Tabletop Otaku: Gundamn Gundam
January 25, 2017 by dracs
Since coming to Japan, one of my greatest regrets has been that there isn't much of a miniature gaming hobby scene here. However, that is not to say there is no model-making hobby.
Instead of armies of little figures, hobbyists in Japan collect and build kits from one of the most successful anime franchises of all time; Gundam!
Mecha Madness
For the three of you who might not be aware of Gundam, the franchise is based on a succession of Sci-Fi anime series in which far future war is waged through the use of highly advanced giant robot suits, also known as mecha.
Gundam first started in 1979 with the launch of the first series Mobile Suit Gundam.
Since then, the franchise has exploded in popularity all over the world and was among the first wave of anime shows to make it over to the west.
The impact Gundam has had on Japanese culture cannot be understated. As well as pretty much setting the tropes which are now familiar as genre staples, Gundam has been turned into multiple video and card games (as well as both combined, in the case of the new arcade card game), been used as the theme for both a cafe and a hotel, and has had a 1:1 scale statue erected in Odaiba, Tokyo!
Not least of these achievements is the range of plastic Gundam model kits that form the basis of the hobby known as Gunpla.
Gunpla Galore!
Gunpla (because Gundam Plastic Model is too much of a mouthful) is the main modelling hobby here in Japan. Bandai created their first selection of buildable Gundam kits shortly after the release of the very first series and the hobby has gone from strength to strength since.
All over Japan, it is easy to find shops dedicated to Gunpla. Kits can range in price from cheap, simple pieces sitting at around ¥400 (£2.78) to incredibly complex and detailed creations that can take a lot of time, money and dedication to finish.
A selection of publications are available to support the hobby, ranging from magazines and catalogues to books filled with tips from professionals on how best to paint and personalise your own Gundam figures.
There are even spin-off anime series based around Gunpla, with the characters battling their Gundam models in virtual fights.
Notice I used the plural there. Not one anime series, three. That means there are three anime based on the models that were themselves based on an anime. Yeah. That's how big this is.
It's even beginning to spill over into the west, with our own BoW John having made a few Gunpla models of his own.
Now I'll admit that I have never been that into Gundam. The only series I have watched was Gundam Wing when I was a kid and, while I enjoyed the giant robots, the best way I can describe it is... confusing.
Nonetheless, after seeing a Gunpla display at the Manga Museum in Kyoto (where I was unfortunately not allowed to take photos) and in an attempt to scratch that hobby itch, I decided to pick up a couple of kits and give it a go.
I can sense this being the first step on a rather long and dark (but possibly interesting) road.
Getting Into Gunpla
Having seen the famous statue in Odaiba, I decided to pick up a kit of the RX-78-2 Gundam from the original series it is based on, arguably the most iconic mecha of the Gundam franchise.
While I had previously built one of the cheapest and most simple Gundam models I could find as a practice run, this one promised to be a little bit more fiddly, while still not going to the extremes of the kits favoured by ardent hobbyists.
The kits themselves come on different coloured plastic sprues, meaning that you don't have to do any painting to achieve a finished model.
Each part is individually numbered, making the instructions easy to follow and understand, even for someone whose Japanese is still abysmal. (Latest language gaffs include telling some friends that I had spent the weekend climbing Mount Textbook. Did I mention I did my first Japanese language test last month?)
Everything clips together easily, allowing you to make a fully articulated model without needing glue to hold it all together. Once you've attached a piece, though, it can be a real pain to take it apart again. This is particularly annoying for someone like me, who apparently has trouble following said easy-to-follow instructions.
I blame the anime I was watching for distracting me.
Now if you decide not to paint, most sets do come with their own stickers and decals to help you get the details right. However, these are the most fiddly and annoying things ever.
I got particularly annoyed when I had to use a set of stickers for part of the head. First, the eyes were a real pain to put on. Then there were two silver pieces that took forever to get right and when I finally did get them on and continued I found that they were completely hidden by the rest of the helmet and were therefore rendered entirely pointless and I hate them I hate them I HATE THEM!
