A community for any and all things relating to Mobile Suit Gundam. Other giant robot series are welcome too!
Does anyone have some gunpla they've put together recently, or that they're working on?
Here's an old RS-178 MKII PG kit I assembled recently. Still deciding how I want to detail him, but as my first PG the level of detail and articulation is really cool.
Hello! I'm glad you made this, I do not have any gunpla to contribute but I loved looking at the subreddit and wholly support you here
The most recent Gunpla I've built was my attempt at making a "GM Tank" using the treads from the 30MM tank exa-vehicle as the lower legs. That part didn't work out too well (the treads are too long, and the bar-and-c-clip attachment point doesn't work too well as a knee) but I like the way the rest of the build turned out (Ez-SR torso and arms, 30MM Essposito head, Northern Pod backpack, Builders Parts HD cannons, Final Faction arm-guns.)
Before that I made a version of the obscure Transformers character Halogen (he showed up for like two pages in a 2010s comic and was blown up by Megatron) using the Essposito body (same one that I used for the GM Tank,) Ez-SR head and Northen Pod wings. I'm more proud of that one.
And before that I made a "Coronation Starscream" out of the HGBF Wing Zero Honoo (no parts customization here, just paint.) I think that one also turned out pretty well.
I just got back into gunpla after like 9 years not building, here's the HG Aerial I finished a while back. First time airbrushing, was super impressed by the color separation which made it pretty easy to paint.
Also made some trails for the gund bits out of washi tape and wire, might upgrade to those 3D printed ones eventually.
Wow, those colors look fantastic. I've been debating on getting an airbrushing setup, have any reccomendations?
My HG Aerial is in the mail and I can only hope it comes out looking half this nice.
I started out with a basic harbor freight set; definitely would not recommend. The airbrush is siphon feed so IMO it was a pain to clean, and the compressor didn't come with a tank or regulator.
I bought an Iwata Neo CN a while back, which has been pretty fantastic in comparison. Easy to use, easy to clean. I'm still using the HB compressor because I bought a regulator specifically for it, but I'd definitely recommend just getting one with everything. Regulator is important to be able to control your spray pressure, and the tank will store air and keep your compressor from running all the time. Right now in the hotter months I've been worried about it overheating.
Also if you're spraying indoors a spray booth and respirator are a must, otherwise you're going to be breathing in all those paint fumes.
Good luck with your Aerial! She's a great kit, I was really impressed by the engineering and I'd recommend her to anyone.
I've been using an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS for about a year now and I'm very happy with it. It's a good choice if you have the budget and only want one airbrush, since you can swap the included .35mm needle+nozzle out with a .5mm set to do things like prime. I use a master airbrush TC-326T compressor, which has been good. It has a regulator with water trap, and that water trap has been good enough for my dry climate. My paint booth is just homemade with a bathroom fan and furnace filter, gets the job done. For respirator, I just grabbed one intended for painting from Home Depot.
And I might as well include an image of my latest finished project, just for fun 😊.
Do either of you guys have any tutorials you would recommend to see what airbrushing and detailing/customizing a kit at these higher levels would look like? I've always been curious at the workflows to get this kind of detail/quality.
I know of blogs like Good Guy Dan that have a lot of gunpla tutorials; the set for the HG Sinanju looks like it touches on a lot of what you're looking for.
Personally I don't have a particular go to place though, most of the time if I have a specific question on like thinning ratios or how to use something I search discord or the first few pages of Google. A lot of like military modeling forums out there where the advice still applies to gunpla, stuff like that.
Its not truly a Gunpla, but im easing myself into building those by this sweet lego Barbatos MOC I found, lol
Here's my RG Nu and Sazabi!
I'm a casual-- I only have two HG kits to my name and the one I've actually built, I forgot the name of the Gundam! Someone cooler than me can tell me what it is if they know... don't make fun of me for it being a lil dusty, haha.
I also have Char's mobile suit Z'Gok, but I got it as an Xmas gift and I haven't had time to build it. Maybe I'll post an update when it's done.
I do like older Gundam, but tbh I am mostly a Witch from Mercury stan. Wish I could get an Aerial kit!
That's the "American Type" Gundam. It's an Entry Grade, though, not a High Grade.
oh thanks! Wow yeah showing my ignorance, huh?
Both of these were bought for me by a friend! He's the best!
High Grades are generally a bit more detailed, complicated and expensive than Entry Grades, but since the High Grade line has been going on for so long there's been a lot of variation there. They're the same scale, though, so if there's both a High Grade and Entry Grade version of a design you like it's really just a matter of preference which one you pick.
Cool! Am I right that the Z'Gok is a high grade? It's got HG on the front but, like, I ain't an expert
Yeah. There's only been three Gundam Entry Grade kits so far; the original RX-78-2 (which you have a colour variation of,) the Strike Gundam (the main suit for the early episodes of Gundam Seed) and the Nu Gundam (from the movie Char's Counterattack.) High Grade's been going on for decades, though, so there's tonnes of kits in that line. As I said, they're a bit more complicated than the Entry Grades, but as long as you're able to follow the instructions it shouldn't be too bad.
I had some issues finding Aerial at local hobby stores and online for a while, but then I found 3 just casually sitting on a shelf at Target! Good luck with your search. I'm still trying to track down an Aerial Rebuild for a reasonable price.
About to get started on this one this weekend!
I don’t have any pictures of past builds at the moment but I’m currently building the MG Epyon.
Is that a newer release or an older kit?
I think it’s from 2011. At least that’s what the description on Amazon states.