Mark's Gouf custom master grade

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys so as promised i will be joining this build
And i will be building this kit

To be honest i have absolutely no knowledge about these kits and the gundam genre at all
But i wanted to build a couple just to see if i like it
So i ordered a couple a while ago and have one build waiting for painting
But i want to build this one first and paint the 2 at the same time

So what is in the box

I think these are the body parts or atleast the internal ones


The more colorfull armor parts


Parts for the gun and various other stuff


All the joints and other flexible parts


Some clear parts ,screws and a figure of the pilot


The instruction book
A bit of a hard read as my Japanese is basicly non existing

So that is all of the stuff in the box
My plan is to basicly build it up and break it down again for painting
I don't plan on keeping the original colors but i want to give it a custom paint job ,not sure how that will go
Some may know the camouflage scheme i am after
It is one of the serpent scheme's from the Division (videogame) and it combines a cream white,light green and dark green and i have that scheme on all my guns in the game
I'm not sure if i am able to make the scales (snakeskin) in this scheme but i can do without if it is too hard to reproduce
While looking through the instructions i noticed all the guns are on the left hand so i may want to move the multi barreled wristgun to the right if that is possible without too much cutting
Other then that i think i will keep it fairly easy

And that is all i have for now
I have 1 build i want to finish before i start building this kit and that should be finished today or tomorrow depending on how much time i have to build
Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care and untill next time
Cheers
Mark

Ps merry Christmas to all you guys

[privatepete]

Hi Mark some kit you have there ,will be watching your progress with interest it's my first too
Happy Christmas to you.
Pete

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Pete
It is actually my second
The other one i have is a Aile strike but that is build already
I still refer to it as the big toy as these things really look like a kid's toy when you build them straight from the box
That one was pretty easy to build but i haven't found the motivation to take it apart again and prep it for painting ...well not yet anyway
And a merry christmas to you

[Lysus]

I do love a Gouf, and the gun on this one is just rockin'

Excited to see what you make of it!

[MarkVerploeg]

Well i noticed the engineering isn't as good as the Aile strike
I actually had to use filler on the shoulder parts
I have the right arm build up at the moment and then got in the way
But i hope to get back to it in the next couple of days

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So i think it is time for the first update
By now the Gouf is build and just about ready for painting
I only need to mask a few clear parts and remove the gatling shield and sword
A complete breakdown is not really needed i think because most panels and parts will be in the camo scheme i want to paint it in and the only parts that get a different color will be fairly easy to reach or mask

So here are all the parts for the build

Probably like all other gundams the Gouf is build up in segments
All the parts like the arms ,legs and body are build up and then the instructions move on to the next segment
But these are all the parts together


The legs


The body with the hoses on the sides
Those where a bit of a pain to put together as they are made up from a flexible core and a bunch of rings
Construction wise pretty easy but those rings where hard to hold in between my fingers and sand them


The head unit


The arms


The basic Gouf was put together


The weapons
I wanted to put the triple barreled gun on the right arm instead of the left
The conversion should have been pretty easy but i noticed that this weapon is the support of the bigger 6 barreled gatling gun
That connects to it so i couldn't move it to the other arm


The first weapon was placed


The pretty huge and heavy gatling shield was next


A bit hard to see but when you look at the back of the triple barreled gun you can see the gatling shield is attached to it


The sword was placed along with another hand option to keep it in place


As a kit this is okay
It is a couple of years old by now (2000) and in some places that shows
The fit wasn't always that good but overall it isn't bad either
The gun is a bit of a problem area aswell
But that is because of the parts weight
It causes the entire gundam to tip over
But other there is nothing special to mention

And that is all i have for now
Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care and untill next time
Cheers
Mark

[privatepete]

Hi Mark, you have been a very busy boy, it looks great, are you staying with the original colours or a custom paint job ?

[Astaroth]

That is a very cool looking figure. I'm looking forward to seeing it painted.

And I love the look of that sword. I would fit perfectly to my own project. I might just have to make one myself.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks guys
It will get a custom paintjob Pete
I don't care much for the colors it has now
And to be honest i don't like the sword either
Maybe because i have a bunch of figures with a sword but this thing looks very plain
There is barely any detail on the thing and that little bit of detail it has on the grip is hidden by the hand
By i like the (sort of) military look that it has and i think that a camouflage paint scheme and a nice amount of weathering can make it look nice

[Nev]

Cool I love the names of these things what does master grade mean ?

