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Post by bleen on Mar 26, 2005 17:19:10 GMT -5
Hi there, I just got my PG Strike this past wednesday (yay, just before easter! ). Of course, I've been assembling it since that day. I just finished it yesterday and now I'm taking the armor apart to do some panel lines and then applying some matte coating over it... This is my first gundam model and I must day... I'm amazed... I WILL be buying more of these PG thingies, maybe some MG too... (suggestions welcome!). And now, some thoughts on the kit itself: Assembly was very enjoyable, the manual was perfect, no guessing stuff (well, just reading dai-casuto in japanese, but we all know some katakana, right ;-p). Snap-fit was good for 99% of the model... however, I will be buying glue to attach those shoulder armor plates, they just pop off when I try to open them (won't stay attached to their hindges). Accessories were good, but I'm missing the aile, sword and launcher packs... I heard aile is gonna be out later this year... I WILL be buying it... this one has a lot of hatches opening with polycaps under them, my guess is that they'll be used for the aile.. I hope they'll release the other 2 packs too :-) I absolutely HATED the "R" tree... those who have assembled this should know what I mean... who was the "genious" who thought that pre-assembled hands were good? :-( I mean, I have nothing against the pre-assembled parts themselves, but 1) IMHO it would have been way more enjoyable to be able to actually assemble the hands themselves (after all, this is a plastic model, right?) 2) too many tabs to cut... I mean, most fingers had 4 or 5 tabs!!! :-( and the tree was very thick, so I couldn't use the clippers on this one... so I had to use the exacto directly on the tabs... and now my PG has white square thingies on its fingers :-( that's not good... :-( And the "eyes" part... man, I even broke that!!! :-( luckyly it was in the side of the "eyes", I just superglued it and it isn't noticable... but the situation was NOT pleasant lastly, the thing that really annoys me is... WHY OH WHY 2 TONES OF WHITE??! :-(((((((((((((((( maybe this is bandai's "punishment" for us non-painters? :-P Oh well, a lot of pregnant dogin', I know, but overall, as I said before, this kit is awesome, and I would advise those of you that don't have one, GO AND BUY :-) Now a few comments and questions on the technique I'm using to detail this thing... First I de-attach the part of armor I want to detail. Then I use a black pigmented ink marker (0.05) and paint the panel lines. I wait for the ink to dry (just some minutes) and then I use a small piece of cotton with alcohol to rub most of the ink.. the cotton absorves the ink and then I have thin panel lines. I also use this technique to paint "dirt" around protunding things, the cotton erases almost everything there, but leaves a subtle trace of faded black...very neat :-) THEN I wait for the alcohol to dry and I coat rhe piece with matte coating and a paintbrush... Comments / recommendations on this technique are welcome! I DO have a problem, sometimes, applying the coating with a paintbrush leaves ugly streaks... is there any way to avois this? it isn't noticable at all in small parts, but in part with big areas, it's sometimes very ugly... :-( still better than basic plastic imho...
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Post by heavyarmscustom on Mar 26, 2005 17:44:54 GMT -5
hey Bleen good to see you like the PG STRIKE G
keep a look out for my PG ZAKU coming out later this year lots out stuf I have to do to it.
as for your Mattecote streak problem
try to find a really soft brush (the name of the brissle escapes me)
but thin the clear down to almost nothing and brush way
you may have to do two to three or more cotes for the final look you want but it's worth it. I use model masters acryl clear and I put like three drops in a pop top and fill it with water .
takes a day or two but it look good.
