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Post by mannix143 on Mar 28, 2007 1:01:05 GMT -5
I am not into Gundams, but i do like how they look. I see that they are Kits that you have to assemble and probably color them.
my questions are:
1. are all gundam robots sold in kits? or are there ones sold like already done lilke the SOC's?
2. what kind of paint do you use for this? (water base or oil base?)
3. do i need to glue them up when i assemble it?
4. i dont understand the size when they talk about 1/100 or 1/48? how big are those?
5. was there a gundam made of die-cast?
6. which gundams are Rare and expensive?
sorry for a lot of questions... really dont know much about Gundams
thanks mannix
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Post by emerson on Mar 28, 2007 9:14:34 GMT -5
I am not into Gundams, but i do like how they look. I see that they are Kits that you have to assemble and probably color them. my questions are: 1. are all gundam robots sold in kits? or are there ones sold like already done lilke the SOC's? 2. what kind of paint do you use for this? (water base or oil base?) 3. do i need to glue them up when i assemble it? 4. i dont understand the size when they talk about 1/100 or 1/48? how big are those? 5. was there a gundam made of die-cast? 6. which gundams are Rare and expensive? sorry for a lot of questions... really dont know much about Gundams thanks mannix Mannix, I cannot build a model to save my life. If you take a look at my collection pics below, each and every one is a toy. There are waaaaaay too many toy lines (all modern ones by Bandai, giving them a 99.9999% share of the market) for me to attempt to tackle here, but to briefly answer some of your questions: 1) Yes, tons of toy lines. 2) [Modeling question. Skip] 3) [Modeling question. Skip] 4) A 1/100 toy is about 8 inches (20 cm) tall. Quite sizeable. 1/144 is about 5 inches (12-13 cm). 5) Several metal Gundams. The only all-metal Gundam, I believe, was the unpainted, metal RX-78-2. I can' recall the name, unfortunately....Hard to find, and small, anyway. I, personally, never had any interest. The Metal Materal Model toys each have an all-metal endoskeleton with ABS plastic pieces that adhere to it. There were two toys in this line, and IMO are the best diecast Gundam toys. So, so heavy and solid and absolutely beautifully executed. These would probably be the closest to an SOC. The subsequent Metal Material Model GQ toys (3 in total), opted to get rid of the metal endoskeleton, instead fashioning the upper body completely out of ABS plastic, and the legs out of metal. This improves poseability, but these figures look and feel decidedly more cheap. The most recent 1/100 toy, the Gundam FIX Metal Composite, supposedly has metal inside its ABS body, but I can't tell... There were also the 1/144 Kado Senshi toys that featured wonderfully old-school sculpts that faithfully represented the lines from the first TV series circa late 1970's. Not too much metal, but some for weight and balance. Super poseable. The vast majority of Gundam toys are plastic. The Gundam FIX Figuration and Zeonography toys are 1/144, and all PVC. Very detailed paint jobs, tons of accessories, look great on display....but not playable at all. Basically models for folks who can't model. Cosmic Regions figures are also practically identical in fit and finish. Jumbo Grades are the about the same size as the old school Jumbos. Almost zero playability, but damn they look good, and are heavy/huge. Beautiful, weathered paint jobs. The most playable toys are the cheapest ones...All ABS, small-ish, light and articulated. I just don't happen to collect them because I think they look cheap, and I'm really just in this for displayability. The most popular lines are High Complete Model (HCM) Pro and Mobile Suit in Action (MSiA).
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Post by Ben-Ohki on Mar 28, 2007 10:50:42 GMT -5
Hey - you contradicted yourself. The answer to question 1 should "no" - they not all kits! And the second part is "yes" you can get toys! 2) I've personally developped a taste for water-based acrylics because I find oil-based just take too long to dry... The most common of these is the Tamiya brand from Japan (but I also use Citadel Colours because I also play Warhammer40K so I have plenty of that too). 3) Bandai's Gundam kits are pretty much always snap-together out-of-the-box. But if you browse the web, you'll find many customized kits that take all kinds of materials to build. 4) 1/100 scale Gundams are about the size of an SOC - between 8 and 10 inches. Mind you the Gundam universe is populated by all sorts of mecha in different shapes and sizes, your mileage may vary! For example, a Nu Gundam was way bigger than F91 Gundam when they're to scale with each other. 5) Strike Gundam is the most well-known metal-plastic toy Gundam as emerson mentionned above - it's from the Gundam Seed series that's on TV in English right now and came out a few years ago. Don't forget the (current) tiny little "HCM-PRO" 3-inch figures - those are made of metal too, I believe. 6) DX toys seem to be the hardest to find (might by my imagination). They're probably not "rare" but there were only a few different ones made so collectors horded those they got their hands on to make a complete set (maybe?). Older kits go out of production so all of those become "rare" too... but they don't appear to get more expensive over time. For whatever reason, I don't see Gundam materials even go up in value on the secondary market. That said, anything that started out expensive, tends to stay expensive... You could probably buy a Perfect-Grade model kit for a couple of hundred bucks today and still pay the same price two years from now. At least, that's my experience shopping for those...
