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

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John Titor said:
I know little about gunpla too but what is a fun one to build on a reasonable budget? Is painting required or do people do that as an enhancement?
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I'm new to gunpla too, and I've so far built 2 entry grades (very cheap, very nice simple kits) and 2 High Grades ($15+, a bit more complex than EG but still simple enough and with more accesories).

If you want a quick sample of gunpla I think either the EG Strike or RX-78-02 are good and both can be done in 30 minutes. You don't even need nippers for them (for HG kist you will need at least a budget nipper for the gates).
One thing I have to say is, IBO HG kits can be a bit flimsy (in my experience) and joints will loosen up rather quickly, YMMV depending on which kit you decide to buy.


I just saw the box art for the Lfrith and it's just...
It's releasing at the end of this month btw, and the kit looks very nice too.


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As a general question, are there any review channels you would recommend? I already follow Mechagaikotsu but it's always nice to have more than one source of info.
 
Baby Cakes said:
I just go to Dalong.net for reviews. On YouTube there's Kakarot197, ZakuAurelius, and Charlie426 to name a few.
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I've started checking dalong after you recommended it not long ago (thank you btw), but with video reviews I can know, for example if the joints are on the loosey side, etc.
Mechagaikotsu's reviews are ok, but he can be a bit memey sometimes.
 
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DrStupid said:
I'm new to gunpla too, and I've so far built 2 entry grades (very cheap, very nice simple kits) and 2 High Grades ($15+, a bit more complex than EG but still simple enough and with more accesories).

If you want a quick sample of gunpla I think either the EG Strike or RX-78-02 are good and both can be done in 30 minutes. You don't even need nippers for them (for HG kist you will need at least a budget nipper for the gates).
One thing I have to say is, IBO HG kits can be a bit flimsy (in my experience) and joints will loosen up rather quickly, YMMV depending on which kit you decide to buy.


I just saw the box art for the Lfrith and it's just...
It's releasing at the end of this month btw, and the kit looks very nice too.


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As a general question, are there any review channels you would recommend? I already follow Mechagaikotsu but it's always nice to have more than one source of info.
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Between Mechagaikotsu and Zakuaurelius they cover pretty much every common kit you’ll likely run into, and are fairly on top of recent releases.
 
DrStupid said:
I've started checking dalong after you recommended it not long ago (thank you btw), but with video reviews I can know, for example if the joints are on the loosey side, etc.
Mechagaikotsu's reviews are ok, but he can be a bit memey sometimes.
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He can be a little over the top imo.
 
Baby Cakes said:
He can be a little over the top imo.
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He’s also a politisperg on Twitter, but last I checked it hasn’t bled into his videos so it’s whatever. But he’s a lazy fucker who does quick snip-and-snap builds, so if you want to see how well a kit holds up right out the box without nub mark removal, that laziness could actually help your decision making process.
 
Gar For Archer said:
He’s also a politisperg on Twitter, but last I checked it hasn’t bled into his videos so it’s whatever. But he’s a lazy fucker who does quick snip-and-snap builds, so if you want to see how well a kit holds up right out the box without nub mark removal, that laziness could actually help your decision making process.
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Ah. I don't have a twitter account so I'm totally unaware of the goings on there. I really haven't seen many of his videos, either.
 
Been a bit but I finally got around to some building this week.
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My first RG Nu. Phenomenal kit, I may just go and pick up a regular Nu and a Hi-Nu after this. Still need to top coat, going to do that this weekend after I finish a HG Gelgoog in my backlog.

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Removed half the kits from my shelf and put them in storage. Hoping to pick up an RG Sazabi soon to go with my Nu. Still have my 40th Anniversary prize kit unbuilt, I saw a few going for a few hundred bucks on ebay, may try to sell it and get a MG Perfectibility. Wife and I are trying to go to Tokyo this year so hopefully I can get a few more GB limiteds.
 
CHARizard said:
Been a bit but I finally got around to some building this week.
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My first RG Nu. Phenomenal kit, I may just go and pick up a regular Nu and a Hi-Nu after this. Still need to top coat, going to do that this weekend after I finish a HG Gelgoog in my backlog.
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Awesome choice. I have both MG Ver. Ka and they're awesome kits as well. I hope they scale up the RG's design and release a 2.0 one day.

CHARizard said:
Removed half the kits from my shelf and put them in storage. Hoping to pick up an RG Sazabi soon to go with my Nu. Still have my 40th Anniversary prize kit unbuilt, I saw a few going for a few hundred bucks on ebay, may try to sell it and get a MG Perfectibility. Wife and I are trying to go to Tokyo this year so hopefully I can get a few more GB limiteds.
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The RG Sazabi is another case where I'd like a standard MG 2.0 with the RG design. The RGs just look sharper imo.

What prize kit did you win?

Odaiba is a great time and I hope the Gundam Cafe is still open so you can score a Char's Zaku II coffee mug. If I get a chance to go back, I'm going to check out Fukuoka.
 
Baby Cakes said:
Awesome choice. I have both MG Ver. Ka and they're awesome kits as well. I hope they scale up the RG's design and release a 2.0 one day.


