To me it looks like two tones of silver separated by the sculpted details.

 

It's a custom face made by "Benjamin" from Capcomkai and it's also available for mm01 and dlx prime.
Instagram

 

That's certainly better than the stock part. The panel lines on the stock part are way too wide and deep for the scale. This looks really nice.

 

Fantastic. Really makes the details more subtle and less distracting.

 

Hey All, Sorry if this has been posted already. Working my way through the forum and may have missed this already. My wife got me this model for Christmas and I'm about to start the build in the next week. I plan on entirely painting and weathering this guy, but the instructions do not have a paint guide. I generally use Vallejo paints for my Gundam builds and hope to use them for this build. Does Anyone have suggestions on the right Red and Blue to use? I'm thinking of a metallic Blue and Red for the truck parts. Any suggests would be great!

 

Sina Visitor System

 

Are you looking for paints that tone match the plastic or just good looking paints in general? Because if you’re going metallic I would just go with what you think looks best. I feel the red on the kit is maybe a shade or two too dark as it is so a more vibrant metallic red would look great.

If the paints you use work for Gundam then they’ll definitely work for this.

 

I'm looking for a color that will closely resemble the model kit plastic though I'm open to suggestions. I did look at a few videos online and found some great colors. The best that I've seen are these



The picture does not do the color justice, though the spoon test looks great (

).

Vallejo paints are great and easy to use with the airbrush. They can be pretty forgiving and hold up as well. The plan is to have Optimus look like he has been through a round or two with megatron.

 

You got a great Christmas present there! I also use Vallejo paint, though I mostly handpaint so personally use the Vallejo Model Color line. If you're airbrushing, I'm not sure how well the Vallejo Model Color line fairs there. The metallic blue I came up with is shown below. It's not entirely movie accurate since I wanted something more saturated. If you're interested in the blue mix, the ratio is:
- 1 Vallejo Model Gunmetal Blue
- 1 Vallejo Model Blue
- 1 Vallejo Metal Medium
- 2-3 Vallejo Thinner Medium

If you want something more movie accurate, you could try desaturating with a drop of something dark. I haven't made much progress on this kit yet so I haven't quite figured out the red yet, but I was going to incorporate Vallejo Model Carmine Red.

 

Damn... this is making me want to disassemble my prime and do the red and blue in metallic. <:I

 

After seeing a bunch of custom painted kits on Instagram, I couldn't resist painting. He's a great kit OOTB, but man, he looks incredible with some extra work.

Alternatively, if you don't want to take him apart, you can always get that Shockwave and go ham with him.   Looks like they also have some DOTM kits in the pipeline.

 

Modeling is so much fun, highly suggest disassembling and painting it. It can be scary at times, but in the words of Bob Ross, we don't make mistakes but happy accidents.

I know this is not related to the forum but this is my latest project at the moment that I was talking about above

 

Oh I'm no stranger to modelling. As it happens I have this Optimus and the PGU Gundam on my desk right now.   But this kit wasn't the smoothest assembly and I worry about breaking some of the smaller parts trying to take it apart. Some of the coloured parts are built into the frame, so it's not just a simple task of removing the armour. The torso especially would basically have to be entirely disassembled.

I think I'm satisfied with the metallic I did to all the grey/frame parts. Plus I'd lose the lovely tampo'd Autobot logos.

 

Really? Ya might be better to hold off then, especially if there are small parts. They will defiantly break. The plastic for this model looks great from what I can tell. It looks great either painted or not painted. I wonder how the tolerance will be with the added paint. Good to know that the assembly can be a bit finicky.

 

Honestly, the tolerance isn't the greatest with the added paint. The head for example does feel a bit gappy in some areas and there is some force required. It's definitely doable and worth it at the end, but just warning you it isn't the most seamless experience.

 

I do CGI for a living, and near as I can tell looking at the movie CGI, Optimus does not have metallic red nor metallic blue. It's just standard red and blue paint with clear coats on top. Not primary red and blue, but more maroon red and dark blue. Exact shades, I'm not sure of yet. Of course the under skeleton has gunmetal,aluminum and brass/gold metallics. Now the Michael Bay Optimus Prime's, both designs, do have metallic blues and reds. Bumblebee movie version does not appear to.

I thought with all the many many customs out there, someone would have a definitive paint guide, but I guess not. I'll be researching it this week and post my findings here.

 

That is interesting. I always felt that the paint was a metallic color but that is great to know that the red and blue are primary colors.

I thought that as well and find it odd that I haven't been able to find a paint guide for this model. I don't mind going off with my own color scheme but hope to stay close to the movies. Thank you for your help!

 

I was saying the red and blue are NOT primary colors. The red has a slight maroon to it, and the blue is definitely desaturated and dark.

 

Thank you for clarifying, misunderstood your message.

 

Against all common financial sense, I’ve ordered this guy as well as Shockwave. The biggest (and priciest) kit I’ve ever built, but really looking forward to it!