iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Moving out is a good time to get a group shot of the few "success" #gunpla pieces I've painted up in the last couple summers. It's been a fun/nostalgic hobby to work on. #Gundam #Shiny #Airbrushing #ガンプラ #ガンダム

Various painted gunpla on a shelf:
- 3x LM Leo
- BB Senshi Zaku II High Mobility
- 1/550 Elmeth
- HG UC Qubeley
- BB Senshi Jegan
- HGFC Nobel Gundam
- HGFC Dragon Gundam
- 2x HGUC Jagd Doga

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Paint lineup for the Elmeth/bits: - Mecha Empire 2k Gloss Black Base - Digital Armory Ultralumen - Mr Color GX 104 Clear Peacock Green - Kaizo lacquers Gray 08, Purple 01, Yellow 06, Red 01 - Testors enamel Gloss White, Flat Black, Flat Gray - Alclad Klear Kote Light Sheen (bits)

Gundam 1/550 Elmeth and one bit with an array of paint jars in the background

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Rear landing gear was just cut down and glued to a sprue before painting up. Only trick was getting them at the right height while the glue settled, ended up using the corner of an opened notebook to get the precise level.

From below on the left side of an 1/550 Elmeth gunpla kit, showing front and rear landing gear.

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

#Gundam 1/550 Elmeth landing gear and bits now finished. I'll try painting one of my ¥200 Gelgoog practice minis as a companion. I lost the tiny commander horn of the 1/550 one, but I was kind of iffy on the mold in the first place #ガンプラ #Gunpla

Gundam 1/550 Elmeth gunpla with nine painted bits arrayed out and a clear plastic 1/400 Char's Gelgoog standing next to it

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Paint colors, for the record, nothing special: - Kaizo lacquers Green 01, Pure Blue 04, Red 03, Gray 08, Black 04 - Testors flat Yellow, Gray, Black - Mr Color 181 Semi-Gloss Clear

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

BB Senshi SD #Gundam Jegan wrapped up. Had some bleed with the liner while spraying the clear, not sure what that was about. Maybe the angle of spray, or where the marker was on top of enamel liner in a certain way. I'm not sure Anyway, fits my "3$ toy" aesthetic goal #ガンプラ #Gunpla

SD Gundam Jegan model kit, painted, from the left

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

SD Jegan #gunpla ready for final clear, did the best I could with panel lining. Wonder what the final Mr Color 181 Semi-Gloss Clear will look like, never used it before

Gundam SD Jegan model painted in Kaizo lacquer paints, Testors enamel black/gray detail, tamiya and gundam marker panel liner, clear Mr Color GX Super Clear III between the paint and liner

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Comp shot of reds, since it's the most complete set I have: - Mr Color GX Clear Rouge (MC leveling thinner) - MC GX Clear Deep Red (MCLT) - Tamiya Clear Red (Tamiya thinner) - GaiaNotes Clear Red (Tam thin) I wonder if Tamiya's "hotter" thinner helped create a nicer result for GN, I'll stick to it

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Closer view of the Mr Color Super Clear III and half-mix with Deep Blue. I like the idea of adding a small drop of clear color to slightly turn the tone of chrome red, blue, black, etc.

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Finally got my hands on some Mr Color GX Deep Red/Blue and Super Clear III. The clear in particular is pretty handy, as it dries without notably affecting the chrome. Between the SCIII and Blue is a 1:1 mix of the two, which I liked as a light/sky blue color but was a test to see how it would work.

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Kaizo clear lacquer paints are pretty nice (with their own thinner), heavily thinned at 3:1 or more. Not as available as the others, but worth a look. I like their greens in particular. Colors (their naming): Sunshine, Sienna Brown, Violet, Light Green, Dark Forest, Sky Blue

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Time to update with some new results: tried using Tamiya lacquer thinner with GaiaNotes clears and it worked much better than Kaizo thinner, same ~3:1 ratio. Pleased that worked out, though blue bottle may be ruined. Below: - Blue / Kaizo thinner - Blue / Tamiya LP thinner - Red / Tamiya LP thinner

