i hope i'm not offending anyone here..

i have to agree with lurker..

i know that most u learned gunpla the hard way, trial n error, countless researches, being a member in other forums and so on...

as a noob in gunpla, i'm still not confident enough in building my kits yet also with lack of time to build them..

the only thing i build were the artillery bcoz i'm afraid on deforming my kits...

as at 1st i dont mind but once i got here, its like i'm hyped but yet still unsure...

one of my questions is still unanswered, the method u guys build them..
a.whether u guys snap fit everything then only color it,
b.color them like danny choo does then build them and touch up along the way,
c.built and paint part by part,
d.just panel lining them

if u guys are reluctant in sharing ur knowledge, why dont u just create a thread, post all possible links for a noob like me, then pinned them so that u guys wont get any useless questions which should just be ignored and count them as ignorant questions..

this thread is already up to v4 and its like noobs like me are required to read up from v1 to avoid unnecessary questions...

assisting noobs arent spoon fed them, u just share ur knowledge yet noobs are going to do everything by themselves..mistakes will be made along the way but hey, its fun learning and the fact that there are ppl that wish to lend a helping hand *theoretically*, it'll be awesome...

sorry for the long post...

u can ignore this post if u feel that its irrelevant.

To be honest, there's no real one answer for that question. Different ppl has got different preferences, but method a) is the one that's least likely lar.

how you build it depends on how much free time u have and how long u wanna spend building the kit,
for option a. u can snap fit everything, check for defect, fix it with putty, sandpaper etc, do whatever modding u want, thn onli do the coloring, this method will takes longer time and option c. is actually a similiar method to a.
b. is faster as u color it on the runner, built it, once u built u do some touch up on certain area, as danny choo mention in his tutorial, is more for ppl who doesnt have that much free time but still want to color their kit
option d. is what i do, i only built and panel line them as i do not have the skill and the equipment for coloring my kit, occasionally i do some simple weathering and coloring using marker and pasterl. this is the easiest way to build a kit, but of course the result is not as good as the above two
choose the method u r most comfortable with, you dun have to follow how other ppl do it, u can always try out the easier method first and as u get more experience u can try coloring, etc

actually if u want to know the appropriate way, u can watch those modelling show which can find in youtube.....i hav already dl a lot of them including MG MK-II titan, MG RX-79 Ver. Ka, MG Quebeley, MG Gouf, MG Zaku, MG Kampfer, MG NT-1....but still all i can do i admire becoz i dun have airbrush yet......

n wan to ask 1 question....did u all scribe the panel line??n if yes, wat tool r u all using to scribe the panel line??thx for answering....

So, do you have any link teahing the modeller to modify the model? Or give some tutorial on how to build from scratch?
Thanks....

Yeah man, pls share... Currently, i have 3 unassembled units... But, most likely, i will do what valho is doing... (just the panel lining)...

before anyone can come out with a proper tutorial here or got a lots and lots of time to do it..then i can suggest you go to you tube..and type gunpla as search..the result will have some several master gundam in action videos..and you can get some ideas from them

before building a kit, consider this:
1) do you have all the equipment?
- DO research before starting.
- have putty? sandpaper? time?
- have airbrush? or handbrush? or spray cans?
- visualise ur color scheme?
- have right paint?
2) what do u hope to achieve? be realistic, this depend on skills and equipment.
3) how u paint the kits.. think before spraying or painting. will turn into nightmare if u start off the wrong foot. decide what color to put on first.

P/S: pls DON'T expect ur very first kit to look exactly like the ones u see in the magazines!!.. tat takes lotsa skills!!

This post has been edited by leddmirage: Apr 24 2007, 10:04 AM

For me it's:
a.a.whether u guys snap fit everything then only color it,

I assemble most of the parts 1st. Except the one's that i think would be difficult to take off or not necessary yet. I want to get the whole picture and also enjoy the assembly process.

This is important so that I can see how the parts fit, turn it around 360 degrees and look for things i like and don't like. If don't like then I'll think if i want to change or do something about it.

Sometimes I can see, this part is blocked by another, so I don't really need to paint as it can't be seen anyway.

Later will break the model apart into pieces again and paint, spray,putty, add stuff, But in my mind, i know how the parts are related to each other and it helps. If I putty or glue this part, later can't fix in the PC-XX or something. So the order you do the task is important.

If I am unsure, then I will spray on a similar plastic, use the leftover tree as a test and go on.

Since most of the tasks is actual handwork (cut,saw,sand,paint,mix,spray,draw....), you have to learn by experimenting, trying and doing. Then only you will realize eh like this, or hmm.. like that.Ooh..

At the same time keep reading , research and look at how others do their thing.

Same as you can't learn to drive by reading a book but never turning a steering wheel before.

So maybe QuackSilver, the starter of this thread can accept urls of galleries, tutorials online and put up on 1st page?

