A testament to @MSPaints and his channel. I just watched a 15 min vid on a subject that didn’t interest me based on a genre that I don’t get and that leaves me cold…I’m now off to look for one of these kits 😂 Cheers Dave!
What did you bought? I recommend buying an Origins line Zaku 2 or if you want more dakka, an MG Heavyarms. Just stay away from RG line until your confident enough, some of does kits are in builder words "hand grenades"
As someone who collects, build and paints both Warhammer 40k and Gunpla, they're both very different beasts in terms of the painting process Whereas with tabletop minis you will mostly use a brush, with Gunpla an airbrush or even rattle cans are your best friends. Typically with Gunpla, the way you're "supposed to paint it", is leave it disassembled, prime all the individual pieces grey (while keeping them organized by their original colors of course), then apply a darker "pre-shade" to all the recessed lines, and if you so desire a highlight to all the raised edges. So do it all in greyscale first. THEN go over the pieces completely with the respective color for those pieces. Using an airbrush there will be no brush strokes, and the color paint layer SHOULD be thin enough that you will get a highlighted and shaded gradient showing through the color paint. Then varnish all the pieces, AND THEN assemble the whole thing. There are a ton of other little tips and tricks, like making sure you don't put too much paint on pegs or holes that go together, or in joints, etc, and then there's panel lining (using an enamel ink to darken all the lines in the panels, etc). Check out another UA-camr OtakuBuilder, he even puts LED's in his builds
As far as hobby products go, Gundam/gunpla is some of the best bang for buck money you can spend. The engineering in some of the kits is absolutely insane, they are super customizable and when compared to stuff like warhammer...... it's dirt fuckin' cheap.
As well as being cheaper wargameable to boot if you choose plus you can get a MG for the price of a single captain ( 🤔a few different posable gunpla or a single static figure decisions decisions 🤔)
MS Paints: I'm gonna try Gundam models! Me: alright, that looks like a nice model MS Paints: So, you build it, but also it has joints! It can change poses! Me: Sorcery!!
There's a really good Japanese UA-camr called Senasuke who builds Gundams and then paints them, with a brush, using mostly Citadel paints. (She also sometimes does GW models too.) The auto-generated translated subtitles usually work well enough to get an idea of what's going on, too.
I followed her ages ago another great modeller is umi shinonome 😉a model who models 😁 I've a long list of different people I follow for all my different plamo needs and they all use different techniques for painting which is a good thing,so many choices for bringing out the best in kits
Fun fact: the iconic gundam red, blue, and white, was chosen to sell toys by the producers The original colours for the RX-78, as chosen by the writer of the original show, were actually grey and blue, as seen on the G3 gundam in char’s deleted affair
Love seeing miniature painters take on gunpla, they do great paint jobs on them and it's great to see the reactions to how well Bandai put these kits together after 40 years of doing it.
I've been building gunpla for those 40 years as well as wargaming figures sci-fi, fantasy, real armour/planes, BANDAI is my main reason for being broke 🤭 although kotobukiya and recently good smile company have raised their game ( they just cost way more )
I'm a real fan of the Super Deformed (SD) versions of the Gundam kits. They work quite well for chunky battle suits in 28mm scale. I agree, the kits are beautifully engineered. James is so realistic; unlike Dave's other "Friends" you can't see the rods operating his arms. Gundam: Engineered For A More Pleasant Experience. 10:50 That panel line filling in with the grime is very satisfying. The finished effect of those battleworn BFRs is cool.
If you're a modeler, I highly recommend watching videos (like this one) on how different players of each field (science fiction/gunpla , military, TT miniatures) apply their skills to other model types. It's super interesting and educational to see the techniques being applied
I got started with model cars, but quickly got pulled into gunpla with the introduction of the gundam wing gunpla commercials that would run on toonami. I actually only got into warhammer because I stopped into a gw store for paint for my gunpla! There is no company that reinvests so heavily into design and manufacturing of new kits as bandia. They actually listen to their customers as well. They have made some “shitty” kits, but then go back after getting feedback, retool the molds, and re-manufacture those kits. A good example is the the Zaku II. The created a zaku II 2.0 kit to refresh a 15 year old kit, and it sucked; moldlines everywhere, terrible tolerances, and an overall poor building experience. They released the 2.5 after backlash and then the 3.0 soon after. The 3.0 came out after the real grade kit and the rg and 3.0 master grade are incredible. Your technique is one I’ve seen before, back when Most gunpla modelers had their own blogs. I think it even used to have directions on how to varnish your kit and then use the gundam panel liners. I don’t think you see it too often because of a cultural differences between most gunpla modelers and war gamers. Because there is no game associated with the kit, most modelers spend hours meticulously building, cleaning, and painting to to get a incredibly clean, car paint quality result; we normally use lacquer paint even. Also I don’t know many gunpla modelers that have a pile of shame. Basically, because gunpla’s only purpose is to be enjoyed during the process and then displayed, they don’t tend to have a desire to complete the process quickly like a war gamer preparing for a game. Super cool video, and I’m glad you took a look at the kits. The thing I love about gunpla is that it really has a community that lives and dies by the “your kit, your rules”, unlike warhammer where anything you do is “fucking wrong, and stupid”.
