This tutorial will be completed in multiple parts. The idea is that any of these techniques can be stand alone, or can be combined in any number of combinations depending on what effects you want. There isn’t a specific order of operation but a matter of personal preference. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’m starting with the filter/fade technique. Filter/Fade Technique This technique is similar to the wash technique for panel lines. There are rules that MUST be followed for this technique to be successful. The kit’s painted surface must be protected with a clear coat that is a different type of paint from the filter. On the Gouf Custom’s leg in this example, the paint surface has been clear coated with a lacquer based gloss, Mr Super Clear Gloss. The clear coat layer has been cured for a … Read More
Vendors at SCGMC
For the upcoming Southern California Gundam Model Competition in November, there will be vendors selling gunpla as well as gunpla related resin conversion kits. Robot4Less and TatsuHobby will be vendors at SCGMC, so all your plastic AND resin gunpla needs will be met. Additionally, there will be tools, paints, and various aftermarket items for sale at this event as well. For our friends in Northern California, TatsuHobby is also holding a contest as part of their 2 year anniversary celebration: Tatsu Hobby Anniversary Event #3 Northern CA Gunpla Competition! Our last event for this anniversary is the Northern California Gunpla Competition! We made this event mainly to express our gratitude towards our local customers and to show the builds of Gundam fans of the Northern California area. In addition, we made this event in conjunction to the Southern California Gundam … Read More
SCGMC Trophies
I received a box on my front door step today, inside are the trophies for SCGMC. There is a local miniature figure contest that gives out coin trophies, and I’ve always thought that this was a very cool method for an award. Then again, I’m ex-military, so I just like the idea of having the challenge coin style trophy. Having the choice of colored finished, we went with black metal, silver, and bronze, which will be the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd awards respectively. We will also have a separate awards for the five special theme awards. Currently the categories we have setup are as follows: Universal Century (CCA, 0079, 0080, 0083, F91, etc) 1/100 and larger (1/60, 1/48, etc) 1/144 and smaller (1/220, 1/400, etc) Alternate Universe (seed, 00, Turn A, X, Wing, etc) 1/100 and larger (1/60, 1/48, etc) … Read More
Anime Expo Model Contest and Bandai Gunpla Builders World Cup
I’ve talked with Clem (Gamerabaenre) who usually organizes the AX model contest, and with Steve at Bluefin, who organizes the Gunpla Builders World Cup Live Events and since I’m judging both contests I wanted to coordinate the judging and model placement since it was kind of disorganized last year. Last year more-or-less ALL models were entered and physically placed in the artist area of the exhibition hall. We judged the models Saturday afternoon for the Anime Expo contest, and then contestants had about an hour to make the mad dash with their models to set them up again at the Bluefin booth for the judging of the Bandai Gunpla Builders World Cup Contest. Some people weren’t there to move them, and they were disappointed that their models weren’t entered in the Gunpla Builders World Cup (GBWC). Bandai and Bluefin were … Read More
Model Build Gathering This Weekend 6/11/2011
Just wanted to post on the front page that the June Build Gathering is coming up this Saturday June 11th at Gamerabaenre’s house in Placentia, California. Get more information, including how to get on the email list that announces the monthly gatherings at Gamerabaenre’s forum. BTW the last two words of that las sentence are a link, they just aren’t a diffferent color (at least on my PC). Here’s the URL, just to be safe: http://gamerabaenre.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5$t=944 Getherings start at 1pm and go until the last person leaves, usually around 1-3 am. This month will be the last BG before Anime Expo and the local leg of the 2011 Bandai Gunpla World Cup so hopefully people will be working on their entries.
Cosmetic Modifications To Gunpla
There are millions of ways to modify your out of the box gunpla kit. The ever growing aftermarket for add on metal thrusters, LED gimmicks, resin weapon packs, and various other detail up parts help make it very easy to separate your kit from the box stock version. For the article, I will discuss and show a few techniques on adding small modifications to your kits. A very simple mod is the replacement of existing parts on the kit. For this example, I’m replacing the waist cables for the HGUC Sazabi. I found that the cables were rather boring and lacking in detail. So the cables were thrown away completely and a new one was built from scratch. The new cable is assembled from plastic wrapped wiring, adlers nest armor collars, a spring created from wrapping 28 gauge magnet wire … Read More
Working with Water Slide Decals
This is a tutorial for applying water slide decals. I prefer these decals over the dry transfer decals for ease of application. There are a couple of important steps that need to be applied to the parts before applying the decals. The most important step is to apply a gloss clear coat and allowing this to cure prior to applying decals. A gloss clear coat creates a very slick and smooth surface on the parts and this is the perfect environment for the decals to stick. If the surface has not been properly prepared, the decals will not stick very well onto the surface. As a side note, the decals I use are from SamuelDecal.com. In come cases, the decals can be a bit on the delicate side. Meaning the ink for the decals rub off VERY easily. To counter … Read More
Texturizing with styrene glue
The idea is to create a cast iron effect or a rough surface to the plastic. The process uses a solvent glue (I am using Mr Cement Deluxe) other thin solvent glues for model building can also be used; and an old toothbrush. Beginning with a cleaned part (seam lines, mold lines, and spruce nubs have been sanded down). Apply glue to the surface of the parts, the use the brush to rough up the surface of the part. As the glue works against the plastic, melting it; the toothbrush works to get the surface very rough. The plastic parts will be very rough and have some plastic burrs from the brushing process. The second part to the technique needs to let the glue completely dry and cure before progressing. I usually leave the parts to dry over night to … Read More
Silicone Molding and Resin Casting
This is a little tutorial for resin casting. There are two parts for resin casting: making the mold and making the casts. The first step is to make the molds. I like to use legos to make the mold containers because they’re plastic and I can basically build a box of any shape and size. The master piece is measured and a box is built around the master. The master is then placed inside the box. The material I’m using is RTV silicone rubber and comes in two parts, the silicone base and the activator. The base and activator is to be mixed by weight, at a ratio of 10 parts base to 1 part activator. Your standard digital kitchen scale is very handy here when measuring. Using some disposable cups, the RTV is mixed. Once thoroughly mixed, the silicone … Read More
Gundam Kit Chart
I came across this in a Gundam catalog and thought everyone could get some use out of it when looking for a kit. These are scans of all available kits as of February 2011.  They are ordered by series, so whichever kit you are looking for should be easy to find.  Of course,  to the right of kit name is three columns, letting you know whether there is a High Grade, Master Grade or Perfect Grade available. Enjoy!