse parts. Wanted to add some interest that seemed lacking on the base kit. The side parts need a little touch up around the middle circle but are otherwise done. 

After that I worked on the back leg parts. The build up progress can be seen in the following photos. I still need to do a little more cleanup and touch up but they are basically done. 

So progress is happening and I am hopeful that the chest part will be ready to come out of it's mold for club on Saturday. 

Big update on the Gyantaurus today. So today was the day to find out if my resin issues were solved and they were. Looks like the softness issue was caused by the ratio of pigment powder to resin. Since I was doing a larger pour and used less pigment this pour worked.

So first up is the eye part. This time they turned out near perfect. There was still one airbuble but I was able to fix it with some UV cure resin. 

Next is the torso connector and this was another failure. The issue seems to be the mold and how I have to pour into it. So at this point I am just going to use the original kit part, potentially. 

The hands were the next part to come out of the mold and these were another failure. Again, here I think the issue was the mold and the pour pathing. So another piece I am just going to use the original. 

Last is the chest part and thankfully this was a success. There were still a number of air bubbles, but they are fixable. Will take all this as a great learning opportunity and will improve next time I do this. 

So I then started cleaning up the eye part and got it in the head parts for a temp assembly. 

I then started cleaning up excess resin and filling the holes in the chest piece. I was did a little dremel work to start modifying the bust. 

Speaking on the bust I mentioned I figured out a solution for the bust issue. That is the unused hair pieces. So what will do is attach a magnet to these pieces and in the bust. This way I'll be able to cover up the eventually added bits and be ok for contest.  

The hair pieces temporarily attached  

Head added for additional effect 

Last shot is everything back together for club tomorrow. Really happy with where we are at now. 

Only a small update tonight as I had club today. Got a decent amount of interest generated by her. I also went by my LHS and got some more styrene pieces for more options.

So added a little detail to the back heel parts, unifying them stylistically with front. Will do some cleanup on them tomorrow. 

I took some time tonight and went through my bin of detail sets I have collected looking for sets to use. Out of them I picked out these sets. My plan is to once again go the recast route and make molds of these so I can get unlimited use out of them.

So more a planing shopping update today. 

Not as much progress to show as I have been working on getting molds made of those detail sets. Added detail to the front leg pieces.  

The next shots show the progression of work on the back part. Still need to trim the excess but waiting till I know I'm sure so to keep the angles and curves right. 

Another small update on Gyantaurus. So spent a decent amount of time the last couple of days cleaning up the chest piece, alternating between filling air bubbles and sanding. Took some doing but finally got her ready to start modifying. There is one small spot on her neck I need to fix, and I will give it a coat of primer to make sure there is nothing I missed. 

In other news I got all the molds done. Unfortunately a couple of the pieces did get air bubbles in them. So we will see, at the moment I will do a couple casts to see how they turn out. 

Bigger update today on the Gyantaurus. I did also prime a number of parts but did not get a photo. Will do that tomorrow.

So my first attempt at casting the detail parts did no go well. The big problem was the parts were gummy and soft. This was a failure on my part as I think I did not mix it enough before pouring. I also found a large number of parts had air bubbles to the point of being unusable even without the gummyness. 

So attempt 2 I mixed the resin better and eliminated the gummyness. However I still was getting significant air bubbles. So if anyone has advice on preventing them, other than pressure casting, I would greatly appreciate it.
 

So after that I got a number of the good pieces installed on several parts

Overall a productive day. 

Back with another post, been a busy few days so have not made as much progress.

First up did a little cleanup work on the chest piece that I did not see prior to primer. For now this is the extent of work I will be able to do untill I get the connector piece done. This is due to it being easier to make the necessary marking and sizing. 

From there it was a matter of building the shapes up. This means a combination of adding additions straps of styrene and lots of sanding with the occasional break of adding ca glue as filler. 

Now at this stage I also started adding some additional detailing to the sides. Still need to build up detail on these parts and I also need to glue on some of the recast parts I made.

