Anyone into Gundam (or Gunpla)

Kur15 · 18 Oct 2021 at 10:51

Carl_Bennetts said:
I picked up a few over the last few months, really like the MG range. I'm on the hunt for a PG but unsure what one to get, although i should build the Titanium Sinanju first

Nice bit of kit! I had the Sjnanju Titanium in my browser bookmarks for years and could never justify spending £175 on it. Only by chance, I went on a business trip to China that I picked it up in HK for around £80. But yeah it's a beautiful looking kit and I still have it on display!

Carl_Bennetts · 18 Oct 2021 at 12:10

Kur15 said:
Nice bit of kit! I had the Sjnanju Titanium in my browser bookmarks for years and could never justify spending £175 on it. Only by chance, I went on a business trip to China that I picked it up in HK for around £80. But yeah it's a beautiful looking kit and I still have it on display!

I need to get it started, it looks nice from what i've seen. I do hear clearing the nubs off this version is a nightmare due to the coating. I paid a little more than £80.... but not quiet £175 lol

Kur15 · 18 Oct 2021 at 12:17

Carl_Bennetts said:
I need to get it started, it looks nice from what i've seen. I do hear clearing the nubs off this version is a nightmare due to the coating. I paid a little more than £80.... but not quiet £175 lol

it is, though it isnt too visible unless inspecting closely. Only real solution is sanding and painting which sort of defeats the purpose of buying a finish kit like this. It launched around £175 and it bearly dropped a few quid each time I looked at it. Can I ask where you shop?

Jony27 · 20 Oct 2021 at 09:16

I prefer the RG range myself. I started off with an MG Freedom then bought a HG Barbatos and RG Unicorn. They're currently sitting boxed away since we moved and I still need to build a RG OO Raiser.
Maybe I should invest in a proper snippers too as I've been using a pair from amazon.

Raymond Lin · 20 Oct 2021 at 09:20

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 · 20 Oct 2021 at 09:34

Raymond Lin said:
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.

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

Which godhand is recommended? I've seen the Tamiya 74035 also mentioned around the gunpla subreddit.

Raymond Lin · 20 Oct 2021 at 09:41

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
Which godhand is recommended? I've seen the Tamiya 74035 also mentioned around the gunpla subreddit.

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

Cantankerous · 20 Oct 2021 at 10:59

I have a set of Dspiae ST-A 3.0's which I recommend. Can be hard to find stock but should be around £35 I think still. They're amazing coming from 'normal' model nippers and are very similar to the Godhands.

Kur15 · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:40

I just use cheap nippers from Aliexpress, does the job but after a year of model building, its time to replace since it does feel like its getting dull. Though they are miles better than the nail clippers I used as a child

Carl_Bennetts · 20 Oct 2021 at 15:18

Kur15 said:
it is, though it isnt too visible unless inspecting closely. Only real solution is sanding and painting which sort of defeats the purpose of buying a finish kit like this. It launched around £175 and it bearly dropped a few quid each time I looked at it. Can I ask where you shop?

The Sjnanju Titanium was purchased from Ebay but came with the limited edition stand also, all in i paid £150. Which is a lot for some plastic but maybe this is why i haven't built it yet!!

I brought the Strike Freedom and Wing from Kikatek UK

Kur15 · 27 Oct 2021 at 13:30

Aile Strike Gundam progress, So far spent around 20 hours to build, panel line and fix this broken knee piece. First time geting a kit with a broken bit, I did think of requesting a replacement but felt like it'd look nice for once having a battle damaged Gundam. Took a while since I tried a couple of glues that just wouldnt hold its original shape since its broken into 3 bits. Eventually settled for some poundland superglue and gluing it directly to the frame piece with clamping to make sure it doesn't change shape. Next up is applying water decals but I totally suck at getting them on properly so if you guys have any tips and tricks they would be greatly appreciated. Thinking to try apply with cotton buds, tweezers and hopefully some patience.

Raymond Lin · 25 Nov 2021 at 22:08

I saw this in Singapore for £80 and couldn't resist.

DEL 707 · 26 Nov 2021 at 13:39

That's a chunky boi!

Raymond Lin · 26 Nov 2021 at 13:48

DEL 707 said:
That's a chunky boi!

JUST fits in my suitcase too.

DEL 707 · 27 Nov 2021 at 13:28

It's not a Gundam, but I don't think it warrented a new thread.

Family got me Soundwave for my birthday, they knew I always wanted the toy as a kid, so they got me a 3D model kit!

Noakesy85 · 27 Nov 2021 at 14:59

That's class Del!!!

I wish I had somewhere to display stuff otherwise I'd be all over it.

Currently my Lego Bugatti is sitting on top of our standalone wardrobe in our bedroom.

Steampunk · 27 Nov 2021 at 15:38

I never realised how sophisticated these things were:

Raymond Lin · 27 Nov 2021 at 20:17

Steampunk said:
I never realised how sophisticated these things were:

That’s only a kit straight from the box, the next stage is people painting, customising, weathering. It becomes an art form in it’s own right.

Steampunk · 27 Nov 2021 at 20:54

Raymond Lin said:
That’s only a kit straight from the box, the next stage is people painting, customising, weathering. It becomes an art form in it’s own right.

They mention in the video that the Gundam custom painting scene is a whole rabbit hole of it's own.

Raymond Lin · 27 Nov 2021 at 21:26

Steampunk said:
They mention in the video that the Gundam custom painting scene is a whole rabbit hole of it's own.

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.