Star Wars BB-8 [WIP - Head]

What became clear from the very beginning when working on the Bandai BB-8 plastic model kit was that I wasn't going to use any of the decals provided. Instead I decided to paint the sections for which decals were provided, most notably the coloured sections of the antenna and surrounding areas of the lenses. As for the rest of BB-8's head I either left it alone (e.g. lenses), carried out a complete repaint (e.g. metallic parts), applied a semigloss clear coat followed by some weathering effects (e.g. the white and orange coloured body plates/chassis) or used an enamel wash for panel lining work.

Bandai Star Wars BB-8 plastic model kit - work-in-progress (head)

Area surrounding lenses were painted dark grey while the lenses themselves were left alone

While a complete repaint of the BB-8 entire model kit would presumably result in a more realistic piece, I nonetheless felt that parts of plastic kit (e.g. white and orange coloured pieces) were a good enough base to work from sans a total repaint. Left alone the said parts did admittedly look toy-like and plasticky. But a combination of semi-gloss clear coat and weathering effects has the potential to counter this unwanted feature and increase BB-8's level of realism.   

BB-8's orange and white chassis parts were treated to a semigloss clear coat and weathering effects 

More details were brought to the fore through panel lining with an enamel wash

Black coloured sections of BB-8's antennas were painted on as opposed to having decals applied

If there was something I would do differently up to this point in time it would be to apply a thicker clear semigloss coating before applying weathering effects. That being said, the beauty of mistakes is getting the chance to learn from them. So hopefully things will turn out better with the body.

Plasticky look could be further dampened by applying yet more layers clear coat and weathering

Weathering effects were done using the Tamiya Weathering Master sets A and B

Tinted lenses are arguably the key components of Bandai's BB-8 model kit

I've gone on record singing the praises of BB-8's tinted lenses. It's a key component that allows this model kit to achieve levels of realism which would otherwise elude it. Once BB-8's body is completed and fixed to the head, I'll have to touch up existing weathering effects on the head so as to achieve a consistent overall look. Other than that, the astromech's head is more or less complete.