I think you made a mistake here since the MG Zaku II 2.0 is a beloved and awesome kit, to the point many people say it doesn’t need an update. It’s also the latest version of the Zaku in MG despite being a 15 year old mold now with even the MG Gouf and Psycho Zaku reusing parts of the same frame. I’ve built 2 myself and love both of them. I’ve never experienced the moldlines or horrible tolerances you describe. The RX-78-2 is also the only suit with a 3.0, and the 2.0 kit of that is also a very good. Not only that, but both the RG RX-78 and Zaku II are known to be pretty delicate. so I’m not quite sure which kit you’re talking about now.
Gunpla are a very nice way to enter our hobby for noobs. My daughter (12 years old) never built a model. I bought her a Gundam and she built it in minutes, no help needed. Gorgeous engineering. Great vid.
I'm mainly a gunpla model maker that dabbles in the occasional GW model so this is right up my street mate. Most of the gunpla world use lacquer paints through an airbrush as it's more durable when you're posing the kits but there's also some great acrylic lines that are a bit more heavy duty (the mecha line by vallejo is a good example of this) which could lend well to hand brushing . Your method of painting the kits is a really interesting take and has come out really well, I might give it a go on an EG RX78-2 I've got myself. Would love to see you make some more gunpla in the furture and I hope you've had fun, remember gunpla is freedom!
Awesome job! It's always interesting to see how the wargaming hobby connects with other hobbies. Like tin soldiers, board games, scale modelling or, indeed, gunpla 👍
From what I understand the RX-78 EG is the recommended first build. I dont like Gundam but like models so I have one sitting on my shelf ready to test the zen of these kits.
Great job! I’m a huge Gunpla fan, having 35 models, but I never painted any before. They gave me confidance to try wargaming miniatures. I can reccomend the anime as well, especially the original series from the 70’. It has suprisingly strong anti-war message for a kids cartoon.
I love gunpla, it is my second plastic crack addiction after Warhammer and BattleTech miniatures. I’ve built dozens but I haven’t truly painted one yet. Because I prefer a more anime clean look I just panel-line my kits. Panel lining is usually done with either special markers or with wash-like ink (Tamiya makes some great ones) that I’ve also been using in mini painting. As an aside I’d like to mention that I liked the use of the Black Lagoon soundtrack in the video, very grimdark anime appropriate for a gunpla video on this channel.
I've just got my son who's five his first EG kit and he's loving it. So naturally this video was an eye opener for a route to painting them. I'll have to get one myself and try it out. I've built an older Zoids Liger Zero kit and that was so relaxing and fun. Also helped I was watching the series as well ❤
@@MSPaints yes that advice is like gold dust to me. I've not used enamel washes before. So I think there are a lot of tests to be done. Was this despite the varnish layers or was it because the wash runs into areas that were not covered as well?
I've been building Gunpla since 1999 longer than I've been building and painting Warhammer miniatures. It's always cool to see others get into Gunpla. Especially, those who stick mainly with miniatures and have joy in building them.
Build my first Gundam kit last week. I absolutely loved it! I hate building GW models and only enjoy the painting process. Building the Gundam kit was a very Zen experience. It was so relaxing and fun. I have the same feeling when painting Warhammer (most of the time). I really want to build more kits when I can afford it. The only downside to Gunpla VS Warhammer is that you are "only" building a display piece and not something you can take to your friends and play a game with. One of the big draws of Warhammer is that my hobbying has a greater purpose(they are going to be used on the tabletop). I don't have space for displaying my stuff(small house with wife, kids and my dining table as my temporary hobby space) but my gundam found a spot at my studio/offie space where I work and I guess it needs company at some point. Im happy you did a video about the topic!
THIS IS SO COOL FOR SO MANY REASONS! 1. Gunpla / Gundam! I’m gundam-curious but haven’t gotten there yet…so cool to see you adventurously take the plunge! Really fun attitude and exploration of the subject. 2. Involving a Patron involved in this way is SO COOL! What a great idea! 3. I love that you took this so far, with trying to blend the usual mini hobby elements in! 4. Profit? 😂
Cannot recommend Gunpla enough! The Entry Grade kits are a great, affordable place to start. If you've got model building skills already you could probably jump into a Real Grade or Master Grade kit right away. If you want to see just how far people push the customization of these kits, look up some conversions, custom paint jobs and competition entries. There's a whole load of aftermarket decals, resin conversion pieces and LEDs for gunpla kits, plus a lot of the connections/sockets are often shared between kits of the same scale, so kitbashing is relatively straight forward.
The Entry grades are good...I'm still hoping for a full weapons set for the Strike...and something for the Nu. Only issue with the EG line are the hands of the RX-78-2...though I think we're getting alternate hands for it with the LAH version that's coming out. As a side note, the beam sabers of the Full Weapons RX-78-2 are fully compatible with the old HGUC GM...which is one of the kits that have the old non-separate beam saber sticks and a useless unless drilled one to slot in unpowered. It's the same colors as the EGFWS one as well which was another problem and you have the stuff to do 2 of them and the other weapons are still rather useful.
