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Gunpla

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Anyone build a Gunpla before? It has blown up in popularity in recent years, approaching 1 billion kits sold worldwide. Naturally something to be inclined towards if you have an interest in engineering.

Beginner level:



Pro level:



People go all out with the painting and detailing, turning them into works of art.

 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Back when I actually had an office, I worked with a guy who was really proud of one he made with his daughter. He had it in one of those glass collector's domes in his office. Said it took him weeks, and it looked like it. Lots of little details.

This must have been 2018 or so, pre pandemic, so he and his kid were ahead of the curve it seems.
 

Porcile

Member
It's a nice alternative alternative to screen time and if you're into the various Gundam animes that exist it's really fun to collect the models from the shows you like.

The downsides are you spend a lot of time hunched over and fiddling with tiny bits of plastic, and personally I find the basic building not much more creatively stimulating that putting together Lego. Customising is definitely where it's at bit you might not have the space to do it etc
 
xOfPxRO.png

This is the real starter set. Entry Grade. I've got them all but only put together RX-78-2. 🙈
 
the engineering Bandai puts into these kits is pretty insane.

Bandai has significantly expanded its plastic model kits outside of Gundam in past decades. There's kits for star wars, dragon ball, one piece, ultraman, kamen rider, macross, etc. All snap together, so all beginner friendly.
 

InterMusketeer

Gold Member
I had some as a kid, but they got pretty banged up during play. Of course they weren't really suited for that. I preferred the proper action figures I got later.

About a decade ago I decided to give it another shot and bought a Real Grade. Those are really nice. Incredibly detailed, highly poseable. Not that big nor expensive. But I just don't know what to do with them once built. I can't get them to look as nice as factory-made figures so they're kind of disappointing for display. Not really my kinda thing.
 

Porcile

Member
I had some as a kid, but they got pretty banged up during play. Of course they weren't really suited for that. I preferred the proper action figures I got later.

About a decade ago I decided to give it another shot and bought a Real Grade. Those are really nice. Incredibly detailed, highly poseable. Not that big nor expensive. But I just don't know what to do with them once built. I can't get them to look as nice as factory-made figures so they're kind of disappointing for display. Not really my kinda thing.
Do you mean looking like the images on the box? They apply paint and panel line the models on the box and then obviously use some studio lighting Straight out the box is never going to look as good as the pictures you see unfortunately.
 

JBat

Member
I attempted the Evangelion Unit 01 perfect grade a few years ago, the one with the little rubber gimp suit, and fucked it up beyond repair... Really sucks because it's a super cool model. Haven't been able to bring myself to try again. Before that I did put together the Deathscythe hell version master grade. Was always my favorite from Gundam Wing. But it looks like crap because the stickers suck. Been painting Warhammer minis and getting halfway decent at painting so might dig it up and make it look good if I get some time
 

InterMusketeer

Gold Member
Do you mean looking like the images on the box? They apply paint and panel line the models on the box and then obviously use some studio lighting Straight out the box is never going to look as good as the pictures you see unfortunately.
I had some Gundam Markers and used them to draw the panel lines, but that wasn't enough to get them looking real nice. I don't have the skill to do additional painting, so that was the best I could do.
 

Blade2.0

Member
I did a perfect grade when I was living in China. I also have never made one again. 😅😅😅 It was a fun project, to be sure, but I'm not subjecting myself to that again.
 

Wheeljack539

Gold Member
the engineering Bandai puts into these kits is pretty insane.

Bandai has significantly expanded its plastic model kits outside of Gundam in past decades. There's kits for star wars, dragon ball, one piece, ultraman, kamen rider, macross, etc. All snap together, so all beginner friendly.

