Actually, for any forms of paint that comes from a spray can, its recommended to do this.

for some reason, it looked more to me like the ZC1 got clamped for illegal parking

That's likely to mean 2 things:
- the thinner used by the Tamiya Pear Clear spray is the same thinner used by the gundam line markers
- you've sprayed too thickly and too fast. give it a light mist over, wait about 10 seconds, then second mist, repeat until u get the desired effect rather than blasting away at the model.

Well, I guess there's some terms for you to look up on when it comes to Gundam Modelling. Its cute that you're actually trying to learn about gundam models 'cause your brother started on them

Check out: http://www.dannychoo.com/blog_entry/eng/24...m+modeling+FAQ/

He gives a brief run through on the differences between HG, MG, PG and so on. Normally the model type is identified by 2 things, the scale and the grade. For example: 1/144 HG, 1/100 MG and so on.

As for the painting, the ideal way is to use an airbrush, but that can be quite an investment indeed, and only ought to be considered later on, should your brother really gets serious about gundam modelling. So I guess u can start with hand brushes, using the water based Tamiya Acrylics (not the most ideal solution for hand painting either, but its the most readily available paints for such).

Also, consider getting one of the even cheaper imitation models just to use as a base for experiments and learning. Making mistakes and learning from mistakes is what experimenting is about, and its less heart aching to blotch up on an imitation model compared to messing up a genuine Bandai. Also that one single imitation test model can be used multiple times, all u need to do is strip off the paint (just soak the model in a mix of dish washing and laundry detergent for a few hours, and the paint (refering to Tamiya Acrylics here) will come off easily with minor scrubbing).

ooo... paint stripping issue Ok, first question to ask is, what sort of paint r u using? This is very important, as it determines the paint stripping method to be used.

There's always ways to recover such messups, just need the right method, and also the right amount of patience, that's all

ah ok.. that's pretty easy. Like 0300078 suggested earlier, use Zippo fluid. Those ought to be pretty easily available. Turpentine's cheaper, but well, it stinks real bad. If the stains r especially stubborn, then soak the part in the fluid for about 1 minute before scrubbing (just don't smoke while doing this!)

Nail polish remover not really suitable. While it can eventually remove the gundam marker ink, it's likely to attack the plastic rather badly at the same time too.

Just to share the results of my latest experiments.

Objective: U've seen the armour surface of those mobile suits that's spent too long in space right? Pot Marked surface, after spending too long being plummeted by space debries of various sizes, especially the smaller ones that don't really damage the MS, but just leave marks on the surface. So was wondering on how to achieve this.

Considerations: Thinner that eats plastic was my first thought. However the tough part here is trying to figure out how not to overdo it, and how to do it right. Rubbing thinner on the surface wont do, as it'll just leave a rough surface all over. Same goes for submerging the plastic in thinner. It'll just warp completely.


Solution: Took a container of water, added thinner (1 part thinner to 30 part water) into it (they don't mix btw.). Soak the plastic pieces in there. Close the container, shake very well. Leave for an hour.

The Results:



The piece was originally a dark blue, and this is after I've sprayed on a thin layer of Mr Surfacer (to get it ready for painting, and also to make the markings more visible to be shown here). Should there be too much of such markings for your liking, then u can fill it up by applying Mr Surfacer using a paint brush right out of the bottle, then do a bit of sanding work.


This post has been edited by fyire: Jun 26 2007, 01:58 AM

Well, it does take a very brave soul to go and test this out on a Bandai first, of which I'm not that brave either

I actually started testing using the left over frames from an older model, looked at the effect, then moved onto some armor panels from a Bendi model, before I went and did the weathering on the actual model itself.

---

Added on June 26, 2007, 10:17 pmThis one's an AoZ Hazel.

This post has been edited by fyire: Jun 26 2007, 10:17 PM

eeeeee... if it is the MKII, then I would be

Was at the Toy Museum in Penang, and found this little fellow there:




Attached thumbnail(s)

Anybody tried one of the Votoms models before?

http://dalong.net/review/etc/bt1/bt1_p.htm

Looks pretty good. Anybody seen this model or others in this series in KL?

actually, the newer SDs r even more detailed, taking my SD Astray as an example. You've got a point about the colors, where the colors for the SDs r just as limited, but the details of the later ones r far sharper than the FG here.

here's mine Picked this fellow up from BTS. Its quite readily available from most shops too.

yupyup. its been painted, hence the less plastic look to it, although I did keep the colors to the original, just gave it a slightly more metalic look overall.

damn.. that's the wet dreams of gunpla modellers.. resin right? how much u paid for that?

MG Destroy? Pretty pretty pretty please?

Yup, its called shading. If you're to look carefully at the pic, you'll find that the entire model is shaded subtly in such a manner as well, not just the white bits.

More specifically, the technique most often used is called pre-shading, where the darker areas r applied first at the edges, followed by the lighter colors in the middle.

heh.. gold's one of the nightmare colors to handle Kinda difficult to get hold of a nice gold out of the can. What I tend to do is to experiment with a mix of transparent yellow and orange together with normal silver, until I get the shade of 'gold' that I like.

---

Added on September 3, 2007, 9:40 pmFrom a rod that slim looking as in the pic, yeah, my best guess will be drilling. It wont be sturdy enough otherwise. Should be pretty ok for a non-transformable MS, where u wont be drilling into anything critical in the butt area of the model

This post has been edited by fyire: Sep 3 2007, 09:40 PM

hmm.. should be those on here who can do it for u for less than RM650

U gotta really see for yourself what kinda work's involved to understand why it can take up to 1-2 months lar. Even the tiny 25mm warhammer figurines may take up to almost 1 day each for the really detailed ones already.

Likely that it can be done in just one month, but the 1-2 month estimate is given just in case something comes up (some other stuff comes up not to do with the model, as most of those doing such works r only doing it in their spare time, and has got other work to do as well).