[AnimeUNSW] Gunpla Q&A

[Mithril]

Anyway as per the title, post your questions here and someone will answer them...Hopefully

Also please note, do not spam this thread. I rarely do this but I will actively mod this thread.

[Mak0]

Yay for Mithmod! Guess i'll have a post since i'm someone who's never painted his gundam before. Hopefully someone can answer a couple of questions about painting & paints!

1. Acrylic vs. Enamel
-I know acrylic is polymer based and dries quickly and that enamel is oil based and dries slower but i'm not too sure which paint type to pick, can anyone give the pro's and con's of using Acrylic and Enamel paints.

2. Brands of paint
-From the paints available at Hobby Co. the three kinds of paints that i've heard of before are Gunze, Tamiya & Humbrol. Is there much difference between the paint brands other than Humbrol tins having the annoying to open top?

[PenPen-kun]

i use acrylic. the upside is if you want a thin coat, you can dilute it in water, its just easier. you can make a very thin and weathered effect with it because it is water soluble and you can get watercolor effect. enamel i don't think you can do the same effect but rhyan might be able to shed some light on that because i don't use enamel for actual painting. all i know is it gives a beautiful fresh out of the factory gloss finish, which some people love.

i don't use enamel simply because when i make my tank models i mod it to make it look battle worn. if its glossy it look like my brand new Sherman got keyed by some punk ass Nazi SS cos they are jealous of the new blings. simply put, i can't get the battleworn effect with a glossy look. it just doesn't look right.

but from what i know also, enamel has a much better metalic effect because their pigment is finer. i use enamel for the gunmetal parts now, it comes out nicer. but i avoid using enamel when doing the bodywork.


in regards to the paint brand, i use tamiya brand. its got acrylic pigment suspended in something clear that i am not quite sure what it is. there is a pasty type which looks like one of those tube acrylic paint which i also use, its a no frills one. they feel a bit rubbery and plasticky when dried unlike the tamiya one that when you scratch it, it is flaky. for a large surface area i prefer the plasticky one because it does not crumble off when it is accidentally scratched off before i apply the topcoat. for small details the tamiya one is beautiful as it can be easily worked with water or solvent which gives different effect.

the brand is really more of your accuired taste based on experience using different ones imo.

[rhyan@hobbyco]

^ Edwin's pretty spot on there .Personally I like to airbrush acrylics simply because its much easier to clean up afterwards (Yes i'm a lazy modeler)like what he said you wash up with water,it's easy to thin down being water based and so on, however using acrylics has its pitfalls, compared to enamels they aren't as durable so it can scratch easier if not properly primed and sealed.

Acrylic also dries faster than enamels in fact sometimes it dries so fast that I would have to mix in a retarding agent to slow it down lol there have been instances when I was air brushing acrylics and the fine paint particles would dry mid air before it hits the surfaces giving you a somewhat dusty paint finish.Another thing with enamels is I would have to be extra careful in giving it sufficient drying time, there's nothing worse picking up a part and its not properly cured, afterwhich you end up leaving a fingerprint on you work.Regardless if I'm using enamels or acrylics I let my airbrushed pieces dry out for a week so that I can give it time to properly cure so that the finish is durable this is especially critical for our Gundam models because we are always handling and posing them.

My paint of choice is Gunze (Mr Color) acrylics its really nice to aibrush and the color pallete is huge (300+ colors)! requires little to no thining sometimes its ready to airbrush out of the bottle,next up is Tamiya it's similar to Mr Color but color pallet isn't as wide,sometimes their flat colors dries out too flat and kinda chalky,Gunze flat colors is in between flat and semi gloss which I think is perfect for Gundam models.Only time I use enamels is when I don't have any other choice or I'm airbrushing metallics since they have finer metallic flakes compared to acrylics. For those special projects such as a PG build and I need the best mettalic finish I recommend Alclad! It's the best mettalic paint around, nothing comes close to it! only down side is that its ridiculously expensive $15.50 for 10oz bottle (ouch) but then again you wont go cheap on paint if your working on a PG model right lol Oh and then there's Games Workshop acrylic paints, I love their colors, this is by far the most delicate and fragile out of all paints, perfect for miniatures but on a Gundam I still haven't been able to make it work the way I want it to, last time I used it I took shortcuts where I didn't prime or sealed it lol

Paint selection is really a matter of preference,applied correctly you will get great results, it all comes down to your modelling style and how you apply it,just don't be afraid to try things out, you will develop your own style and techniques as you go,even up to now I still occassionaly experiment with different types of paint and any types of media.

[Mak0]

Thanks for the tips guys!, guess i'll go grab some of the Gunze Acrylics when the time comes since a matte & battle worn effect is what i'm going for, and messing around with thinner sounds far trickier than just water soluable paints.