Regarding engineering their Real Grade line (1/144 scale) has now started their 2.0 variants. There's been some changes done to the inner frames which was talked about in their PV video released last week:

 

BlackTron

Member
Yeah back when Toonami first started airing DBZ and Gundam Wing I became an instant Gundam fan and bought a few when Toys R Us first started carrying them. I remember the staff chatting about how they were the "next big thing" catching on. I did three 1/100 scale but they aren't really in good shape any more, but I still have the remains in the original boxes somewhere. I was kinda a kid and used them like action figures when I was done making and painting them lol. Wing Zero, Deathsythe and Epyon. But the one I really always wanted was HEAVYARMS CUSTOM...JFC man do you think he has enough missiles?

qZvidYM.jpeg
 

Wheeljack539

Gold Member
Yeah back when Toonami first started airing DBZ and Gundam Wing I became an instant Gundam fan and bought a few when Toys R Us first started carrying them. I remember the staff chatting about how they were the "next big thing" catching on. I did three 1/100 scale but they aren't really in good shape any more, but I still have the remains in the original boxes somewhere. I was kinda a kid and used them like action figures when I was done making and painting them lol. Wing Zero, Deathsythe and Epyon. But the one I really always wanted was HEAVYARMS CUSTOM...JFC man do you think he has enough missiles?

qZvidYM.jpeg

No, he doesn't:


cfc20d6404.jpg

heavyigel_46.jpg
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
EviLore EviLore ,

Are you getting into Gundam? I've made like 30 of them. Let me see if I can find a photo of them.
May as well bring back some kits from Japan. And for sure, show us the goods!
I attempted the Evangelion Unit 01 perfect grade a few years ago, the one with the little rubber gimp suit, and fucked it up beyond repair... Really sucks because it's a super cool model. Haven't been able to bring myself to try again. Before that I did put together the Deathscythe hell version master grade. Was always my favorite from Gundam Wing. But it looks like crap because the stickers suck. Been painting Warhammer minis and getting halfway decent at painting so might dig it up and make it look good if I get some time
I hear the Eva PG rubber suit is all but guaranteed to tear. But it’s a cool model yeah.
 

NecrosaroIII

Ultimate DQ Fan
May as well bring back some kits from Japan. And for sure, show us the goods!
Ask and thou shall receive.

20240515-161548.jpg


There are a few more that I've built, but have given as gifts to people, or have tossed out due to being broken. I have about 7 in my backlog I need to finish.

Mostly HGs. I like the variety of the line provides, as well as the scale. I got some RGs as well, which are more detailed but flimsier. Some amazing articulation though.

Most of them are UC Mobile Suits. Admitedly, my interest goes as far as UC. Not really a fan of most AUs, but I still give them a shot.
 
Was into it for a few years. Mainly just built MG and really liked the 2.0 style builds(Those had great quality and articulation coupled with cool inner frames). Unfortunately the MG size/line has greatly diminished to the point of nearly being phased out in favor of HG. Unfortunately HG are too small for me to enjoy the building process (Not to mention the price creep) and while PG are awesome, they're way too big for the space I have available. "Luckily" I only care about UC-era Gundam, so I mostly ran out of Gundam-based mechs I was interested in building anyway. =P

I did start checking out some of the Moderoid kits from Good Smile Company, who has been putting out some oldschool mechas that look very nice even on a raw build. Built the Xabungle and Galvion which came out very nice and have their Orguss and Garland(Megazone23) on pre-order. Going by JP youtubers, those came out quite well too.
 

Porcile

Member
Any of these for robotech? I’d love to do the sdf1 or something from skull squadron.

There are model kits for like every Japanese franchise including Macross but not all of them are made with the simplicity, precision and clever engineering of Bandai's kits. Especially if they are old. Part of the charm of Gunpla is putting the seemingly random pieces together and it suddenly becoming a fully posable arm or leg. Some other kits, even the more expensive ones, are just bog-standard models that require a lot of extra painting too.
 

JBat

Member
May as well bring back some kits from Japan. And for sure, show us the goods!

I hear the Eva PG rubber suit is all but guaranteed to tear. But it’s a cool model yeah.
Most of the issues I had were my own fault. The rubber suit actually went on fine for me. Just got to lube it up enough. Taking it off was another story. Somehow I managed to put the shoulder pieces on backwards and didn't realize it until the suit was on. It about split in two trying to take it off enough to fix my mistake. The other major problem I had was the torso armor. Half the little pegs broke during installation and the other half broke while trying to pose the model. It was fun to build but you need to be extremely precise and gentle
 
I love them in the sense that I find them very cool and are basically an art to itself. but too bad I don't have the talent or the disposable income for them. I have a few boxes sitting in the closet as collection but that's about it. did get my friend one of the cheaper limited edition RX78-F00 from Yokohama Gundam Factory when I was there last year. and the 1:1 one that moves is really awesome to see in action up close. the Daiba Unicorn Gundam is also very cool too. hell, I was there back when they have the original RX78-2.










