Help out a Gundam noob

Gouf Flight Type is my favorite too. Just the way it looks. I've never followed the series and I know nothing about the story line. 

I've built only one in 1/144 scale. I weathered it like my armor models and used the same paints and techniques 

SprueOne

Gouf Flight Type is my favorite too. Just the way it looks. I've never followed the series and I know nothing about the story line. 

I've built only one in 1/144 scale. I weathered it like my armor models and used the same paints and techniques 

 

 

Both kits are about as simple as they come-I've built the Ez 8 and my brother built the Gouf Flight Type. The Ez 8 was used extensively in the last two episodes of the series in a large battle within a city at the base of a large mountain (with a Zeon--they're the bad guys--base buried within), so keep that all in mind when weathering the kits.

When weathering Gundam Kits, I find it is important to keep two things in mind--Mobile Suits weather like a combination of Armor and Aircraft. So, yeah, mark out panel lines, and ding up that armor, give it some real weather beating, at least for the Ez 8.

The Gouf Flight type wasn't seen or used much within the series--just a short visual in the last two episodes, so they won't need much weathering beyond the simple wear and tear that any aircraft would recieve. (by theway, if its the kit I'm thinking of, there'll be a lot of painting to do.)

Keep up the building, and don't hesitate to ask if you need more help!

Klik

Yup, what they said!  Painting and weathering a Gundam is no different than an armor or aircraft kit.  But, and there's always a "but", there are different fashionable finishing styles out there in the world of Gunpla.

Some people paint up the model in a clean configuration and just do panel washes and such.  The choice of colors is similar to the scale stuff.  Try to avoid using black, as it looks too stark.  Maybe red brown or grey would be good.

The "Max Watanabe style" is basically pre-shading with black, dark brown, etc,  Again, it is simialr to the scale stuff.

After that, it is pretty much anything goes.  Personally, I like it when an armor modeler weathers a Gundam kit, as it usually looks very realistic, with dust and paint chip effects.  Just remember that mobile suits operate in varied environments, from ground, to underwater, to space.  Certain ones are specialized for the environment they operate in, i.e. a space type should not have rust and mud.  The Ez8 and Gouf are ground types though, so conventional armor weathering practices will be appropriate.

Be sure to paint the insides of all parts flat black, as it will hide the colored plastic and give the parts depth.

HTH, and please post progress pics!

Neal

i can just add for the beam swords etc ... i just leave them out, never see a realistic beam saber on a gundam kit (or not )

there's some gundam wip in this section, also you can check on these 

http://gundamaustralia.com/forum/index.php

or here 

http://www.plamocon.com/blog/

also check the one year war gb in the group build section ( occult advertising )

Thanks for the replies everyone! I'll be sure to post a WIP when I get to building one of them. I'm really itching to start the Ez8 but I've got way too many projects on the bench at the moment. I'm surprised Bandai doesn't supply pink colored clear plastic for the beam swords, having never handled a Bandai kit that's actually what I was expecting to find. 

Erik

Thinking about.. i have both! you get two of few gundam  kits that don't have clear plastic heat-saber LOL

these kit are old, Are from the same period of the oav. Actually some of 8th ms team subjects comes between new hguc kits, unfortunately not these two  

I think I'll probably end up joining the 1 Year War GB when I get closer to starting the Ez8. There's some cool builds going on for sure. What paints do you guys usually use? I have no Japanese language understanding to know what colors or company they call for in the instructions. I was planning on just going to the LHS with the instruction books and just trying to match the color call outs as best I can. 

Erik

Geist,

I think everyone uses whatever paints they would normally use for other models.  I use Model Master  enamels.  I don't like them, but they have the colors I need and are the only brand that is readily available where I live.  I tried Tamiya acrylics on an HGUC Gog, and liked the performance through the airbrush, but the paint chips easily so it is not really suitable for poseable robot kits.  I did prime with Mr. Surfacer and clear coated over the paint with Tamiya Clear spray from a can, so I guess that the dried acrylic paint is naturally brittle and has relatively low adhesion properties.

