| 這台 Zeta Plus C1 是去年在 eBay 買回來的，原本打算製成飛行形態，與另一台(未完成的) A1型(作戰形態)湊成一對。但去年十月買了一些淨水貼紙，於是乎決定用這台機動戰士去試驗這種淨水貼紙。雖然這水貼紙在製作 Powered GM 時已經嘗試過，但那時運用水貼衹屬陪跑性質，與今次的製作(焦點全放在自製水貼上)截然不同。而因為製作的重心放在水貼上，所以全台 Zeta Plus C1 是沒有經過改做，衹老老實實製作出來，如此仍然可與經改做的 A1 型配對成比較。 | I bought this model of Master Grade Zeta Plus C1 last year from eBay. I intended to finish it in its flight mode and another model of Zeta Plus (A1, not finished yet) in robot mode. However, I bought some blank water-slide decal sheets last October, and would like to use the model to test the decal sheets. Although I used the blank decal sheets when I built my Powered GM, it was only a small-scale test of the new material. Since the focus of this model is the sheets, I do not modify the kit. In this way, it will be easy to compare an out-of-box (OOB) model with my unfinished Zeta Plus A1, which will receive some modifications. |
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| 上面提到今趟的製作是老老實實地去做，而我的意思確是如。例如模型上的大小夾口通通經過打磨修正，這包括腳內骨架，駕駛艙的正和背面，手掌等比較繁複和隱蔽的地方。我甚至乎連模型附送的 1:100 駕駛員亦一并做好。何故如是？！開始製作時本是打算把這盒模型做成可變式，即是完成後可隨時變作飛行形態或機動戰士形態，所以在製作中途打磨及修正了很多現在看來完全多餘的地方。但當我噴了第一層油後就害怕起來，擔心油漆因變形而脫落。雖然起初是預計了會有油漆脫落的問題，但最後噴了油後還是臨陣退縮，做回機動戰士形態算了！因此腳內骨架的塗裝祇完成了八成便放棄了。 | Since the model was built as an OOB kit, everything was done according to the instruction; this included the parts that were covered! For example, all the seams were properly taken care of. Some of them were on the leg’s internal frame, the cockpit, backpack, palms and so on. I even sanded and painted the two little 1:100 pilots. Most of the redundant work came from the idea of building the model as a transformable kit. After completing some of the paint job, I became really scared of scratching the paint off during the transformation process. Because of this, the model was built as non-transformable at the end. |
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| 至於表面處理方面，今次就完全不老實了，因為要先由水貼開始。首先我要決定模型表面的模樣，然後設計所需要的水貼。過程中我決定用上淨透明水貼紙而不是白底淨水貼紙去印製水貼，如此我祇需要調校一種顏色(藍色)就行了。而設計了出來的水貼紙則放在以下的檔案中： | As shown in the above photos, the finished model utilizes a two-colour scheme, namely grey and blue. On the other hand, the blank decal sheets are in two types: white and transparent. The thin film of the transparent sheet is, what else it can be, transparent; while the white sheet’s thin film is opaque in white. If the white sheet was used, I would have printed the decals using the two colours. In order to reduce the number of colours to be printed, I chose the transparent sheets to do the job. (The reason for minimizing the number of printed colours will be explained later.) The design of the decals can be found in the following file: |
| 當這個設計印在透明淨水貼紙上時，所有白色的地方全變成了透明的地方。至於印刷方面，今次我用了新買的 Epson Stylus C64 打印機來負責。這部打印機有兩個好處：一是價錢並不昂貴(約加幣九十元，港幣五百元有找)；二是其所用的專用墨水(DURA Brite ink)是較為防水的，至少用上它後水貼邊再沒有滲漏墨水的情況出現。(見 Powered GM 介紹的末段。)但為防水份破壞印出來的水貼，所以在貼水貼時我祇把水貼放在浸濕了的紙巾上，以免水貼印字的一面沾水。 | After the design has been finalized, it is time to create the decals. It is noteworthy that the white area in the design will not be printed using any ordinary printers, which have no white ink. This is the reason for the manufacturers releasing the blank white decal sheets. Anyhow, I printed the decals using an Epson Stylus C64 inkjet printer. The printer is chosen because it is not expensive (approximately CAD$90, or about HK$500) and Epson uses a specially formulated ink called DURA-Brite. The ink is more water-resistant than ordinary ink; this is a big plus for water-slide decals. (See Powered GM on how water can damage a decal.) Nevertheless a transparent coat was applied on the finished decals for further protection. |
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| 從上面的介紹可以看到，模型的塗裝是被水貼的設計牽著鼻子走的。原因是以模型油去遷就打印機印出來的顏色比起用打印機去遷就模型油來得容易及平宜。例如以上 pdf 格式檔案中的藍色是(100,100,255)，在電腦螢光幕上顯示的顏色與印出來水貼上的顏色相去甚遠；甚至乎把檔案印在普通白紙上，現出來的藍色仍與印在水貼上有明顯的分別。至於話透明水貼下的底色並非純白色而是郡氏水性 H311 則更加影響藍色顯現出來的色調。因此一旦水貼印了出來後，所用的藍色就已經決定了。而在另一邊顏色方面，我則採用前面提及的 H311。(我相信我已經愛上這個 H311 了！) | The last two paragraphs explain how the decals were made. Since it is a complicated process, it is relatively less flexible than the painting process. Unfortunately inkjet printing and airbrushing yield different tones of blue; it is very difficult to match the two in practice. One can choose to tweak the computer and printer settings so that the printed blue matches the paint. However the process is time-consuming and requires test printing that is expensive (blank decal sheet is not cheap). On top of that, the printed decals show discoloration when they are applied on non-white surface. In fact, the same design shows different tones when it is printed on decal sheet and plain white paper by the same printer. Therefore I chose calibrating the tone of blue model paint in order to match the one on the decals. |
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| 經過以上的討論後，現在是時侯概述一遍整個表面處理的程序。當模型噴了最後一層灰之後，就正式開始塗裝的過程。首先是噴上 H311 在適當的地方，然後就貼上水貼，當中包括藍色的水貼。然後才噴上藍色的模型油。在噴藍色時故然不能噴掉「白色」的字，但更加要小心遮蓋紙不要黏掉已貼好的水貼。(大腿兩旁原本是貼有藍色水貼的，但不慎四面中有一面水貼給遮蓋紙黏掉了，而我亦用盡了那種圖案的水貼，最後唯有連其餘三面的水貼亦一并黏起掉去。)其實模型油調校出來的藍色(主要以郡氏水性 H35 為本)與水貼上的藍色仍是有點出入的，因此在噴藍色時亦噴在藍色水貼上，以避免出現明顯的界線分隔兩片不同的藍色。最後噴上透明黑色(透明紅+透明黃+透明藍色)作陰影，以及用透明黑色去更溶合不同色調的藍色。 | The previous discussion mostly covers the decals; other aspects of finishing this model have been ignored. After the assembled model had been primed, I applied a coat of GSI acrylic H311 on appropriate areas. When the paint was thoroughly dried, I applied the decals. When this was done, I airbrushed some carefully mixed blue paint on the model. Once in a while, the blue paint was applied on the blue decays because this would smooth the transition of the two tones of blue. (The blue paint could never perfectly match the blue on the decals in practice.) If masking tape was needed, it should be used with great care because peeling off the decals by the tape was the last thing I want. (Unfortunately it did happen!) Finally clear black, which was a mixture of clear red, clear yellow and clear blue, was used to simulate the shades. It also helped hiding any discoloration. |
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