 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Robot Carnival Robot Carnival unfortunately they scrapped the RX-78 Gundam Factory a couple months ago despite its popularity. Maybe they’ll build something else. Cool that you got to see it though!
 
Robot Carnival Robot Carnival unfortunately they scrapped the RX-78 Gundam Factory a couple months ago despite its popularity. Maybe they’ll build something else. Cool that you got to see it though!

yeah, I was aware of it when I was doing some research for my next trip. it's sad for anyone who never got to see it in person before, but that's kinda how things are sometimes. when Japan do limited stuff, they tend to mean it. and yeah, hopefully they'll make something new with the experience they have now from all the 1:1 Gundams they made so far. I actually got a bit teary eyed when I was standing there watching the 1:1 RX78 started moving along with the Gundam music and the voice of Amuro comes up along with the "performance". this is something I've been watching since I was a child actually coming to reality (even if it's in a limited version) and it just moved me in a way I can't really describe.
 

lachesis

Member
Well, used to make gun-pla as one of my main hobby up to birth of my child (2007)
I think I have some pics of them somewhere - but can't seem to find. (probably backed up somewhere on a CD)

Only thing I have left on my computer is this one. It's Bandai R3 L-Gaim Mk-II.
A pretty niche kit, from this Anime called "Heavy Metal L-gaim" that came out in 80s.
Kinda hard to find the finished piece, as far as I could tell.

I'm a big Nagano mech/FSS fan. (hence my name lol) - He had some mech designs in Zeta Gundam as well.
This happens to be my last kit that I made. I still have tower of gun-pla kits in the basement which I haven't touched.
Some are old ones like original Gundam plamodels from 80s.

I mean to go back and make some once I have time to spare... but would have be more health conscious when doing airbrushing with lacquer paints.


jRqywzO.jpeg


IsZF7oi.jpeg


dIpZKny.jpeg


xMG2MaM.jpeg


22QELBN.jpeg


4g1CFmS.jpeg


q941hjp.jpeg
 
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May as well bring back some kits from Japan. And for sure, show us the goods!

I hear the Eva PG rubber suit is all but guaranteed to tear. But it’s a cool model yeah.

Not gunpla, but i build kits, lots of em. Are you coming to Japan? Lemme know if you wanna hit up some places. Ill show you where to get some cheap kits as well.
 
Well, used to make gun-pla as one of my main hobby up to birth of my child (2007)
I think I have some pics of them somewhere - but can't seem to find. (probably backed up somewhere on a CD)

Only thing I have left on my computer is this one. It's Bandai R3 L-Gaim Mk-II.
A pretty niche kit, from this Anime called "Heavy Metal L-gaim" that came out in 80s.
Kinda hard to find the finished piece, as far as I could tell.

I'm a big Nagano mech/FSS fan. (hence my name lol) - He had some mech designs in Zeta Gundam as well.
This happens to be my last kit that I made. I still have tower of gun-pla kits in the basement which I haven't touched.
Some are old ones like original Gundam plamodels from 80s.

I mean to go back and make some once I have time to spare... but would have be more health conscious when doing airbrushing with lacquer paints.


jRqywzO.jpeg


IsZF7oi.jpeg


dIpZKny.jpeg


xMG2MaM.jpeg


22QELBN.jpeg


4g1CFmS.jpeg


q941hjp.jpeg
Two in the box, primed and ready to go ...can you guess?
oYDMJWo.jpeg
 

22:22:22

NO PAIN TRANCE CONTINUE
These guys are talented af imo. Looking at those pics. It reminds me a Warhammer diorama contest winner showing his work in a video.

Sorry if off topic



Just wow.
 

lachesis

Member
Two in the box, primed and ready to go ...can you guess?
oYDMJWo.jpeg
KOG and Vatshu the black night? :).

I have some older Wave FSS injection kits that have been sitting there for 20 years lol. Still remembering the impact that when I first saw NewType magazine and the LED Mirage flame launcher pics back in the day!
New GTM designs are weird, but after seeing them for few years, I think I kinda got used to it. Still, I prefer older FSS designs...
 

