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Model Making Makes Me Merry
- Thread starter WisteriaHysteria
- Start date
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
The level of detail on the HG Requiem for Vengeance RX-78 is bonkers.
Those bits are just begging for a panel wash
i built lfrith over the past couple weekends. i picked this one because i've seen that part and pink is cool. but i'm not so attached that i'm fretting over messing things up on it. which i did...i eventually lost a sticker trying to figure out how to get it inside the front of the helmet, and then i put in the neck ball upside down and it made the whole thing impossible to fit together, which led to me breaking a couple pegs around the collar. at which point i realized something else was wrong. i also had a hell of a time taking apart some other things i put together in the wrong order so i could reassemble them correctly, especially the knees. hahaha. anyway, it was really fun, i especially loved the shield/bit assembly and it makes me want to pick up the aerial eventually to do more of that.
anyway, as a kind of test run, i'm not really done working with it...i think i'm going to try gluing the part down even though it sits fine on the other peg normally, and maybe i'll try that paneling stuff and seek out some decals to try sticking on too. but it is complete according to the directions. overall felt like an easy way to get into this as an adult with just a few notable (and educational) challenges, and i really want to start working my way up to some stuff i assume is going to be a lot less user friendly. it's really easy to see the appeal of gunpla now, they're super approachable since you can easily get a great result even without having to do much finicky stuff, and the varying sizes and customization options obviously add a lot for more dedicated fans. and just the overall experience and technical mastery they clearly have with them by now makes them feel really well designed and fun to work on. i've got a couple more (honestly much easier, i'm pretty sure) kits to work on for a bit (the retro-style rx78, which i started on tonight...i think it's really cute. and a lucario+riolu...) but as the designs themselves go, well, i'm not totally wild about them. which'll likely change if i watch more because i think plenty of them are cool enough and i just don't have a particular attachment, but the stuff i'm really excited about are things like cars around my age and stuff from arcade games, that i'm pretty sure are a lot harder since stuff like that is obviously going to be a lot less streamlined and more specifically targeted at enthusiasts. not to mention this kind of fine and patient work is a skill i'd love to improve in in its own right, so i wanna work up my skills a lot.
it's uh, obviously not really the best time to be getting into something like this, and i'm definitely worried that some of the stuff i want to get reruns of this year (the ikaruga ships, dodonpachi dai ou jou type a, vic viper...) is going to cost a horrendous amount. but it's not really the best time to be doing anything. lol
anyway, as a kind of test run, i'm not really done working with it...i think i'm going to try gluing the part down even though it sits fine on the other peg normally, and maybe i'll try that paneling stuff and seek out some decals to try sticking on too. but it is complete according to the directions. overall felt like an easy way to get into this as an adult with just a few notable (and educational) challenges, and i really want to start working my way up to some stuff i assume is going to be a lot less user friendly. it's really easy to see the appeal of gunpla now, they're super approachable since you can easily get a great result even without having to do much finicky stuff, and the varying sizes and customization options obviously add a lot for more dedicated fans. and just the overall experience and technical mastery they clearly have with them by now makes them feel really well designed and fun to work on. i've got a couple more (honestly much easier, i'm pretty sure) kits to work on for a bit (the retro-style rx78, which i started on tonight...i think it's really cute. and a lucario+riolu...) but as the designs themselves go, well, i'm not totally wild about them. which'll likely change if i watch more because i think plenty of them are cool enough and i just don't have a particular attachment, but the stuff i'm really excited about are things like cars around my age and stuff from arcade games, that i'm pretty sure are a lot harder since stuff like that is obviously going to be a lot less streamlined and more specifically targeted at enthusiasts. not to mention this kind of fine and patient work is a skill i'd love to improve in in its own right, so i wanna work up my skills a lot.
it's uh, obviously not really the best time to be getting into something like this, and i'm definitely worried that some of the stuff i want to get reruns of this year (the ikaruga ships, dodonpachi dai ou jou type a, vic viper...) is going to cost a horrendous amount. but it's not really the best time to be doing anything. lol
You didn't ask for advice so I'm sorry in advance:
A neat little trick I wished I had learned earlier, is that when you're trying to pry apart small little gundam pieces you've already put together: use a guitar pick. Any guitar pick. They're cheap and disposable so it doesn't matter if you break or lose them, but they're the perfect thickness and pliability for helping to wedge loose some tightly fitting parts without damaging your model.