So while I still have a ways to go progress is being made. 

Got a good size update of work done over the last few days.

So continued working on the connector piece, adding on details to it. Big addition are these round pieces. I plan to eventually have cables running from them to the body for some added interest. 

I also traced and cut out the upper piece that the chest piece will sit in. That concluded Saturday. 

Today I added on the vent pieces I recast to the back. These were first built up in a sub-assembly before being added. 

I also further build up the chest interface assembly so that the chest piece fits nicely into and is easy to remove for painting. 

Finishing up the sub-assembly work I made a front piece utilizing another recast piece. 

As I mentioned earlier, I want some cables connecting the adaptor to the body. To do this I added the tall recast parts to the center back piece. 

That all done I did a test fit with everything, chest, adaptor, and lower torso parts together. The lower torso and adaptor piece were assembled utilizing some sprue and a extra polycap. 

So at this point I think I have all I am going to do with all the mechanical parts done. All I have left in terms of assembly is modifying the chest and adjusting the length of the arms.

This does mean I will have to face the problem I have been putting off for a while now, deciding on a color pallet. While I have close to settled on the humanoid parts colors, I am still stuck on figuring out the mechanical part colors. I do know the detail parts I added will for the most part be getting painted in gold, as I think that will make for a nice accent color. Everything else thought, I am drawing a blank. Hopefully inspiration will strike soon.  

So another small update as been working on doing paint samples.

So, start out with the gold samples for the accent color. Now I initially was thinking of going with the SMS Light Gold, (second from the left), but the particles just look too large for what I want for this. Because of this, and because I like this shade of gold, I decided to go with Mr. Color Blue Gold (Second from the right). 

Next up are some of the detail parts. Here I knew I wanted to go with something that was going to stand out and add some additional interest. 

To that end I knew I wanted to go with a color shift paint, as it would add the interest I was looking for. I chose to use SMS' line of color shift paints as I already had some and recently got a few more colors and thought this would be a good project to try them out. Unfortunately I don't think I was able to capture the full look of these samples due to their nature of changing with the lighting.

Going in I was unsure which would work best and, (at least till I get settled on some of the other colors), I am thinking Eclipse (bottom right) will work best.

As an additional aside, I am going to start building up a catalog of paint samples moving forward. This way I can keep samples so I won't need to recreate them later. It will also allow me to build up different variations of base color and top coat. To do this I am using plastic spoons and card sleeves. Cheap and effective, something it may be a good idea for everyone to start doing to save on paint, especially when comparing colors across brands and finishes. 

Another small, but this time major update on my Gyantaurus project. So I finally decided on the color pallet I am going with.

First up is the hair color. I have been waiting for an opportunity to try out Mr. Color's Lascivous Aura hair color paints for some time now and this was the perfect chance to use them. With their Scarlett color, I found it more pink then i cared for, so i overcoated it with Alclad Transparent Red. This was applied heavier near the edges to simulate application to create depth in low areas. Only thing I will change from this sample is I will use a little less Clear White for highlights as it came out just a hair stronger then I like. 

Next is the flesh color I am going with. Again going with Mr. Color lascivous line of paints. 

Moving on I decided to go with Mr. Color GX Suisei Blue for the armor piece color. This was one area that took some deciding to figure out what blue I wanted to go with and this blue won out. 

Continuing the secondary color I decided on Mr. Color Sky Blue. Think this will pair well with the other blue. 

The next color I decided to use on the mechanical frame parts. The color I chose was Mr. Color Moonstone Pearl. This came after some extensive debate and I will admit it is a risk to go with. However conceptually I think it will work. 

For some of the detail pieces I am going to go with SMS Eclipse color shift paint. 

Lastly, for the detail pieces on the armor I am going to go with Mr. Color Blue Gold.

While this update is not as large as previous ones I do think this does represent a turning point as there is now a clear plan of action moving forward.