Or like duke_hunt mentioned, start another thread that strictly only lists links for gundams, transformers, military models and others.

do u have any tutorial on making those detail lining like the pro did, like adding a new panel lines? can anyone help me by directing me to the right direction? ahahhaha...

wanna test my designs skill on my unwanted MGs kit, decided dont want to sell it...

those master gundams most of the time never use lining markers..they use those enamel paint for the lining, but using this paint you need to make those line deep a bit with something sharp..like a compass sharp end..if you dont have those craft knife..

for those who just started gunpla..i do suggest that you just play around with just marker lining instead of jumping into painting straight..even how good your hand in painting on plain flat paper..painting a gundam is a different story already..you still can screw up ur expensive gundam.

painting a gundam till it looks so nice takes time..you need to practice and practice..then only you can get it right..not expect to have a great painting result on your first time building..

if you have no idea and first time building a gunpla..then forgot those sanding and puttying first..it can make your gundam worst later if in the middle process you dunno what else you wanna do or maybe you screw it already.

remember that sanding and putty means you need to color you gundam already as most of the time they leave stain and sratches.

for pre building your gundam and take it off all apart for painting..its better that you cut half all the male and female joint first..cause some parts, it just impossible to take it off back later on and maybe end up brake it. cut half the joint means you losen it and maybe you need to cement it before the final assembly..and this can skip the puttying process also.

for cutting those plastic from the runner..dont you playar please..hehe
if you can buy a gundam..im sure you can invest a bit more for the cutter..not saying to go ang get those rm80 tamiya cutter..the normal at hardware shop one will do good already.

i cannot think of any actual links or website that show how to build a gunpla from stage 1..i try to search before..and end up buying books about building gunpla last time..and its not cheap also..and somemore not in english

read and look the pictures only are not enough..whatever also you still need to trial and error with you gundams..lol

there is no easy way to learn something..hand on experience is the best..i screw almost 3 MG last time till i got it right..and my first HG last time i even pull the plastic with my bare hands from the runner..lol

try this link for gunpla building from some of the master gundams from japan
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer...g&search=Search

and finally..dont rush when building them..take your time and enjoy building it..no one rush you also right..lol

This post has been edited by VincC454: Apr 24 2007, 10:35 AM

hehe.. around RM10 only




This post has been edited by Lurker: Apr 24 2007, 10:35 AM

A, B, C, D....all also got

like everyone been saying that there is no real answer for this question..
one idividual got their own style of building..

but i can answer your question in different point of view...lol

a. not much people doing this style..as its kindda two times job..but you can get the picture on how your gundam looks like when it finish and also how to paint them

b. danny choo style means you need to touch up alot when you build them..this style is to spray straight to the plastic while it still attach to the runner..this style is not really good if you wanna do shadowing as when you snap them together..the color tone maybe different..meaning one side dark..the other might be lighter.. ..but also this style can be fast to build up your gundam complete with painting

c. this is my style..lol paint along the building..but this style can get confusing sometimes..and most of the time..you need to take out all the parts from the runner and need to remember their number and come from which runner..most of the time i just write at the back of the part their number..i use this style cause i think it less waste of paint and no need to mix the same color few times if you wanna use AB..i just cut all the same color parts and then spray them in one go. but this style takes time to build as you need to wait parts by parts to get fry first before continue..and its recommended to leave all your painting parts over night..to avoid even more worst paint cipping.

d. lol this one many people do, for those beginner.,.this is recomemded..also use by those dont have much time for their gundams. some people are satisfied already when they just do marker lining..but some people only satisfied when their gundam are been paint properly..

so as you can see..its totally different style for different people..
hope this help a bit

For those who don't know where to begin, here's the link.

http://gundamnotikara.com/kanntannfinissyupage.html

If you can read Japanese, this link will be very helpful. If you dont, it will still be helpfull since it's illustrated with pictures.

Have fun.

here's a comprehensive guide to gunpla in english:
http://www.fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02c-MGHowTo.html
taken from fichten foo's website

As for those seeking to weather or do battle damage on your gundam kits, http://codyscoop.com/ht-weathering.html has got a very good guide on it.


This post has been edited by mike_84: Apr 24 2007, 12:27 PM

yay...vincC454 already giv u all the answer....i also type plamo building in youtube n then dl all the related video.....but i really dunno wat kind of tools they r using for scribe panel line....anyone can help pls or share wit me wat kind of tools can be use for scribe panel line??thx.....

I do a slightly different variation of that. I apply the base coat to the pieces first. Then do a test fit on them to get a bigger picture of it, on where's the spots that I should darken and so on. Some areas, I'll dismantle for shading, while others I'll shade while partially assembled.

they use something called Scriber, go to www.hlj.com, do a search for scriber, and you can see different type that's available. its use to deepen the lines especially when u use enamel paint to the the panel line instead of marker