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
Yay - got my Gundam Zirius (Zilius?) preordered from Premium Bandai.
I'm a real Gunpla-boy!
I'm a real Gunpla-boy!
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
Requiem for Vengeance RX-78 EX is truly the Metal Slime of panel lining
For me, that's a great contender for panel washing over traditional panel lining methods.
Looks great, btw!
Looks great, btw!
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
I'm going to rebuild this guy in the future to try a metallic repaint. He is a very good kit and deserves more love than I imagine he gets given his show of origin.
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
Update on my progress.
Finally got all my supplies so I did my top coat pass on Test Barbatos. Half Gloss (left) and half Matte (right)
The basic idea being to see how various things interact in different sequences (top coats, weathering, decals, stickers, etc). And I have some parts leftover for learning painting, etc.
Meanwhile, my RX-78-G, Netflix version, is assembled and waiting for the results of the above tests so I don't screw him up by getting overly ambitious.
And this has created a new problem. Look at how handsome this storage solution is. Almost makes one want a closet full of unfinished Gunpla, deployable at any moment...
Finally got all my supplies so I did my top coat pass on Test Barbatos. Half Gloss (left) and half Matte (right)
The basic idea being to see how various things interact in different sequences (top coats, weathering, decals, stickers, etc). And I have some parts leftover for learning painting, etc.
Meanwhile, my RX-78-G, Netflix version, is assembled and waiting for the results of the above tests so I don't screw him up by getting overly ambitious.
And this has created a new problem. Look at how handsome this storage solution is. Almost makes one want a closet full of unfinished Gunpla, deployable at any moment...
Cool experiments! Unfortunately the resolution on the image is way too low for me to see the differences on the final results pic, heh. But do report back on what you think came out best!
Meanwhile after several years away I incautiously decided to dive right back in with a MG kit that’s been on top of my backlog for too long. The large pieces are nice at least, and after shaking some rust off it’s been going pretty well. I was
very pleasantly surprised (amazed really) to find my 6+ year old Gundam Markers still working, and have been using them for touch-ups and highlights so far. I’ll get some pics up eventually but it’ll be a bit since I have to take a break at half way done for a week-long out of town trip I’m about to go on.
One thing I’m not looking forward to is the ton of tiny freakin’ water decals this 2022 kit is still using. That part just… does not seem like a good time.
Meanwhile after several years away I incautiously decided to dive right back in with a MG kit that’s been on top of my backlog for too long. The large pieces are nice at least, and after shaking some rust off it’s been going pretty well. I was
very pleasantly surprised (amazed really) to find my 6+ year old Gundam Markers still working, and have been using them for touch-ups and highlights so far. I’ll get some pics up eventually but it’ll be a bit since I have to take a break at half way done for a week-long out of town trip I’m about to go on.
One thing I’m not looking forward to is the ton of tiny freakin’ water decals this 2022 kit is still using. That part just… does not seem like a good time.
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
Speaking of decals this Netflix Gundam sized them all according to the piece you're attaching them to so they're much harder to screw up and will be far less conspicuous in the final product. Yay!
If you're doing waterslide decals, and are having trouble with them on small or uneven surfaces, consider following this tutorial on how to use mark setter and/or mark softer:
goodguydangunpla.blogspot.com
Tutorial: How to apply water slide decals
A Blog about Gundam and Gunpla
goodguydangunpla.blogspot.com
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
5/5 "It's a living"s
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
I'm assuming the Red Baron flies like a Medusa Head
I realized that my Gunpla is to scale with my miniatures from both the Wings of Glory and X-Wing games. So here's the Nobel Gundam fighting against the Red Baron, flying alongside the Rebel Aliance, and taking on a squadron of TIEs.
That's one hell of a crossover.
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
IT'S ALL I KNOW
All righty, the Barbatos test of horror has been completed. He doesn't seem to be taking it well...
My first mistake was not holding the top-coat far enough away, so my initial sprays reactivated the panel lining which smeared all over some areas and then pooled up in others preventing the weathering from working. Which was not a great start. Lesson learned.
From that initial test I learned I love how Gloss looks on the dark gray plastic when it's an interior skeleton, but for weapons, Matte is the way to go on same dark gray plastic.
Weathering was intended to be a bit ugly because I was trying out a few different techniques w/ the Real Touch Markers and then also the Tamiya Weathering Makeup Compact B. A lot of this was a complete mess and that's OK - that's why I spent $10 on a Barbatos I could destroy without guilt.
