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Gundam kit ,painting

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  • Member since
    March 2008
Gundam kit ,painting
Posted by XLNT on Friday, February 17, 2023 4:28 PM

i know this will be hard to answer but just some tips would be great.

Want to try my hand at Gundam kits BUT i want to go with totally different color schemes.

i have come from 35th armour kits so use liquid cement. i realise these kits are snap together. i would hate to snap some pieces together only to want to part them for painting.

i know each kit will be different and you regular builders will get a idea of what to assemble and when to paint but for the novice any tips about painting sequence or never do`s.

lastly if i jump in and start modding parts to aid painting assemblies can i use tamiya extra thin on bandai plastic?

  • Member since
    May 2011
  • From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Posted by Real G on Friday, February 17, 2023 5:29 PM

Bandai plastic responds well to pretty much any good quality styrene cement.  Tamiya and Gunze Mr Cement are the gold standard for me.

For test assembly, I always drill out the sockets to loosen the snap fit.  I have a set of drills that are in 0.05mm increments, so I use the size that is 0.05mm larger than the sockets.  For the super big sockets, I'll sometimes use a cutter to split the socket towers.

As far as painting goes, you'll have to use your judgement to determine if a part will need to be painted before being installed.  The newer Bandai kits are usually good about modular assembly, so almost everything can be painted prior to being slotted together.

Post pics and we can walk you through it.  HTH

 

“Ya ya ya, unicorn papoi!”

  • Member since
    May 2011
  • From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Posted by Real G on Friday, February 17, 2023 6:09 PM

Here is an example of using modular construction to paint and finish a mech kit:

Some parts had to be pre-painted, and those parts will require some careful, and sometimes inventive, masking.  But the above kit was pretty much painted, decaled, and weathered in pieces like in the pics.

“Ya ya ya, unicorn papoi!”

  • Member since
    January 2020
Posted by JLKahn on Friday, March 31, 2023 1:29 PM

I don't think you should have a problem. Gundam kits can be easily disassembled after being fully built. The only kit I know where this is a real issues is the PG unicorn. Where the abdomen is designed to lock together permanently once assembled. I always assemble my Gundam kits completely before I start painting. It helps me understand how they go together, and what painting strategy I want to use. I recommend using lacquer paints for at least the inner frame/joints because water based acrylic paint will just tear right off at the first sign of any friction.

  • Member since
    May 2011
  • From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Posted by Real G on Friday, March 31, 2023 2:01 PM

JLKahn

I don't think you should have a problem. Gundam kits can be easily disassembled after being fully built. The only kit I know where this is a real issues is the PG unicorn. Where the abdomen is designed to lock together permanently once assembled. I always assemble my Gundam kits completely before I start painting. It helps me understand how they go together, and what painting strategy I want to use. I recommend using lacquer paints for at least the inner frame/joints because water based acrylic paint will just tear right off at the first sign of any friction.

 

+1 on that.  I learned the hard way that acrylics don't like rubbing together.  I have a kit that I had to repaint 3X because the shoulder armor pieces "welded" to the body, pulling off fused chips of paint.  Too bad, because the Tamiya acrylics airbrush so well.

“Ya ya ya, unicorn papoi!”

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