antampatz

With the painting stage complete, attention turned to markings, decals, and weathering. This is the stage where many of the individual design decisions begin to come together and the overall story of the Gatekeeper starts to emerge.

Before moving on to the markings, I made one final modification to the head. The vulcans on either side of the head were drilled out and replaced with metal IC sockets. This is a small change, but one that helps the vulcans stand out as functional components rather than moulded surface details. The metallic finish also provides some additional visual interest to one of the focal points of the model.

The kit itself includes a mixture of stickers and dry transfers, but no waterslide decals. Wherever possible, I used the markings supplied with the kit. However, following the modifications made throughout the build, it was not always possible to place them in their intended locations. Many of the custom armour plates and detail additions now occupy areas originally intended for markings.

To complement the kit markings, I also incorporated decals and dry transfers from other Gundam kits as well as aftermarket decal sheets. Rather than following any single marking guide, placement was determined by the physical modifications made to the model and by what felt appropriate for the Gatekeeper narrative.

For the waterslide decals, Micro Set and Micro Sol were used to improve adhesion and help soften the carrier film. This allows the decals to conform more closely to the surface and produces an appearance that is much closer to painted-on markings. The stickers obviously do not benefit from this process, but in many cases, they were applied to the additional armour panels and detail parts added during the conversion work. As a result, the carrier film is often visually separated from the surrounding armour and blends into the design more naturally.

Once the decals had been applied, the entire model received a coat of Vallejo Mecha gloss varnish. This was then allowed to cure for a couple of days before any weathering work began.

For the weathering stage, I used a custom mix of Winsor & Newton oil paints. Several colours were blended together until I arrived at a brownish tone that felt appropriate for a heavily used ground-combat machine. The mixture was then thinned with turpentine to a consistency suitable for airbrushing.

An automatic paint shaker would have been particularly useful at this stage. Something like Gaahleri's Voortex mixer would likely have produced a more consistent blend of the oil paint and turpentine. As I do not currently own one, I mixed the wash manually using a paint brush, followed by further mixing in a dropper bottle by hand. As expected, some separation of the paint and thinner still occurred, resulting in a mixture that was not perfectly uniform. Despite this, the final wash performed reasonably well and produced the overall effect I was aiming for.

The wash was applied across the entire model and left to sit for approximately 10–15 minutes before being removed from the raised surfaces using cotton buds, tissue paper, and cotton cloths. This left the oil paint concentrated in panel lines, recesses, corners, and other difficult-to-clean areas.

The effect helps create shadows and visual depth while also introducing the accumulated dirt and grime expected on a machine that has remained in continuous service. Importantly, this weathering layer also helps tie together the various donor panels, replacement components, and field modifications introduced earlier in the build. Regardless of where individual parts originally came from, they now appear to have served together as part of the same machine for an extended period.

One unexpected side effect was that the turpentine partially removed or damaged several of the dry transfers. While unintentional, the result has proven surprisingly convincing. Instead of looking freshly applied, some markings now appear worn, faded, or partially lost through operational wear. Although not planned, this additional layer of weathering arguably fits the Gatekeeper concept even better and provides opportunities for further refinement during the final weathering stages.

At this point, the model is beginning to move beyond a collection of painted parts and into something that feels like a cohesive operational machine. The combination of markings, weathering, donor panels, and field modifications is finally bringing the Gatekeeper story to life.