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

[Moguro Fukuzou]

Thinking of treating myself to a nice big gunpla order for my birthday as I've been very neglect in that specific hobby lately compared to my others, currently trying to work up a short list of kits I've held interest in over the years but never picked up.

Zeon and Fedi relationships never work out...

I'd also add Banagher and Audrey (Mineva) to the list of Zeon/Fedi relationships that work out, though that's only if you count Banagher as Fedi.

 

[lolwut]

that's only if you count Banagher as Fedi.

Shanghaiing kids and making them into child soldiers seems to be a running theme in the Federation, so I'd say so.

 

[Appletun]

i cant fucking build!!! the shortage is killing me!!!!

 

[EyelessMC]

i cant fucking build!!! the shortage is killing me!!!!

what shortage!!! You don't have kits you can modify, paint or bash in the meantime!!!

 

[Appletun]

what shortage!!! You don't have kits you can modify, paint or bash in the meantime!!!

i ran out sadly, the ones i have built are all ones i like as is

 

[Syn_32]

Well, I decided to buy my first 2 gundam gunplas here recently, a HG Heavyarms Custom Clear Edition and a MG Heavyarms (I wish I was able to get MG H-Arms custom but those were ridiculously expensive for them (Bandai premium is over 100 and the super nova MG, while price friendly at 100 after ship, would have been on the short boat from China or Hong Kong and I don't want to wait 5000 years for a kit at that price). Yes I know, they are overly loaded with guns and missiles (insert funny peepy joke...) but I like the style, and speaking of peepy, I have a new friend, his name is Peepy and he may be a stuffed toy, but he wants to be friends... so let him and his brethern in... I promise they won't steal too much from you (no seriously he's pretty cool he even looks like a cow its perfect for the main forum (LOLCow Peepy)

(Also you can see my Gridman Miniplas a bit too)

 

[Troonos]

Thinking of treating myself to a nice big gunpla order for my birthday as I've been very neglect in that specific hobby lately compared to my others, currently trying to work up a short list of kits I've held interest in over the years but never picked up.

I'd also add Banagher and Audrey (Mineva) to the list of Zeon/Fedi relationships that work out, though that's only if you count Banagher as Fedi.

Well, are you going to tell us which kits are going to be in your birthday order?

 

[Moguro Fukuzou]

Well, are you going to tell us which kits are going to be in your birthday order?

I have a rough list of kits of interest based on what the site I'm looking to order from (Canadian Gundam) has in stock at the moment, liable to switch it up depending on what's actually available when I order. Most likely I might pick a MG, maybe a RG, and several HG after looking up reviews or just some HG/RG.

So current short list:
MG

• MG Gundam F91 Ver.2.0
• MG Providence Gundam
• MG Gundam Kyrios
• MG Freedom Gundam Ver. 2.0
• If they put up the MG Ginn before I order I'll definitely get it

RG

• RG Build Strike Full Package
• RG Unicorn Gundam

Spoiler: HG behind spoiler because it's long

• HG UC NRX-055 Baund Doc
• HG CE Infinite Justice Gundam
• HG CE Windam
• HG UC Gouf
• HG (The Origin) Dom Test Type
• HG UC AMX-004 Qubeley
• HG UC MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam
• HG UC Nemo (Z Ver.)
• HG UC RGM-86R GM III E.F.S.F.
• HG UC RX-77D Guncannon Mass production Type
• HG UC RGM-79 [G] GM Ground Type
• HG BF Striker GN-X
• HG (The Origin) Zaku II Type C-6/R6
• HG UC Dijeh
• HG UC Gyan
• HG BD:R Wodom Pod
• HG BF Fenice Rinascita
• HG (The Origin) Zaku I
• HG BD:R Alus Earthree Gundam
• HG BD:R Gundam TRY AGE Magnum
• HG (The Origin) Zaku II High Mobility Type (Ortega)
• HG BD Momokapool
• HG (The Origin) RTX-65 Guntank Early Type
• HG (The Origin) RX-78-02
• HG (The Origin) MS-06R-1A Zaku II High Mobility Type Gaia / Mash

Took me like two runs through the site because some of the HG didn't show up unless I went through their new display system. Going to widdle down the list as I get closer to placing the actual order with which ones stand out the most to me, already did that a bit while posting this, no way I'm ordering everything I've listed here even if it is a birthday treat to myself. Like to start off my lists big and slowly narrow it down.

