Gunpla Tips

GAT-X103AP Verde Buster

2010-01-03T11:31:00.012+01:00

The Verde Buster SD is a quite challenging kit. It has loads of weapons compared to the original Buster Gundam. This is a marvelous kit for SD fans and excellent for side-projects. The inside of some parts are finished with black.

Used colors (Tamiya Acrylic Paint)

X-6 Orange
X-28 Park Green
XF-1 Flat Black
XF-2 Flat White
XF-5 Flat Green
XF-7 Flat Red
XF-15 Flat Flesh
XF-21 Flat Base
XF-62 Olive Drab
XF-63 German Grey
Gundam Marker Black

ZGMF-X19A Justice SD and ZGMF-X10A Freedom SD

2009-12-17T14:18:00.003+01:00

While my MG Strike project is still frozen due to many (in)valid excuses, I've been filling my time with minor projects. I present the raw Freedom and Justice Gundam SD. Always a hilarious sight and daunting at the same time. Wait untill I get my hands on these two...

GAT-X102 Blu Duel Gundam SD

2009-11-23T01:06:00.000+01:00

After a long pause, I've been building the Blu Duel Gundam SD which was a pending project. I had to get used to the old-school handpainting. That was difficult. I have to apologize for my lack of precision, which resulted in a sloppy job here and there.

Pause?!

2009-09-29T11:43:00.002+02:00

I realized that I haven't blogged for long time. There are millions things I had to take care of since my graduation. Even the GM Striker Custom is untouched. So I will keep on building Gunpla, but in a much slower pace. The good news is that a several MG's are opened instead.

Check for the links of partners/followers on the right for up-to-date Gunpla news...

Happy building!

Poll: My collection consists mostly of...

2009-08-20T17:19:00.003+02:00

23% of all respondents has most Master grade kits, 17% has mostly HG 1/100 kits and 23% has mostly HG 1/144 kits. The majority of this mini-poll has most SD's (!) with 35%... Hmmm, SD's are also popular in my collection...

Participated respondents: 17

New poll is available about what gunpla builders add to their kits...

Exia & OO progress #04

2009-08-17T15:03:00.001+02:00

Parts sprayed with the new airbrush and it looks good. I did not put more effort in applying a primer on it first, because...eh well...it's 'just' a SD-project. Nevertheless, I'm happy with the result. Tiny paintjobs by hand and loads of markings to do and it is ready.

The marking is bit messy, because I was really tired of this kit. It is a lot of work for a SD, almost not worth the effort. On the other hand. it looks so much better with paint...

MG Aile Strike Gundam #06

2009-08-12T13:30:00.002+02:00

Yes, my holiday to Asia ended a month ago, graduated thereafter; it's all good. I can spend more time on Gunpla and job applications...first things first... My brother and I started to do some Gunpla building together once in a year due to lack of time and mostly summers. Neither time nor money is saved to build one kit after another, varying from SD to MG's kits or UC to CE models. It's a building-madness.

This summer we started to use airbrush for the Gundam kits. Just one decent compressor and one airbrush from the Japanese manufacturer Iwata (Revolution HP-BR). The first thing I brushed was Strike's Frame, have a look. Tamiya enamel Gunmetal grey was used. Not too bad, is it?

MG Aile Strike Gundam #05

2009-06-23T16:26:00.002+02:00

When my paint and mini-drill set finally arrived, I've been able to apply the plamo-plus parts on the MG Aile Strike. It was quite a hassle, because the tubes are 1.7 mm while my range of drills goes from 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0. So I had to be careful not to force the remaining 0.2 mm by squeezing the tube in the plastic. I might end up in cracks and tears...

For the tight fit problem, I drilled the holes in all radial directions while the drill was in the hole and praying that I could smuggle 0.1 mm. Sometimes I drilled a few times diagonally to widen the 1.5 mm to the desired 1.7 mm. Guess what, it works perfectly. You would think that the exterior of the hole would look a bit messy by this, but the reamer will finalize it into a clean symmetric whole. One down, another 24 to go....

Source: Tamiya, Plamo-plus

RGM-79FP GM Striker Custom

2009-06-22T11:05:00.007+02:00

More customizing on gunpla kits. I realized I have to build a kit between my multiple projects. The reason I choose for this kit is, because my supplier recommended this and I didn't feel like finding a decent-looking kit for myself (lazy bastard am I?).
One of the forsaken projects that I have to do with fellow modelers. This one is going to be a quicky. No physical modifications but rather a custom paintjob to an extent. I hereby present the RGM-79FP GM Striker Custom (working title).

