Gundam Plamodel Thread IV

[reeoyuy]

Green eye parts----had a thought. My first Gundam kits were the 1/144 and 1/100 Gundam Wing ones. Most of the 1/100 ones had the "eye and head sensor" piece molded in a neon-green clear plastic. I thought it worked very well. But I never see it any more. Do any recent kits do that?

MG OO Qan[T] have clear green parts for its eyes. But that's because the model itself comes with a lot of clear green parts, and said parts just molded there along with other green parts for manufacturing efficiency. Not a sign of Bandai coming back to old ways. As for why Bandai ditched colored clear parts, well, it's a good way to boost marker or paint sales . But seriously, I don't think it's easy to change the color of those neon green parts, so to make it easier for custom color, Bandai just gave us a "blank slate" instead. And thanks to that I ended up buying clear paints just for some tiny parts.

EDIT: I just remember that MG GN-X also comes with clear purple parts for eyes and chest orb. And mono-eye of MG Sinanju too.

============

Some news from new hobby magazines:

HGUC GM Cannon II, now with colors

And just announced...HGUC GM III!

Edited April 22, 2011 by reeoyuy

[anime52k8]

They still occasionally use colored clear parts, but I haven't seen anything with the super bright NEON colors. They've kind of gone towards using more subtle tinting.

[David Hingtgen]

See, IMHO only the bright neon ones look good by themselves. Everything else is too dark--eyes are always the biggest problem--they're so deeply set back that light never hits them.

[anime52k8]

See, IMHO only the bright neon ones look good by themselves. Everything else is too dark--eyes are always the biggest problem--they're so deeply set back that light never hits them.

I prefer the darker colors myself. The Neon greens are too light a shade and too bright for my tastes.

[David Hingtgen]

Then I guess you really wouldn't like my current technique (last 3 Gundams)---"sublime green" for the eyes and head sensor. Brightest green paint on the planet. If I can't light with an LED, then I want them visible from angles other than "looking up from below with sunlight directly on them".

[VF-19]

I personally paint the backing silver, and then put a layer of clear colour. Works pretty well.

[Robelwell202]

An interesting little thought popped up in my head...

On the 00-Raiser, there's an internal light source for the head (and all it really does is illuminate the edges of the face, and nothing else). I had to order a replacement runner for the yellow 'horns' on the head, since one of them snapped off, and to my delight, the runner inclued the clear eye-piece part as well.

My plan is this: Under heavy magnification, I plan on painting the non-eye sections of this piece with a matte black, and leave the eye areas alone. That way, when I fire up the light source, it'll illuminate the eyes!

[shiroikaze]

I don't know if you guys have seen this yet, but this is pretty clever. Definitely got a laugh out of me.

[Ghost Train]

Poor thing looks like it was impaled Braveheart style ;_; ....

[areaseven]

Anyone here seen the new Entry Grade (EG) line?

[Archer]

Anyone here seen the new Entry Grade (EG) line?

Those look pretty neat (well, the box art does at least ). Any pictures of the actual product though? "Entry" Grade sounds like it will be even easier to build than a regular HG 1/144, so the product may not be as great as the box art suggests

btw, I just found this looking up some random model sites:

http://kuiliu.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/gundam-exia-repair-gn-001/

Amazing - Credit goes to the modeler, though I can't find his name. I would get a commission work like that if I could

Edited April 24, 2011 by Archer

[thegunny]

Here's a few shots of my Hildolfr. The EX kit also comes with the markings and paint scheme details to be able to make the captured Zaku used by the Feddies, so I'm currently doing up a HGUC Zaku II to give the Hildolfr a Zaku Machine Gun labotomy like it did in the Igloo episode.

[areaseven]

Those look pretty neat (well, the box art does at least ). Any pictures of the actual product though? "Entry" Grade sounds like it will be even easier to build than a regular HG 1/144, so the product may not be as great as the box art suggests

Judging by the box labels, the EG line appears to be export-only outside Japan. As you can see from the pics, they're no different from the FG and 1/144 no-grade kits. Also, they're made in China; hence the low price (roughly US$6).