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Post by mannix143 on Mar 28, 2007 11:13:48 GMT -5
thanks guys, i have been wanting to collect gundam but the fear of ruining it when i paint it keeps me from getting this. i only have one gundam and its the jumbo bootleg called GUNDAN hehehe but still... man it looks cool!
so for a newbie, what line of gundam would you suggest? and probably build from there.
by the way... COOOLLL COLLECTION EMERSON!!! ^_^
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Post by mannix143 on Mar 28, 2007 11:16:44 GMT -5
one more thing... when painting, do you guys use airbrush or just brush or paint markers? do you have to color all gundam kits that came out?
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Post by emerson on Mar 28, 2007 12:21:20 GMT -5
thanks guys, i have been wanting to collect gundam but the fear of ruining it when i paint it keeps me from getting this. i only have one gundam and its the jumbo bootleg called GUNDAN hehehe but still... man it looks cool! so for a newbie, what line of gundam would you suggest? and probably build from there. by the way... COOOLLL COLLECTION EMERSON!!! ^_^ Well, the smaller action figures are cheaper and easier to come by, but there are sooooooooo many and can be daunting. If you're just starting out, I'd go for the 1/100 more SOC-type toys first. For me, my money is on the two Metal Material Model toys: 1) 1/100 Metal Material Model, Strike Gundam 2) 1/100 Metal Material Model, Launcher & Sword Strike Gundam Followed by: 3) 1/100 FIX Figuration Metal Composite, #1001, RX-78-2 Gundam "Ver. Ka" with G-Fighter After that, I really like: 4) 1/100 Arch Enemy Collectors Series, RX-78-2 Gundam (there are 4-5 others in the series, as well, but the RX-78-2 is a bit of a new icon, as it's widely considered to be the best RX-78-2 toy out there. Although it's all plastic, I like it much better than the Metal Composite version everyone is currently raving about.) The Metal Model Material GQ toys are nice too. I have the Force impulse, but sold off the Sword Impulse and Blast Impulse. I personally didn't like the design. 5) MMM GQ, Force Impulse Gundam 6) MMM GQ, Sword Impulse Gundam 7) MMM GQ, Blast Impulse Gundam All 7 are pretty easy to find still, and at roughly the same scale as the SOCs, are large, quality figures. The older, DX toys are tough to find these days, and though large, are a bit plasticky. But if you can find them: 8) DX Mobile Suit in Action, RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam Full Vernian Zephyranthes 9) DX Mobile Suit in Action, RX-78GP02A Gundam Physalis 10) DX Mobile Suit in Action, RX-93 Nu Gundam 11) DX Mobile Suit in Action, MSN-04 Sazabi 12) DX GF13-017NJII God Gundam 13) Mega Size Mobile Fighter, GF13-017NJ Shining Gundam 14) Mega Size Mobile Fighter, GF13-011NC Dragon Gundam 15) Mobile Suit in Action, MRX-009 Psyco Gundam 16) Deluxe Transforming Wing Gundam 17) Mobile Suit Gundam Collectors Series, XXXG-00W0 W-Gundam Zero Custom (H.K. only limited edition) 18) 1/60 Big Scale Model Kit, Gundam F91 And if you like your HK-bootlegged Gundan, you will like the original Jumbo Grades: 19) Jumbo Grade, Big Scale RX-78-2 Gundam 20) Jumbo Grade, Big Scale MS-06S Zaku II 21) Jumbo Grade, Big Scale MS-06F Zaku II 22) Jumbo Grade, Big Scale RX-78-2 Gundam, Real Type Color (Special Edition) As mentioned above, the various, smaller action figure lines are a lot of work to amass if you're starting out. There's gotta be hundreds if not more across the various lines. The main ones are: Gundam FIX Figuration Zeonography Cosmic Region Mobile Suit in Action (MSiA) Extended MSiA Advanced MSiA High Complete Model (HCM) Pro Gundam FIX, Zeonography and Cosmic Region can be pricey, at about $45 each new, $25 used. The others are all under $20. Keep in mind that all of these toys are from the last 10 years or so, the bulk post-2000. Dig back further into the 70's, 80's and 90's into vintage territory and that is a whole additional world...
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Post by mannix143 on Mar 28, 2007 15:34:38 GMT -5
wow... thanks bro at least its not as expensive as the jumbo machinders and or the aoshima and soul of chogokins
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Post by emerson on Mar 28, 2007 15:42:39 GMT -5
Haha, if you'd prefer not to build models, there are more than enough Gundam toys to keep you occupied pretty much forever. Although the models get most of the action, there are probably more Gundam toys out there than there are for any other anime franchise.