MG Aile Strike Gundam #04

2009-06-18T13:29:00.000+02:00

The parts depicted below are going to be upgraded with the plamo-plus parts (PP-parts hereafter). There is more for the Aile pack, but that will be constructed later on. Good, I'll keep you posted on this. First, I'm going to sand all the parts before I drill the holes...or was it the other way around, haha!

MG Aile Strike Gundam #03

2009-06-14T16:04:00.001+02:00

Plamo-plus parts are precisely engineered and the tiny reamer tools - which are not bigger than a average tooth pick - are really sublime. I'm not joking, this guy knows what he's selling. Can you see how small the parts are. I bought silver and black tubes to compare each other how it would look like on a white-ish gunpla kit. The silver is timeless, but the black has something special. However on darker colors such as blue (chest) and black (Aile pack), black tubes won't be able to 'shine' so to speak.

Mochizuki san thanked me by adding a Lipton black tea bag and put a 'thank you' note on it. Funny guy, isn't he? I appreciate that, but I would be happier if he sold me parts with its Japanese Yen price instead of US Dollars! No, I shouldn't complain...

MG Aile Strike Gundam #02

2009-06-12T12:13:00.001+02:00

I made some drawings of the parts that should give the kit a distingtive touch by adding custom gunpla parts. Raker's blog shared some links on Mochizuki-san's magnificent gunpla accessories. This inspired me to make my very own MG Strike Gundam even more beautiful than it already is.
Fortunately, I haven't unlearn my long forgotten hobby (in my childhood) drawing pictures and comics. I realized how difficult it could be drawing pictures by heart. No fancy drawing, I know, but you get the point. Anyway, the part that I've drawn are the shield, Armor Schneider pockets, beam rifle, skirt, chest and ankle + foot. The idea is to create a visual on where the gunpla accessories should be placed and make sense at the same time.

MG Aile Strike Gundam #01

2009-06-09T17:00:00.001+02:00

There you go, a pile of colorful plastic. It's doesn't look much without the runners (such a waste isn't it?). I'll paint the launch platform well as, while I'm at it. As you can see, I've already assembled the frame to get idea what size it is going to. It is a quite slim MS.
The next step is to sculpture a tiny part of the front 'skirts' in order to give it more bite. I'm also going to carve extra grooves on several armor parts and on the shield. I think I have to make some drawings first before I ruin the kit...

Does anyone have tips for me on what tools I can use for carving (straight) shallow grooves?

Master Grade GAT-X105 Aile Strike Gundam

2009-06-07T20:09:00.001+02:00

The next gunpla kit will be the MG Aile Strike Gundam. Unlike my Gundam RX78-2 OYW and MS-06J Zaku II, this kit will undergo a full-fledged paint job 'by the book'. This means no washing and no battle damages. Instead, it will look as if it's straight from the GAT-X assembly line of Morgenroete Inc.
Building MG's is always something special and it amazes me with its accurate parts of the inner skeleton/frame. The nearly seamless composite components is a feast for my eyes.

Let's make the best of this kit. I'll improve it by customizing some parts slightly, give it a professional paint job and add some modest 'bling' to it. I can't wait...

This might take a small eternity, but patience my son!

Exia & OO progress #03

2009-06-04T12:19:00.001+02:00

The Gundam OO SD is also built to have a sneak preview on what is yet to come. Again, without a proper paint job, the SD kit is rather a disappointing pile of plastic in red, white, blue, gray (grey) and little bit of transparant flourecent yellow. Despite of the bulky Twin Drives on the shoulders, the kit is very stable, because of the large feet. More 'critical' poses can be performed as well.

Exia & OO progress #02

2009-05-29T14:10:00.020+02:00

While I'm waiting for my shipment of paint, I've been studying how much work on the Exia SD is need to make it just as neat as on the manuel booklet. It turned out to be a tiny nightmare if you want to do it right. Why? Because of the tiny areas that has to be painted in order to create that deatiled look on this mini scaled model. Quite daunting if you're not a fan of painting and very disappointing if you're not painting at all... For me? I'm lovin' it...