Thank you so much for making this video, knowing full well it'll tank compared to Warhammer stuff. Saw your video about that the other day, so I know it's a legitimate sacrifice you're making. Love your channel, mate, you are among my very favourite creators - in the hobby space as well as in general. Cheers!
I did absolute take a big one on this hahaha. But it’s alright. The real dread is knowing it won’t do well! Haha. Thanks for watching! I enjoyed making it
Well damn, that is a neat trick I've got to use when I paint any of my gunpla. Gotta say its nice seeing videos using bandai kits from the miniature hobby space. Especially since the only reason I even collect, assemble, and "paint" tiny armies is because I started with a few gundam kits.
Bandai also have the ability to do three colours on a runner, They also engineered the ability to mold movable parts togeather for older PG hands and the Real grade inner frames used the same process.
They do also make 55mm Gundams, The line is called Gundam Artifact. Always blows my mind how few mini builders and customizers have never build a Gundam kit. There is even a world gunpla competition that I'm sure a few mini painters/ terrain builders can place high in.
Yeah, Gundams are really great engineered. I've built a MG FAZZ a long time ago. How you basically built a Gundam to then add on more and more additional armor pieces on top of it was pretty fun. Gunpla and tank kits from Tamiya were so much cheaper and better than what GW offered for their tanks, it was eye opening.
the MG F91 is such a great kit to start with, the little bits and bops like the back of the feet or the flaps inside the shoulders are so cool to build up and see work.
Only negative thing I have to say about gunpla is that the plastic reacts terribly with white spirts so if you're panel lining them with oils use something else to remove the excess otherwise the plastic will crack.
You can also use nail polish remover and for panel lining just use a mechanical pencil or gundam markers which are a thing they have a full line of markers just for gunpla which is the technical name for gundam model kits
This video has got me from "yeah i get they are awesome kits but they look so clean and cheesy AF" to "I must now buy all of the things and paint them". Thanks mate!
Awesome video, thanks for letting me build one of the starter kits! It was a really fun build 😄 Now I have more opportunities added to my pile of potential 😂
Dammit I had forgotten all about gundam wing! Now I have heavy arms (gundam, not literal heavy arms) and hunting through the internet for the other 4. Thanks Dave!!! (Said in a sarcastic tone that's not actually sarcastic as a love being a nerd 😁)
There are *multiple* fan-made games out there, and i faintly recall seeing pics of matches, it's convenient that the terrain for Dropzone Commander and the like exactly fits the 1/100 scale of the MG kits, means we can get full tables if we want (and i for one would use it even for the cheap 1/144 scale kits too). Plus people play with the tiny "gashapon" figures too, which are about the size of our minis, easier to use those to field whole groups of figures too.
That's a great paint job there. I've never got my hands on an actual Gundam, but had a similar experience a few weeks back with a Transformers model kit built along the same lines - never seen a kit like that before, had a fantastic evening putting her together, and immediately went and preordered the next in the line when I was done.
An old friend (we aren't in contact anymore) got me into Gunpla about 10 years ago and weird timing, but I just finished three more kits today. It's an amazing hobby and I can't help but want to to make a tabletop robot battle game out of it.
I love gunpla, so fun to build, and you get great results even with just placing the stickers (when there is) and panel lining with some shade or fine point markers. I have several ones from the Gundam Seed series, the Strike Noir being my favorite and the Strike Freedom being one of the must have from this series. Still not had my first Perfect/Master Grade tough, I tend to keep with the High Grade ones (smaller and a little cheaper). And now there is even the kits with LEDs in them... I need some of those.
My Gunpla stash is almost as big as my Wargaming stash. lol It still amazes me that even the cheapest Gunpla kit has so much engineering put into them.
Love your channel and always appreciate the diversity of your content. I particularily liked this video and will watch it again. Would very much like to see some more gunpla. I think a few of them could make a really interesting game
Do enjoy the gunpla rabbit hole. Glad you went for the master grade line. Hope you dig around and look into the perfect grade line. It is a different hobby but the same principles do remain. I went both the warhammer and gunpla hole.
I tend to paint gundam with a matte finish for a more military look and i like Tamiya weathering power with a matte clear coat. I also paint on the sprue to keep myself clean. My next model im going to try panel lining, makes the little bit pop.
Great result! I've done a few, before I got into miniature painting. Super satisfying to build even without painting. If you want to go a step further try a Real Grade. More shades used for the plastic and even more engineering goodness 👍😁
@@MSPaints never tried a perfect grade but you won't be disappointed with an RG. Some of the earlier ones were described as a bit fragile but they still blew my mind. Darn it! I need to build one now 😁
I've painted a few. I completely disassembled them, primed them, and painted each part individually then assembled for weathering (for those I wanted to weather) and highlighting.
picked up my first kit this week. Was very impressed with the ability to pose what is essentially a build your own action figure. the plastic quality and detail is insane.