[raptormesh]

Here's a few shots of my Hildolfr. The EX kit also comes with the markings and paint scheme details to be able to make the captured Zaku used by the Feddies, so I'm currently doing up a HGUC Zaku II to give the Hildolfr a Zaku Machine Gun labotomy like it did in the Igloo episode.

Man that's one sexy tank there

[macrossnake]

Here's a few shots of my Hildolfr. The EX kit also comes with the markings and paint scheme details to be able to make the captured Zaku used by the Feddies, so I'm currently doing up a HGUC Zaku II to give the Hildolfr a Zaku Machine Gun labotomy like it did in the Igloo episode.

it looks awesome.

[David Hingtgen]

This may have been posted here long ago, but with the search broken I can't easily check:

[protostar8]

What is the "separator" tool I see in some of the pics? Is it just a cheap thing or is it something nice that doesn't leave any scarring? In other words, is it better than "snips"?

[areaseven]

What is the "separator" tool I see in some of the pics? Is it just a cheap thing or is it something nice that doesn't leave any scarring? In other words, is it better than "snips"?

Apparently, the gates on each sprue are so thin that you don't need a pair of nippers (I use a nail cutter because I'm cheap ) to remove the parts. The separator supposedly makes sure you don't rip some plastic off the parts when you pull them out of the sprues. The gimmick was introduced in the 1/48 Mega Size RX-78-2 Gundam last year.

But in all honesty, nothing beats a pair of nippers (or maybe a nail cutter) and a hobby knife.

[regult]

does anybody have problems assembling gunpla? because I don't, and I guess entry-level should mean easiest build, but judging from the pictures, a "finished" entry-grade requires extensive paint to achieve a more "realistic" look. Don't know about you, but I have problems with paint if I am a beginner, not clippers and snap fitting.

[areaseven]

does anybody have problems assembling gunpla? because I don't, and I guess entry-level should mean easiest build, but judging from the pictures, a "finished" entry-grade requires extensive paint to achieve a more "realistic" look. Don't know about you, but I have problems with paint if I am a beginner, not clippers and snap fitting.

That's the problem with EG/FG kits. They're the easiest to assemble, as they have less parts than HG kits. In the long run, they end up costing more due to the necessity to buy paints, brushes and thinners. In addition, some of the arms and legs are single-piece components, resulting in a very limited poseability. These kits are merely for people who want a Gunpla kit badly, but are too cheap to go HG.

[anime52k8]

does anybody have problems assembling gunpla? because I don't, and I guess entry-level should mean easiest build, but judging from the pictures, a "finished" entry-grade requires extensive paint to achieve a more "realistic" look. Don't know about you, but I have problems with paint if I am a beginner, not clippers and snap fitting.

The thing is their system isn't describing the difficulty level needed to achieve some arbitrarily assigned level of painted and detailed completion, it's purelly to describe how much work it will take to put all the pieces together as the instructions tell you. Really it's not a difficulty scale at all, it's complexity scale based on number of parts and intricacy of assembly instructions.

That's the problem with EG/FG kits. They're the easiest to assemble, as they have less parts than HG kits. In the long run, they end up costing more due to the necessity to buy paints, brushes and thinners. In addition, some of the arms and legs are single-piece components, resulting in a very limited poseability. These kits are merely for people who want a Gunpla kit badly, but are too cheap to go HG.

it's not even that really. First grade, entry grade, speed grade, etc. aren't targeted to people who would be painting and detailing model kits. These sorts of kits are marketed and sold the same way that candy toys are. The the type of super cheap junk put out near registers at connivance stores and markets in order to catch young kids eyes so they'll blow their meager allowances on it or nag their parents in to buying it for them. They pop it together and play with it for a few hours then quickly forget about as children are so inclined to do.

[mechaninac]

connivance stores

I don't know if this apparent flub was intentional or not, but it's pure comedic genius!