 

[CHARizard]

MG

• MG Gundam Kyrios

RG

• RG Unicorn Gundam

MG Kyrios is a great kit, although I think I enjoyed building the Dynames more. Really excited for Virtue.

The RG Unicorn is what put me off RG kits but I dont think that is a popular opinion. It felt like it was falling apart all the time, I have the FA variant.

 

[Moguro Fukuzou]

MG Kyrios is a great kit, although I think I enjoyed building the Dynames more. Really excited for Virtue.

The RG Unicorn is what put me off RG kits but I dont think that is a popular opinion. It felt like it was falling apart all the time, I have the FA variant.

I want to get all the Gundam 00 main suits eventually, waiting for a new exia since from what I've heard a lot of the older exia kits aren't the best. Also excited for Virtue since I love chunky kits.

As for the RG Unicorn it's just because I want at least one good unicorn kit after building the brick of a MG. Somewhat tempted to just pick up a non transforming HG of the Unicorn mode just so I can have something, don't really care about the transformation. I keep hearing very mixed things about the RG with some people saying it's the only good Unicorn kit and others having an experience similar to yours.

 

[CHARizard]

I ended up getting this HG Unicorn around the holidays. Amazing looking kit with a lot of good presence on the shelf! I liked it a lot more than the RG and it has a good amount of poseability without pieces going everywhere.

I am actually planning on putting the decals from the RG onto this one instead, they should all mostly fit.

 

[Troonos]

I want to get all the Gundam 00 main suits eventually, waiting for a new exia since from what I've heard a lot of the older exia kits aren't the best. Also excited for Virtue since I love chunky kits.

As for the RG Unicorn it's just because I want at least one good unicorn kit after building the brick of a MG. Somewhat tempted to just pick up a non transforming HG of the Unicorn mode just so I can have something, don't really care about the transformation. I keep hearing very mixed things about the RG with some people saying it's the only good Unicorn kit and others having an experience similar to yours.

Out of your list, I'm only interested in MG Providence and RG Unicorn (but the FA version). Kyrios is super ugly with those stupid knee fins like he's an 80s Transformers toy. Dynames looks amazing, and I really want that kit.

I'm waiting on an Exia 2.0 too. I want an MG Exia bad and have been tempted to buy it several times, but I've heard some bad things about it, so I'll wait for an updated one.

 

[EyelessMC]

Well, I decided to buy my first 2 gundam gunplas here recently, a HG Heavyarms Custom Clear Edition and a MG Heavyarms (I wish I was able to get MG H-Arms custom but those were ridiculously expensive for them (Bandai premium is over 100 and the super nova MG, while price friendly at 100 after ship, would have been on the short boat from China or Hong Kong and I don't want to wait 5000 years for a kit at that price). Yes I know, they are overly loaded with guns and missiles (insert funny peepy joke...) but I like the style, and speaking of peepy, I have a new friend, his name is Peepy and he may be a stuffed toy, but he wants to be friends... so let him and his brethern in... I promise they won't steal too much from you (no seriously he's pretty cool he even looks like a cow its perfect for the main forum (LOLCow Peepy)
View attachment 2042178
(Also you can see my Gridman Miniplas a bit too)

lol When I clicked on the image to zoom in it zoomed right into Peepy's face like he was coming at me. Almost startled me.

I ended up getting this HG Unicorn around the holidays. Amazing looking kit with a lot of good presence on the shelf! I liked it a lot more than the RG and it has a good amount of poseability without pieces going everywhere.
View attachment 2042654
View attachment 2042672View attachment 2042674

I am actually planning on putting the decals from the RG onto this one instead, they should all mostly fit.

What a cool beast. The Unicorn is just so OP it's insane that it doesn't qualify as a "super robot" because it's not bending space-time or whatever. Never saw the Perfectibility in action but it looks like peak Unicorn. What movie is it from again?

Out of your list, I'm only interested in MG Providence and RG Unicorn (but the FA version). Kyrios is super ugly with those stupid knee fins like he's an 80s Transformers toy.

Hey, retro aesthetic is cool too! Besides, it's a transforming Gundam. If you're not gonna put the wings on a backpack like the beautiful Zeta then you gotta stick them somewhere.