The Exia SD kit is improved at the joints on the places we all know such as arm pits, hips and ankles. Remember the 'PC-B' polycaps for the hips? They're not using those anymore...
Anyway, OO fans know that the Exia was very suitable for melee, which was a feast for my eyes. The elbows of SD kit are fixed now in a generic slash angle and come with 2 shields, 3 swords and 2 beam sabers... nice!

Exia & OO progress #01

2009-05-17T23:40:00.000+02:00

This is the current status of the Exia/OO SD project. I know, it isn't much. I realized that I'm out of paint at the moment. Especially the blue color is not quite standard Tamiya acrilyc. Well, that means more delays, dammit...

Poll: My favorite Gundam serie

2009-05-17T23:35:00.000+02:00

The poll on "My favorite Gundam serie" has resulted in the following data. 30% voted for Gundam Seed, while 25% voted Gundam OO. The third place is for Gundam Wing (20%) and the least favorite series are Gundam (10%) and Zeta (5%). Finally, the remaining 10% do not have a favorite nor listed in the poll.

20 respondents participated on this poll. Thank you all, enjoy and have fun with Gundam and Gunpla!

Ancient project #01

2009-04-19T13:44:00.005+02:00

I was searching for some pictures of old projects and I dug up this picture... This Strike SD is the first kit I painted in detail. It was quite suprising that it gave me so much joy when seeing the resemblance with the 'real deal' in the anime...*ahem... the colors that is.... From that moment on, no kits were going to be untouched...

[1280 x 1024]

Gundam Exia & OO Gundam SD

2009-04-15T00:28:00.004+02:00

Finally, I managed to find a little bit more time for gunpla, while doing my final thesis...Before losing myself in the stack of MG's and PG's, I'll keep it simple for the (re)starter as I am now...
Gundam Exia & OO Gundam SD are perfect to start with... Why two kits? Well, I get bored easily...

Despite of the lack of challenge with these kits, I'll try to post the progress.

Birthday present

2009-04-08T17:22:00.004+02:00

The release of this kit was just a few weeks ago and now it is in my possession!! Wuhaha!! Well, the story goes as follows: It's a birthday present from my brother. I reckon it is the largest present I've ever had!!? Cool huh, so is my bro...
Great, more PG's pending now. Sigh* but we can't resist kits with special parts... can we?

Favorite MG Version Ka.

2009-04-08T15:32:00.000+02:00

XXXG-01W Wing Gundam is the most favorite Ver. Ka MG kit among the respondents. It scored 44%. The second best is the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam with 24%, followed by the XM-X1 Crossbone Gundam (13%).

4th: RX-78-2 Gundam (10%)
5th: MSN-06S Sinanju (6%)
6th: RB-79 Mobile Pod Ball (0%)

29 respondents participated.

MBF-P02 Gundam Astray RedFrame 1/60 Perfect Grade

2009-02-09T17:37:00.004+01:00

It has been already announced by the official, but I still would like say that this upcoming kit is a excellent kits among Gundam fans. So, what do you say? Nice huh?!

Weather your kit

2009-02-01T10:16:00.001+01:00

Applying a weathering look on your kit can be done in many ways. For starters, there are complete cosmetic materials available such as...weathering kit by Tamiya. Just bring it on, on the spot and fine brush it anyway you please.
Dry brushing is another way. Just use a brush and choose the desired colour paint. Whipe the brush dry on a clean cloth and apply it on the kit. Do this gently.

Want something more challenging and realistic dirt? Try washing. For my kits I used enamel colors brown and black (XF-1 and XF-10) and enamel thinner. The mixing ratio is respectively 1:1:10
Remark: enamel thinner is an agressive chemical which can warp you plastic part if you don't remove the wash-mix quickly after application with a clean cloth or cotton swab. So, determine what you want to wash, apply it, remove it and do it swift...

More expert info: Mr. M. Narita

Favorite non-Gundam

2009-01-11T13:20:00.004+01:00

It turned out that the Acguy is the most favorable non-gundam among the visitors of this blog. It scored 33%. Followed by the Zaku and Tallgeese; both MS scored 22%. The third place goes to Gouf (18%). The amount of respondents were 27. Nice going.

Have a look at the new poll...

ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam

2008-12-09T11:52:00.000+01:00

Again, one of the finest HG 144 projects this year. It took me months to complete it due to a missing part (left lower arm). I had to purchase a complete runner for that part. Anyway, it was worth the effort, becasue the result is marvelous.