Yeah, probably just best to paint.
The other bane of my existence proved to be building the arms and legs. These weren't particularly difficult (although this was the point where I screwed up the most often), but because they are fully articulated I found it fiddly and tedious going.
Having said all that, there was definite pleasure in finishing the model and finding myself with a pretty nice looking figure.
The set came with a selection of different weapon options with which to equip my Gundam, ranging from massive bazooka style things to laser swords and shields.
I, of course, went with the not-a-lightsabre and shield.
In the end, I found Gunpla to be an engaging bit of model making. The frustrations are no worse than those you might encounter when building and painting tabletop miniatures. All the same, I personally prefer being able to use my models, rather than just having a nice display piece.
Still, it is interesting to think that I really have just scratched the service of a massive hobby, which in 2014 alone totalled around 18.4 billion yen in retail sales. If nothing else, this dip into the franchise has made me think about checking out some of the other Gundam anime.
Thanks to my friend Adam for taking some of the pictures I used in this article and to John for sending me some of his own collection.
Are you a fan of Gundam? Which Gundam mech is your favourite?
"Gundam is based around a Sci-Fi anime series in which far future war is waged through the use of highly advanced giant robot suits..."
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"There are three anime based on the models that were themselves based on an anime..."
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Sweet and some Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone tank goodness too!
Got into Gundam a while ago, mainly thanks to one of the 3 anime series around gunpla that you mentioned. Gundam is ridiculous, but in a good way. It is the most hyped up experience ever… please check out the transformation scene of the Tryon 3 online to see what I mean. My friends and I are actually having a gunpla night next week where we will be building our newest gundam kits and probably watching a bit too. It’s great fun if you haven’t tried it. I however, also wish they weren’t just display pieces. Which, lead me to… Read more »
Search for a game called Mechabrick! Its designed to fight lego made mech suits against each other, Im sure with some tweaking it could be used for gundam models too.
Well this article was unexpected but same time nice surprise. No other mecha anime franchise has reached level of Gundam even if Bandai and Sunrise have tried to make new one that would match it. So far from them Code Geass has gotten closest. You might want to get your hands on (or find other way to watch it) The 08th MS Team OVA as it’s about unit of soldiers than about single (underaged) Newtype ace.
Love Gundam. I have so many kits in my stash still to do. 😀
I really wish I could go and see the full size one before they take it down in March. 🙁
For some really nice Gunpla painting vids I recommend modelmaking guru on Youtube. He’s bloody good fun to watch.
If they made a gundam game it would.be the best if both worlds…I love anime
To learn the basic story of Mobile Suit Gundam without facing down 42 episodes(there are 43 but the Creator won’t let one of them be included in future collections EVER he says), seek out the 3 Mobile Suit Gundam movies from the early 80’s and they make a good capsule of the One Year War. If you want to, you can add to that Gundam 0080: War In the Pocket OAV for a side story, and 0083: Stardust War for an aftermath story that transitions into Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta, the enxt series about the Gryps wars. Next we have… Read more »
I’ve got three of these myself, and four unbuilt!my brother gets them for me when he visits Japan on business,they are fun to build and especially nice as the vast majority of the parts don’t require glue, fully pose able action figure model kits…what’s not to love!
I will have to link some of my stuff, so here you go:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/LyonsPaintingStudio/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1193407117432856
https://www.facebook.com/pg/LyonsPaintingStudio/photos/?tab=album&album_id=472846822822226
When I want to step away from building tabletop stuff, I normally go to Gundam. They are sometimes a challenge to build, but go together so well that it’s extremely satisfying at times. Having a fully articulated – sometimes including the eyes moving with head – model is really a fun thing to build.