I want an MG Exia bad and have been tempted to buy it several times, but I've heard some bad things about it, so I'll wait for an updated one.

It's practically an inevitability but I don't know if it'll happen before the world ends. Bandai really shuffles its feet when it comes to fan wishes. Just look at how long it took to get a good Dynames, or an MG Barbatos.

 

[Syn_32]

lol When I clicked on the image to zoom in it zoomed right into Peepy's face like he was coming at me. Almost startled me.


What a cool beast. The Unicorn is just so OP it's insane that it doesn't qualify as a "super robot" because it's not bending space-time or whatever. Never saw the Perfectibility in action but it looks like peak Unicorn. What movie is it from again?


Hey, retro aesthetic is cool too! Besides, it's a transforming Gundam. If you're not gonna put the wings on a backpack like the beautiful Zeta then you gotta stick them somewhere.

It's practically an inevitability but I don't know if it'll happen before the world ends. Bandai really shuffles its feet when it comes to fan wishes. Just look at how long it took to get a good Dynames, or an MG Barbatos.

Yea peepy does that sometimes lol and since I finally remembered I took pictures of the gridman miniplas, might as well show them.



Gridman and God Zenon were my first foray into model building other things, its was fun, but sticker hell and fiddly small parts (God Zenon especially due to his legs being connected by tiny pegs and being too articulated (i know strange isn't it?) But, Thunder Gridman (The combined form) is solid enough.


Gridman Sigma and Dyna Dragon were the opposite, Sigma's forearms don't connect solidly to the elbows, which led to having to meticulously remove his forearm from the arm pieces of King Gridman and Dyna Dragon took 4 hours to build due to very tiny parts not wanting to go together and stickers so small it make people go mad (Dyna Dragon's eyes were stickers, so small that I was thankful I had tweezers to apply them to him) King Gridman looks cool, but the process of constructing that form was hell due to the fiddly bits of Dyna. Now the kit's reside on a shelf if I remember to get it, I plan on getting the medium sized Gridman toy that converts to King Gridman (it fits in scale with the minipla) so I never have to fiddle with them to get them into combined forms.

Oh, if you're wondering "where have I seen these designs before?" Its because these are based on Gridman The Hyper Agent, which was brought over stateside as Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad (Sigma didn't appear due to time constraints i think... I don't remember.) And yes I know of ssss dynazenon just need to find a place thats streaming it online.

 

[Troonos]

lol When I clicked on the image to zoom in it zoomed right into Peepy's face like he was coming at me. Almost startled me.


What a cool beast. The Unicorn is just so OP it's insane that it doesn't qualify as a "super robot" because it's not bending space-time or whatever. Never saw the Perfectibility in action but it looks like peak Unicorn. What movie is it from again?


Hey, retro aesthetic is cool too! Besides, it's a transforming Gundam. If you're not gonna put the wings on a backpack like the beautiful Zeta then you gotta stick them somewhere.

It's practically an inevitability but I don't know if it'll happen before the world ends. Bandai really shuffles its feet when it comes to fan wishes. Just look at how long it took to get a good Dynames, or an MG Barbatos.

You aren't selling me on it. Transformation, without exception, is a detriment to Gundam models. It always hurts their stability, and the transformed state is always stupid looking. It never looks like anything that could be a practical design; it just looks like they tried desperately to throw a gimmick into a model to make it into a toy.

Yea peepy does that sometimes lol and since I finally remembered I took pictures of the gridman miniplas, might as well show them.
View attachment 2045043
View attachment 2045044
View attachment 2045045
Gridman and God Zenon were my first foray into model building other things, its was fun, but sticker hell and fiddly small parts (God Zenon especially due to his legs being connected by tiny pegs and being too articulated (i know strange isn't it?) But, Thunder Gridman (The combined form) is solid enough.
View attachment 2045047
View attachment 2045048
Gridman Sigma and Dyna Dragon were the opposite, Sigma's forearms don't connect solidly to the elbows, which led to having to meticulously remove his forearm from the arm pieces of King Gridman and Dyna Dragon took 4 hours to build due to very tiny parts not wanting to go together and stickers so small it make people go mad (Dyna Dragon's eyes were stickers, so small that I was thankful I had tweezers to apply them to him) King Gridman looks cool, but the process of constructing that form was hell due to the fiddly bits of Dyna. Now the kit's reside on a shelf if I remember to get it, I plan on getting the medium sized Gridman toy that converts to King Gridman (it fits in scale with the minipla) so I never have to fiddle with them to get them into combined forms.

