Thank you!

I wanted to imply that the heat shotels...well... got hot, and thought maybe the heat bluing people do on thruster bells was a cool way to do that I hadn't seen done before.

You got it! The Armadillo Unit version at that.

I can't emphasize enough that a lacquer base layer and an acrylic chipping layer is necessary for easy, predictable behavior.

I hope all of this helps!

If you mess up within the first few hours, soak the part in hot water. That will activate all the hairspray and strip the chipping layer off completely, down to the metal. Dry the part off, respray hairspray and your base coat, and try again!

With experience you can influence chipping behavior both with how much hairspray is on the part and how long you wait after you lay your chipping layer down. It's worth experimenting with different timings and tools for different effects.

Timing is critical. 30 mins after you lay the paint down, it will be relatively easy to chip paint off in big flakes. The longer you wait, the harder it gets. About 1-2 hours seems to be the sweet spot. After 24 hours, you can only really fine tune it. Past that, it gets near impossible to chip.

4) You can use damp toothpicks, stiff paintbrushes, and q-tips to achieve different effects.

Keep some water and a paper towel on hand to control the dampness of your chipping tools. Dry tools won't reactivate the hairspray, but too much moisture and you'll activate it too quickly/uncontrollably.

3) Lay down your surface paint color in thin, dry coats, until you just achieve opacity. This layer should be acrylic; ideally an alcohol-based hybrid acrylic like Tamiya or Mr. Hobby Aqueous. These let water pass through them. You need this behavior to reactivate the hairspray.

2) When you are ready to chip, spray hairspray on the part. You want a good medium hold hairspray from either a fine misting aerosol (such as Tresemme Medium Ultra Fine) Even, modest coats.

Let it dry. You can spray your next as soon as it's no longer tacky (15-30 mins)

I watched and read A LOT of guides and here's the distilled core of what I learned. This will take a few replies:

1) Lay down a lacquer metallic basecoat. A lacquer is VERY important for its durability and water impermeability. This will serve as the layer you chip down into.

Love this! There need to be more mecha with Homeworld-inspired paintjobs, it's SUCH a bold, compelling aesthetic.

I did one with my Astranova and am looking forward to doing another someday.

Thank you so much! The colors and stripes were inspired by the Homeworld videogames' visual design by Rob Cunningham, as well as the classic science fiction art of Chris Foss and Peter Elson.

I have several other 30MM kits in my backlog and want to do another like this.