LigerLadyModels

We've made it fam!! I joined the GWCC a little bit late so I wasn't sure if I would be able to get such an ambitious project done in time but it happened! I cannot begin to tell you all how proud I am of this project because I learned so much. It started out with a very different idea, but I think after reigning things in it turned out better!

From the first step I wanted to recreate the infamous scene from ZOIDS New Century Zero, that final battle between the Liger Zero and the Berserk Fury, but it deserved a glow up of course.

I started out by planning the colors of the kits as they got a full paint job. Then was my first attempt at something new: battle damage! I've always built and painted my kits in a "factory fresh" finish. Now I needed to do all that and damage it all! Scary!! I mostly used an ultrasonic knife to get the scratches and tears in all the armor. Since this fight is supposed to be a melee there wasn't any need for me to do bullet holes. I wanted it to look like they had been rolling around on the ground and slamming into each other with whatever they could reach their opponent with!

I was given the idea from another builder to break one of Liger's teeth and have it stuck in Fury's armor! Thought that was a brutal detail so I had to do it!

Now I wasn't stopping there on learning new things; next up was advancing my airbrushing techniques and creating Liger Zero's special attack Strike Laser Claw without the use of black lights and fluorescent paints. But Fury also needed it's special attack so I taught myself how to create the beam from the Charged Particle Gun using the beam saber of a PG Gundam and hot glue to sculpt the texture. I feel like I've nailed both and am very happy with the results!

Lastly, the diorama! I've played a bit with building small bases and such but never anything this big. Using what I had on hand I wanted to make it look like the half buried launch decks of the Ultrasaurus they fight on in the anime! But all the while keeping the focus on the Zoids themselves so there was a delicate balance between its simplicity and detail.

Thank you everyone for joining me on this journey! It's been so fun to learn so much and to push my building even further! Till next time!

For the diorama I ended up deciding I really wanted to find something to do with all these extra action base plates I had lying around. So after some back and forth on laying them out I found something that looked neat while also paying homage to do the Ultrasaurus from the anime and the two aircraft carriers it has on its back that the Zero and Fury duke it out on.

Glued the plates to the board and using tin foil I started sculpting the mounds and such that will be covered by the sand. Then gave it a base coat of "ultra matte black" so the sand glue will have something to grab onto. I'll be using the water/glue technique to make a "sand paste" so I can have a relatively hard surface for the kits to stand on once dry, then go back in to add some damaged areas and figure out exactly where the Zoids feet will be so there can be some indents in the sand and/or some claw scrapes!

Once that is all dry I will go back over with a spray adhesive and another layer of sand to give it a "fresh sand" look, as the paste can some times look odd. Photos of all that in the next update!

Next up is the effect part I made for Fury! I had originally tried to make something with filament LEDs but really couldn't get anything I was happy with. So I opted for using a beam saber from a PG Gundam, some clear effect parts I found at my LHS and hot glue to sculpt around the saber to get that charged particle beam look! And in using the beam saber I can now install a LED into the Fury's mouth to light up the effect part in the future (sadly, won't be done for this competition).

Time? What is time??

Now satisfied with the battle damage it was time for the dirty wash and some additional painting! A fellow builder gave me the idea to up the damage game and add one of the Liger's teeth broken off into Fury's face! Brutal!

For the wash I just made a mix of Vallejo's acrylics to make a very dark brown, wet washed it all over the piece and then went back with a soft bristled brush and a cotton pad to wipe some of the wash away.

Then I went in with black and gunmetal to all of the larger scrapes and breakages to hand paint the metal look into the plastic.

I then decided I wanted Liger Zero to be using the Strike Laser Claw, but didn't have the time to order LEDs, so had to do it with paint! I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out. But think I can push it a little further with some white panel lining.

Up next is getting an effect part crafted up for Fury and putting the diorama idea down into something solid!

Apologies everyone I'm a little behind on updating! I had a sudden work trip out of town for a week and wasn't able to update on my progress from the week before.

But here I have begun the scariest part of the entire project - taking these beautiful kits and butchering them! I've tried my best to keep in mind how the damage would match the battle. The lack of bullet holes and such is on purpose as this is supposed to be a melee between these two! I've focused on adding scrapes from claws and broken armor, along with scrapes from the ground and other environmental things!

After adding all of the major damage, like breaking the armor and large cuts, I went ahead and threw on my base colors via airbrush. Next step is adding all of the minor damage and small scrapes. Once satisfied with that I will add washes across the sub-assemblies adding more damage where I see fit.

My workhorse for this step is a ultrasonic knife and I couldn't recommend one of these more for doing battle damage! Just by how it works it allows for melted edges where you cut away, which is really nice!

I apologize everyone I am running a little behind over here due to work getting crazy suddenly. But I did manage to get Fury and Zero trimmed, processed and they got their bath day! I've gone ahead and separated bits for what color separation I want to add. I'm likely going to make some custom colors to go on these but I do plan to keep it within a palette close to the official colors. :)

Up next is adding a good bit of battle damage! I'm very nervous for this step as I've never done a battle damaged kits before, ha!

I have procured some diorama bits! I've not done buildings before but I have heard really good things about these and they do seem very easy to work with. They'll save me some time already being derelict looking. Don't want these to be a main focal point so I will be keeping the details limited, so will go with a dark grey base and do some simple dry brushing for that stone/concrete look. =)

Hello everyone! Excited to be apart of this competition! I've never done something at this level so I'm looking forward to pushing myself with this.

I had a handful of project ideas but most of them were simple paint jobs, I wanted something that would include a lot of things I've not tried yet. So I dug through my backlog and collection of customize parts.

My plan is to re-create the scene from the NC0 anime where Liger Zero and Fury are facing off BUT I want to put my own spin and kit-bash the kits into some fantastical variants. Using the Lucifer, Transient and Star Destroyer to add wings, greebles and extra weaponry to the combatants. Still in the planning stages for the diorama but I got some ideas!