Pretty much all Japanese anime kits reference Gunze's Mr. Color (lacquer) and Aqueous Color (acrylic) paints.  I forget which way it goes, but the instructions sheets typically have a two number color callout, with a black box and white box.  The numbers in them refer to the lacquer and arcylic lines, although I can't recall which was which.  I did try Mr. Color paints a while back and liked them, but again, I can't get them here.

Your best bet is to eyeball it like you planned and go with the closest match you can find.  I rarely mix colors because I'm lazy, but sometimes there is nothing close in the MM line.  The MG GM Custom was one such case, as all the available light greens were not to my liking:

The Ez8 is an off-white, so you might need to mix paints.  A guy I know used a Testors enamel in the small bottle that matched the blue body color rather well.  (Turquoise?)  Sorry, but I don't recall what color it was.  The Ez8 kit has exposed poly cap material for the elbow joints, so be aware that paint will have a hard time sticking to it.  You might be better off just weathering it and spraying a flat coat over it.  You should have an easier time finding suitable off the shelf colors for the Gouf.  

Anyway, hope that didn't muddy the issue much.  Looking foward to your build, and like Bsyamato said, please have a look over at the One Year War GB.

Nice resume Real and great GM

Geist you're wellcome if you want to join, GB end is first of may 2012 (if maya left us alive )

Time for me to weigh in on this subject, I should check here more often.

Geist

Hey Sci-Fi forum, I'm venturing over here from the Armor forum with a few questions on Gundam related kits. I've never built a Gundam kit and just picked up a 1/144 Gouf Flight Type and 1/144 RX-79G Ez8, probably not the best starter kits but they are a couple of my favorite suits from 08th MS Team. Here are my questions:

-What do you all use to highlight panel lines and recesses? I was thinking Games Workshop inks?

To highlight panel lines and recesses you have a few choices.  If you want to keep it simple go with a gundam fine tip paint marker, they work just like pencils or pens but are paint markets, great for doing recessed lines.  If you want to work a bit harder you have two choices.  

A: Paint the kit, once the paint is finished you use a gloss coat.  Over top of the gloss coat you use a Acrylic wash on the panel lines.  I assume you know what a wash is, if not, just say so.

B:  Same thing, gloss coat over the main coat.  Then you take OIL paint and use some linseed oil to thin it down a bit and paint it over the whole area of the lines.  It does not stain the kit because it takes a long time to dry and you can just wipe the excess off.

 

The reason you use it over a gloss coat is because gloss is smoother, flat is rough and doesn't allow the paint to flow as evenly

-Any assembly/painting/weathering tips or tricks I should know about before I start my first kit? 

Construction, either sand the nubs down a bit or stick a exacto in the female end of the peg and spin it to open it.  Doing this makes the kit easier to assemble and disassemble.  Once you do that figure out what sub assemblies you can build ahead of time to paint separately.

Painting for gundams are fairly simple.  Solid color primer then gloss colors for the rest.  Best to do is paint the parts separately before you glue them on.  DO NOT HAND BRUSH unless you are doing something beat up and weathered and really beat to heck

Weathering the main thing is REMEMBER THE SCALE OF THE KIT.  its easy to over do it because your used to weathering 1/35th or 1/32nd scale kits.  The kind of rain or rust streak you would make on a tank would be the size of full grown male on a gundam kit.  Keep the weathering subtle.  If you are doing damage use a weapon from the kit or a different kit to gauge the size of the wound.

-The Ez8 comes with solid plastic beam sabers, how do go about making them look "realistic" ie. like they do in the show? 

Even in competition and contests people use the beam sabers as they are presented, at MOST they will paint them a solid color and then use shading, like with oils, to do white near the base/center

-Are there any good dedicated Gundam model forums out there?

You can check out www.bakuc.com or www.hobbyfanatics.com

Thanks guys!

 

 

Erik