Anyone into Gundam (or Gunpla)

Raymond Lin

Raymond Lin

Raymond Lin

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Anyone here into Gundam model building?

I built an SD one as a kid but that was decades ago, in order to relive my youth :D I have just jumped back in, with both feet and order a PG RX-78-2 Unleashed.

Not going to go all the way with spray paint as the plastic are already colour coded in all the right parts. What I am trying to do is doing minor things like Panel Lining, bought a set of 3rd party water decal (£250 kit and it didn't come with it….stickers are just naff IMO).

If anyone is into it, show us what you've built!

Things I already have on order besides the kit.

A SD Gundam RX-78-2 as a trial one.
A Pair of Godhand
Dspiae Sanding sponge set (180 to 800)
Tweezers
Swann Morton scalpel
Mr Mark Setter/Softer
Brushes
Tamiya Panel Accent Liner in Black, Grey and Brown.
Enamel Thinner
Paint cleaner for brushes

I will also post progress as I build it, hopefully I won't embarrass myself lol
 
DEL 707 said:
Can you recommend any models, or a model range to look at?
I'm looking around £50-£60.
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There are so many and honestly i don't know enough to recommend them, what you are looking for if you do a search is "Best Master Grade Gundam" which should narrow it down. Generally speaking, the newer released versions are better than older pre 2000 designed. Some have LED inside them, some don't. One you found the one you like the look of, search for a review of it.

If it is the original design that you are looking for, by original as in the one i got, the RX-78-2, then they make a 1/100th scale of the same one too. £60, right in your budget. Make sure you get Version 3.0.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bandai-Hob...ocphy=1006790&hvtargid=pla-505176743517&psc=1
 
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Infiniteey said:
Dayum you went all in on your first model.

Last kit I built was a MG Freedom 2.0, was my first fully panel lined and decals with a top coat. Just find them too expensive to buy over here. I would get a new kit every time I went to HK as a kid. They would be dirt cheap from a dodgy stall in a dodgy shopping mall.
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Gundam kits are everywhere in HK, I remember seeing walls of it in Toys R Us. I used to ignore them because partly because the boxes are too large to take home, also I wasn't into making models for the past 20 years. I really liked it when I was a kid living there.
 
Kur15 said:
Thanks for the invite here Raymond.

Hobbylink Japan would be my go to site for Gundams. https://www.hlj.com/gundam little warning that you might need to pay customs (sometimes).

I used to build these when I was younger but picked up on them again since lockdown last year and needing something to do apart from gaming!
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I am used to buying things from Japan so custom side of things is not a problem. I normally buy from AmiAmi and Mandarake for my figures. The problem with them isn't so much the list price but the shipping cost because Gundam boxes are quite large and it can cost £50+ to ship by air easy. It's done more on size rather than weight.

What's shipping cost like with Hobbylink Japan?
 
Btw, I got my Godhand from Japan. There is a proxy service call Buyee, which can buy from local Japan sites that do not ship internationally. I opened with new account with a place call Mercari which gave me a 4000 yen account (about £30). Then bought a pair through Buyee on Mercari, the Godhand was 6900 yen, minus 4000 + 500 yen Proxy handling fee and then shipping.

Came to about £30 odd in the end.
 
Jony27 said:
Is that what is required now to get items from Japan? I bought my kits from HLJ and didn't have any issues with customs. Mind you this was around 4 years ago :p
Which godhand is recommended? I've seen the Tamiya 74035 also mentioned around the gunpla subreddit.
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No...you can buy from Amazon.jp just the same as Amazon.co.uk but Japan has lots of sites where they do not ship internationally. Buyee is a proxy service which buys from these people and act as a middleman.

You can buy a pair of Godhand from Amazon.jp if you like, but i had the voucher from Mercari, so used that before it expired.'

The Tamiya is considered as good clippers, Godhand is considered the benchmark. These are probably better than Tamiya for a few quid more (according to user reviews).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F8Q3C2T/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=ASFIYE776OB24&psc=1
 
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Steampunk said:
They mention in the video that the Gundam custom painting scene is a whole rabbit hole of it's own.
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Yeah, like one detail in customisation is creating panel lines. Imagine the outer piece of armour is made of several pieces had it been real, but the model kit is just one single piece of plastic and it’s a flat surface. There is real art and skill in imagine what lines it would have been, so people take a sharp tool and scalp and make a groove into the plastic to simulate these lines.

And then there are LED kits, to the eyes, the vents and sometimes joints. Using very thin wires. But because most of these kits are not designed with LED in mind (some are but that’s different), you have to then drill holes for access and if you see how tightly fit these models are, it takes real knowledge and skill to drill holes to create the power yet not affect the assembly and movement of the final assembled kit.

It’s a real rabbit hole and a deep hobby of one wants to get into it.
 
I started Sazabi. Got to the eye ball piece which is a tiny piece of clear plastic with a decal. I was holding it with tweezers when it just flew off, almost lost both the piece and the decal.

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The L3 piece

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This has taken me about 5 hours lol, I am really taking my time.

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DEL 707 said:
Finally done!

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This took an insane amount of time, so value for money I suppose.
Definately not for kids, some of the pieces were very brittle, even though you had to bend them into shape, too much movement and they'd snap!
I also learned it doesn't like super glue, ate the damn paint.

I love it to bits though and want more. :p

Gonna take a break from this metal origami, still got a Sherman tank and 2 Blood Angels that need painting.

All this talk about anime robots reminded me of the fighter jet/robot from the Robotech/Macross series.
Now that's a model I would love to build.
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i remember getting a metal origami insect thing for Christmassecret Santa, it was a small one and cheap…I managed to break a piece and definitely not easy and a level above Gunpla in terms of difficulty. I can’t imagine making something that big.

I saw this in Singapore, almost bought it. A Paper car. They also did other cars too. Cost twice as much on eBay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/39375338...%3D|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2047675&epid=27037439028

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PC777 said:
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Another SD model finished of the few I got delivered yesterday, I think this is the main hero Gundam robot, same scale as the other SD one but uses more coloured plastic and less stickers, only noticeable stickers are 2 each on the shield and gunsight, one on the belt area, all quite tricky to apply. You can add longer limbs or rotate the face to the SD eyes, I prefer the actual plastic style eyes. Gundam Mad even gave a free gift of a truly crazy SD style one I'll post at some point, they're giving out free gifts through Xmas and early January with orders.
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This is my SD, they are TINY. In comparison to the MG Sazabi i am building.

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Finished building Sazabi. This was very satisfying, the legs were the best part. So much articulation from all the panels. The hand, literally with fingers and thumbs joints all injection moulded as 1 piece with ball joints all done from moulding is unbelievable.

I wish the guns to have more shades of different grey/black, or mix them up rather than one is all grey and the other is all black.

Now i want to panel line it, got to decide what colour goes where now.

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Not sure if anyone has done this before and this is my first attempt but this is my plan.

Since I am not airbrush it with a new colour and watching to keep the plastic colour i am going to

Step 1 - Take it apart a little more, spray on a clear primer to both protect the plastic from the panel liner (which I hear can damage the plastic long term to make it brittle) and easier for the paint to stick.
Step 2 - Panel line. I have a choice of white, black, grey and brown. also some silver and bronze paint to choose from.
Step 3 - Waterslide decal
Step 4 - Top coat, I think I will do the whole thing in a matt top coat EXCEPT the black centre portion of the shield which I think looks best in a gloss top coat and i think he darker reds panels too might look better in a gloss top coat. Lots of masking will be required but I don't think it will be too difficult.
 
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