Completed Build - Gundam x Star Wars: Zaku Stormtrooper Custom

I've had the concept of a Gundam/Star Wars crossover for a few months now. After finally receiving the kit and water slides and also being motivated after seeing Rogue One, I decided to make it my next build.

The concept I had was to take some grunt suits from both series and come up with a crossover. Stormtroopers and Zakus seemed like the perfect fit. White is notoriously difficulty to hand paint so I took the lazy way out and used an HG Shin Matsunaga Zaku II as a base.

Build

The build itself was pretty straightforward. The Shin Matsunaga comes with a few additional parts which I made use of. I replaced the default shoulder with a generic plain one and also replaced the head with the non-commander version without the antennae. 

Keeping with the Stormtrooper motif, All non-white parts were painted black. To add some colour to the build, I decided to make reference to the Sandtroopers in the original movies with the orange pauldrons. The shield was the perfect piece to mimic that.

All parts were primed in Vallejo Surface Primer [USN Light Ghost Grey].

Paint:

• Vallejo Model Color [Black]
• Orange - mix of Vallejo Game Color [Scarlett Blood] and Reaper MSD HD [Golden Yellow]

Panel lines were done using my custom future+ink wash. Everything was finally finished off with a matte coat of Vallejo Polyurethane Matte Varnish.

Mods

I made a few small mods to make the kit stand out more. 

• Star Wars Empire logo water slide decals on shield and left upper arm.
• 3mm red rhinestone for mono eye.
• 3mm green rhinestone for gun sight optics.
• Trimmed rifle butt for better arm and wrist articulation. The stock rifle is atrocious and severely hinders articulation.

Weathering

I was tempted to keep the kit clean like a Stormtrooper usually is but after staring at it for a few days, I decided to try weathering for the first time. Concept was a Stormtrooper sent to a desert planet. I didn't know what I was getting into so some parts came off a bit heavy handed, but overall, I think it came out ok. 

I used the following sequence:

1. Edge paint chipping using a sponge with Vallejo Metal Color [Duraluminium]/[Gunmetal]
2. Paint splatter with sponge on feet using Folkart [Camel]
3. Dark grey pigment/pastel using make up
4. Light sand pigment/pastel using make up

Base

The desert base was a test run to see what's involved with just doing a very very simple diorama. The thing cost me $2. Base was a dollar store picture frame and the ground work was dollar store sculpting clay. I don't think it's the right material though. The clay contracts after drying and I cracked it in half when I tried to push it down. Luckily it's just a desert so I just left it and went with it.

Overall, this build came out almost exactly like I envisioned. I have another crossover concept floating around but I probably won't start on that until later this year.