Need help - Yamato Votoms 1/12 Psuedo-Odon-Turbo-Custom

[microtree33]

Hello,

My collecting budget wound down a little earlier than I anticipated and there wasn't enough money left to get a real Odon Turbo Custom or really any V2 Scopedog. I figured I could still pick up a The Last Red Shoulder Parts Set for not that much and I have a Yamato V1 1/12 Scopedog sitting around so I've decided to make a go of it and try making my own cheapo "Odon Turbo Custom". I'm also planning to weather it, since I like the paint job Takara's DMZ's have.

The first snag I ran into was that I couldn't find a guide on how to safely disassemble my Scopedog. I figured out the arms simply enough, but the torso and legs elude me. The whole thing feels very rickety and I don't want to risk damaging anything.

The next problem is the red shoulder part. As far as I know the only difference (though I've heard the backpacks might be different) is that the Odon set has the famous red shoulder piece. Since the Yamato Scopedog already feels quite a bit like a model kit I thought it should be relatively easy to paint. I don't know that much about model paints so this will be something of an adventure.

From what I've gathered I think it goes like this:

Clean part to be painted ---> Primer coat #1 ---> Wait 24 hours ---> Paint coat #1 ---> Wait 24 hours ---> Paint coat #2 ---> Wait 24 hours ---> Paint coat #3 ---> Wait 24 hours ---> Sealant top coat ---> Wait 24 hours ---> Done.

So far I have chosen Tamiya Gray Primer and Tamiya Bright Mica Red with Tamiya Semi-gloss top coat to complete the look for the shoulderpad. I don't think this is quite right since the pictures of the real deal look more like a blood red, but I'm not really sure.

I haven't thought about how to do the weathering exactly, but I have also considered just painting the other armor pieces red or maybe even black to give it kind of a blood sucker vibe (though I think the blood suckers only had rifles, which made little sense). I don't feel like I'm risking all that much fooling around with a V1's armor parts, but I still want to be careful. If I do royally screw up, does anyone know if I can remove all the primer and paint and top coat without injuring the plastic? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.