Hello.. I'm new to Gunpla building.. is zippo fluid good alternative to Tamiya thinner? I want to use it for panel line cleaning. thanks

Yes, Zippo is good.

Hi, want to ask something,

I build a MG 00 Qant a few years ago, the nub are not that hard to remove or clear using hobby knife, but then, today I just bought a MG astray frame red kai which release on 2010. The nub are extremely hard to clear with hobby knife, as it feels very thick and hard..

So is this just my imagination or the older released kit's nub are just harder..

Thank you

You are not crazy in your assumptions. This is because older kits have bigger/thicker gates attached to the parts while newer kits have better production where they are thinner .

no wonder I feel like hard to cut down the nub using hobby knife, thought that my knife wasnt sharp enough.

Anyway, newbie here and I have only build a MG a few years ago, and now building MG astray red kai for my brother, and I feel like want to paint the gunpla, and I got a few question about it.


1. normally do I need to paint the whole gunpla? (MG), because sometimes after removing the nub, there will be a bit discoloration than the other parts right, If I only spray top coat on it, will there discoloration still there? or just barely visible one?


2. I wont be building many kits, but a few gundam that I like, so if I am gonna paint those, which type of painting would you suggest? hand painting or market or spray? airbrush too troublesome for me. And maybe I will just paint metallic color on the joints, weapons etc, as nowadays, the color on the body are quite good, especially on MG


3. recently I stumble upon removing seamline, like getting rid of the visible line especially on the leg parts etc, but I see that the newer MG gunpla have less of these ugly lines, so is it still necessarily to remove the seamline?


4. for the metallic parts in the runner, after cutting off the parts and removing the nub with sandpaper, the metallic color will bound to scrap off a bit right? normally how to solve this ya? gundam marker?


thank you

Where do you live ? i suggest you go to a nearby hobby store where a sifu can guide you. Some of these stores also have airbrush painting facilities, so you can try and also meet fellow modellers.

Sabah, very little gunpla builder here, and the model selling shops are very far from my house, thats why most of the skill etc I heard from web, but info not complete, too many question mark

1. The discoloration is due to stress mark underneath the plastic surface, can appear if during the process of removing the nub marks your cutting tools is not sharp enough or cut too close to the parts. If done properly there shouldnt be any marks (or minimal), but now that its there painting is the quickest way of removing it.

2. Marker and hand painting is ok for small parts, larger parts require alot of skill and steady hands to look great. If airbrush is troublesome maybe can try spray can, can get those from ace or any hardware shop though do be careful of which brand and type you choose, some are industrial grade which will corrodes soft plastic like gunpla. Its not cost effective in the long run but for only 1 or 2 kits its a viable alternative.

3. Newer kits seams lines blend in with the panel line so those you dont need to cement and sand. Those that do however will ultimately requires you to do some painting to finish it off.

4. Gunpla metallic is all electro-platted, its different from normal color that is molded into the plastic itself. The moment you cut from the runner the inner plastic mold, usually black in color, will be expose and nothing you can do about that. Marker will never match back the color, you can try hide it with marker if the part is small it'll not be noticeable but if its a large area the difference in color will be obvious. Painting over it entirely with a metallic color of your choice is the best method.

I see, thank you, then after painting the frame with metallic color, do I need to apply top coat over it? thank you

Preferable yes with a clear gloss overcoat but dont put too much of it, same goes to paint when dealing with painting inner frame. Joint areas that will move about will be tighter due to the additional layer of paints and coats.

want to ask, can we buy top coat (spray) from other country?

Nope.

not wonder its so expensive here, if local in Malaysia by poslaju?

You can buy from any stores in malaysia and poslaju is ok.

You cannot buy from overseas as there is a risk of explosion/illegal in some countries especially via air courier.

Hi I'm a newbie from Sabah as well. Currently facing difficulty finding a matte top coat. Most shopee shop decline to ship to sabah because spray can is dangerous (flammable)

Did you check with this store ??

yes, RM 48 per can, thats why I looking around for cheaper one

Just use industrial spray can like samurai. Much2 cheaper and easy to get as u have difficultt to get hobby grade spray can.

Invest for airbrush. The RM9-11 Mr.Hobby or Gaianotes 10ml bottle can last longer than spray canned.

I never go to spray top coat again.

This post has been edited by nazrul90: Nov 1 2018, 10:12 PM

Wow...this year maybe it's Indonesia's turn to win GBWC 2018