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Who is into GUNPLA?
- Michael Barnes
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So of course, being Michael Barnes, I have to go psycho all-in. I have 12 1/144 models on the way from various sources for his birthday next week. Picked up some classics- the vintage RX-78 and Char's Zaku II. Got some things from the new show, Iron-Blooded Orphans- the Barbatos and a few different Grazes. The 1/144s are small but they look cool and they're quite inexpensive...some of them were like $7-$8.
Thinking about painting some of these, or doing that panel lining with the markers. I'm heading down another hobby rabbit hole at that point though!
I am thinking about melting down all of the empty sprues in my house and building a barn for our back yard with the plastic.
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If you are wanting to paint one, AMMO does a fantastic guide for them (LINK) that goes over weathering techniques. It is pretty heavy on airbrushing and oils/enamels, but the techniques should still be generally applicable.
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- Michael Barnes
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At this stage I'm more interested in what you can do with the markers, that sounds like something I could get River to do...do people actually paint with them or just pick out details?
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If you want though, you could hand prime the small parts in the "wrong color" and paint them to add details.
The thing with gunpla is... painting a fully articulated model is a chore. The standard practice is to build the gunpla, then disassemble it again to paint it.
My scale of choice is the bog standard 1/144, but only because I find the larger models lack details. As you have said, it's very cheap.
Even if you have more to spend, stick with 1/144. There are 1/144 models called "Real Grade", that's like a miniaturized 1/60 perfect grade. Gazillion of parts, excellent movement mechanisms and great detail, in addition of fully realized skeleton.
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I picked up and assembled an HG Gundam Kimaris (clearance at B&N). It has relatively little in the way of stickers, so I didn't feel the need to paint as I was testing the waters. This was a fun, quick build though I question the stability of the arm attachment points. They pop off fairly easily when I try to position it.
I am currently prepping a SD EX-Standard Gundam Barbatos (store liquidation sale at a local hobby store) for painting because the coloration is almost entirely stickers.
I will probably swing by B&N today and grab the clearanced MG Gundam Gusion/Gusion Rebake kit. Depending on how the liquidation sale at the hobby shop progresses, I might be grabbing a bunch there as they hit decent discounts.
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- Michael Barnes
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The thing about these HG kits is that they are DIRT CHEAP. Like, $10-$15. So I don't even really bother looking for a discount, I'm more concerned with places overcharging for them (like B&N!).
The joints are sometimes SUPER crappy though, shit just fallin' off. It's frustrating for my son, because he wants them to be more like action figures. But I think he gets that playing with them is more about posing them than manipulating them now. We've got several of the stands, they are a must-have IMO. We've got a whole shelf with all kinds of Gundam battles going on, all kinds of dramatic poses.
The newer kits are DEFINITELY better than the older ones. It's like night and day. But there are some cool older kits out there worth looking at. Don't know the name, but we've got this one older "Heavy Arms" one that has missile pods EVERYWHERE. Love that one.
It's a fun hobby...we haven't gotten into painting them yet though. Just building. I usually buy at USAGundamstore.com- good prices and they have pretty much everything.
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So is the Zaku an RG? I am going to try out an MG kit with the Gusion set as it is on clearance (around $25). The only think lame about that kit is that it has all of the parts to build both a Gusion and Gusion Rebake separately and MSRP'd accordingly, but only one internal skeleton.
I'm probably going to be painting most of them for a while to look like the box art, but I think I will begin weathering them once I am confident in my assembly skills.
On a related note, I know nothing about the actual Gundam mythos, is it worth looking into?
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- Black Barney
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- Michael Barnes
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It's pretty good overall, it's more of a hardcore military SF thing than most anime is. It's all about the hardware, of course. There is the usual psychic teen kind of nonsense too. But there are some awesome mecha battles, as you might expect- look at the Amuro Rey vs. Char battle from Char's Counterattack on YouTube for a good example. Probably the best example. The first three Mobile Suit Gundam movies are considered classics, and they are a FAR better way to get into the story than watching the TV show. As was popular at the time, the films sort of condense the show into much more cohesive, digestible features. The most recent show, Iron Blooded Orphans, is pretty good- it's where the Barbatos comes from as well as the Graze, which is kind of like the modern version of the Zaku. I am by no means a Gundam scholar, and I find that my interest in the mythos is casual at best. But there are some things worth checking out even if you just like the mecha.
The Char's Special Zaku we have is an HG kit, but it sort of an HG+ thing. These were like around $25 each, I think. So they are intended to be more high end HG kits. It has some of the features you'd normally see in a MG kit like the internal skeleton and removable armor plates. They did this and the RX-78 as part of a line corresponding with a Gundam Origins show, which goes back to some of the original designs. The RX-78 is the vintage Gundam design, very classic look. It isn't as complex as the Zaku though. My son is actually building it right now, he just came down to get me to put the sticker on the eyes. GOD I HATE THOSE STICKERS.
I found a place a couple of weeks ago that had PILES AND PILES of Gunpla, it was one of those doofy "pop culture" stores at a mall. They were priced pretty decently, too. Thinking about picking up a few next time we are there. And to think it used to be that you had to either buy this stuff at a convention or at a comic shop with a 1000 percent markup.
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- Michael Barnes
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I picked it up and will see how it goes.
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