I bought a Gundam back in the late '70's early '80's and still have it and the box, it's not as multi part as these darlings, I think about twelve parts and snapfit. There is on the Vallejo channel a chap who does these models abit bloody nice.
I've built many Gundam models over the years, none of which have survived house moves or accidents. Recently started to build a few more as a sideline to my more common 40k and military modelling. I tend to customise and fully paint mine. I've never had any problems with using acrylic paints on them to date. The modelling world of all kinds is interconnected. We all use the same tools, techniques and materials. And there's a lot of shared interest and skills. But for some reason, it always seems to be so... compartmentalised, between miniature wargaming, gundam modelling, military modelling, and the model railways community - even though they're all linked in a huge amount of ways.
Welcome to the hobby! I find building Gunpla scratches a different building itch than war gaming models and you don't need to paint them if you don't feel like it.
I started painting Gunpla before I was painting Warhammer and other miniatures. It was the aesthetic of Gundam and then the engineering of the kits that drew me and kept me collecting them. Sitting at close to 70 MG and endless High Grades, saying that I love them is an understatement. Great job on your first set, you picked quite the bunch!
So there is a super easy way to prime if you want to preserve coloration, the parts are generally SOLID colored all the way though, meaning a light sand followed by a thin clear matte spray paint. the one exception to the solid colored parts is any kit that mentions a 'coating'. Finally there are a specialty product called "gundam markers" there basically a cheat way to do pannel lining
Interesting, I didn't really know what these were besides: "action figure stuff I'm not interested in", but you changed my mind about that. They're pretty cool and well made! I still don't like the aesthetic so it's not for me but I can better appreciate Gunpla hobbyists now! Also, well done on the weathering and painting!
Gunpla is great infinitely customizable and if you into space marines the zaku may be your pick it has a similar aestheic but i would recomend 1/144 scale for your first
@@dhanu_4539 Thanks! Big robots are just not really my thing, more of a classic fantasy or gritty futuristic guy myself (necromunda, inquisitor) Glad to see so many people enjoying their own thing though!
It's great to see someone try out Gunpla for the first time and enjoy themselves! Bandai always seems to be improving all of their kit lines - compare the different High Grade Zaku II kits they've made over the years to see the improvement. Custom painting and kitbashing are quite popular among Gunpla enthusiasts as well, and it helps that Bandai and other manufacturers make parts specifically for doing so. I also highly recommend the 30 Minute Missions kit line which is pretty popular and is specifically made for customization - and many parts are actually designed to be compatible with Gunpla as well.
glad you've enjoyed your first foray into gunpla. I've been into the hobby for a good few years now but only recently started doing fully repainted kits. Before that it was just a bit of weathering and colour correction instead of using the stickers. The engineering and instructions are really top notch on these things.
I have been wargaming for a long time. But only been in the gunpla hobby for about 5 to 6 years. Just starting to paint them up know. So i can combine both hobbies.
I've made a couple of Gundam and non-gundam Gunpla kits, and yeah some of the articulation is crazy - my Master Grade Gouf has 13 parts in each foot just so he can stand on tiptoe!
My friends were reccomended this video and I decided to check it out. Never seen you before but man are you interesting. Love the frog, love the look, and you have a very nice voice to listen to. As for Warhammer I still have yet to try it out as I lean more on the Gundam side but seeing you try it out makes me wanna take a crack at it. The Necrons in particular look interesting.
I built some Gunpla and Macross models in the past, I usually used Tamiya mat varnish as sealant at the end of the build to remove the gloss plastic effect. I was curious about priming first with varnish but like you didn't find anyone trying it, so thank you for experimenting. I will follow your process on some of my models that need a less pristine look.
Just started my Gundam journey, anime and model wise, but really enjoyed the kits built so far. No official wargames but there is Mobile Suit Skirmish, a community fan created rule set and Drop Zone Commander models are roughly the same scale as High Grade (1/144) kits. Great video.
got into building these during the pandemic. I love that I can go as low as like a 15$ kit and still have a hell of a good time building these. Custom painting them has also been an adventure!
I collected Gunpla almost 20 years ago when I was supported entirely by the student loan company. I dug a few out the other month whilst cleaning the attic. I think it's worth trying a few of these techniques!
Now imagine a gundam build plans being at the same level as gunpla instruction manual with the parts needed to build the gundam ending up in the hands of Guilliman. Basically what if Guilliman were too recivie gundams.
So Bandai actually sell an entire line of “Gundam markers” that’s designed to let you “paint” on Gunpla that’s not been primed. There’s even a line of weathering markers (called “real touch markers”) that works similarly to what you’re doing in the video. They’re not substitutes to actually painting the kits, but are a gateway for people to try it out before investing in brushes, paints, an airbrush setup etc…. Oh yeah, the multicolored plastic parts works well enough that there’s an entire segment of the Gunpla hobby that just don’t paint their kits (since they can still look pretty good bare), something that’d be unimaginable for a miniature wargame.