The Dragoon were sprayed Brilliant Blue and coated with Topcoat Matt. The body work was sprayed Matt White and the wings are Matt Black. The rest of the parts were old-school hand-painted. So, what do you reckon?

A pile MG's to go...

2008-11-25T18:05:00.000+01:00

I am sooooo behind schedule with building my Gundam kits, so I stack up my MG's with a foundation of HG 1/100. The reason of my extreme delay is because I still have the romantic idea of buying an airbrush kit and make the kits as stunning as my imagination. One day my friends, one day...

GAT-X105E Strike Noir SD

2008-11-11T12:00:00.004+01:00

More super deformed Gundam kit. This this the Strike Noir. This kit is fully painted, except for a few parts. Such a nice kit to build with heaps of weapons.

Let's be honest: ijavascript:void(0)t is cool isn't it...

ZMGF-515 Mobile Cgue

2008-11-04T17:51:00.002+01:00

Raw Le Creuset's Mobile Cgue is an excellent kit to build. Most people know this mobile suit during the battle against the Mwu La Fllaga's Mobius Zero. If you look at the generic design, it has a familiar look. Right, Justice Gundam is the descendent of this machine.
I have been using Gun Metal acrylic paint (X-10) on dark parts and Neutral Grey (XF-53). Of course there is German Grey (XF-63). The pink color is a mix of Flat Red (XF-7) and Pink (X-17) and don't forget Park Green (X-28) on the guns!

2008-11-01T12:19:00.001+01:00

This is the stack of my finished Gunpla packages. By the way, the stack starts at the bottom of the cardboard box with the yellow sticker. I lost count a long time ago...
There will be more... but I'll show you my unopened pile of MG and PG projects later on!

ZGMF-56S Force Impulse Gundam SD

2008-10-29T12:20:00.000+01:00

I love the colors of this SD. This kit is a very cool and irritating at the same time. If you're about to paint the Core Splendor: don't bother. I would recommend the die-hard, but it is almost not worth it...

MS-06J Zaku II

2008-10-25T21:17:00.002+02:00

Finally, after a few months of delay, I managed to finish this brilliant Master Grade: Zaku with the 2.0 frame.
I used the same weathering method as I used it on the RX-78-2 Gundam OYW. This is without doubt a recommended MG kit.

MG Infinite Justice OUT NOW

2008-10-25T20:59:00.004+02:00

The long awaited Master Grade arrived. Buy your kit and blog it. We all like to see your creation.

Source: Gundam.info

MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame

2008-08-24T19:53:00.007+02:00

This Astray Red Frame HG 1/144 kit is a very cool kit. The ability in making critical poses are not as good as the HG 1/100, but it's close to that.

The color for the frame is Bright Red spray (TS-) and Top coat flat after that (I love it matt). The armor plating, as far as you can call those few white panes 'armor', is sprayed with Matt-White (TS-).

A real pain in the ass are the tiny areas on the frame which also need to be colored white. In summary, it is an easy kit with an awesome rep. Perharps it is the Gerbera Straight that is making this MS so cool...

Related work

GAT-X105 Aile Strike Gundam

2008-08-22T01:07:00.004+02:00

This kit is a bit mutilated due to the many battles the Strike encountered during the serie.

This means that I have an extra Strike Gundam. Oh well, I might modify that one into a Rouge version or some other fancy color combination. I post the sword Strike a little bit later...

Do you have a crazy damaged MS kit?

FX-550 Sky Grasper SD

2008-08-19T21:51:00.003+02:00

This SD version of the Skygrasper is included in the Striker Weapon System SD. It's only one piece which makes the painting quite a challenge.

There is nothing much to talk about it except that the following colors are used: Royal Blue X-, Flat Black X-1, Flat White XF-2, Orange X- and German Grey X-63. Nevertheless, a very funny thing to build. The stand is borrowed from another SD kit.

GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam

2008-08-16T18:15:00.002+02:00

A completely painted Aegis Gundam. It was terribly much work, but it was worth the effort.
Note: The stand that is depicted below is not compatible, I put the kit just on it.

The color is a mix of the following acrylic colors red, pink, flat white and flat base: respectively Tamiya XF-7, XF-17, XF-2 and XF-21. I forgot the ratio to be honest and since coloring is a personal taste, I'll leave the mixing-ratio to you. This color is really beautiful.

