Lysus' 1/72 Kotobukiya Liger Zero Panzer

[Lysus]

Well I've finally had a moment to sit down and take some pictures and open my WIP. Sadly I won't be able to start right away as I've still got a LOT on my bench from 2016 that I just couldn't finish. Luckily one is 90%, the others over halfway. I'll probably get at least one completely done before starting this, so maybe by the end of the week or early next. (I don't like to have more than three running at once.)

Here's the massive box:



Not sure about the part count but I think it's a bajillion. That's a number, look it up...



There's so many runners that the outlay in the manual takes two full pages. I think rather than flood this opening post with a half dozen photos of runners I'll open each part of the build with the runners used. I debated whether to do this one or the Shadow Fox I have (black fox below), but decided to just go for this big green bruiser.



A glimpse at the manual's "in action" shots:



I'll probably go for OOB coloring, that is to say I'll paint it to match the original, though I think I'll use metallics for the inner frame and add some light wear and tear to the armor.

Interestingly the kit is identical to the Liger Zero, Zero Schneider, and Blade Liger underneath the heavy missile pods. The neat thing is if you buy any of those you can buy the armor separately and swap it out since the inner frame is the same. Neat touch.

Anyway, I need to decide how to build this, right now after a cursory reading of the manual I'm leaning towards assembling it plastic to paint section by section starting with the inner frame. That is to say, I'll do the head inner frame start to finish, the legs, etc. until the inner frame is 100% complete. Then the armor will get done first with some test fitting and seam filling if needed. So far I can see two seams along the barrels of the big guns but not much else; Kotobukiya appears to have done their best to avoid seam lines.

More to come!

[privatepete]

Welcome Marster

This is a Panzer tank with legs looks really good and mean, good luck with your build.
Pete

[strontydog75]

Love these Zoids kits I've got the Red Horn kit. So many pieces. But they look awesome when finished. Can't wait to see what yours is going to look like.

[Timplastic]

That is going to be such a cool build

[Fridgy]

Not sure about the part count but I think it's a bajillion.

And lo, the number Bajillion (which is indeed a number) shall be among the holiest of numbers for you, and thou shalt not blaspheme against it by saying "Bajillion is not a real number," because then my wrath will be fierce, and it just isn't a good idea to disagree with what your God says since he's God and clearly knows better than you. Anyways, yeah, Bajillion is totally a number. Er, number-eth.
God

[kiwigav]

Mate ...that is so cool, I gota get a kit like this

[SergioSolo]

Awesome choice! It's been in my 'wish list' for a couple of years now But I can't afford the crazy high shipping cost!
I'll be drooling all over your thread, if you don't mind

[Lysus]

Not sure about the part count but I think it's a bajillion.

And lo, the number Bajillion (which is indeed a number) shall be among the holiest of numbers for you, and thou shalt not blaspheme against it by saying "Bajillion is not a real number," because then my wrath will be fierce, and it just isn't a good idea to disagree with what your God says since he's God and clearly knows better than you. Anyways, yeah, Bajillion is totally a number. Er, number-eth.
God

QED.

Mate ...that is so cool, I gota get a kit like this

They're pretty insane. Paul did a review of a Zero Schneider (I think). Worth checking out if only to see the pile of runners.

Awesome choice! It's been in my 'wish list' for a couple of years now But I can't afford the crazy high shipping cost!
I'll be drooling all over your thread, if you don't mind

Sorry to have kept you from drooling so far, life has had me busy.

BUT! On that note I just want to assure anyone watching that work will begin as soon as I return from the Oregon coast (about Tuesday or Wednesday).

There's about 30 runners...stay tuned...

[Skullfish]

Dude! this thing looks crazy mental biscuits! i need to talk to Darren at TMD lol


Jase

[Fridgy]

QED.

Excuse mine ignorance.... but huh??

[Twokidsnosleep]

Lysus is away for the weekend so likely won't reply as is busy with family



A perfect time to photo bomb graffiti his thread with some juicy posts.....he he he




And finally the coup de gras and my personal favourite


It will take him weeks to recover from this viscous assault

[Lysus]

QED.

Excuse mine ignorance.... but huh??

It's a Latin thing you see in science, "Quod Erat Demostrata" or something. "It is proven."

Lysus is away for the weekend so likely won't reply as is busy with family

HA! And I totally didn't

So I HAVE been working on this, just slowly. Life has a way of taking your time away sometimes.

I decided to start with the legs thinking that would be easy. Turns out they have a LOT of parts. Like 15 runners out of the 30 in the kit. Sadly since I sneaked in work on this in drips and drabs over the last month or so I didn't take enough pics. But it's similar to a Bandai kit so we aren't missing much here.

Here's a foreleg with an example of how it can extend:



I started with just the pair of forelegs to get my eye in on this kit (it's YUUUUGE). Painted with a mix of Mr Color 2 Black, 1 White, and 7 Brown at 70/20/10 for the main body parts, c69 Off White for the white bits, Alclad Magnesium for the claws, and Mr Color GX2 Euno Black for a base for the gold paws.

Confident I knew what to expect now, I finished sub assembly for the rest of the legs and prepped them for priming:



That's one bin, there's another one just like it full of parts. Ay yi yi.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Someone took over my account and did that, certainly wasn't me
Always good to remember your prank when you pull it

Nice robot

[Lysus]

Someone took over my account and did that, certainly wasn't me
Always good to remember your prank when you pull it

Nice robot

Thanks!

I believe the phrase you're looking for is "sorry boot that." Do you even Canada, bro?