So excited to see MSPaints tackle gunpla! Thank you and please consider doing more :) I Love 40k but turned to gunpla after finding the detail on Citadel/Forge World miniatures a little intimidating. With an airbrush, panel lining and decals (and some simple techniques) I find I can achieve satisfying results and they have so much shelf presence!
great vid Dave, love to see you dipping into gunpla. I remember the first conversation we had I mentioned bandai kits and enamel products and you were telling me about 3d printing. that's pretty crazy as I only popped in to get a copy of tiger woods for a ps2 ! Great looking results from that technique. I often change the colours of my gunpla kits so I use alligator clips on BBQ skewers to airbrush or rattle can the parts. another option is priming on the sprues and then painting GW style in sub assemblies. great work as always mate.
Gundams were probably my first peering into the painting and modeling hobby space as a whole. Like so many other things in life, most of the paths that lead to where I am today came from my formative years into anime at around 12-14 years of age, when video games became secondary in my life and I was still young enough, that things other than rent and survival could be my primary interest in life. While I never really had the interest for and still to this day never had an interest in models and figurines that weren't a means to some other end like wargaming and the like, it was the first time I could see and appreciate the amount of time and effort it takes for people to make these things and make them look stylish as fuck. At the time, I didn't even know if I was ever going to get into this kind of stuff, oblivious to what a couple of lore-guides and some angry robot skeleton bois could do to a person, but even at that time, I always had respect for people that put in the effort. That said, I don't know if Gundams would be the thing for me. To me, as someone to whom modeling and painting is a bit of a tertiary interest in Wargaming, a big point in this stuff to me is the sense of expression. The idea that the models are merely the skeleton that I can shape and mold to my liking and the paints are the flesh that will personalize my creations. I wouldn't even know where to start kitbashing a Gundam and the want to do so is another point entirely. Even as someone who hasn't seen an episode of it in my life, the iconic look of Gundams just makes trying to customize and personalize them feel like sacrilege. This video certainly showed a way in which you can add your own spice while staying faithful to the models.
A testament to @MSPaints and his channel. I just watched a 15 min vid on a subject that didn’t interest me based on a genre that I don’t get and that leaves me cold…I’m now off to look for one of these kits 😂 Cheers Dave!
Haha! Relatable! Know nothing about the wider context of this stuff, but still love the kit process!
@@MSPaints can you kitbash a Commander Farsight Gunpla?
What did you bought? I recommend buying an Origins line Zaku 2 or if you want more dakka, an MG Heavyarms. Just stay away from RG line until your confident enough, some of does kits are in builder words "hand grenades"
"And because Gundam were designed to look cool as f**k and not sell a paint line, this is gonna be simple" This is too funny and too true
As someone who collects, build and paints both Warhammer 40k and Gunpla, they're both very different beasts in terms of the painting process
Whereas with tabletop minis you will mostly use a brush, with Gunpla an airbrush or even rattle cans are your best friends.
Typically with Gunpla, the way you're "supposed to paint it", is leave it disassembled, prime all the individual pieces grey (while keeping them organized by their original colors of course), then apply a darker "pre-shade" to all the recessed lines, and if you so desire a highlight to all the raised edges. So do it all in greyscale first.
THEN go over the pieces completely with the respective color for those pieces. Using an airbrush there will be no brush strokes, and the color paint layer SHOULD be thin enough that you will get a highlighted and shaded gradient showing through the color paint.
Then varnish all the pieces, AND THEN assemble the whole thing.
There are a ton of other little tips and tricks, like making sure you don't put too much paint on pegs or holes that go together, or in joints, etc, and then there's panel lining (using an enamel ink to darken all the lines in the panels, etc).
Check out another UA-camr OtakuBuilder, he even puts LED's in his builds
As far as hobby products go, Gundam/gunpla is some of the best bang for buck money you can spend. The engineering in some of the kits is absolutely insane, they are super customizable and when compared to stuff like warhammer...... it's dirt fuckin' cheap.
As well as being cheaper wargameable to boot if you choose plus you can get a MG for the price of a single captain ( 🤔a few different posable gunpla or a single static figure decisions decisions 🤔)
There is three free war game rule sets available online. I’m learning mobile suit skirmish personally.
MS Paints: I'm gonna try Gundam models!
Me: alright, that looks like a nice model
MS Paints: So, you build it, but also it has joints! It can change poses!
Me: Sorcery!!
There's a really good Japanese UA-camr called Senasuke who builds Gundams and then paints them, with a brush, using mostly Citadel paints. (She also sometimes does GW models too.) The auto-generated translated subtitles usually work well enough to get an idea of what's going on, too.
I followed her ages ago another great modeller is umi shinonome 😉a model who models 😁 I've a long list of different people I follow for all my different plamo needs and they all use different techniques for painting which is a good thing,so many choices for bringing out the best in kits
I recently discovered her as well and she is a good intro to hand painting kits.
Fun fact: the iconic gundam red, blue, and white, was chosen to sell toys by the producers
The original colours for the RX-78, as chosen by the writer of the original show, were actually grey and blue, as seen on the G3 gundam in char’s deleted affair
Love that you are reaching outside of the main GW hobby and doing Gunpla.