my two cents clifton
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Post by bleen on Mar 27, 2005 13:47:47 GMT -5
heavyarmscustom, thanks for the tips... I tried thinning my top coat, but it doesn't stick to the plastic at all if I do that... :-( I thinned it with water... is there anything I should do that I'm not doing? Right now I've tried two ways of coating: One involves two or three very thin coats (un-thinned), and I'm still getting the brush marks the other is to just apply a VERY thick coat, using the coating itself to soften the strokes... I get another kinda texture... this way I'm not getting any brush mark on small pieces, but on big pieces I get a very unpleasant texture... Worst thing is, I'ver already done this on one leg, the whole skirt, and half the torso.. so I can't really go back... I tried removing the coating by submerging the pieces on soap water. After 12 hours or so the coating can be removed but I'm not gettgin the same clean plastic as before... I get an unevenly reflective surface... so all I can do to those pieces is re-coat them.... I like the matte finish a lot, but I'm not convinced by this %$#%#$#@%$ paintbrush :-( (and no, I can't get spray coating here, and no, I can't get an airbrush (too expensive)). there HAS to be a way of doing this with paintbrush...
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Post by jwm on Mar 27, 2005 22:40:19 GMT -5
Bleen: Glad you're having fun with the Strike. Sounds like the problem you had with the hands came from your cutter. Having a proper sprue cutter (scroll down) makes a huge difference in getting pieces separated cleanly from the runner. As far as the pre-assembled hands go, count your blessings! Those single piece hands are a HUGE improvement over the separate finger ones that come with the older PG's. *** You can get a sprue cutter here.*** JWM
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Post by heavyarmscustom on Mar 28, 2005 12:04:12 GMT -5
Crap !!!!
Sorry bleen. I forgot you are not painting the model. Everything I told you is for a painted model.
I will tell you it's really hard to paint a clear coat on to a bare plastic model. but try this (there are a few steps in involved)
on your next model take all the trees and was them in a mild soap and warm water. I use an old toothbrush to get into all the detail. that removes a lot of the Silicone release agent still on the plastic (i.e. that oily feel to new just opened gundam plastic.) then take a cotton ball or ten, Q-tips work as well and get a bottle of rubbing alcohol and just lightly rub the plastic down (if you can get some latex gloves (non powder) that would be better). then get some Future Acrylic floor polish (can be thined in water) take a piece of the sprue/tree and test out the constancy that you like then paint the model with that in thin coats, one or two will be enough and then paint your thinned flat coat over that. you should have no more then four coats as I'm sure you do not want to obscure detail. that should do it I know it's a long process. but if you put the time in to it it will look good. I'm of the opinion you should repaint a gundam to match any color you want. But that's my two cents clifton
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Post by bleen on Mar 28, 2005 19:48:20 GMT -5
No wonder why the coating didnt' stick... Thanks for the tips, bot of you... my sprue cutter is kinda nice but it's sometimes too thick to cut through some narrow parts... maybe I should buy one like jwm has.... I'll try to get one in a local shop, maybe they'll carry something like that... because U$S prices are too expensive for me (I save my U$S for gundams ;D ). (for those who don't know what I'm talking about, 1 peso (that's my local currency) is 1/3 of a dollar... ). I'll try to patch this one up as good as I can... I've noticed that thinning the coating a just a liiiitle makes the brush streaks almost dissappear and doesn't compromise much on the stickiness of the coating... I don't know if I'll coat my next one though... it's good to get rid of the platic feel of the gundam, but it's so much work... my back aches after 3 straight days of gundam building & painting ... Is there any way to just do panel lines and NOT coat the thing? some marker that doesn't run.... Again, thanks for the info, it's been helful!
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Post by Valk1S on Mar 28, 2005 20:23:34 GMT -5
Gundam Markers will stick to the plastic. The fine point oil based markers will dry very fast like in a few seconds after putting it on. Plus if you make a mistake it can be easily removed with some thinner. I use Tamiya Acrylic thinner. Only problem is that some people find that the Gundam Markers comes out too thick even though they are fine point. For me the way I try to get a nice thin lines is to apply the marker and tidy up with thinner. For indented lines its easy as you just soak some tissue into the thinner and rub against the lines gently and it will leave the paint in the lines and remove the overlap paint. as for some other parts its a little more difficult but to make things easier for me i just make my own lines using an exacto knife but only do this is you are confident using it as the paint in the marker will go into the lines u made and will be hard to remove. But if you build a PG the lines made by an exacto knife may be too thin and the normal lines by a Fine Tip Gundam Marker may be just right. I haven't build my PGs yet as I am contemplating whether to paint it or not. So far I am just building MG and PG doing panel linings and minor painting. Currently, building a Red Astray. Damn head took me almost 2 hours to finish painting and panel lining it.