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

The Elmeth bits are a bit tedious but I do like their colorful design #gunpla #ガンプラ

1/550 Elmeth bits painted and held at the end of toothpicks on clips

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Relief the Elmeth is all glued together without a break/smudge. Added a generously sized hole so I can put it on a stand. I'll have to modify the rear landing struts since the openings had to either be glued open or shut

Gundam 1/550 Elmeth gunpla painted in a candy chrome green scheme, assembled and glued together

Bottom of the assembled Elmeth, with a hole added before painting and assembly suck that a stand can be used later on

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Chromed-up Elmeth body pieces complete, but I need to get some actual glue to put it together due to very wide peg holes. Don't want to rush and try to force liquid cement to work, would be a shame to ruin the finish now. Arrayed pieces sort of show how the Peacock Green color changes at angles

Candy chrome gunpla pieces from a Gundam 1/550 Elmeth arrayed out on a table

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Little rough in the middle on the main Elmeth piece, but my theory is I can use flat white enamel for the crest/top and use thinner to tailor cleaner lines, since this is lacquer paint base.

Gundam 1/550 Elmeth gunpla piece painted in chrome w/ Mr Color GX clear peacock green and a Kaizo yellow 01 lacquer detail

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Initially got a sheet of circle cut out masking tape for mono-eyes and such, but adding red circle caps to Elmeth bits has been the third other thing I've used it for. Really handy tool, worth the money

Square cut out from a making tape sheet of pre-cut circles, used to mask a circle at the top of gundam 1/550 Elmeth bit

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Wanted to capture the chrome stage of an Elmeth #gunpla I'm trying to finish before I move. Bought this in '24 as a step up from painting a spoon, turned out it needed actual model-making work so it got put off until I could do that. Leaning toward the GX clear peacock green over the standard green

Gundam Elmeth/Lalah Sune's MA model kit outer shell piece, 2k gloss black base and Digital Armory ultralumen chrome finish, parts on clip holders

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Working on a SD Jegan #gunpla. Good masking practice reps, still far from getting clean lines but no peeling anywhere after is a win. (Kaize lacquers pure blue 04, green 01)

SD Gundam Jegan torso painted fron the front

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Initial finish of Quess's Jagd Doga. Stayed mostly true to the original colors, just made them different metallics. I do like the off-white/red pairing. Not much to dynamically do with the big machine gun in the posing department. #Gunpla #ガンプラ

Gundam HG Jagd Doga painted with metallic chrome red and dark white pearl paint scheme, posed on a stand with beam gatling gun and shield

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

My personal favorite part of these, the knees. Satisfied with how the seams are gone, especially on the candy chrome red finish. I look forward to doing this more. The chrome is still a bit blurry due to the wavy gloss black base, but I think was successful enough. #Gunpla #ガンプラ

Gundam HG Jagd Doga close in on the knees, which have been glued and sanded together to remove the seams

Gundam HG Jagd Doga from the side, where a larger surface on the leg is available for reflection evaluation

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Close in view of the Gaianotes prism blue-black paint, which I like. I wanted to give this Jagd Doga a more knight-like look in my mind, this somewhat works to me. Appreciate the stickers giving me reference for how to paint the helmet eyes. #Gunpla #ガンプラ

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

I'm not sure how to properly set up the funnels, but starting to figure out how to pose/balance the Jagd Dogas. Big cuffs at the wrist don't play nice with the rifles. #gunpla #ガンプラ Probably delay the last bookend pics until my work area has better light in the fall

Gundam HG Jagd Doga in chrome and blue-black color scheme posed on stand with funnels propped on clear rods to the side

Jagd Doga with shield in front posed on stand

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Lesson learned: I should have cut off the funnel tabs and glued bits of the clear rods as new tabs that plug into the binders without contacting the surface As is the tabs immediately damaged the finish on the red and are too loose on the blue, so I just glued them. I'll have just get over it.

Funnels glued into place on a gundam HG Jagd Doga gunpla

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Took forever to get all masked off for each nozzle, but finally done. Went with Mr Color GX Metallic Red Gold (Tamiya Gloss Aluminum barrels) for the bits and glad I did, GX series paints probably pound for pound my favorite so far.