More Gunpla videos please along with your regular content. 👍
I always love it when a mini painter gets hooked on gundams. Welcome aboard soldier!
Love seeing miniature painters take on gunpla, they do great paint jobs on them and it's great to see the reactions to how well Bandai put these kits together after 40 years of doing it.
I've been building gunpla for those 40 years as well as wargaming figures sci-fi, fantasy, real armour/planes, BANDAI is my main reason for being broke 🤭 although kotobukiya and recently good smile company have raised their game ( they just cost way more )
I'm a real fan of the Super Deformed (SD) versions of the Gundam kits. They work quite well for chunky battle suits in 28mm scale. I agree, the kits are beautifully engineered.
James is so realistic; unlike Dave's other "Friends" you can't see the rods operating his arms.
Gundam: Engineered For A More Pleasant Experience.
10:50 That panel line filling in with the grime is very satisfying.
The finished effect of those battleworn BFRs is cool.
Looks really cool, If it could speak it would say "The Tau wish they could be me"
Gundam was my gateway drug into modeling. Still my fav.
I love building Gunpla. The intelligence of the engineering is great.
If you're a modeler, I highly recommend watching videos (like this one) on how different players of each field (science fiction/gunpla , military, TT miniatures) apply their skills to other model types. It's super interesting and educational to see the techniques being applied
Absolutely did not expect to hear the Shadow Skill opening song in the background, but very happy to have done so
Good choice having Gundam Wing playing in the background of the patreon segment 😅
I got started with model cars, but quickly got pulled into gunpla with the introduction of the gundam wing gunpla commercials that would run on toonami.
I actually only got into warhammer because I stopped into a gw store for paint for my gunpla!
There is no company that reinvests so heavily into design and manufacturing of new kits as bandia. They actually listen to their customers as well. They have made some “shitty” kits, but then go back after getting feedback, retool the molds, and re-manufacture those kits. A good example is the the Zaku II. The created a zaku II 2.0 kit to refresh a 15 year old kit, and it sucked; moldlines everywhere, terrible tolerances, and an overall poor building experience. They released the 2.5 after backlash and then the 3.0 soon after. The 3.0 came out after the real grade kit and the rg and 3.0 master grade are incredible.
Your technique is one I’ve seen before, back when Most gunpla modelers had their own blogs. I think it even used to have directions on how to varnish your kit and then use the gundam panel liners. I don’t think you see it too often because of a cultural differences between most gunpla modelers and war gamers. Because there is no game associated with the kit, most modelers spend hours meticulously building, cleaning, and painting to to get a incredibly clean, car paint quality result; we normally use lacquer paint even. Also I don’t know many gunpla modelers that have a pile of shame. Basically, because gunpla’s only purpose is to be enjoyed during the process and then displayed, they don’t tend to have a desire to complete the process quickly like a war gamer preparing for a game.
Super cool video, and I’m glad you took a look at the kits. The thing I love about gunpla is that it really has a community that lives and dies by the “your kit, your rules”, unlike warhammer where anything you do is “fucking wrong, and stupid”.
I think you made a mistake here since the MG Zaku II 2.0 is a beloved and awesome kit, to the point many people say it doesn’t need an update. It’s also the latest version of the Zaku in MG despite being a 15 year old mold now with even the MG Gouf and Psycho Zaku reusing parts of the same frame. I’ve built 2 myself and love both of them. I’ve never experienced the moldlines or horrible tolerances you describe.
The RX-78-2 is also the only suit with a 3.0, and the 2.0 kit of that is also a very good. Not only that, but both the RG RX-78 and Zaku II are known to be pretty delicate. so I’m not quite sure which kit you’re talking about now.
Gunpla are a very nice way to enter our hobby for noobs. My daughter (12 years old) never built a model. I bought her a Gundam and she built it in minutes, no help needed. Gorgeous engineering. Great vid.
I got into Miniature painting because of gunpla, so its great to see it appreciated more👍
I'm mainly a gunpla model maker that dabbles in the occasional GW model so this is right up my street mate.
Most of the gunpla world use lacquer paints through an airbrush as it's more durable when you're posing the kits but there's also some great acrylic lines that are a bit more heavy duty (the mecha line by vallejo is a good example of this) which could lend well to hand brushing . Your method of painting the kits is a really interesting take and has come out really well, I might give it a go on an EG RX78-2 I've got myself.
Would love to see you make some more gunpla in the furture and I hope you've had fun, remember gunpla is freedom!
Was out and about tonight and picked up a Gundam kit. Can't wait to put it together tomorrow!
Awesome job! It's always interesting to see how the wargaming hobby connects with other hobbies. Like tin soldiers, board games, scale modelling or, indeed, gunpla 👍
All connects! I just wish warhammer dudes realised that haha
How come no one talks about that AWESOME intro song? Man, I want to download it and start working on my abs to it!
I love Gundams!
From what I understand the RX-78 EG is the recommended first build. I dont like Gundam but like models so I have one sitting on my shelf ready to test the zen of these kits.