I use to have a collection of Patlabor kits inc my fav the helldriver (this kit)
http://plamoya.com/bmz_cache/9/9e468ea3297c9f3eaa047767fb4dc859.image.219×289.jpg
Sam has short hair now??
Game of Thrones cut it off.
Side note, there is a 1/300-1/400 scale Gundam miniatures game with small prepainted plastic Gundam mechs. They come in random boxes (think Heroclix but only 1 per box) and there are translations of the rules in English on the web. You can find how people have repainted the figures to make them look much better.
I love me some Gunpla! I picked up the hobby in college for something to do during the cold winter months. I mostly stick with the HG 1/144 scale kits because they’re pretty cheap at about $15 U.S. They also have enough complexity to keep me interested in building them, but not so complex as to be frustrating. Some of the perfect grade kits have a complete internal skeleton you have to build with working pistons and hydralics plus LEDs to light them! Maybe someday I’ll try them. I think you could definitely use these kits in our miniature games.… Read more »
Fantastic article! Always nice to see a bit of variety on the site 🙂 Now, whilst MS: Gundam is a bonafide classic it is starting to show it’s age in places. I’ve found though that Gundam The Origin has been a fantasticly well-produced prequel to the events of the first Gundam series, and it looks like they intend to carry on into the original One Year War to retell the story of Amuro & Char in lovely hi-def animation. Can’t wait 🙂 If you fancy something a little more digestible, The 08th MS Team is a fantastic look at the… Read more »
Also, it would be remiss not to mention Gundam Build Fighters, a show about folks who build Gunpla kits and then they actually fight.
No I’m not making that up.
On that note I’m getting back to this weeks Twin Star Exorcists….
I wish these kits were available in North America cheap! I’d love to build more. I’ve done a cheaper version of the one Sam did years ago and I’ve made of of the Robotech Veritech Fighters which I loved. These look so cool and such a selection!
Cheap is relative with Gunpla. Here in the UK at least, it’s possible to get a HG 1/144 kit for under £10 (excluding postage) and most of the RG kits for under £25. I’ve also had a lot of luck using Hobby Link Japan ( hlj.com ). Their postage is pretty reasonable give its’s shipping from Japan and their prices for most kits are very competative. I’d also reccomend keeping an eye on Massdrop. They’ve run several Drops for Gundam kits recently. I picked up a Gundam the Origin 1/100 RX-78 Prototype kit for a decent price but the more… Read more »
another letter from Japan, excellent.
informative and funny as always Sam.
I have to say this is a great article.
Something very different 😀
I did a few of them in the past and they were great. I was even considering doing a Tau force with them as stand ins but it was hard to get the kits in Canada.
Sam,
How do you feel about repainting kits? Merging Gunpla with Tabletop leaves me wanting to paint up these kits in a non standard way which seems to go against most folks in that hobby.
Actually, a lot of collectors do personalise and paint them I hear. I don’t think they usually stray too far from the anime colour scheme, but still I don’t see why not.
It’s your hobby do what you want 🙂
That said the gunpla community can be anal, saw a massive overreaction last year when a pro moddeler decided he was going paint on the sprue to the point he almost quit YouTube over the flaming, even after one the most respected pro gunpla moddelers came out and said he did the same lol
Internet drama ey?;)
OH MAN! I want johns multipede! Where did he get it?!?!
I have one of my own and It fantastic kit easy to build if you have any experience with modelling. parts are thicker than standard tanks stoo. win win.
Nice one! I received one of these as a gift when a friend returned from Japan in 1996/97. I had no idea what it was (other than cool!) as I had never seen any Gundam stuff here in Oz. Which is weird: as a kid I had Astroboy, Macross/Robotech, original/ vehicle Voltron and Moreno morning TV.
Since then I’ve watched a few episodes of… one of those series.
Thanks @dracs now I want to go watch all of them in order of release!
Moreno??
*more on
I actually know of someone who has made a TT system using the HG kits.
I’ll see if I can convince him to post!