Anyone into gunpla - Japanophiles unite to share tips on painting our toys (GUNPLA IS FREEDOM)

[Gar For Archer]

...I kind of wonder if a 3D printer would be able to do the kind of curves that something like a Tallgeese or Gouf/Zaku has. Might require some light sanding afterwards.

I also kind of wonder if I'd get hit with C&Ds for printing any of these things.

Resin 3D prints are pretty much indistinguishable from injection-molded plastic (...aside from being resin, obviously) with no visible layer lines. They've gotten a lot cheaper too, they used to run in the thousands but now you can get a pretty decent one for a few hundred bucks.

Of course, the main issue is creating the actual model files. Unless there's already a dedicated community around 3D printed mechs, you're going to have to design your prints yourself.

 

[Appletun]

sup everyone, my builds have all been put on hold for a time considering the massive storms ripping across the USA, but im finally progressing again.

that aside, anyone ever have any bad experiences with jojohobbynstuff?

 

[Troonos]

sup everyone, my builds have all been put on hold for a time considering the massive storms ripping across the USA, but im finally progressing again.

that aside, anyone ever have any bad experiences with jojohobbynstuff?

I hope not. I have their lootcrate and a really hard-to-find kit on order from them. Who knows if they'll ever actually ship?

 

[Appletun]

I hope not. I have their lootcrate and a really hard-to-find kit on order from them. Who knows if they'll ever actually ship?

in the same boat here, on the lootcrate issue. idk what one you got but i got the febuary one. hoping it ships soon as id assume its now "mid febuary"

 

[Troonos]

in the same boat here, on the lootcrate issue. idk what one you got but i got the febuary one. hoping it ships soon as id assume its now "mid febuary"

Have you bought one of their lootcrates before? If so, which kit did you get?

 

[Appletun]

Have you bought one of their lootcrates before? If so, which kit did you get?

i have not, but ive been told from a few sources that it's worth the money, and oftentimes you get shit worth more than what you paid for.

 

[EyelessMC]

I AM RETARDED

 

[CHARizard]

What happened?! Looks like top coat in the cold?

 

[EyelessMC]

What happened?! Looks like top coat in the cold?

Good eye. You're half right. Long story short, I ran out of top coat, switched to another, had mishap after mishap, tried to remove the excessive coats with dishwashing soap and piping hot water (twice) and tried scrubbing it down after it froze in the cold air. I've now let it soak in expired rubbing alcohol. Parts of this very old, exceedinly rare kit have broken without me doing anything and other inner parts have just disintegrated.
TL;DR I went full Masao on my insanely rare kit.

This is why I don't like fiddling with kits that cost over $50. I just...

 

[CHARizard]

Could turn it into one of those frozen in the snow dioramas? It actually looks like frozen metal in the picture.

 

[Gar For Archer]

Yeah, looks like it can still be salvaged into an unposable statue/diorama. Definitely sad to see a rare kit get busted like that, but it's not quite dead yet!

 

[Sanshain]

I kind of want a 3D printer now.

Yeah, I'm not convinced that 3D printers will ever be able to print perfectly smooth material that requires little to no alteration before use. Shame. Free homemade PGs would be fun.

3D Printers are not suitable for gunpla due to their layered construction. Modern 3D printers are more than capable of the precision needed to design parts, but there's always going to be texture artifacts that'll require sanding, even on mega-high-end-takes-fifteen-hours-to-a-layer printers.

What you need for gunpla is a resin printer. Resin printers use a bath of UV-sensitive resin and a strong UV light to create near-seamless results with very high precision. It's as close to injection-molding as you'll get without an actual injection-molding machine. The only issue is that it involves a lot of liquids, and resin itself is highly carcinogenic when inhaled as a dust, so you can't sand/polish the results unless you're wet-sanding and wearing a good filter mask.

 

[Appletun]

I AM RETARDED
View attachment 1951527

dude, fucking rip, im sorry it ended like this for you

 

[GhostButt]

There is a kit I would like to order but the only place that has it for a non-marked up price is some sketchy hobby shop that doesn't list if things are in stock, bills your card, then sits on backorder indefinitely.

Where should I be browsing for availible kits at?