(I actually don't mind one bit :p )

[Twokidsnosleep]

Someone took over my account and did that, certainly wasn't me
Always good to remember your prank when you pull it

Nice robot

Thanks!

I believe the phrase you're looking for is "sorry boot that." Do you even Canada, bro?



(I actually don't mind one bit :p )

Yes take away my Mac jacket and toque, I feel shame
It would have been a funnier joke if I had remembered where I dropped those photo bombs and let you find them yourself....ahh sweet senility

[Timplastic]

look forward too seeing some progress and this built up as its darn cool

[Lysus]

look forward too seeing some progress and this built up as its darn cool

Me too! Should have primary paint for all the legs done by Monday. If my luck holds then I could have the inner frame complete and ready for the Panzer armor by Friday.

[Lysus]

So I got cracking on this guy. Afraid to say I've deleted like ALL the build shots for the frame.



Parts primed with Stynlrez/Ultimate Grey, the bits to be gold or metallic were primed with Mr Color GX2 Euno Black as before. Body color was done the same as well.

I had a tough time with the pistons for the legs, as I'm trying to push the pedal to the metal a bit they weren't cured enough to handle and I wiped off the brass with my grubby digits. So I re-brassed them with Alclad and then gloss coated a day later. They still need some aluminum for the rods but they can be added later no problem.

Anyway, I used straight Mr Color c69 Off White for the white bits and a mix of Intermediate Blue and White for the blue just like last time, 66/33.

About 10 hours of cutting, sanding, priming, painting later...



Yeehaw!

I did take the liberty of swapping a weird brown color for the belly gun and various other parts for Alclad Stainless Steel because why not.

The kit is, in my opinion, somewhere between a Bandai Master Grade and Perfect Grade. There's almost 22 runners of parts so far and I still have another dozen in the box for the Panzer armor. The fit can be frighteningly tight to nonexistent, this is close to Bandai in quality, but not all the way. The plastic is also, depending on the color, either harder than Bandai's or much, much softer. Use care when sanding or shaving nubs.

I need to get a lot of weathering and details on this, there's a zillion rivets and gears and such in there that need some attention. Once I get that done I'll get some better shots in a light booth so you can see more of it. I just wanted to let you know it's getting done...and I feel bad for deleting MORE photos somehow. That's twice now.

Zoid Core module next as a breather while I weather this, then onto the massive Panzer Armor to turn it into this:

[Skullfish]

Very very cool mate. LOL'd at the trooper cowboy, I don't think any one of us wouldn't have done something equally silly given the slightest opportunity.

[Lysus]

Very very cool mate. LOL'd at the trooper cowboy, I don't think any one of us wouldn't have done something equally silly given the slightest opportunity.

Couldn't help myself; had the Trooper out to start some final weathering before a matte coat and used him to snap another pic for the weekly show. It just kind of had to happen, ya know?

[Twokidsnosleep]

Hilarious, that thing is mean looking with all the armour and pointy bits

Kids killed a cockroach on my car seat today as I was busy driving the highway .......it looked a lot like that thing you are building!
Well in my mind's eye at 60 mph it looked like that
Love the tropics

[Lysus]

A bit more work as the deadline looms...

Got busy with adding some detail touches to the inner frame (started but not complete pic):



Used mostly Citadel paints for it, some Boltgun Metal, Mithril Silver, Dwarf Bronze, etc. Also painted some hoses and the like a slightly different set of colors like Tamiya XF-84 Dark Iron to add contrast. After more touches:



While that set up, I painted up the joint caps and the Zoid Core frame:





Then I tried some oil brushing with some black and white mixed into a dark-ish grey. Not sure I got it right, but it certainly makes things pop:







My ham-fisted handling has caused some of my metalics on the neck pistons, hoses, and some of the silver on the leg pistons to scuff so I'll need to fix that somehow.

Missed a few bolts but that's easy enough to paint at any time before the armor goes on.

Gave it a gloss coat, though I think it'll need more as it's not too shiny right now. Then, the armor and big guns...

[Lysus]

Not looking like I can make it in time

But I'm close...so close...

[SergioSolo]

Amazing job so far! I want one of those cats so bad

[Lysus]

Amazing job so far! I want one of those cats so bad

Thanks man, they're a job and a half, let me tell you. In fact I'm feeling some guilt for not doing all I could be doing...I think the next one I do (and there will be a next one) I'm going to just build each sub assembly start to finish before doing the next one. Each limb is like an entire kit

Still plugging away at this...BFGs:



I painted them with Gaia Color Neutral Grey IV over the masked off white stripes of Mr Color 107 Character White.

Looks like I messed up a bit:



Got that all fixed up in a jiff. Meanwhile the armor pieces are getting done. Rather than mix a half dozen paints to get the color in the call out I wanted something right out the bottle. I grabbed one of my Yamato 2199 color sets by Mr Hobby and used Mr Color YC 01 Garmillas Green 1 and YC 03 Garmillas Green 3 for the light and dark greens respectively. I think they look close enough.



I need to get some gloss coats and weathering on all these sub assemblies. I kinda wanted to try to do a little practice with modulation--or whatever it's called when you paint a lighter tone in the middle of a panel. But frankly at this point I want my desk space back

[Lysus]

Almost there...

Slathered on a gloss coat of Aqua Gloss on the armor, then gave it all a wash with Ultimate Dark Dirt. Took a lot longer thatn I had hoped but I think it's worth it.





Another coat of gloss to seal this in, then I'll get some panel lining in here and there, then matte coat her. So close now...

[Skullfish]

That sir is one amazing build.
J

[Lysus]

That sir is one amazing build.
J

Thanks!

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