[David Hingtgen]

Is there a general consensus on flat-coating the "shiny gunmetal" plastic in newer Gundam kits? My new MG Wing has a ton of it---I am quite fond of the metallic look, and fear that flat-coating it will make it just look "grey". But having dull armor and shiny internals may look weird... Also, I had planned to build up sub-assemblies and then flat-coat, rather than spraying individual armor pieces---but that'll likely leave lots of half-coated frame/joint parts that'll be revealed whenever the pose is altered from the "how it was sprayed" position. But if I want it to look consistent (whether sprayed or not) I think I'll have to pretty much just spray all the armor pieces separately THEN assemble.

[thegunny]

Man that's one sexy tank there

it looks awesome.

Thanks

[DarrinG]

SMS Question - I always thought they made original conversion kits, or full kits. But I saw a 'proshop' sale for an SMS Galient OVA piece that must have been recast from a WAVE Exclusive Resin Model.

Is this normal? Would WAVE license them to recast an exclusive very hard to find kit? Or is someone just illegally recasting and calling it SMS?

[anime52k8]

SMS Question - I always thought they made original conversion kits, or full kits. But I saw a 'proshop' sale for an SMS Galient OVA piece that must have been recast from a WAVE Exclusive Resin Model.

Is this normal? Would WAVE license them to recast an exclusive very hard to find kit? Or is someone just illegally recasting and calling it SMS?

lol, almost EVERTHING SMS makes is a recast of something. Sometimes they make modifications or do an inner frame to go with it or something, but I don't think I've ever seen them do a 100% original kit.

[DarrinG]

So when I see an SMS Jagd Doga FULL KIT, or Marasai Conversion kit - those are recasts off something else? Who? GSystem? Do they ask permission - did they ask WAVE if they could recast off their sculpt or are they just running an illegal operation?

[Robelwell202]

Anyone know how to get these 'Entry Grade' models? Please PM me.

[anime52k8]

So when I see an SMS Jagd Doga FULL KIT, or Marasai Conversion kit - those are recasts off something else? Who? GSystem? Do they ask permission - did they ask WAVE if they could recast off their sculpt or are they just running an illegal operation?

the Jagd Doga and Marasai are recasts of kit's from these guys: http://www.temodel.com/ (The original Jagd Doga kit is just a conversion kit for a MG zaku 2.0, so they did heavily modify that one.)

SMS recasts kit's from everyone, G-system, Neo grade, GMG, studio Reckless, Volks, etc.

I remember reading somewhere they had some sort of deal to do recasts at least of Neo grades kit's but I kind of doubt it. The thing is there's really nothing anyone can do about it since most of the kit's they're recasting are themselves done without licensing from Bandai and/or sunrise or at the most where done with one of those 1 day limited licenses so they can sell at conventions like wonderfest.

I don't know about the WAVE kit in question as I can't seem to find the SMS version you're talking about. I wouldn't put it past them though.

[anime52k8]

Anyone know how to get these 'Entry Grade' models? Please PM me.

you could just buy these instead

strike gundam

First grade Exia

First grade RX-78

they're the exact same thing except for the boxes, 'Entry Grade' is just new packaging for the Chinese market. But If you've just got to have that box art (and the little plastic sprew snapping thing), try ebay.

[reeoyuy]

Some gunpla news from Shizuoka hobby show

First, MG Epyon shown with the beam saber for the first time:

Then the boxart:

And new MG announcement: Delta Plus, August release.

Now Epyon looks good, and it seems wide box design is a new trend for MG boxes. Delta Plus isn't that surprising.

EDIT: replacing Epyon's pic with beam saber with better ones.

Edited May 12, 2011 by reeoyuy

[anime52k8]

Delta Plus is unsurprising but still awesome. Definitely want.

[David Hingtgen]

Yay for neon-green beam saber.

[macrossnake]

Yes, MG Delta Plus, that is awesome.

[Archer]

OMG!!! MG Delta Plus!!!! Epic Mega WANT!!!!

Sorry 'bout that, but I've always wanted an MG Delta Plus, and even though its not surprising, it still makes me feel really excited!

I really liked the ReZEL, and I hope this tops that in every form