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Post by does_it_matter! on Mar 28, 2007 20:20:36 GMT -5
one more thing... when painting, do you guys use airbrush or just brush or paint markers? do you have to color all gundam kits that came out? It's entire up to you if you want to colour the gundam or not. Most models are already molded in the colour they are suppose to be and they will included stickers for those that arent coloured. It's already pleasing to play with. Of course there are limits to that and thats where painting comes in. Using paint brush may give you the brush linings after the paint dries. It takes a long time and results in a not "smooth" finish. Using markers is more tiring especially if you're thinking of colouring a large piece with the white gundam marker. And the result sucks. The markers are usually used for small area such as the eyes and lining markers are use for panel lining. A sample of gundam build out of the box. A same sample with lining, stickers and decals. No paints yet Proffesionals will recommend airbrush for painting a gundam. I've not use it myself but did saw how it gives nice effects and it's simple to use. (or so i see) I belief this is painted using airbrush so here goes. (Kinda big so i'll put it as a link.) www.dalong.net/review/mg/m97/p/m97_mb0026.JPGAnother sample using airbrush + lots of kickass mod Of course everything needs practice and you may not get it the way you want at the 1st try. Painting gundams is a form of art and you need lots of practice just like everything else. Try painting the gundam you already have using spray paints 1st and see if you like the result. It's a good way to start.
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Post by supergetterv on Mar 29, 2007 1:13:48 GMT -5
Air brush if you can afford it and have the skills to do it. Spray painting is like air brushing. Most Gundam kits, especially the newer Master Grades MG, or the High Grade Universal Century, HGUC have many parts moded in various colors, so painting isn't that neccessary. As alway, my advise for newbie Gundam builders are to build many cheap HG and SD (Super Deform) Gundam. I still have trouble getting pieces of the sprues cleanly.
When it comes to painting a Gundam, you need a lot of time. The one problem I have with Gundam paint markers and using paint brushes is that it leaves streaks/brush lines. Also, you must prime the pieces, otherwise the paint might not stick to the plastic, and you end up with blots of paint on the piece. With air brush and spray painting, sometimes you have to apply layers after layers of paint. All I gotta say is that it very time consuming. And nothing is worst then spending hour on one piece and then screw up on another. That's why I recommend practicing on cheap kits first.
And if you are up to the challenge, Try a prefect grade PG gundam. I like the PG Strike Gundam. No paint is neccessary on this one but be prepared to spend lots of time. The only thing about Gundam kits are that they are fragile even if you super glue them. Remember, most parts are connected by pegs so part usually fall of when they are handled. Mannix143, you really should try to do one and see if you like it.
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Post by paladin on Mar 29, 2007 1:19:37 GMT -5
Don't forget the (current) tiny little "HCM-PRO" 3-inch figures - those are made of metal too, I believe. HCM Pro's are all plastic.
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Post by nikodiablo on Mar 29, 2007 2:59:32 GMT -5
Don't forget the (current) tiny little "HCM-PRO" 3-inch figures - those are made of metal too, I believe. HCM Pro's are all plastic. The new HCM Pro are all plastics, but the older line called just High Complete Model, which also include other lines outside Gundam, have some bit of metal on them (if I remember correctly).
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Post by Ben-Ohki on Mar 29, 2007 9:07:50 GMT -5
That's right - the old HCM had die-cast bits and pieces (I have a couple). I don't have any of the new HCM-PRO so I wasn't sure.
For my kit experience, I've learned a neat little trick.
The pros in magazines like Hobby Japan would have you believe that you must spray your kit with primer and then air-brush it and everything. But for me, since the kit is already molded in colour, I just use a fine marker to do the panel-lines (one of these days I'll try an ink-wash technique). And then when I'm done the lines, I just use a wet finger to smudge the marker ink for a weathering effect and to protect it, I spray a matt clear-coat (you can buy this in any hardware store). The matt finish gives it that "all-painted" look.
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Post by emerson on Mar 29, 2007 10:10:11 GMT -5
The old HCM, and their reissues, have baaaaaarely any diecast. They play a purely supporting role. When you look at one, it screams plastic. When you handle one, ditto. I have not had a chance to handle an HCM Pro...they seem to have great articulation. But again, so cheapy-looking. Ben-Ohki, that's a neat trick. That might convince me to try my hand at models again.