Still, a few areas in particular I think came out nicely in different ways. Like the shoulders. Glossy/Realtouch w/ sponge on the left, Matte with Tamiya on the right:
Oddly enough, BEFORE I weathered, the decal on the right was almost invisible and it looked AMAZING. It almost sold me on Matte (I don't like how matte things feel). Meanwhile the decal on the left has looked consistently "OK I guess" throughout the process. The shiny stickers went on AFTER the weathering on these pieces (for science) and both looked way better without them.
The legs were another interesting example the upper thighs both look great in their ways, but the legs as a whole didn't provide as much practice in just doing weathering over and over - since the surfaces are so varied, curved, angled, etc.
Lastly on his waist (matte but with the realtouch markers) a lot of interesting results. I think most of it is MESSY but I still learned a lot here. On the back side, I think it came out perfectly for the light-touch weathering I'd prefer to do on most kits just to bring out their natural designs but I panel-lined those upper knobs which makes the lines very inconsistent. Wish I'd left that off and let the weathering do its job. In both cases you get a glimpse of the sheen that gloss adds to the skeleton, which (to me) implies a metallic feel that we aren't adding with paint.
So anyway, that's Barbatos completed and it's informed how I'm approaching my next real kit, Netflix RX-78 (G)E. He's just about done.
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I dunno how advanced you are in the whole model painting arena, so pls forgive me if I'm mansplaining some of this w/o prompting. But to my eyes, nothing you've done has "destroyed" this model kit at all! Any botched paint job can be undone and you can just start over with pretty much no damage done to the plastic. Especially if you're working in acrylics. If you're working in acrylics, you can just soak the plastic bits in an amonia-based cleaning solution like 409, Simple Green, or Pine Sol, etc. Annecdotally, I've heard Purple Power is something gunpla hobbyists prefer.
Doing a soak will strip acrylics in a few minutes. After that, just brush with like a spare toothbrush to make sure everything is off, then rinse and you're good to try again. I've seen a lot of serious hobbyists invest in an ultrasonic cleaner to get model parts completely clean before paint jobs to get every last tiny bit of dust and detritus off, but I can't say from personal experience how useful that actually is.
Those shiny stickers are color corrections for the benefit of snapfit builders. But if you're painting, I encourage you to consider painting those on instead. Models like this Barbatos, the stickers fit into impressions, and those aren't just for ease of sticker use. It makes painting those details yourself a lot easier since you can just pour ink/paint into the grooves. I've done those kinds of details in the past with Gundam Markers or with small paint brushes. But you could also get even better results using a bit of modeling masking tape or masking putty combined with spray paint.
I think the weathering on this turned out pretty well, btw! Paint weathering is pretty high level stuff imo. Something I've done that's a little bit easier but produces pretty decent results is to just use graphite lol. Taking a mechanical pencil, marking up the stuff you want, and then smearing the pencil marks into whatever pattern you want is a fairly simple way to get similar results. And if you mess up, redoing it is a lot simpler since you can just erase with a MONO eraser (or something like it) and just go again.
Thanks so much for sharing your progress pics, Tomm! It's always delightful to see such things, you're doing a great job! Also, just as one last bit of advice: there's no such thing as mistakes in Gunpla! Just learning experiences. There's almost nothing you can do that will permanently mess up your kits, there's always ways to fix stuff and get an even better result.
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
Thanks WH!
I don't have any experience modeling (except when I was a kid and my dad made the whole plane model cause I couldn't be trusted with glue apparently).
Generally I want to avoid paint (but my wife wants me to learn airbrushing to teach her, so I have a handful of paint ideas planned). A lot of this is an exercise in knowing how my brain works and avoiding any pitfalls of frustration that might stall out the gunpla onboarding process. I learn 70% by visualization and the rest by doing and the advantage of Gunpla (there's so many optional things to do! And each one has 5+ methods of doing it!) meant I needed to sacrifice poor Barbatos to freely experiment without "deciding" yet. It's led to some neat ideas!
But it means a lot to hear your more positive assessment! I'm glad I haven't broken Gunpla.
EDIT: I do recognize the "always can fix it" spirit of Gunpla - Barbatos' VFin actually got trimmed too tight so its peg was damaged and it's currently held on by putty tack stuff. Meanwhile I used cement to make RX-78-2's Vfin gem thing permanent cause that was a piece designed to be free.
