Oooh, Gundam! I love Gundam. I still need to watch more (I've watched the movie trilogy, 08th MS Team and War in the Pocket, though I need to rewatch the latter two eventually- I'm going to watch the series in production order as I'm told that's the best way to watch it) but I love what I've seen.
Once my workbench is free of the trillions of Warhammer 40,000 models I'm painting I need to get myself an actual Gunpla. What's the best HG Zaku out there? I'd rather avoid RGs and MGs until I'm a bit more acquainted with building simpler models, as whilst I'm proficient at modelling I have little experience with Gunpla.
WreckerJack wrote:I don't think I have the patience for gundams, but I sure do enjoy looking at what people make. Then again that goes for models or TF customs in general.
Gundams are easier to do than TF customs (or so I'm told, I have yet to build an actual Gunpla, though I am making an Eva Unit 01 plamo which is similar). The main thing is they come on sprues and you aseemble them yourself, and they also have good parts breakup. This means that rather than taking an existing toy and risking breaking it by removing pins and rivets, you can build it at your own pace, and rather than having to mask large complex areas for painting you can keep it in easy to paint sub-assemblies. You don't necessarily need to paint them, though obviously they will look better for paint.
My advice (as a model maker) would be:
>Start with something simple, like an SD kit or an HG.
>Take care to gradually remove and sand clean nub marks from where you clipped them off the sprue- remove them with a hobby knife and sand them smooth with progressively fine grit sandpaper.
>Most newer kits don't need glue, but some older kits will need it and all kits will look better with the join seams glued and filled in.
>If you don't want to paint it, I'd recommend panel lining them. The easiest way to do this is with a fineliner or a Gundam marker- I'd recommend dark grey instead of black for any white parts, as black panel lining can look a bit artificial.
>When you get confident enough to paint, I'd HIGHLY recommend using an airbrush. Get a decent one (gravity feed preferably), do your homework and learn to use it well. It's a steep learning curve but when you get the hang of it you'll never look back.