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Post by nikodiablo on Mar 29, 2007 20:17:19 GMT -5
Air brush if you can afford it and have the skills to do it. Spray painting is like air brushing. Most Gundam kits, especially the newer Master Grades MG, or the High Grade Universal Century, HGUC have many parts moded in various colors, so painting isn't that neccessary. As alway, my advise for newbie Gundam builders are to build many cheap HG and SD (Super Deform) Gundam. I still have trouble getting pieces of the sprues cleanly. When it comes to painting a Gundam, you need a lot of time. The one problem I have with Gundam paint markers and using paint brushes is that it leaves streaks/brush lines. Also, you must prime the pieces, otherwise the paint might not stick to the plastic, and you end up with blots of paint on the piece. With air brush and spray painting, sometimes you have to apply layers after layers of paint. All I gotta say is that it very time consuming. And nothing is worst then spending hour on one piece and then screw up on another. That's why I recommend practicing on cheap kits first. And if you are up to the challenge, Try a prefect grade PG gundam. I like the PG Strike Gundam. No paint is neccessary on this one but be prepared to spend lots of time. The only thing about Gundam kits are that they are fragile even if you super glue them. Remember, most parts are connected by pegs so part usually fall of when they are handled. Mannix143, you really should try to do one and see if you like it. The problem with building model kit is that you really have to put a lot of commitment into it. Several years ago, I had a thought to build Gundam models, particularly Master Grades. I even bought an air compressor and an airbrush. But as I start building, I realize I didn't have the patience to build the kit in detail, so I just build it quickly cause I'm anxious to see the final form, and the result was really crappy. Eventually, due to frustration, I refuse to built another kit again (I still have an MG Strike Gundam which had been cut out of the sprues, partly painted, and unfinished until now. I think the some of the pieces are probably missing by now). But if you think you have the patience and time, go right ahead. I agree with superfarter, you should start with HG kits, or better yet, no grade kits, since they are cheaper. And you can learn and practice a lot about masking, since the parts are not molded in separate colors like MG kits. If you can make a 1/144 No Grade kits look good, I'm sure you can make MG Kits look even better, since they already look good out of the box. BTW, don't get fooled by SD kits, although they seem simple, painting and decorating them is a beast, espescially the Musha Gundam ones, since they have a lot of intricate details which are small. If you are looking for a Gundam action figure which looks like a model kit built by professional out of the box, you can't go wrong with the new GFF Metal Composite 1001 Gundam RX-78-2 Ver-Ka w/ G-Fighter. The figure exceeds all my expectation and more, and although the price is a bit steep, it's totally worth it.
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Post by jwm on Mar 29, 2007 20:20:02 GMT -5
Mannix143: I wouldn't hesitate to jump in to Gundam modeling. Bandai models need no glue, or paint (unless you want to), and the instructions are well written and very easy to follow. Take a look at the 1/144 HGUC (High Grade Universal Century) series. The completed figures are 4-5" (11-13mm) and you can make them as finely detailed as you wish. They're cheap, too. Just doing the panel lines with an ultra fine marker pen makes the kit look great, and it's not hard to do at all. If you get hooked you might well end up going for a Perfect Grade someday. But that's a whole different ballgame.
JWM
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Post by zephyranthes on Mar 30, 2007 0:20:33 GMT -5
You might also want to look for the chogokin Hyakushiki and ZZ Gundam chogokin. Both are fantastic toys. The ZZ may be a bit hard to find. There's also a Z Gundam Kahen Senshi toy, but this one did not get favorable reviews. Going waaayyy back to the early 80's, there's the DX Gundam Combo set from Clover that'll cost you several hundred dollars depending on condition. This is the one that started it all for me. It's classic Clover with lots of diecast and minimal poseability. I just ordered the GFF #1001 to complement the Clover set. If you're short on space, the HCM Pro line is worth taking a look at. Nice and small at 1/200 scale, but you get some very nice figures with great attention to detail, terrific poseability, and use of ABS plastic instead of awful soft PVC.
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Post by emerson on Mar 30, 2007 0:35:39 GMT -5
I second the Chogokin Kado Senshi, GD-53, MSN-00100 Hyaku-Shiki....How did I forget that one? It's actually probably MOST SOC-like, combining good diecast metal content, superb engineering, versatile articulation, and a glorious metallic finish! From
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Post by supergetterv on Mar 31, 2007 19:22:42 GMT -5
Damn that Hyakushiki GD-53 Looks good. I'll definately order one when BBTS have their 20 to 25% off sale. I forgot about ordering this the last time they had the sell. I've always wanted that one. It's almost the same size standing next to the SOC Eva's. I saw it displayed at Wondercon this year and made a note to get it when it was less than 50$ but forgot to order last time when BBTS had the sale. BY the way, how is the diecast content on GD-53? I've been holding back on getting this one after being dissappointed with Kado Senshi Zeta Gundam.
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Post by jwm on Mar 31, 2007 20:49:47 GMT -5
Darn- I thought I had some pics of my Hyakushiki, but I can't find them (that's pretty lame when they're on the computer) I'll throw my two cents in anyway- it is a great little toy. The 'shiki is the most poseable Gundam figure that I own. It's one of the few gokins that can balance on one foot. JWM
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