I don't have any experience modeling (except when I was a kid and my dad made the whole plane model cause I couldn't be trusted with glue apparently).
Generally I want to avoid paint (but my wife wants me to learn airbrushing to teach her, so I have a handful of paint ideas planned). A lot of this is an exercise in knowing how my brain works and avoiding any pitfalls of frustration that might stall out the gunpla onboarding process. I learn 70% by visualization and the rest by doing and the advantage of Gunpla (there's so many optional things to do! And each one has 5+ methods of doing it!) meant I needed to sacrifice poor Barbatos to freely experiment without "deciding" yet. It's led to some neat ideas!
But it means a lot to hear your more positive assessment! I'm glad I haven't broken Gunpla.
EDIT: I do recognize the "always can fix it" spirit of Gunpla - Barbatos' VFin actually got trimmed too tight so its peg was damaged and it's currently held on by putty tack stuff. Meanwhile I used cement to make RX-78-2's Vfin gem thing permanent cause that was a piece designed to be free.
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Sounds like you're getting the hang of it!
There's so many ways to handle that specific situation. For example:
1) Do what you did.
2) Do a variation of what you did: I explained up-thread but the way I handle loose joints/pegs is lathering a layer of super-glue on and letting it dry. That'll expand the diameter without making it permanently stuck.
3) Dissolve excess plastic (usually from the runners) in a solvent like plastic cement, let it re-solidify partially so it becomes a putty-like material. Lather back onto your broken part, let it dry/cure, and after shape/shave it down with knives and/or sanding paper into the shape you want.
4) Measure, cut, and affix "pla-plate" onto your broken part with plastic cement. Then shave and sand down into the desired dimensions. Paint over it as well if it's on a piece that people will see.
5) Cut the peg out completely, drill a small hole that is the same diameter of a small copper rod. Shove the copper rod into your broken piece and affix it with glue. Then use the now substitute copper-rod-peg to plug into your part like normal. (This method in particular is often used for when when a larger connecting peg like in joints or load bearing parts need to be reinforced after a peg snaps.)
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
Time to showcase Netflix's own RX-78(G)E
In my initial Gundam deep dive I learned that originally Tomino was disappointed in the network forcing the friendly color scheme of the original Gundam as he wanted it to have more of a military feel. So I wondered if I should plan a future project of repainting an RX to look like a military machine (I know this is not the most original idea. But it's the story). The next day in Target I saw this kit, and learned about Requiem for Vengeance even existing, which was exactly that. Plus the show is from the Zeon POV so the military Gundam is also kind of a slasher film monster.
So I initially planned to weather this guy up but as I experimented with Barbatos (above) I also fell in love with the very intricate details on this kit and all the impressive design work that went into it, and didn't want to risk obscuring any of it with clumsy weathering (especially as I leveled up my panel lining and decal games). Instead I focused on an approach I hope highlights all the natural design elements - an experiment in clear top coats. Similar to serving an expensive cut of meat seasoned with just salt and pepper to focus on its inherent flavor.
Its inner frame is glossy, which gives it a more metallic implication (maybe not easy to tell in still shots), and then its armor is is matte. I'm really happy with this turned out (and contrary to Barbatos I didn't flub the topcoat spraying) BUT... it basically turned a finishing touch into something as intense as repainting, as I disassembled the entire kit and sprayed most of the armor piece-by-piece, destroying an entire can of Mr. Super Clear.
If there is a flaw in the kit it would be its limited articulation at a few key points. But I still love all the color separation and I promise most of my love is not due to it being NES colored. I do plan to rebuild more of these with metallic and traditional Gundam colors. It's too much fun.
In my initial Gundam deep dive I learned that originally Tomino was disappointed in the network forcing the friendly color scheme of the original Gundam as he wanted it to have more of a military feel. So I wondered if I should plan a future project of repainting an RX to look like a military machine (I know this is not the most original idea. But it's the story). The next day in Target I saw this kit, and learned about Requiem for Vengeance even existing, which was exactly that. Plus the show is from the Zeon POV so the military Gundam is also kind of a slasher film monster.
So I initially planned to weather this guy up but as I experimented with Barbatos (above) I also fell in love with the very intricate details on this kit and all the impressive design work that went into it, and didn't want to risk obscuring any of it with clumsy weathering (especially as I leveled up my panel lining and decal games). Instead I focused on an approach I hope highlights all the natural design elements - an experiment in clear top coats. Similar to serving an expensive cut of meat seasoned with just salt and pepper to focus on its inherent flavor.