The RG Sazabi is another case where I'd like a standard MG 2.0 with the RG design. The RGs just look sharper imo.

What prize kit did you win?

Odaiba is a great time and I hope the Gundam Cafe is still open so you can score a Char's Zaku II coffee mug. If I get a chance to go back, I'm going to check out Fukuoka.
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I have the ver ka, but I built it while I was still new to the hobby and made a lot of mistakes.

I ended up just buying the RG Sazabi, saw one on eBay for $50 and ordered it.

I won the glow in the dark HG RX 78 a few years ago. Got tickets to the prize after I bought a few kits from my local shop.

The cafe will be closed when we visit. The trip keeps getting pushed back because of Japans covid restrictions. Originally supposed to go March 2020 lol.
 
I bought like 10 MG kits when I was into building these, but it turns out it was just a phase, and I only built like 5 of them. I need to figure out a way to get rid of these.
 
CHARizard said:
I have the ver ka, but I built it while I was still new to the hobby and made a lot of mistakes.

I ended up just buying the RG Sazabi, saw one on eBay for $50 and ordered it.

I won the glow in the dark HG RX 78 a few years ago. Got tickets to the prize after I bought a few kits from my local shop.

The cafe will be closed when we visit. The trip keeps getting pushed back because of Japans covid restrictions. Originally supposed to go March 2020 lol.
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Woah, it's a Beyond Global at that. Nice prize!

Japan's covid policies are a few steps below China's imo. Sorry your trip keeps getting pushed back.
 
Well went to the local shop today. Forgot why I stopped going, they are obscene with their MG prices, almost every MG was 10 bucks cheaper on Amazon. Picked up a few mono eye HGs to build this week though. I really want a huge shelf of just HG Zeon kits, I feel like they look much better than Gundams at 1/144 scale.

Also my RG Sazabi came in from eBay and now I know why it was only 50. The whole box smelled like an ashtray. I ended up removing everything from the plastic and febreezing it in my garage. Gonna keep doing that until the smell is completely gone, hopefully it works.
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CHARizard said:
Well went to the local shop today. Forgot why I stopped going, they are obscene with their MG prices, almost every MG was 10 bucks cheaper on Amazon. Picked up a few mono eye HGs to build this week though. I really want a huge shelf of just HG Zeon kits, I feel like they look much better than Gundams at 1/144 scale.
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I don't know what's going on with kit prices. For a time, local hobby shops had Amazon and eBay prices beat quite easily.

Solid kits! I agree that the newer (2006+) HG Zeon kits look better than the Federation kits. A lot of those older kits are decent but naturally have terrible articulation. I hope they continue the HG Revive and Gunpla Evolution Project so we can see those older kits receive updated proportions and articulation. A lot of them really need the attention and would be lucrative for Bandai in the long run.

CHARizard said:
Also my RG Sazabi came in from eBay and now I know why it was only 50. The whole box smelled like an ashtray. I ended up removing everything from the plastic and febreezing it in my garage. Gonna keep doing that until the smell is completely gone, hopefully it works.
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I've never had this happen. That's disgusting, man.
 
I picked the Entry Grade Nu Gundam during my trip to other town few weeks ago, and just finished built it this week.

Good lord is this kit an improvement over the previous EG. No more loose joints and shoulder armors, and no forward bending legs, while still having much playability and fun factors. It's shield is even attached much better than the RG. This is one rock solid kit with pretty good articulation.

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Finished up a GM Sniper MG model. I decided to try a softer camo pattern freehand, plus I really didn't feel like going through all the usual effort to mask off a camo pattern. I really like the house-sized auxiliary power unit. Just wish it was a modern release with better articulation.

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Poyo Sato said:
I picked the Entry Grade Nu Gundam during my trip to other town few weeks ago, and just finished built it this week.

Good lord is this kit an improvement over the previous EG. No more loose joints and shoulder armors, and no forward bending legs, while still having much playability and fun factors. It's shield is even attached much better than the RG. This is one rock solid kit with pretty good articulation.

Big images:

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One of my pet peeves with the EGs is none of the standard versions come with beam sabers. I have both the Strike and RX-78 and although they're great kits, they are lacking in the weapon department (I know there are option kits or "full weapon" kits). Heck, the grandaddy even has the saber handles for the back pack.


On a different note, I managed to grab myself an HG Exia. Not repair 2, the first HG exia, and oh boy you can see the difference 10 years can make in the engineering.
The clear parts love falling off, the chest-arm joints that make the yellow vents move are some of the worst I've seen, and the kit is so stiff from the waist down. (single peg connecting the chest with the waist, so no ab crunch or side crunch, and the legs don't have a rotating joint, they are instead connected to an upside down T with a peg on top and ball joints for the legs).
I don't have a wide range of kits available where I live, so I grabbed it as soon as I could. I decided to use the kit as a guinea pig to do my first try at panel lining, so all in all I still see it as a win.


Now I'm waiting a packet from HLJ with an HG MKII. I hope that, by the time I can get my hands on it, I'm a bit more seasoned with lining and sanding.
 
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