[MarkVerploeg]

Master grade is indication of the difficulty and detail level of the kit
Atleast i think so
The high grade kits look easier and less detailed while the perfect grades look very detailed

[Nev]

Master grade is indication of the difficulty and detail level of the kit
Atleast i think so
The high grade kits look easier and less detailed while the perfect grades look very detailed

Makes sense cheers thought it was some weird Japanese grading system on how tough it was

[MarkVerploeg]

Master grade is indication of the difficulty and detail level of the kit
Atleast i think so
The high grade kits look easier and less detailed while the perfect grades look very detailed

Makes sense cheers thought it was some weird Japanese grading system on how tough it was

No but it could have been
They are very unique over there
Well do things different from the Europeans anyway

[Stront75]

I have a few Gouf's in 1/144. The older MGs do have some problems with parts fit and balance.
Grading wise with Gunpla ( Gundam Plastic Model ) it goes from No Grade, most of these were made in the 80s and 90s and can be 1/220, 1/144, 1/100 and 1/60. High Grade is better detailed versions of most suits in 1/144.
Master Grade is the most popular with Gunpla builders and is very detailed 1/100.
Next is Real Grade, which is super detailed versions of 1/144 kits with similar detail to MG but smaller.
Lastly is Perfect Grade which is the huge mega detailed and expensive super kits.
Sorry about that lol but there are a lot hope that helps you out.

[MarkVerploeg]

I see
Thanks for explaining
Well i haven't looked for a lot of information
The only ones i found at the shop that sold them where MG's so not a lot of choise there

[Lysus]

Hi there, just a reminder that one month remains to complete your build in order to qualify for the prize draw! Hope all is well and we all look forward to seeing your work!

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi there, just a reminder that one month remains to complete your build in order to qualify for the prize draw! Hope all is well and we all look forward to seeing your work!

Oohw .......
Forgot about it (just a little)
I have been quite busy at work the last week but it should be finished fairly soon
I have been base coating it but the white isn't really white yet
Nearly there
But i have a couple of days off next week
It will be finished in time ,you can count on it

[MarkVerploeg]

Alrighty then
Back to this thing
As i mentionned before i wanted to replicate a camoscheme from a videogame
Wich has 3 colors
White ,light green and dark green
Basicly the colors that can be seen on a tree python (not always with the dark green)
And so i got started

First up the white
Takes ages ofcourse as you need quite a bunch of layers for a even coat


Next the light green
And then i had a real chance of heart
I thought i would like it but i really don't like where this is going

So at the moment i am trying to find a new look
The idea that comes to mind is a 2 tone german WWII scheme of dark yellow and red brown
Because i already managed to loose the decals it also allows me to use some decals from the spares box and make it look more like something that i am used to
And hopefully that new scheme can be finished today
So stay tuned for more

See you soon
Cheers
Mark

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
Time for another little update
After the first attempt of painting the camo ,i had a second go at it yesterday
This time using some colors from WWII german armor
I like the 2 tone camoschemes more then 3 tones so i pucked a dark yellow base with red brown stripes this time
Also some parts where painted in a dark metal color from Andrea paints to break up the camo scheme a bit


The colors are Tamiya i think
I pre mixed a couple of bottles a while ago so i am not sure
It could be that they are Aqueous paints instead
The spikes/horns and the knee pads lower halfs are painted in lead color from Andrea
The visor was cleaned up and the "eye" was painted in clear red
But that is nearly impossible to see in the puctures


The gatling gun was painted with mr metal color dark iron and slightly buffed


A better view of the gun
Next step was clear coating it and later today when i get back home from work i will apply some decals from the spares box and clear coat it again
And then i can use my days off to weather it

And that is all i have for now
Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care and see you next time
Cheers
Mark

[Stokesy44]

Not sure that gun's big enough!

[MarkVerploeg]

Not sure that gun's big enough!

Never
It does make for some balance issues though but with guns the golden rule is that bigger equals better

[Lysus]

Camo looks great on this Gouf!

[MarkVerploeg]

Camo looks great on this Gouf!

Thanks Lysus

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
Time for the final update on this build
I finished it last week so it is about time to finish the build thread aswell


Last time it was painted so this time it is only about the decals and a little bit of weathering

After the first gloss coat i applied a bunch of decals from the spares box
The rank insignia was done by cutting up a balkenkreuz
After the decals another gloss coat was applied
And some chipping was added with Vallejo Buff for the outline and german camo black brown for the dark rusty inside



Then i added a wash and some streaking using the wash and streaking effects for dark yellow vehicles from AK
after that had some time to dry i applied a matt coat
Usually i would use AK Ultra matte varnish but for some reason it didn't want to work with me so i ended up using Vallejo's matt varnish instead


And thenn it looked like this
I added some pigments in the end to add a bit of dust on the lower parts and then i called it finished

The rest of the pics will be posted in the reveal section of this sig
I hooe you like it
Take care and happy modelling
Cheers
Mark