 

[Optimus Prime]

sup everyone, my builds have all been put on hold for a time considering the massive storms ripping across the USA, but im finally progressing again.

that aside, anyone ever have any bad experiences with jojohobbynstuff?

Late response to this but the one time I had gotten something off jojohobbynstuff, I got a great lootcrate that was a self-contained Atlas Gundam set - the model, the official waterslides, an Action Base 5, and a gray liner pen.

The only problem is Atlas Gundam's model is just so detail heavy that it's been sitting largely incomplete in its box ever since. I can not bring myself to complete it for whatever reason. Namely those goddamn sub-arms, because the white just does not block out that plastic even after like, ten coats! Might have to just give up and try to pass it off as weathering.

There is a kit I would like to order but the only place that has it for a non-marked up price is some sketchy hobby shop that doesn't list if things are in stock, bills your card, then sits on backorder indefinitely.

Where should I be browsing for availible kits at?

Which kit is it?

 

[Grim]

I AM RETARDED
View attachment 1951527

Oh no, bro. I'm so sorry this happened. Hopefully you can salvage it like you said above.

This advice probably comes well after it is needed but I use Purple Power to strip garage kits. I usually use a 1/2 Purple Power, 1/2 water mix when I need to strip things. I only soak about 15 minutes if stuff is fresh to 2 hours for more set stuff, then scrub with a toothbrush (wear gloves).

I'm not sure if it would prevent disintegration but I have used it remove mold release on kits with lots of air bubbles on very fragile parts and they survived.

 

[EyelessMC]

This advice probably comes well after it is needed but I use Purple Power to strip garage kits.

I appreciate the advice and will keep it in mind. I'll also make sure to check the can I'm using before I start spraying or just leave it as-is. In any case, what I know for sure is that boiling the kit didn't help.

In any case I took @Celestial Being and @Gar For Archer suggestion and tried to make my ruined hopes and dreams at least have a pretty grave. As it turns out, despite being 1/144 it was bulkier than I expected by laying it on its own base. I didn't have much available but I found some fake snow which I slushed up a bit with warm water and set the entire thing in a freezer after some super glue and...

[Edit: I now realize it looks like I just cooked it in rice. Great. ]

It's a mess but the snow suggestion helps it looks almost intentional, and the irreparable damage the idiotic "boil it off" idea I had ended up making the thing crack, rip and coil in places that only served to make it look a bit more fitting. My main issue (I have several) is just that the snow keeps sprinkling off and I don't know how to make the entire thing stick together, granules and all.

I appreciate everyone's condolences. lol It's kinda funny in a morbid way. I just feel like that nutjob at the end of "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" when he's grieving over the mess he made and gathers the dust of his master to pretend it's all okay

How's everyone else's projects coming along?

Where should I be browsing for availible kits at?

BigBagToyStore or Lunar Toy Store for me. Otherwise Ebay maybe, but don't do international shipping because Covid's made that suck and you'll end up waiting for like two months.
But listen to Optimus's advice. What kit are you looking for?

 

[Grim]

It looks very nice! You salvaged it really well and I think the snow looks great. It doesn't look like cooked rice at all.

 

[Moguro Fukuzou]

Getting into the weird itch to buy some new kits so I've been online window shopping, but never actually stick an order in due to having a backlog (6 kits atm). Backlog isn't much compared to other people, but I'm trying not to have it go out of control.

Also getting interested in trying out airbrushing again, but I just don't have a good space indoors to have a project and the clinging winter weather is also cause for concern. Might just look into collecting all the equipment I'll need for whenever I'm actually able to airbrush again, stuff like those nice alligator clips and everything for properly mixing paints/thinners.

 

[BroccoliBrain]

There is a kit I would like to order but the only place that has it for a non-marked up price is some sketchy hobby shop that doesn't list if things are in stock, bills your card, then sits on backorder indefinitely.

Where should I be browsing for availible kits at?

What shop are you talking about?

LTS is one I've heard about with no complaints, also check out USA Gundam Store which is well-acknowledged and sponsored by reputable hobby Youtubers.
You should also check out Japanese hobby sites like AmiAmi, Hobby Search or HobbyLink Japan, those all have English web pages and can definitely be trusted. Only use Ebay and Amazon as a last resort, while my experience is not Gundam specific, they are basically a scalper's heaven.