Gunpla: The Thread

[SuperBrother]

Grrr, trying to get a decent finish with hand brushed Tamiya acrylic is near impossible on flat surfaces. I'll stick to using it for weathering and wait until I get an airbrush.

I was on the verge of flogging the 20 odd paints I've got and switching to Vallejo today.........

[SuperBrother]

HG Astray Red Frame done!

I did a grey mix for the panel lines on the white parts for a subtler finish.

Tamiya acrylics for the detail on the sword, scabbard and some very light dry brushing on the black parts.

Lessons learned:

1.) Tamiya paint is bloody horrible to use with a paint brush

2.) Wait for paint to cure overnight before top coating, see smears on the scabbard

[wev]

That's awesome! Was it already those colours prior to painting?

[SuperBrother]

Cheers Wev, the sword & scabbard were totally plain - here's a before shot:

[wev]

The paint really helps atop it looking quite so flat, excellent work

[LaParka]

I'm going to ask a couple of daft question. But is there a rough price scale between the different grades? Can you get grades in differing scales or are they always the same?

I love this thread

[SuperBrother]

From my experience so far expect to pay:

HG - around £15-20

RG - around £18-25

MG - around £25-80 (there are some really big suits although still 1:100 scale)

PG - £100 upwards

[LaParka]

Ah that's what I was after, cheers fella.

[mrsnrub]

Great work on both the astray and the virtue guys

as for varnish I use Humbrol spray matt varnish, works a treat.

[Treble]

Started my RG 'full Burnern' which is a nonsense name, so I'm renaming him 'full Vernon'. Pics soon.

[SuperBrother]

Picked up an MG God Gundam for cheaps off EBay UK as the seller labelled it weirdly, result!

Shining fingaaa!!

[SuperBrother]

Quick WIP update on my Wing Zero Custom.

I've discovered that clear green paint looks way better than stickers for sensor units and that, with the chest jewel this is against a silver background on the piece behind.

[SuperBrother]

My 1st MG kit, great fun to build, except for the rage inducing, horrible dry transfer decals.

Bye bye colony!

Quick shot with a Coke can for scale

[wev]

As always, absolutely awesome!

by 'dry transfer decals' do you mean like what they chuck in Airfix kits?

I love Airfix I hate Airfix decals.

[SuperBrother]

Cheers Wev. The dry transfer things are well strange.

It's like a wafer thin sticker on a hard plastic backing, you have to align them then rub them onto the kit with a coin or similar. If they move one iota the whole transfer is borked. Tutorial here and yes the masking tape is a must http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeFtWXAuk7A

Apparently they come with most MG kits so I'm in for some fun with the next couple.

[wev]

Oh god, they look worse than Airfix's wet transfers

[xibxang]

My 1st MG kit, great fun to build, except for the rage inducing, horrible dry transfer decals.

Where would I get me one of these? The wings have pushed me over the edge with their beauty. And which YouTube videos are best to take in to learn this panel lining malarkey? I'm an engineer and it's time I started using my practical skills to make these lovely items.

[SuperBrother]

In terms of getting the kits the best option is to find an Ebay seller willing to mark the packages as a gift as they invariably attract customs charges.

There are quite a few based in Hong Kong and South Korea who openly state on the item description that they do this. Otherwise Hobbylink Japan are the best webshop in terms of costs and shipping to the UK.

That particular model is a Master Grade (MG) Wing Zero Custom.

Panel lining is actually very easy with a steady hand and patience, check out the tutorials by Steezy on Youtube, this being the best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2F7zVuaf4U

[xibxang]

Awesome. Many thanks.

[xibxang]

I've found this which seems to include a detail upgrade for the wings. It's £33.90 and £16.99 for delivery. What would the import tax be on it?

[SuperBrother]

Ignore the shipping, you pay VAT on the item value plus 8 quid Royal Fail handling charge

[SuperBrother]

Off to the Birmingham Comic Con on Saturday. If it's anything like last year's event there should be a good few gundams up for grabs.

I have stashed away a perfect grade fund in anticipation (unless they are piss taking prices of course)

[SuperBrother]

Spoils from Comic Con.

The box for this guy is epically massive! I reckon a good month or so to build it.

And for something a bit different a Macross kit, 1/72 scale and it transforms.

[Stoikovich]

How much was the Sazabi?? I have one at HLJ, about to be shipped which is going to be about £90 including shipping and approx £15 import.

Shit, I wish I hadn't just worked that out.....

Really looking forward to seeing that Valkyrie!

[SuperBrother]

£95 from the GundamMad guys at ComicCon. Pretty much the only kit I wanted that wasn't marked up to a silly price.

They wanted £160 for the PG Titans MK2 and an arse quivering £215 for the PG Strike Rouge Gundam!

Just got a couple of Gundam LED kits in the post as the Sazabi has a slot for one in the head.

[Ste_S]

Just started getting into Gunpla after getting back into kits and minis/models via 40K, and into Gundam via the superb MSG: The Origin manga.

It's interesting looking at the completely different styles between japanese gunpla and western models. With Gunpla the emphasis seems to on flat, pristine and clean models. With western models, the emphasis is very much on shading - having areas of strong light and shade and building a smooth blend between them.

Off to Amsterdam soon and visiting this amazing looking shop http://www.spaceoddity.nl/en/ to pick up my first few kits.

[SuperBrother]

We're off to Amsterdam soon too, I'll look that shop up if it's central enough.

[Ste_S]

It looked fairly central on the map I think.

Thanks for the link to the Major Williams blog earlier in the thread, some great looking models and tutorials in there. Shame he seems to have stopped posting on it.

[Ste_S]

I've just come across this Sazabi from http://gamerabaenre.com/?p=2949. That metallic cherry red is all kinds of amaze

[SuperBrother]

That is awesome. There's some seriously skilled guys in the conversions scene.