Mr1999

Member
I saw them often at the hobby store I would frequent, quality looking stuff, they were even selling the small rivets to give your models more bling.
 

Miyazaki’s Slave

Gold Member
One of my business partners is heavy into 40k - Xwing - now Star Wars legion. Not as detailed mechanically as the Gundam models but the level of detail they go into for painting these figures is insanity.

They just look so damn good, I cannot comprehend the amount of patience that would take.

Major respect for folks who can complete these builds...the green Gundam suit with all the moving armor pieces looks incredible.
 
KOG and Vatshu the black night? :).

I have some older Wave FSS injection kits that have been sitting there for 20 years lol. Still remembering the impact that when I first saw NewType magazine and the LED Mirage flame launcher pics back in the day!
New GTM designs are weird, but after seeing them for few years, I think I kinda got used to it. Still, I prefer older FSS designs...
on the left is juneon and on the right is Knight of Gold. I also have the complete boomerang unit waiting to be built. They were also sitting there for about twenty years but now that i live in japan...its so cheap and easy to get supplies

JUNCHOON1_100.jpg
PATRAQUSHIE.jpg
led_boomerang.jpg
 

lachesis

Member
on the left is juneon and on the right is Knight of Gold. I also have the complete boomerang unit waiting to be built. They were also sitting there for about twenty years but now that i live in japan...its so cheap and easy to get supplies

JUNCHOON1_100.jpg
PATRAQUSHIE.jpg
led_boomerang.jpg
Lucky you! Junon, of course. I was looking at the spear arm guard, and that looked same as Vatshu’s. :).

I don’t know about now, but it was very hard in 2000s to get Gunze Mr. Color lacquer here in the states, as well as some nifty tools. It was always a struggle to find some good substitutions and a lot of it was a trial and error.

I was working on KOG semi-transparent gold for a resin kit long time ago, and had to settle with Testor gold enamel. (It’s a good gold color though). Hobby scene here is more geared towards scale models - so sometimes it’s hard to find some special color. I really should look into the modeling scene. :)

Good luck with your kits and hope you will share some pics! :)
 
Also a heads up for people in the US, physical Hobby Lobby stores have been pretty good about stocking Gunpla lately. And every other week they have a 40% off sale on boxed model kits.

Picked up the MG Aile Strike Gundam Ver. RM from mine just today. Though it's getting added to the backlog lmao.

EDIT: I didn't get all of these from Hobby Lobby btw. Only ones in this image that I did are the Aile Strike, RX-78 Ver 3.0, and Sinanju.


PXL-20240518-063542931.jpg
 
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EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Also a heads up for people in the US, physical Hobby Lobby stores have been pretty good about stocking Gunpla lately. And every other week they have a 40% off sale on boxed model kits.

Picked up the MG Aile Strike Gundam Ver. RM from mine just today. Though it's getting added to the backlog lmao.


PXL-20240518-063542931.jpg
Hah, nice haul. 40% off US MSRP might kill any savings of picking things up in Japan tbh. For skus carried in the US at least.
 

Haemi

Member
This looks really cool.

I've gifted myself Cada technic cars this year and last year for easter. Took around 24h pure buildtime for each car.

This could be interesting as a next build project. What is the most complex model and how long would it take to build it?
 
Lucky you! Junon, of course. I was looking at the spear arm guard, and that looked same as Vatshu’s. :).

I don’t know about now, but it was very hard in 2000s to get Gunze Mr. Color lacquer here in the states, as well as some nifty tools. It was always a struggle to find some good substitutions and a lot of it was a trial and error.

I was working on KOG semi-transparent gold for a resin kit long time ago, and had to settle with Testor gold enamel. (It’s a good gold color though). Hobby scene here is more geared towards scale models - so sometimes it’s hard to find some special color. I really should look into the modeling scene. :)

Good luck with your kits and hope you will share some pics! :)
I usually buy mr hobby aqueous, about 250 yen a bottle here. In the states it was so pricey to buy paints that i would buy primary colors and mix and cause disasters. Now i just buy exact colors.

each plastic container on the balcony has about 20 kits per drawer


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