Optimus Prime & Co.: A Newbies attempt at Gunpla
No Disassemble
I finished my Dreadball Spring Cleaning challenge this week, so I think I’ve earned a reward. I think I’m going to start this guy this weekend. It occurs to me I didn’t take a pic of all the sprues I have to work with, so I took a quick pic before heading to work this morning. There’s a fair few, but it’s not a vast amount. I wonder how long this will take? I fear it’ll be over too quickly, or take frustratingly long. I also fear I’m going to leave obvious marks where I cut parts off the sprue. I’ve a selection of cutting, sanding, and filing tools ready to go.
All the sprues from in the box. The paint pot is for a sense of scale.
I have a lot of Gunpla, mostly Gundam kits from the current era (the original time line), none of the other stuff. I haven’t bought any in a while, so I never heard of these kits before. Thanks for sharing. I will follow your project. A small bit of advice. If you are going to paint the kit I would very lightly sand down the parts with a very fine grit sandpaper. This removes imperfections and helps the paint to adhere properly. It is also a kick in the gonads. It takes a long time and is the most boring… Read more »
I currently hope to not paint this guy, but I might decide to pin wash for depth later. It’s not meant to be painted, but I’m aware the precoloured plastic has it’s limits. I may change my mind on all of this later though. I’m new to this. Would a soapy wash, and a coat of primer not do the job like with wargaming minis? I’ve got some sandpaper, emery boards, and a nail buffing block ready for use for cleaning up imperfections. I still need to work out if high numbers for sandpaper grade mean finer grade or more… Read more »
Plastic model kit builders tend to have their rituals. If it is a very good kit, a primer could be enough. In my experience, after priming, even the best kits tend to show some imperfections. I like to use ‘Mr.Surfacer 1000’. This is an excellent can-spray primer that is very fine and allows you to sand down any imperfections before painting. You can buy it online or from any good model shop.
P.S. The higher the number the finer the sandpaper. At least this side of the hemisphere!
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll be keeping some sprue on standby. If I decide to do anything I can test its effects on that first, before doing something I can’t undo on the model. Sanding, priming, scraping, whatever. I normally prime with my airbrush and have a fresh pot of Stynylres ready to go.
Hmm. Maybe when I’m done I should run some tests on the sprue anyway, for the benefit of future generations…