Its inner frame is glossy, which gives it a more metallic implication (maybe not easy to tell in still shots), and then its armor is is matte. I'm really happy with this turned out (and contrary to Barbatos I didn't flub the topcoat spraying) BUT... it basically turned a finishing touch into something as intense as repainting, as I disassembled the entire kit and sprayed most of the armor piece-by-piece, destroying an entire can of Mr. Super Clear.
If there is a flaw in the kit it would be its limited articulation at a few key points. But I still love all the color separation and I promise most of my love is not due to it being NES colored. I do plan to rebuild more of these with metallic and traditional Gundam colors. It's too much fun.
Great work!
I'm resistant to it because my home setup is very meager and would make it challenging, but I've always read that even for straight-builds with panel lining, the standard rec among the model enthusiast community is to topcoat everything, just to protect the panel lining and decals and plastic from dust and age.
Tomm, do you know if the decals on this kit were stickers, or water-slides?
I'm resistant to it because my home setup is very meager and would make it challenging, but I've always read that even for straight-builds with panel lining, the standard rec among the model enthusiast community is to topcoat everything, just to protect the panel lining and decals and plastic from dust and age.
Tomm, do you know if the decals on this kit were stickers, or water-slides?
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
They were sticker decals but most of them were shaped to fit their panels so they blend in a ton better.
EDIT:
For example his shoulders which you can most easily see in this shot - each one is 1 whole decal with all the different details.
Same with the chest armor plates below them, and the knee guards.
The most awkward sticker in the kit is the Federation emblem on the shield, which I trimmed with a hobby knife. In person it still is wonky but I think it came off well in the pictures.
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
Not a Gundam! (But on the official Gundam shelf, so...?)
I've had this waiting to be built for 2-3 years now and while waiting for new gunpla kits to get back in stock, I decided to use my newly-carved-out hobby time to build my LEGO set. This provided some interesting data...
We've compared gunpla to LEGO previously. So I did a cost to time proposition calculation.
LEGO (priced according to number of bricks so... this should apply to most kits) ends up at about $0.50 per minute.
Gunpla, based on my experience and assuming you aren't going so far as to custom paint it, runs between $0.04 and $0.02.
Now the benefit of the above two situations is the builders' choice, this is pushing the gunpla slightly beyond their out-of-the-box quality level (though it assumes you spend a while applying tiny decals.) Both hobbies can be built quick and dirty by people familiar with the methods. This is just a guess (and just a guy going fast - not anyone competing or racing to be done ASAP) you could push to
LEGO could be pushed to $1.00 per minute and Gunpla maybe $0.20 per minute. The catch to this approach being the more expensive/faster Gunpla build foregoes stickers, decals, panel lining, and beyond. Meaning your end result is less impressive than what's on the box. Meanwhile no matter how fast or slow you build it, the LEGO looks like the expected LEGO.
I've had this waiting to be built for 2-3 years now and while waiting for new gunpla kits to get back in stock, I decided to use my newly-carved-out hobby time to build my LEGO set. This provided some interesting data...
We've compared gunpla to LEGO previously. So I did a cost to time proposition calculation.
LEGO (priced according to number of bricks so... this should apply to most kits) ends up at about $0.50 per minute.
Gunpla, based on my experience and assuming you aren't going so far as to custom paint it, runs between $0.04 and $0.02.
Now the benefit of the above two situations is the builders' choice, this is pushing the gunpla slightly beyond their out-of-the-box quality level (though it assumes you spend a while applying tiny decals.) Both hobbies can be built quick and dirty by people familiar with the methods. This is just a guess (and just a guy going fast - not anyone competing or racing to be done ASAP) you could push to
LEGO could be pushed to $1.00 per minute and Gunpla maybe $0.20 per minute. The catch to this approach being the more expensive/faster Gunpla build foregoes stickers, decals, panel lining, and beyond. Meaning your end result is less impressive than what's on the box. Meanwhile no matter how fast or slow you build it, the LEGO looks like the expected LEGO.
Oh I just got one of those myself.
Tempted to get the pixel art Mario and Yoshi, but that was way too expensive
Tempted to get the pixel art Mario and Yoshi, but that was way too expensive