Clear Vanish, go figure.Will have to remember this trick for my own gunpla models.
Great job! I’m a huge Gunpla fan, having 35 models, but I never painted any before. They gave me confidance to try wargaming miniatures. I can reccomend the anime as well, especially the original series from the 70’. It has suprisingly strong anti-war message for a kids cartoon.
I love gunpla, it is my second plastic crack addiction after Warhammer and BattleTech miniatures. I’ve built dozens but I haven’t truly painted one yet. Because I prefer a more anime clean look I just panel-line my kits. Panel lining is usually done with either special markers or with wash-like ink (Tamiya makes some great ones) that I’ve also been using in mini painting.
As an aside I’d like to mention that I liked the use of the Black Lagoon soundtrack in the video, very grimdark anime appropriate for a gunpla video on this channel.
I've just got my son who's five his first EG kit and he's loving it. So naturally this video was an eye opener for a route to painting them. I'll have to get one myself and try it out.
I've built an older Zoids Liger Zero kit and that was so relaxing and fun. Also helped I was watching the series as well ❤
Glad to hear the love is spreading! Just go easy on the enamel washes! I discovered a few weeks later the plastic reacts poorly to it in the long run.
@@MSPaints yes that advice is like gold dust to me. I've not used enamel washes before. So I think there are a lot of tests to be done. Was this despite the varnish layers or was it because the wash runs into areas that were not covered as well?
I've been building Gunpla since 1999 longer than I've been building and painting Warhammer miniatures. It's always cool to see others get into Gunpla. Especially, those who stick mainly with miniatures and have joy in building them.
Build my first Gundam kit last week. I absolutely loved it! I hate building GW models and only enjoy the painting process. Building the Gundam kit was a very Zen experience. It was so relaxing and fun. I have the same feeling when painting Warhammer (most of the time). I really want to build more kits when I can afford it. The only downside to Gunpla VS Warhammer is that you are "only" building a display piece and not something you can take to your friends and play a game with. One of the big draws of Warhammer is that my hobbying has a greater purpose(they are going to be used on the tabletop). I don't have space for displaying my stuff(small house with wife, kids and my dining table as my temporary hobby space) but my gundam found a spot at my studio/offie space where I work and I guess it needs company at some point. Im happy you did a video about the topic!
THIS IS SO COOL FOR SO MANY REASONS! 1. Gunpla / Gundam! I’m gundam-curious but haven’t gotten there yet…so cool to see you adventurously take the plunge! Really fun attitude and exploration of the subject. 2. Involving a Patron involved in this way is SO COOL! What a great idea! 3. I love that you took this so far, with trying to blend the usual mini hobby elements in! 4. Profit? 😂
Cannot recommend Gunpla enough! The Entry Grade kits are a great, affordable place to start. If you've got model building skills already you could probably jump into a Real Grade or Master Grade kit right away.
If you want to see just how far people push the customization of these kits, look up some conversions, custom paint jobs and competition entries. There's a whole load of aftermarket decals, resin conversion pieces and LEDs for gunpla kits, plus a lot of the connections/sockets are often shared between kits of the same scale, so kitbashing is relatively straight forward.
Dave should have build entry grade kits first
The Entry grades are good...I'm still hoping for a full weapons set for the Strike...and something for the Nu.
Only issue with the EG line are the hands of the RX-78-2...though I think we're getting alternate hands for it with the LAH version that's coming out.
As a side note, the beam sabers of the Full Weapons RX-78-2 are fully compatible with the old HGUC GM...which is one of the kits that have the old non-separate beam saber sticks and a useless unless drilled one to slot in unpowered. It's the same colors as the EGFWS one as well which was another problem and you have the stuff to do 2 of them and the other weapons are still rather useful.
Thank you so much for making this video, knowing full well it'll tank compared to Warhammer stuff. Saw your video about that the other day, so I know it's a legitimate sacrifice you're making.
Love your channel, mate, you are among my very favourite creators - in the hobby space as well as in general.
Cheers!
I did absolute take a big one on this hahaha. But it’s alright. The real dread is knowing it won’t do well! Haha. Thanks for watching! I enjoyed making it
@@MSPaints I just got hooked on your channel and I really appreciate this video and I'd love to see more in the future.
Well damn, that is a neat trick I've got to use when I paint any of my gunpla. Gotta say its nice seeing videos using bandai kits from the miniature hobby space. Especially since the only reason I even collect, assemble, and "paint" tiny armies is because I started with a few gundam kits.
Dave; without swearing...
Nek Minnut, also Dave; this is cool as fuck
Gundam kits are so nice to build
They are pretty relaxing to build as they just go together no problems
I have made 7 Gundam kits, some HG, 1 MG and the rest in RG. But i had never seen a sprue holder plate...Daddy needs this in his life!!!
Watching the tolerances on the manufacture of these kits was jaw dropping
Bandai also have the ability to do three colours on a runner, They also engineered the ability to mold movable parts togeather for older PG hands and the Real grade inner frames used the same process.
