Hey all! It's that time of year again where my dad and I get together for a week or so and don't do much but make models. My last year's effort is here: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=263373
This year I opted for Bandai's SpruKits level 3 Master Chief model kit, and I was not disappointed. Typical Bandai quality, and for $4.99 on ToysRUs.com, it was kind of a no-brainer to buy a few just in case this first one went well.
First, a disclaimer: I am a huge Halo fan. Been playing since the beginning, and, although the Halo 4 version of the Chief isn't my favorite iteration, he still looks cool. Another disclaimer: I don't really model anything but Star Wars ships. I'm not a figure/character modeler at all, so this was a slight departure for me.
Alright, let's get on with it then.
First I went on a little recce to the Microsoft campus in Redmond, and came across this:
It's part of a diorama made for the Halo 3: Believe marketing campaign back in 2007. If you don't know what that is, then check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rridXskgWg
There were a few sections of the diorama scattered throughout the buildings, and they were pretty cool to see in person. For reference, the human characters stand about 6"-7" tall.
So onto the model. I wanted to be able to show Chief with some damage, so I painted the his armor silver (I think it was Testors chrome silver), and then began building his appendages as sub-assemblies. I must say, a silver Master Chief looks pretty sweet.
So then came the time to pick out a color. Would I be going with the campaign color for the Chief, or should a do a custom multiplayer variant? I decided to stick with the classic green color for this one, and I'll do maybe a red versus blue dio for the others. But in the process of looking for the "right" green color (I'm lazy and didn't want to mix it), I came across this REALLY old bottle of Tamiya XF-26 Deep Green (on the left), and compared it with a brand new bottle of the same stuff (right). I couldn't believe the difference.
I went with the older bottle, as I thought it looked spot on.
I applied the green and then let that dry before taking the sandpaper and xacto knife to the edges that would receive wear to create scratches. It was hard to not get carried away!
I then mixed up some black and Deep Green to pick out some of his darker panels. I don't have and pics of this, but for his undersuit, I painted flat black and then dry brushed a metalizer over it to give it a slight sheen. I think it looks faithful to the (wildly different) reference pics.
I then coated the thing with a Krylon flat clear, which didn't end up playing nice with the acrylics, as it ended up with some crinkling on a few of his panels. I just shrug it off as some Covenant battle damage.
Overall I had a great time modeling with my dad. It's fun to talk about old times, the grand kids, and how in the world to thread the seat belt through the tiny PE buckle (it's not impossible, FYI). We both had a great time.
Final pics in the next post.
SB
This year I opted for Bandai's SpruKits level 3 Master Chief model kit, and I was not disappointed. Typical Bandai quality, and for $4.99 on ToysRUs.com, it was kind of a no-brainer to buy a few just in case this first one went well.
First, a disclaimer: I am a huge Halo fan. Been playing since the beginning, and, although the Halo 4 version of the Chief isn't my favorite iteration, he still looks cool. Another disclaimer: I don't really model anything but Star Wars ships. I'm not a figure/character modeler at all, so this was a slight departure for me.
Alright, let's get on with it then.
First I went on a little recce to the Microsoft campus in Redmond, and came across this:
It's part of a diorama made for the Halo 3: Believe marketing campaign back in 2007. If you don't know what that is, then check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rridXskgWg
There were a few sections of the diorama scattered throughout the buildings, and they were pretty cool to see in person. For reference, the human characters stand about 6"-7" tall.
So onto the model. I wanted to be able to show Chief with some damage, so I painted the his armor silver (I think it was Testors chrome silver), and then began building his appendages as sub-assemblies. I must say, a silver Master Chief looks pretty sweet.
So then came the time to pick out a color. Would I be going with the campaign color for the Chief, or should a do a custom multiplayer variant? I decided to stick with the classic green color for this one, and I'll do maybe a red versus blue dio for the others. But in the process of looking for the "right" green color (I'm lazy and didn't want to mix it), I came across this REALLY old bottle of Tamiya XF-26 Deep Green (on the left), and compared it with a brand new bottle of the same stuff (right). I couldn't believe the difference.
I went with the older bottle, as I thought it looked spot on.
I applied the green and then let that dry before taking the sandpaper and xacto knife to the edges that would receive wear to create scratches. It was hard to not get carried away!
I then mixed up some black and Deep Green to pick out some of his darker panels. I don't have and pics of this, but for his undersuit, I painted flat black and then dry brushed a metalizer over it to give it a slight sheen. I think it looks faithful to the (wildly different) reference pics.
I then coated the thing with a Krylon flat clear, which didn't end up playing nice with the acrylics, as it ended up with some crinkling on a few of his panels. I just shrug it off as some Covenant battle damage.
Overall I had a great time modeling with my dad. It's fun to talk about old times, the grand kids, and how in the world to thread the seat belt through the tiny PE buckle (it's not impossible, FYI). We both had a great time.
Final pics in the next post.
SB
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