Gundam Model Question

That isn't paint, they are actually molded in color. I just shoot some gray auto primer to cover the colored plastic and paint the colors I want.

Do you do that prior to cutting them out of their brackets?  Just spray it, let it dry, then paint as desired?

I cut all the parts off the runners and clean them up prior to any painting. I tried painting parts on the runners, but I usually make a mess of the paint when cleaning up the parts. It Is sometimes more efficient to assemble parts, then paint. That way you can deal with seam lines beforehand. What type of mobile suit are you looking for?

You'll find, in these forums, that there are a minority of us Gundam modelers, but we make up for being in the minority by having a ton of experience. Know that you're not alone, and we're all here to help.

Ditto on the above question, what type? If you want to find kits, or just information on types of mobile suits, I can recommend a couple websites.

Klik

Thanks guys. Well there are SOOO many gundam models out there. But I have narrowed it down to these few. Im completely open to suggestions on better kits. This will be my first one and Im very much a newbie to gundam models.  Again, the most important thing to me is to be able to custom paint each one.

www.hlj.com/.../Gun

www.hlj.com/.../Gun

www.hlj.com/.../Gun

www.hlj.com/.../Gun

www.hlj.com/.../Gun

Great choices, all. These are some of the higher quality kits, so they may run you up a bit. To be fair, though, the fit on Master Grade (MG) - indeed, on all Gundam kits- is so good, you don't need to glue them unless you want to. As far as I know, these kits all have the "inner frame" over which the exterior panels attach.

the Shin Musha RX-78 is a what-if creation by the chief Gundam designer who created the designs of all the Gundams in all the series. He went back and added redesigns and what ifs just for fun.

F91 is the titular " hero suit" of its series. 

Ditto for the G Gundam, though the series it is the star of is in a world of Battle-Royal style tournaments between the Gundams of various countries (in case you could not guess, the G Gundam is Japan's representative suit).

Gundam AGE is a (relatively) new series, and I don't know anything about it.

keep in mind, each of these suits are from different series, and all but two (RX-79 and F91) are from different 'universes', i.e. Timelines, each independent of the others.

Klik

Ok I got me a couple of them. I really hope its not hard to do. Wish me luck!

Redruum

Do you do that prior to cutting them out of their brackets?  Just spray it, let it dry, then paint as desired?

While my experience with mecha is mostly with Macross kits, I have a suggestion that mey be useful with any such poseable model.

I take my time and build up the sub-assemblies and make sure I take care of primer and sometimes paint in "inner" areas ( such as the upper arm sections between the shoulder and forearm common to most mecha ) before .  There are some kits where you won't be able to get those inner parts done right if the whole arm or leg is already assembled.

Another factor I check for when test-fitting is how much of the interior will be visible when the section is assembled, such as the interior around ankle or elbow joints.  I usually paint the deep interior black with whatever color the outer section will be around the more easily-visible surfaces.  The idea is to add depth while keeping the original plastic color from peeking out from some angles.