Various Gundam HG Jagd Doga accessories, all coated in a final layer of clear Alclad Klear Kote Semi Sheen

Closer in view of the GX Metallic Red Gold funnels

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

On the one hand, the Jagd Doga knife-saber seems redundant. On the other hand, it kind of looks cool, so I'll come up with reasoning in my mind like the knife is for wire cutting or disabling without causing damage. Do think the chrome also helps

Pair of HGUC Gundam Jagd dogs gunpla beam sabers with attached knifes, painted in ultralumen chrome and kaizo black 04 lacquer, clear Alclad Klear kote light sheen on top

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Decided no more masking after getting paint peel, but I think it worked out with just an enamel fill of the shield logo. Etched lines look better than the raised shape imo.

HGUC Gundam Jagd Doga shields with Tamiya dark iron and aluminum lacquer base paint, Mr Color GX metallic red cannon paint, and Testors enamel aluminum and flat black filling

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

One last case of significant peeling after using my Alclad gray microfiller primer. I don't know why but I've always had this issue, probably 15% of the time with their primer. Probably my last bottle, shame cause it otherwise works. Also should have just done the barrels first anyway...

Two Jagd Doga shields, each with a notable case of peeling after some masking tape was removed

Same two shields after another layer of Tamiya lacquer Dark Iron was painted over with shield cannons masked over

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Managed to get the binders finished to wrap up the Jagd Doga bodies. Using enamels on the binder thrusters such that I could clean up with thinner made that a lot easier. Still haven't decided if I'll use a mr color GX gold paint for the funnels, or just make them gray like the other accessories

Two Gundam HG Jagd Doga gunpla in plain paint schemes, one in blue-black/chrome and the other in semi-chrome candy red/metallic white

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

This small dent is a testament to the durabilityof the lacquer clear/2k gloss base. Got off easy after pressing the base of an exacto knife hard right into the leg while shaving a peg to get the parts to fit together again.

Close up of a small dent from the pressing of the edge of a knife down hard on some painted gunpla pieces

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Second Jagd Doga rounding out now, just need wings and I'll be able to stop fiddling with these too much. I dont want to damage things too much.

Gundam HG Jagd Doga gunpla 90% assembled, painted in a shiny red and metallic off-white paint scheme

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Wish I'd mixed a slightly brighter green for the eyes but largely relived I got the heads done OK. The head design is probably my favorite part of the Jagd Doga. #gundam #gunpla

Partially assembled HG Jagd Doga torso with plain paint scheme of Gaianotes Prism Bule Black with Digital Armory Ultralumen chrome highlights

Partially assembled HG Jagd Doga torso with a plain candy chrome red with metallic white highlight paint scheme

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Finally getting to an actual application of a Mr Clear Color GX series clear over chrome. Find I need to still do a rotation of ~6 pieces to allow an initial dusting some seconds to get grip for the wet layer, but really nice, color shows up quickly

Gundam HG Jagd Doga gunpla piece with chrome base immediately after dusting + wet layers of Mr Clear Color GX Rouge

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

First Jagd Doga rounding out with the glossy Gaianotes Prism Blue Black pieces added, still a couple to detail. Only paneling the cable pieces. I hope the chrome bits still work after the clear layer

Gundam HG Jagd Doga gunpla partially assembled with gloss and semi-gloss painted parts

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I wonder if my first bottle of ultralumen chrome was slightly defective or if Digital Armory improved their formula, because the second jar I'm using is 99% flawless even with my sloppy application. Base defects didn't go away, but they are better hidden with a cleaner chroming #gunpla

HG Jagd Doga gunpla pieces with flawed 2k gloss black base, after application of Digital Armory ultralumen

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Close view of the Kaizo White 08 -> Gaianotes Glass Pearl -> GN Ex Gloss finish on a Jagd Doga face part. This pearl finish is one of the better paint impulse buys I've made, really like the results both times I've used it

Close in of a HG Jagd Doga face piece painted in and off-white color with very time metallic flakes

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

First time I get a look together with the Gaianotes Blue Black (with GN EX Gloss) over the regular painted parts (Alclad Klear Kote Light Sheen). Not sure if I want to panel line any of this. Maybe I'll talk myself into the cable parts.