Mobile Armor Mode

As you can see, there are seam lines visible. I'll try to fix that in the near future. Sad enough I'll be doing that to the best and populair kits due to lack of time...

Gundam Astray Gold Frame SD

2008-08-15T18:52:00.006+02:00

This SD kit was release in the second half in 2007. An expensive kit compared to other SD kits, because of the gold plated parts. Actually it is exactly the same kit as the existing Red Frame. For the Blue and Green Frame, you better customize it youself. An alternative I've seen is the Gold Frame with the right hand of Blitz; cool for those who are prepared to sacrafice a Blitz SD kit or just click that arm on it if you already built one.

If you think of making an Amatsu, you better stock up your epoxy putty level. I reckon it is worth to try. If you already have one, please show it.

Upcoming MG release

2008-08-12T17:56:00.004+02:00

Early bloggers also guessed it: The Master Grade Infinite Justice in coming to town. Something I've been waiting for...Yiehaa!
Mr. Choo is closer to the source.

GAT-X Blitz Gundam

2008-08-12T17:50:00.001+02:00

Seed fans know that this High Grade 1/144 is a nice MS and this one is nice for critical poses.

The acrylic paint black (X-1) was used was gloss. This suits the Mirage Colloid of the Blitz well. Note that gloss paint requires more time for drying, let's say two days more compared to the flat-colors. Two days?! Just to be sure that your finger prints do not stay on the Gunpla permanently...

Released kits August 2008

2008-08-10T15:20:00.003+02:00

Perhaps you've already found the site on Gunpla. I forgot to mentioned this site. Check for the recent releases at the Gunpla site.

ZGMF-X2000 Gouf Ignited

2008-08-10T14:00:00.003+02:00

HG 1/144 Heine Westenfluss

The orange is not a spray job. One could try spraying bright orange (TS-31), but might become too flashy. So for this kit I mixed orange X-6 and flat base X-21. It works pretty well. The Goug Ignited is a cool model complete with whips and swords. It even got two metal parts voor the wing-hinges. Loads of work, but it was worth it.

Aegis Gundam phase shift down

2008-08-06T09:00:00.001+02:00

Remember that Nicol got killed in his Blitz in that hart rending scene in episode 29?

Athrun stood there powerless. Tears in my eyes...
Do you have something similar?

MBF-02 Strike Rouge Gundam SD

2008-08-05T21:03:00.001+02:00

Creative colors. I finished this kit on 18 February 2007. This tiny project was inspired by a builder who also showed a Rouge on the web. Unfortunately I can't find the link anymore.

No special features applied. The original SD kit was a Strike Gundam S.W.S., but I already built the Strike once. So, I mixed red XF-7 with pink XF-17 (basis) and a little bit flat base X-21 to be sure that the color would be matt. (All acrylic paint) The ORB Lion decal on the shoulder makes this kit almost perfect...

RX-78-2 Gundam

2008-08-04T15:00:00.005+02:00

E.F.S.F. Prototype Close-Combat Mobile Suit – Version One Year War 0079

The One Year War version with a 2.0 frame makes this kit one of the most popular Master Grade kits in the world. The original colors looks a little bit cheap in my opinion, so I weathered the whole Gundam with a mix of enamel flat black (XF-1), flat brown (XF-10) and enamel thinner. The ratio that was used 1:1:10.
Spray Top Coat before you weather for protection; the enamel mix is so aggressive that it warps the plastic and you might end up in tears...

RX-78-2 Ver. Ka. footage

2008-08-02T12:26:00.008+02:00

Take took at this video, you might have seen it already. We all know that Gunpla is famous in Japan and this man makes his models as it should be...
Part 1

Part 2

ZGMF-1017 Mobile Ginn

2008-07-31T21:13:00.005+02:00

HG 1/144 Ginn Custom: Desert Camouflage

This was a tough one. Every armor part was colored brown or hull red (Tamiya acrylic paint X-9 or XF-9). The parts were covered in randomly cut masking tape with a hobby knife (watch your fingers) and then I sprayed light sand (TS-46) on it. Peel off the masking tape after it dried up. Voila! You have a camo pattern.

GAT-X103 Buster Gundam SD

2008-07-30T09:38:00.004+02:00

Kick-off with some weird stuff: Gundam SD kit + a lot of putty
Is this the world's only Buster SD? Post your artwork!

The Verde Buster SD kit was used as a basis for this transformation, obviously.