The first step with model kit making is in some ways the hardest: figuring out what you want to make. There's thousands of high quality models out there from $10 to as high a price as you can think of. In terms of gundam model kits (which I'll probably shorten to "gunpla" [plastic gundam] a lot in these posts) there's still hundreds of choices. To practice modelling techniques and painting I suggest the High Grade gundam line. It has the most selection and the cheapest prices (they're at most $15), and they have stickers and seams that look so much better welded and painted. I can't help you much in deciding what to make, other than do what you think looks good or will be fun to make.
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| Krishna-themed Kshatriya |
Once you know what model you're working onThere's many different ways you could get an idea for a paint job or custom build. It can start from a desire to make something interesting based on the universe's lore (a Zeon-scavenged RGM-79 for instance), wanting to use some cool parts you had left over from another kit (such as using a sniper kit as another model's shoulder-cannon), painting a kit to be closer to its animated or real life counterpart (every single military kit in the world), wanting to be evocative of a concept (my own US Navy-themed Grimoire, currently on the backburner), from a group build (my Back to the Future Union Flag, which I have to get done by September), or you just like a certain combination of colors (my Black and Orange Gundam Heavyarms I've been putting off work on). It's important to me as a modeler that I have something in mind before I build, since I find straight snap-building kits to be pretty boring. Be warned that techniques like seam welding will sometimes permanently like parts in place, so it's good to have a plan.
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| USN-themed Grimoire |
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| Orange-Black Gundam Heavyarms |
Part of that plan is to have a good idea of what the finished model will look like. Luckily for anyone who models anime kits, it's incredibly easy to do a 2d mockup of a color scheme using line-art. Line art is a black and white drawing with no shading of just the lines of a figure in animation. Enterprising mecha fans have taken art of gundam (among other series) mechs and cleaned them into line art so that it's easy to put color onto them in MS Paint with the bucket tool. First
go to this website and find the gundam series your model came from. Then copy and paste the line-art into paint. If you're using Tamiya lacquer spray paint (which while a little pricey is well worth the cost) you can then find swatches on the
Tamiya website, copy and paste it into paint, and use the dropper and bucket tools to color parts of the line art to your heart's content. It's a lot of fun to experiment with different color combinations and styles, so I recommend doing this. My line art drawings are scattered throughout this article, and this final picture is for the project I'm going to be using for my examples in future tutorials: my Hobby Zaku II:
Once you know what model you're working onThere's many different ways you could get an idea for a paint job or custom build. It can start from a desire to make something interesting based on the universe's lore (a Zeon-scavenged RGM-79 for instance), wanting to use some cool parts you had left over from another kit (such as using a sniper kit as another model's shoulder-cannon), painting a kit to be closer to its animated or real life counterpart (every single military kit in the world), wanting to be evocative of a concept (my own US Navy-themed Grimoire, currently on the backburner), from a group build (my Back to the Future Union Flag, which I have to get done by September), or you just like a certain combination of colors (my Black and Orange Gundam Heavyarms I've been putting off work on). It's important to me as a modeler that I have something in mind before I build, since I find straight snap-building kits to be pretty boring. Be warned that techniques like seam welding will sometimes permanently like parts in place, so it's good to have a plan.
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