HG Jagd Doga torso and face plate parts on a cutting mat

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Maybe 60% complete on the Jagd Doga pair. Did reverse order this time from my usual, stared with the more tedious small/frame parts. I ought to start doing this more, getting to the good parts keeps the motivation up to sneak in an update on otherwise busy days

Arrayed HG Jagd Doga parts from two separate kits, various paints and gloss/semi-gloss finishes used

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Real reason for two larger kits at once is also to use up my 2k gloss black base jar that's been open since last year. Finish looks pretty bad up close. Was planning for Gaianotes Blue Black/plain chrome accents on one but may use gold to hide if it looks like crap

Gloss black base over HG Jagd Doga parts. Binder piece shows many small flaws of the old paint starting to expire

Gloss black base over HG Jagd Doga parts. Binder piece shows many flaws, looks so bad I dont know if the chrome will be ok

Gloss black base over HG Jagd Doga parts. Small rippling and bubble in various pieces

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Working on a pair of Jagd Doga, decided to fix a seamline (knees) for the first time. That was easier than I thought, pleasantly surprised

HG Jagd Doga knee parts glues together and sanded pre-paining

HG Jagd Doga knees, on clips and pained in 2k gloss black base

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

One last shot of the Dragon Gundam, just to add a close up. Totally happy with the results on one of my favorite designs #gundam #gunpla #ガンプラ

Close up of a painted HG Dragon Gundam from below such that the eyes/face are more visible

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

HG Dragon Gundam paints used: - Nazca Mechanical Heavy, Evo Gold Surfacers - Kaizo White Surfacer - Gaianotes Prism Green Black and Glass Pearl - Kaizo Red 04, White 05 - Gaianotes Ex-Gloss - Alclad Klear Kote Light Sheen

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

The way the side skirts don't have hinges feels a little stiff, still pretty happy with the other effect and hands included. Wish I had a flame effect to plug into one of the dragon heads #gundam #gunpla #ガンプラ

HG Dragon Gundam posed with staff from the front

HG Dragon Gundam posed with right arm extended

HG Dragon Gundam posed with right arm extended from the right side

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

HG Dragon Gundam Decided to use some of Gaianotes' premium paints on this one rather than do an all-gold hyper mode. I think the gold ended up going pretty well with the darker green-black color. #gundam #gunpla #ガンプラ

HG Dragon Gundam posed holding a spear from the front

HG Dragon Gundam posed holding a spear from the right

HG Dragon Gundam posed holding a spear from the left

HG Dragon Gundam posed holding a spear from the back

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Wrapped up the face, had to laugh at how much the work was immediately hidden behind the helm. Happy with the result. I'll have to make some time to document with summary pics and paints later, this ones a bit tricky/stiff with positioning.

HG Dragon Gundam, with head added after completing end of painting

Closer in shot of front of the Dragon gundam, eyes are set back enough that the light only catches one side

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Side note: picked diamond-tip glass engraver up at hobby lobby as a tool to open up peg holes quickly for fitment and I love it. Easy to pop the batteries in/out for use/storage and like $25 for the set. Hope it holds up.

Cheap diamond tip glass engraver with bit set

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Working on the Dragon Gundam, hot weather sucks but it does let me get the gold chrome going properly.

Headless HG Dragon Gundam sitting on a table, gold chrome parts now added

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

About as far as I can go before finishing the gold pieces on the Dradon Gundam. Gaianotes prism paints do look nice, like that they use smaller metal flakes like Tamiya

HG Dragon Gundam torso, waiting for the gold trim peices to be painted

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Kyle @garbagekyle.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

May not clear the Kaizo red 04 though, prefer the natural semigloss like on the Gaianoted mechanical heavy base test below.

- Gaianotes gold base, Kaizo red 04, GX gloss clear
- Gaianotes mechanical heavy base, Kaizo red 04

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