Luna—Human Form [GK ORI]

Hi, everyone!

I wanted to make a year-in-review post, but time somehow slipped away in all the bustle, so instead this will simply be a post about one of the garage kits I painted last year and haven't written about yet. About two years ago, minami_desu gave me E2046's original kit of Luna in human form I fell in love with this character the moment I saw the first pictures as a very small child. Later, I finally got to watch the movie and became even more certain: her sweet design had lodged itself in my heart, and at last I had the chance to paint her with my own hands! Ooh :3 However, since I had not-very-wisely buried myself under a number of kits wildly out of proportion to my free time, I didn't get around to her until she'd yellowed quite badly (though purple clear solved that problem in no time). Transparent plastic is merciless. If you want to paint it, paint it right away—or at least prime it, though who thinks of that in advance, heh.

Many E2046 originals suffer from gigantism that I personally don't understand. Luna is likewise listed as either 1/7 or 1/6; in any case, she is very, very far from small. For example, I was painting the little birds at the time:

On the whole, though, the kit is very well made. Everything fits beautifully, and the details aren't mushy, unlike E2046's recasts (which makes sense—this is their original). The number of parts also promised a quick, pleasant job.

There was almost nothing difficult about the paintwork itself, apart from the unusually enormous amount of paint it consumed…

…and the hair: one huge, heavy, textured hunk of hair! Sanding all of it was tedious and hard

Dear Dina, ponnie352, suggested a way to paint this mane: prime everything black, go over the ridges with a soft sanding sponge to bring out the highlights, and then you don't have to fuss too much over the transitions. It's a quick way to create light and shade, though the relief itself would probably have produced a decent result anyway. I still added a few extra hues, then blasted some SMS Purple Grape sparkle over the top to make it pretty!

And to make things more interesting, I decided to decorate the hair with something extra. The choice was between round beads and flowers:

My favorite part: the eyes!

I didn't get too elaborate with the base; I made circles like planets. Not terribly original, but it is what it is

It was scary to put her on that pin (which, by the way, came with the kit), but to my surprise she stands on it securely!

And now the finished girl—lots and lots of photos :3

Closer, with more detail:

And that's the kitty I ended up with :3 Thank you all for looking, and have a wonderful year!

P.S. Actually, I will add my year-in-review collage here after all! I like it far too much not to :3