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Post by heavyarmscustom on Mar 29, 2005 0:42:05 GMT -5
hey Bleen as for the sprue cutter. you can use fine wire nips I get mine at radio shack for 5.99 that they are that same thing as the 16.00 sprue cutter.
as for pannel lines I have used many methods. the one I sty with is the pen method. I really do not like gundam markers (no offence Valk1S) way to thick. I use Micron pens(.005 on the cap top) they are fine line drafting/ art pens and they are amazing. if you mees up and need to blend just take you figer tip and wipe away. it takes sometime to dry but that's all well and good. I have use the back of the hobby knife and ink. that is for a never mess up process, the ink and tooth pick, the pin and thinned ink. fine bush point and tempra paint. charcol and graphite rubbed into the lines. Hell I'm sure there are a few more. but I keep comming back to the Micron pens. and they come other colors then black. I got green, blue and a rust red (that worked great on my MG ball)
look under Huckbein in the gundam list and I have pictures of my Blue astray done by knife point and blue ink
have to go good luck bleen clifton
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Post by Valk1S on Mar 29, 2005 4:04:25 GMT -5
Hi Clifton, No offence taken. I find the Gundam markers thick as well thats why I have to use thinner to make the lines go thinner. But I like the fact it dries fast and once dried it won't come off. I was also interested to try the sakura micron markers but so far I can't locate them here in Aus Got a question though, once the micron markers dries, does it stays on the bare plastic or do u have to premier or paint it first for it to stay on, or do you have to seal it with a clear coat after you apply it? Thanks in advance.
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Post by heavyarmscustom on Mar 29, 2005 11:22:07 GMT -5
Hey Valk1S
the Micron pens when dry are water proof and will never come off from a gundam. I've never had a problem, but you have to work with them. They will smear everywhere if you are not careful. But the good thing about that is on the plastic the ink will wipe off with very little force before it dries. the lines are a little thick even with the smallest point. but like I said before just wipe off with your fingertip. I do all my pannel lining during construction as a preshading process. but due watch out with the ink getting into the "GATE" area if it does the ink will not come out and you will have to sand it out(though it may come out with thinner?) I'll take some pictures of my collection at work and post them tonight or tomarrow mornning (alaska time)
hope that helps clifton
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Post by bleen on Mar 29, 2005 17:41:25 GMT -5
Interesting indeed...! :-) Now another question, if I may... suppose I want to remove the clear coating I applied... I know leaving the pieces in soapy water for 12 hours lets me remove the coating with a little rubbing, but that leaves the piece's reflectiveness uneven (not like before they were coated)... is there any way to fully restore the plastic? I'm still undecided weather I should remove the coating (which I have applied to the whole gundam save the arms, shoulders, head, and a foot) or finish coating the kit...
