Model Kits

Gunpla Chronicles 3 - Intermission 2014-01-13

I’ve been thinking about what to write next in regards to this build, and realized I could write a novel already. And I’m not even finished with the legs!

First things first - I have reason to believe that a key aspect of the build process is directly tied to a piece of trivia regarding the Gundam Mk. II. So as not to bog down the build discussion with such a matter, I’d like to cover it in this intermission. If you’re an engineer of some sort, or you simply don’t care about the internal workings of fictional robots, you will be OK if you skip this post.

Gunpla Chronicles 3 - The Head 2014-01-10

As I mentioned in my last post, when building OG Gundam’s head I had lost one of the three stickers that made up the model’s eyes. Thankfully Bandai provided a spare, which combines all three pieces into a single decal. To say I was relieved is an understatement.

When building the Mk. II’s head, I used the “spare” decal right off the bat, and it went on nice and easy. Crisis averted! Or was it?

Not quite. I ended up making three different errors of varying degrees of severity:

Gunpla Chronicles 3 - Weapons Part 2 2014-01-06

When I first saw promotional images for the Mk. II model kit, I thought that its Hyper Bazooka looked identical to OG Gundam’s. That actually isn’t the case. The Mk II’s Bazooka has the same general shape, but it’s grip and sight are entirely different, the missle pack isn’t as detailed, and it’s a bit narrower overall. Here’s a side by side comparison.

Quite a big difference compared to my original assumption. I prefer the look of OG Gundam’s Bazooka ever so slightly, but I do appreciate the use of blue on the Mk II’s barrel. It adds some nice color without being flashy.

Gunpla Chronicles 3 - Beam Rifle and Vulcan Pod 2014-01-03

Just like with OG Gundam, I started this build by working on the weapons. I find them to be a good warmup - they consist of fewer pieces, and tend to better withstand mistakes and errors (since they’re less of a focal point than the mobile suit itself).

My goal with this build is to minimize visual blemishes as much as possible through more careful trimming and more diligent sanding. I expected that I would excel at the former and, if all went well, slightly improve at the latter. So far the reverse has been true. Some of my attempts at trimming have been close to causing permanent damage. The problem isn’t so much with the knew hobby knife as it is with my greediness in trying to remove as much sprue as possible. Occassionally this has led to me digging too far into the plastic, thus forcing me to sand down an even bigger mistake than if I had left it alone.

Gunpla Chronicles 2 - Head 2013-02-18

In my view, the head is the most important part of this model. The RX 78-2 as a whole is one of the most iconic robots in anime history, but it is the head which is the Gundam franchise’s most recognizable and enduring symbol . A mistake on any other part of the kit can either be hidden or ignored, but even the smallest blemish to the headpiece will stick out like a sore thumb. When building this final section, my self appointed rules were simple; no mistakes, no excuses.

Of course, this means that I came this close to making an unrecoverable mistake. I was only saved by an amazing (and confusing) quirk of the kit.

To explain, we need to look at the instruction book:

Gunpla Chronicles 2 - Arms & Shoulders 2013-02-17

Here are the Gundam’s arms. They’re smaller than I imagined, and are so basic in shape that there isn’t much in the way of panel lining to be done. I did have a lot of trouble getting the gold foil decals onto the joints. There are supposed to be four per arm, but I only ended up using two, and they’re already starting to look awful. I have a gold Sharpie marker lying around, and I’m tempted to test it on one of the decals to see it it would make them look better.

Gunpla Chronicles 2 - The Waist 2013-02-06

The Gundam’s Torso is nice and simple. The individual parts fit together easily, and the skirt armor is very flexible, so it won’t easily fall off when the legs are moved for posing (unlike the Zaku, which can’t help but lose its skirt armor when you so much as brush it with a finger).

… unfortunately, the waist is so simple, I don’t have anything else to say! Thankfully the next post will be much more interesting.

Gunpla Chronicles 2 - Topcoating 2013-02-05

At this point, the Gundam is not yet complete, but with so many individual pieces now assembled, I decided it was time to give them some topcoat. When I built the Zaku, I ended up going through an entire can of paint. In fact, I ran out as I was spraying the last piece, before I could cover it all (thankfully this didn’t result in any obvious cosmetic flaws). I resolved to do better this time by being more accurate and efficient at this process.

My biggest mistake when painting the Zaku was that I held the spray can too far away from the pieces. After a single spray, the part would look like it had been left out during a light rain. It took far too many sprays to coat any one section of the model. This time around, I looked up tips on spraying techiniques, as well as on the best distance for holding the can. Did these techniques help save any paint? The jury is still out. I feel like I used less, but I did have to make multiple passes on several pieces. The can feels light, but it felt relatively light when I bought it, so I can’t quite gauge how much is in there. We’ll find out sooner or later, since I still have to paint some of the model’s biggest pieces.