Here is a picture of Asuka after I have finished her body and attached the side pieces of her racing suit. I've given her pink cheeks and shaded her skin using both light and medium colored flesh tones. Her top has been painted with a gloss white slightly tinted pink and the folds in the material darkened with a stronger pink. Pure white was dry brushed on the raised parts to highlight the material.

This is Asuka's hair. The base coat was a medium desert yellow mixed with a gloss orange. This put down a shadow color that could be highlighted and lightened with subsequent coats of paint.

The second coat was a flat yellow that brightened and emphasized certain sections of her hair. The degree of lightness depended on the amount of color that was put down. This yellow was over sprayed with a light dusting of orange.

For the chrome parts of the motorcycle I decided to use Alclad II chrome paint. This paint is designed to be put on over a dark gloss black base. I have found that a perfectly smooth surface is required to get a very high reflectivity chrome.

For a picture of the black base covering before the chrome was applied, click here.

Here is a picture of the front wheel after the decal has been applied, but before I have dulled down the tire by over spraying with Testor's Dullcote. I used an Alclad II prismatic paint for the wheel. This was an experiment to see exactly what the Alclad paints would look like. The paint I used was a copper red to green that changes color depending on the angle of reflection.

For Asuka's bike I want a pink or rose theme. I am using Daler-Rowney pearlescent paints that are a bit tricky to push through the airbrush. These pieces have been coated with two coats of Future acrylic floor wax to seal the paint. I have not yet put the decals on these pieces.

This is what the bike cowling will look like. These pieces have been painted with a pinkish red pearlescent Daler-Rowney paint and then shaded by over spraying the top of the cowling and the lower part of the bottom piece with a clear red. What this will do is provide a graduated color variation where both the top and bottom are a darker red with a pearl lighter red color in the middle. When these pieces are coupled with the pink pieces above I am hoping that the whole motorcycle will present a soft color perspective.

Asuka will have a gloss red and black racing suit. The original color scheme for this model had both the bike and Asuka painted a similar gloss red color. I'm hoping that my attempt to tone down the bike will provide an interesting contrast between the girl and her motorcycle.

Click here to see some pictures of the cowling with the decals on.

The motorcycle frame and engine painting is in progress. I am painting the frame gloss black as it is simple and I think it will offer a good contrast to the pink and red cowlings and the titanium silver engine.

Here is Asuka after she has been sprayed with a coat or two of gloss red paint. I have attached her arms and filled the seams and all flaws that I can find and put another coat of primer on. Eventually I plan to do some shadings and color variations based on a pink setting.

And here is a picture of the motorcycle part way through assembly. For a few other pictures click here.

Here are a few more pictures a little further along in the assembly. The radiator and all of the cabling has been installed. This was a little tricky bending the wires and trying to attach them. For a few other pictures click here.