Update 2 (More Painting): Gundam Astray Red Frame Kai x Ninja Slayer

Painting the legs and the katanas.

Up a level: Update 1.1

Airbrushing the second half of this kit took much less time, mainly, because I didn't need to get so caught up in having to do any marble effects having planned out the painting process beforehand. 

The right leg!

and the left!

Painting the sheath was extremely rewarding. As for most things at the moment, it was my first time masking and I'm really satisfied how it turned out. I had to really think about how I wanted to mask as well. I thought about masking the gold areas with a diamond cut out of masking tape but I figured it'd be way too tedious to make them the perfect size.

So, it may be obvious to some but, I had an epiphany of how I needed to mask. I had Tamiya 6 mm masking tape and all I did was cover the braid of the sheath on both sides and it was really straight forward with much more room error. All I needed to keep in mind was making a straight enough cut and everything would be golden (hah),

 This step was repeated twice! Once for each side, I almost wanted to make it 3 tones but I think it would have made it look too busy, Luckily, I hadn't crumpled up and threw away the previous masking. I was able to reuse it for the "braiding."

For some detailing on the legs, I mixed Vallejo Model Air Black into Tamiya Gunmetal and it turned out pretty well. I wanted something to break up all the red and I bounced the idea of using Tamiya Gold Leaf, Chrome Silver, or Flat Aluminum, but I ended up opting for a subtler color. I mixed the black into gunmetal because I was afraid the gunmetal by itself would have been too bright

PHEW! Everything is painted for the most part. What's left is the Tactical Arms II L, decals, final matte coat! Stay tuned...