As another question, would the following be the correct steps for painting/prepping a gundam? (non-lazy way)
I think you posted similar to this up earlier rhyan, but cant seem to find it anymore  

1. Wash runners in warm soapy water
2. Assemble parts while cementing & sanding seams
3. Spray primer (such as Mr Surfacer 1000)
4. Let cure for a day
5. Airbrush Paint on, allowing a week between airbrushing to cure
5.1 Hand-paint details like eyes, head vulcan-cannons
6. Spray Topcoat
7. Use gundam marker + add Decals
8. Moar Topcoat!

[rhyan@hobbyco]

This is my usual sequence  

1. Wash all runners with warm soapy water
2. Prime all parts while on the runners
3. Cut all parts, file and finish with sand paper
4. Airbrush pieces
5. Clear Coat Gloss
6. Line pieces
7. Assemble + Decal
8. Final seal of flat coat clear

Sometimes the sequence may change, the above sequence is usually for MG kits, however if I ever build any HG models since there is no inner frame compared to the MG you may have to build the sub assemblies first fill the gaps,sand,finish and heaven forbid MASKING uggggh   lol before airbrushing. HG models in my opinion is a bigger pain in the ass to build because of this.

[PenPen-kun]

sorry, i deleted the original thread because i figured i was off tangent and might misdirect you mako.

my advise is that battleworn effect should be more of dents and very few light scratches at most. a soldering iron is a good investment, especially butane ones because flame control can give you a nice plastic deformation effect. (mech eng students should know what i am talking about) in short, it makes your dents look more real if you want to put one or two glancing blows.

the other thing is it is mostly space fights and modern/futuristic materials do/should not rust much. so don't overdo your weathering.

i overdid my first few models in terms of rust effect. it made it look terrible. these were tanks though.

Rhyan, can you/have you got the time to mod one and show us the pics please? it's proly best to put it into pictures. i might weather my zaku if i have the time. Speaking of which, i never figured out whether my zaku is a terestrial or space model. please enlighten us with your gundam making powerz

ps. why is this place a ghost town now? i can hear lydia tumbling across the forum.

[Mak0]

Thanks for the extra tips Rhyan and Penpen!

I'm gonna go the hard way though of priming after building, since i'm hoping that after sealing the seams and sanding em down, the priming's going to make it look like one continuous piece. Weathering sounds a little trickier than i first thought so i'll probably leave it till i have some experience in painting .

@Penpen: Terestrial!, Feels kinda cheap how everything can fly in most of the later gundam series.....and bleach.... and dragonball, i'm almost surprised theres not more flying around in naruto

[rhyan@hobbyco]

Rhyan, can you/have you got the time to mod one and show us the pics please? it's proly best to put it into pictures. i might weather my zaku if i have the time. Speaking of which, i never figured out whether my zaku is a terestrial or space model. please enlighten us with your gundam making powerz

Sure no probs   I've actually got a few tutorials lined up for you guys! so watch this space.

[Whyngs]

Will you show video demonstrations, or screenshots (slides) for the tutorials?

[Mithril]

Will you show video demonstrations, or screenshots (slides) for the tutorials?

Please refrain from asking these kind of questions, just wait till Rhyan puts one up and see.

[PenPen-kun]

Rhyan, can you/have you got the time to mod one and show us the pics please? it's proly best to put it into pictures. i might weather my zaku if i have the time. Speaking of which, i never figured out whether my zaku is a terestrial or space model. please enlighten us with your gundam making powerz

Sure no probs  I've actually got a few tutorials lined up for you guys! so watch this space.

thank you a chance to learn from the pro.

@ mako: thank you heaps bro. i was wondering whether or not i should do rust effect as well because technically space mechs should not rust.

[EdJZ]

Will you show video demonstrations, or screenshots (slides) for the tutorials?

Please refrain from asking these kind of questions, just wait till Rhyan puts one up and see.

I actually think video tutorials would be neat.. but like heaps more work for Rhyan haha.. maybe members can post some WIP videos later

[Calisto]

just a tip for people who use enamel paints:

be sure you stir the paint well before u use it lol. I've seen a few people recently painting before the enamel mixture was stirred through. and be sure to stir the paint everytime you use it lol... *it's like painting a house... yah gotta stir the paint really well before u start painting xD*

Will you show video demonstrations, or screenshots (slides) for the tutorials?

Please refrain from asking these kind of questions, just wait till Rhyan puts one up and see.

I actually think video tutorials would be neat.. but like heaps more work for Rhyan haha.. maybe members can post some WIP videos later

i'd love to help out once in a while.... but then again, i think i'd fail at it since i wouldn't know what to do half the time heheh xD

[Noless]

perhaps if i could get a camera id make a vid on repairing broken joints, though i guess id need to respond to a break question on a case by case basis, cause there are many different situations and the type of repair is dependent on that