Oh, if you're wondering "where have I seen these designs before?" Its because these are based on Gridman The Hyper Agent, which was brought over stateside as Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad (Sigma didn't appear due to time constraints i think... I don't remember.) And yes I know of ssss dynazenon just need to find a place thats streaming it online.

Dude, I knew those looked familiar at first glance. I had both of the big "megazord" type robots in the early 90s. I recognize the first one because I remember the black tank vehicle with two big drills that becomes the arms, and I remember folding the fat red legs on a big red godzilla robot to make the legs of the other robot. I only knew it as Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad, because I didn't even know what anime was back then.

 

[EyelessMC]

You aren't selling me on it. Transformation, without exception, is a detriment to Gundam models.

Absolutely correct, but they actually made it stable in this case. It's shocking to me, too, although I never transform even my transformable gunpla

transformed state is always stupid looking.

Again not in this case...if you look at it from above.

It never looks like anything that could be a practical design;

To be fair the only reason (aside from toy money) Gundam got into transformation like that to begin with was Tomino wanting to overcome the realism of planetary reentry. It wasn't until much later that we had a return of Gundams that could pull it off like the RX-78 without giant reentry balloons to shield them. So in a way it actually is "practical" in function, or at least it's intention.

it just looks like they tried desperately to throw a gimmick into a model to make it into a toy.

The Zeta Gundam is my wife and I will not let you speak about her that way, you understand me?

Yea peepy does that sometimes lol and since I finally remembered I took pictures of the gridman miniplas, might as well show them.
[...]
Oh, if you're wondering "where have I seen these designs before?" Its because these are based on Gridman The Hyper Agent, which was brought over stateside as Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad (Sigma didn't appear due to time constraints i think... I don't remember.) And yes I know of ssss dynazenon just need to find a place thats streaming it online.

NICE! Good collection. Aw man, look at that fun retro aesthetic. It's so cool. I really like unorthodox mecha designs but there's never gonna be a day when I can't admire otherwise silly but lively designs like these. That's what super robots are all about.

 

[Syn_32]

You aren't selling me on it. Transformation, without exception, is a detriment to Gundam models. It always hurts their stability, and the transformed state is always stupid looking. It never looks like anything that could be a practical design; it just looks like they tried desperately to throw a gimmick into a model to make it into a toy.


Dude, I knew those looked familiar at first glance. I had both of the big "megazord" type robots in the early 90s. I recognize the first one because I remember the black tank vehicle with two big drills that becomes the arms, and I remember folding the fat red legs on a big red godzilla robot to make the legs of the other robot. I only knew it as Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad, because I didn't even know what anime was back then.

Yea, I was also familiar with the Syber Squad show due to renting the Christmas episode on VHS as a kid, coolest stuff as a kid, but it was also the season 1 finale and I don't remember watching it on TV (was a Fox Box kid back then) i bought the 2 dvds of Syber Squad, and its super cheesy but maybe watching it while on euphoric substances can make it good (I don't know, my meds make it hard for me to drink and be stable, its a long and powerlevel story) but it has some charm to it being kinda ahead (Internet at the time was limited in the US back then and computers were the rage.) also being the first big hero toku to broadcast in the US (followed by Ultraman Tiga in the 2000s) helped make it different to Sentai style shows Saban released. And I agree on the transformable kits they are a lot less stable then normal (Legioss is very wobbly due to aged plastic and super glue, the miniplas are a tad annoying to work with, and the less said about the aoshima kit the better), but as long as they are not constantly transforming it, it should be ok, thats my 2 cents on transformable figures.

Absolutely correct, but they actually made it stable in this case. It's shocking to me, too, although I never transform even my transformable gunpla

Again not in this case...if you look at it from above.

To be fair the only reason (aside from toy money) Gundam got into transformation like that to begin with was Tomino wanting to overcome the realism of planetary reentry. It wasn't until much later that we had a return of Gundams that could pull it off like the RX-78 without giant reentry balloons to shield them. So in a way it actually is "practical" in function, or at least it's intention.

The Zeta Gundam is my wife and I will not let you speak about her that way, you understand me?


