First off, I finished building the exchange gift for my buddy.   We do an exchange every year; he'll pick up a year's subscription for Xbox Live for me, and I'll pick up a Gundam kit and build it for him.   Effort is made to match gift values between the two of us.   Value match normally favors me, as many of these Gundam kits are pricey.     Presenting the 1/100 Master Grade Tallgeese II Special Coating;

You can just make out some of the special coating in the pic.    All the white had a thick gloss coat applied from the factory, and everything else was molded with some flake.   I think the flake worked better than the gloss, but very flashy all the same.

The kitbash for an upcoming contest is almost complete.   Paint is down.   I just need to add a wash.   Monolithic yellow is...garish, to say the least.

I decided to play a little with some masking on the 'crossbones.'   Worked alright.    The lower one visible in the last pick came out better than I expected.   I tried replicating a technique I had seen in a magazine once.   I couldn't get both blades to fit in the handle.   I think I bulled it pretty cleanly, though.