free, it's an open event, they display the contestant work on sat and sunday if i recall

I heard they will sell MG Sazabi ver Ka mechanical clear

Australia gunpla building community is improving ....wouldn't be surprised if the win the GBWC in near future!

i assumed you airbrushed the kit ? if not, how many layers of top coat did you put?

You should topcoat a few layers before snapping them together

Split the head, arms, legs and body for top coat is the fastest and cost effective way. Unless you having OCD that every pieces need to top coat perfectly...

if your problem is paint getting scratched because of the parts rubbing together, sand down the inside of the parts that will be touching.

the main areas in this case I suspect would be the thigh armor scratching against the knee joint, as well as forearm scratching the elbow joint? because the parts fit just nice before painting, after 2 or 3 layers of paint buildup the parts will be too tight. dont need to sand a lot. just slightly to avoid touching.

My experience with this is to airbrush the parts until it look wet but not overflow the paint/top coat to have better strength on resisting scratches. But do mind the part size will slightly bigger due to extra paint and top coat on surface especially for inner frame or joint you need to take note on it.

just wanna ask where can i print customer decal.
i mean i wanna print white logo in transparent decal. but my printer takde white ink, so looking for custom printing. size A4.

Tq.

If you use your thumb gently/litter force rub the surface did your hand get colored? If yes that mean the surface is painted with too dry during airbrush (high pressure) so you might want to try airbrush it till look misty wet like suggested earlier. For movable joint between parts like Shauno suggest can sand down to make some gap between avoid direct contact.

Edit: Matte surface suppose to feel bit rough compare to gloss.

i have transparent & white based decal. but for gradient color it failed to print out.
Bsides normal printer quality is not HD.
I want to reprint F1 Mp4 13 decal.

If anything, top coat makes things worse, because you're adding another layer and making the area thicker. anyway, try sanding down. there is no visible difference on how the kit looks. if it doesn't work. there is not issue

Actually top coat does help prevent scratch. My kit after finish paint I forgot to top coat and after fiddling the kit for a while got some minor scratch on it.

Also cut your finger nail. It is more likely scratch on surface

Feel I need to clarify a bit. As poster above mention, top coat WILL provide protection. However, if your paints are getting scratched off because of rubbing between parts, it won't help much.

Even if you've painted you can still go back and sand down the insides a bit. Not the end of the world..

Sometime old/aged plastic kits may not so strong but I have yet to encounter any yet, maybe you put too much force with your thumb ? And yes lacquer paint do have corrosion element same with panel line too, so it could eat and stick to plastic surface.

OMG... I'm so unwilling to buy and build PG red frame all over again.... 

It is not about size. It is the value of the kit.
Big isnt always better. See the old NG kits.
The palm size means you can display it everywhere including on office table. More flexible to play and good for photography shot. Smaller kit good for macro shot.

Belum cuba belum tahu.
Just focus on newest HG or go into RG line. Its improved so much like MG already.

I dont know why people keep think big is better. Maybe they already see the goodness of MG and no longer look back at other grade such as HG. Used to think that way too so the 1st gunpla kit I bought is the MG and broke it

In my case I dont exclusively collect in certain grade/scale because I equally like all of them. The interest keep grow over time (for example I dont really like grunt units when I was beginner but now I collect them more like Gundam units)
It is not because it is old plastic. ABS plastic is known weaker to lacquer based paint. So Bandai often recommend acrylic based paint for painting instead.

Avoid paint inner frame with lacquer based paint and you will fine.

Take your time to play, I had same problem like you on first few kits painted build since no much experience things doesn't go really well. Once you get used to it you can make a nice and beautiful kits too.

Which zaku kits you having problem with? MG Zaku 2.0?

-second that

personal preference.

and depending your display style.

if all cramped in a detolf it will look untidy & messy and really see nothing unless you go in closer.

if put 1 or 2 on table, then better.

That was analogy anyway. I dont have like 100 units HG to display in single shelf. My actual display is only 10 unit HG mixed with display scale cars and tanks. Some Nendoroid figure and toys inside too. But I would do that if I buy 2-3 Ikea detolf. Standard Katoki style standing pose only. No Action Base inside so no cramped style display but multiple glass detolf with enough room for HGs to stand.

As I said in previous post, HG is portable size. You can put it anywhere including office table. Not only in glass detolf
It is a sign of hobby passion. There are similar collecting hobbies out there and they are not much different than gunpla. They collect and display too.

Dedicating a showcase display is better than just err showcase boxes of unbuilt kits...

You might find this messy but this kind of display that attract people more to look into it. Heck gunpla shop would be boring if got nothing to showcase similar to this.

Here's what it would look like with a relatively straightforward paint and decals.
[attachmentid=9675056]
[attachmentid=9675042]

Pics taken from Tai's Factory @ zgmfxg.web.fc2.com