>>9073984Age kits in general are pretty good as long as they're not Vagan designs (those just don't seem to work well). I think the Transient is based on the older 00 HGs, which look fine but may be a bit odd.
Either kit isn't a terrible jumping point though, just make sure you get the right tools.
>>9074002Did you shake the shit out of the bottles? I've even found that if one of my colors has sat for a while I need to use my Badger paint stirrer to get them to mix up again. I've even debated getting a vortex paint mixer to help (obviously to use for regular paint as well).
I did SOL Raptor bare plastic with Tamiya and then flat coated it. I did notice that some panel lines, like the ones on the chest piece and the wings, required a few coats of it to get the full color.