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Post by jwm on Mar 29, 2005 19:01:18 GMT -5
I got a glue scar on the dark blue shoulder armor of the PG Wing Zero while I was building it. I got the original finish restored (I don't paint) by gently wet sanding the piece with 1500 grit finishing paper. Then I polished the sanded area with Simichrome metal polish. Bleen, (I know you're in Argentina) try a soft metal polish, something made for brass, silver, or aluminum. JWM
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Post by bleen on Mar 30, 2005 22:22:05 GMT -5
This thread is gold to me... ;D I'm experimenting ways of getting rid of the coating now, since I've decided to leave the blue armor parts uncoated and the rest coated (I won't coat new parts for now though). I've found out that I can scrape the coating with my fingernails and that leaves no trace on the plastic pieces! it's a long process but I'm getting the pieces to look just like they were out of the trees :-) These kits are very fun :-)
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Post by bleen on Apr 3, 2005 21:30:41 GMT -5
Ok, I know I suck at this, but it doesn't hurt to post pictures, right? For the time, I'm leaving the Strike as is... right now it's all panel lined, but while half of the gundam is panel lined with permanent marker (and not an extra-fine, I couldn't get one thinner than this!), the legs, waist and the lower torso are all panel lined with a pigmented ink marker, which is twice as thin, and then matte coated with brush. I've decided that, even if the matte coat looks good, the brush strokes are not nice, and the double thickness of the permanent marker is not so bad, it gives the strike an anime-ish look. This, adding the fact that the clear chips easily, made me decide that this kit is staying as is... Why not remove the coating completely? because it's a pain is the neck Ok, enough writing, now to the pics! ;D Ane excuse my lack of photo skills Remember these are thumbnails! : Fully Equiped Looking up from a 1/60 point of view It's a pity that I couldn't get the camera to capture the eye light :-( I think it might have been the flash Get over here! Full-open mode Kneeling Kneeling, from a 1/60 man's perspective (sort of) "You talking to me?!" ;D Up close, painting the thin lines in the mask was a pain, had to use the permanent marker and then erase carefully with cotton and alcohol... had to remake the lines 3 times until they were passable... Now Mr. Strike, don't do THAT to our esteemed audience please! I apologize if the last one is a little rude, hope no one will be offended
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Post by jwm on Apr 3, 2005 22:35:10 GMT -5
Too bad you haven't had any fun with that thing. Very cool. JWM
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Post by does_it_matter! on Apr 3, 2005 22:43:07 GMT -5
Can you attach the 1/60 weapon system packs to that guy?
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Post by Mudrock's Ace on Apr 3, 2005 22:52:15 GMT -5
if you are asking can you attach the 1/60 pack to the pg strike,no you cannot without some modifications.
you can wait for the pg aile grasper to come out.
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Post by alexwck on Apr 4, 2005 2:38:37 GMT -5
Hi all.I just started (kit)modelling again.Got myself the PG Strike as my 2nd kit.1st was way back a few years ago, 1/60 HG V2 Gundam. Recently got a hold of the 20th Anniversary Coating Ver Gundam RX 78-2 for USD 16(Equivalent)...got it from a sale at a shopping mall. Haven't build it up yet.Will start with the 78-2,try out some technics then i'l move on to my PG Strike.I'm not much a painter...so i guess i'l do panel lining and some clear coat.Btw...your PG Strike looks good even with just simple touches.
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Post by bleen on Apr 4, 2005 18:14:32 GMT -5
Thanks ;D These kits are so awesome that even beginners like me can have decent results About clear coating, a matte one does wonders, but I advise against applying it with a paintbrush, too much hassle and poor results for beginners... if you can get a spray coat it'd be best I believe... most people here know way more than I do (this is my 1st kit), they'll be able to tell you more for sure good luck!
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Post by jwm on Apr 4, 2005 19:17:14 GMT -5
Hi all.I just started (kit)modelling again.Got myself the PG Strike as my 2nd kit.1st was way back a few years ago, 1/60 HG V2 Gundam. Recently got a hold of the 20th Anniversary Coating Ver Gundam RX 78-2 for USD 16(Equivalent)...got it from a sale at a shopping mall. Haven't build it up yet.Will start with the 78-2,try out some technics then i'l move on to my PG Strike.I'm not much a painter...so i guess i'l do panel lining and some clear coat.Btw...your PG Strike looks good even with just simple touches. Here is a write-up on Building the PG Strike. The Strike is the best Perfect Grade by a long shot. Everyone who builds this kit just loves it. JWM
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