NICE! Good collection. Aw man, look at that fun retro aesthetic. It's so cool. I really like unorthodox mecha designs but there's never gonna be a day when I can't admire otherwise silly but lively designs like these. That's what super robots are all about.

I love my minipla kits I just get scared handling them because of the super fragility of the kits size, I'm scared I'm gonna break it more then it already is. (While building it the God Tank (lower legs of Zenon,) i snipped off the tabs that keep it secure to the body on the rear parts, fortunately the body was wide enough to hold it securely. But as I did photos for King Gridman, I accidentally worked one of it rotating inner leg piece as a hinge instead of a rotation and broke it, so sooner or later I'm gonna have to hunt down a new God Tank kit to rebuild and fix it (its more of aesthetic issue it still stands but its not as secure as it can be.)

 

[Troonos]

Yea, I was also familiar with the Syber Squad show due to renting the Christmas episode on VHS as a kid, coolest stuff as a kid, but it was also the season 1 finale and I don't remember watching it on TV (was a Fox Box kid back then) i bought the 2 dvds of Syber Squad, and its super cheesy but maybe watching it while on euphoric substances can make it good (I don't know, my meds make it hard for me to drink and be stable, its a long and powerlevel story) but it has some charm to it being kinda ahead (Internet at the time was limited in the US back then and computers were the rage.) also being the first big hero toku to broadcast in the US (followed by Ultraman Tiga in the 2000s) helped make it different to Sentai style shows Saban released. And I agree on the transformable kits they are a lot less stable then normal (Legioss is very wobbly due to aged plastic and super glue, the miniplas are a tad annoying to work with, and the less said about the aoshima kit the better), but as long as they are not constantly transforming it, it should be ok, thats my 2 cents on transformable figures.

I love my minipla kits I just get scared handling them because of the super fragility of the kits size, I'm scared I'm gonna break it more then it already is. (While building it the God Tank (lower legs of Zenon,) i snipped off the tabs that keep it secure to the body on the rear parts, fortunately the body was wide enough to hold it securely. But as I did photos for King Gridman, I accidentally worked one of it rotating inner leg piece as a hinge instead of a rotation and broke it, so sooner or later I'm gonna have to hunt down a new God Tank kit to rebuild and fix it (its more of aesthetic issue it still stands but its not as secure as it can be.)

Wait, those are models and not action figures? Do they still sell them? Where do I get them?

 

[Syn_32]

Wait, those are models and not action figures? Do they still sell them? Where do I get them?

Yep they be models they are super minipla Gridman The Hyper Agent, I know Mandarake sells them (they are a company out of Japan that sells stuff from there and ships abroad) they list them as used but they are for the most part sealed and like new (candy and all). I checked to see if they have them and they have about 5 listings for it between 7500 to 8000 yen (about 75 to 80 bucks) and the shipping is cheap as well for those kits (for US they ship dhl currently and the price for the small kits its about 15 dollars). They do take PayPal or credit (if PayPal you can't get r18 stuff and you pay 2.5% conversion fee for purchases) but you do have to sign up with them. I've used them to get those minipla because its cheaper than ebay and you can find japanese only kits sometimes too. I recommend them but it takes 1-3 days depending on the shop to get back to you about finalizing orders (unless its Sahra but I'd steer clear of them due to them throwing it in a bigger box for more shipping cost) but still I recommend Mandarake.

 

[Troonos]

Yep they be models they are super minipla Gridman The Hyper Agent, I know Mandarake sells them (they are a company out of Japan that sells stuff from there and ships abroad) they list them as used but they are for the most part sealed and like new (candy and all). I checked to see if they have them and they have about 5 listings for it between 7500 to 8000 yen (about 75 to 80 bucks) and the shipping is cheap as well for those kits (for US they ship dhl currently and the price for the small kits its about 15 dollars). They do take PayPal or credit (if PayPal you can't get r18 stuff and you pay 2.5% conversion fee for purchases) but you do have to sign up with them. I've used them to get those minipla because its cheaper than ebay and you can find japanese only kits sometimes too. I recommend them but it takes 1-3 days depending on the shop to get back to you about finalizing orders (unless its Sahra but I'd steer clear of them due to them throwing it in a bigger box for more shipping cost) but still I recommend Mandarake.

Have you seen the Power Rangers megazord model kits? I'm so sad I missed out on them when they were new and reasonably priced.