They do also make 55mm Gundams, The line is called Gundam Artifact. Always blows my mind how few mini builders and customizers have never build a Gundam kit. There is even a world gunpla competition that I'm sure a few mini painters/ terrain builders can place high in.
Yeah, Gundams are really great engineered. I've built a MG FAZZ a long time ago. How you basically built a Gundam to then add on more and more additional armor pieces on top of it was pretty fun. Gunpla and tank kits from Tamiya were so much cheaper and better than what GW offered for their tanks, it was eye opening.
the MG F91 is such a great kit to start with, the little bits and bops like the back of the feet or the flaps inside the shoulders are so cool to build up and see work.
Only negative thing I have to say about gunpla is that the plastic reacts terribly with white spirts so if you're panel lining them with oils use something else to remove the excess otherwise the plastic will crack.
You can also use nail polish remover and for panel lining just use a mechanical pencil or gundam markers which are a thing they have a full line of markers just for gunpla which is the technical name for gundam model kits
This video has got me from "yeah i get they are awesome kits but they look so clean and cheesy AF" to "I must now buy all of the things and paint them". Thanks mate!
No Dave never tried building any of these mechanised robots. But cheers for showing us how.
Awesome video, thanks for letting me build one of the starter kits! It was a really fun build 😄
Now I have more opportunities added to my pile of potential 😂
Thanks for joining us! That pile of previously well intentioned purchases must grow. On the bright side you don't have to paint these.
Great vid as usual. The final model and paint job looks ace. AD Police, a man of impeccable taste!
Dammit I had forgotten all about gundam wing! Now I have heavy arms (gundam, not literal heavy arms) and hunting through the internet for the other 4. Thanks Dave!!! (Said in a sarcastic tone that's not actually sarcastic as a love being a nerd 😁)
I love gundam kits. They really are wonderful to work with and customize. I wish there was a game to go with them.
There's a pdf knocking around for one online! Think i'm gonna try Titanicus rules with them hahaha
@@MSPaints oh! That’s a pretty great idea.
There are *multiple* fan-made games out there, and i faintly recall seeing pics of matches, it's convenient that the terrain for Dropzone Commander and the like exactly fits the 1/100 scale of the MG kits, means we can get full tables if we want (and i for one would use it even for the cheap 1/144 scale kits too).
Plus people play with the tiny "gashapon" figures too, which are about the size of our minis, easier to use those to field whole groups of figures too.
That's a great paint job there. I've never got my hands on an actual Gundam, but had a similar experience a few weeks back with a Transformers model kit built along the same lines - never seen a kit like that before, had a fantastic evening putting her together, and immediately went and preordered the next in the line when I was done.
Love seeing more various modelers jumping into the gunpla world!
As a casual Gundam builder just now getting into 40k, I'm glad to have found this video from my favorite UA-cam painter thus far.
An old friend (we aren't in contact anymore) got me into Gunpla about 10 years ago and weird timing, but I just finished three more kits today.
It's an amazing hobby and I can't help but want to to make a tabletop robot battle game out of it.
I love gunpla, so fun to build, and you get great results even with just placing the stickers (when there is) and panel lining with some shade or fine point markers. I have several ones from the Gundam Seed series, the Strike Noir being my favorite and the Strike Freedom being one of the must have from this series. Still not had my first Perfect/Master Grade tough, I tend to keep with the High Grade ones (smaller and a little cheaper).
And now there is even the kits with LEDs in them... I need some of those.
My Gunpla stash is almost as big as my Wargaming stash. lol
It still amazes me that even the cheapest Gunpla kit has so much engineering put into them.
Love your channel and always appreciate the diversity of your content. I particularily liked this video and will watch it again. Would very much like to see some more gunpla. I think a few of them could make a really interesting game
Thanks Jon! We have a perfect grade video coming soon!
Do enjoy the gunpla rabbit hole. Glad you went for the master grade line. Hope you dig around and look into the perfect grade line. It is a different hobby but the same principles do remain. I went both the warhammer and gunpla hole.
I tend to paint gundam with a matte finish for a more military look and i like Tamiya weathering power with a matte clear coat. I also paint on the sprue to keep myself clean. My next model im going to try panel lining, makes the little bit pop.
Well done Dave. My kids now want a Gundam kit. Great video sir.
Sorry mate! Every time you leave a comment I fear I cost you some dollar! Haha
Alright I love your video. I love watching people discover Gunpla for the first time.
Gunpla is such a zen hobby. I got into it as a pre-teen when Wing came to Toonami. Still have those models!
Great result! I've done a few, before I got into miniature painting. Super satisfying to build even without painting. If you want to go a step further try a Real Grade. More shades used for the plastic and even more engineering goodness 👍😁
Thanks! Been eyeing up a real grade. I do have a perfect grade sat in a box upstairs waiting for some love, also!
@@MSPaints never tried a perfect grade but you won't be disappointed with an RG. Some of the earlier ones were described as a bit fragile but they still blew my mind.
Darn it! I need to build one now 😁
I've painted a few. I completely disassembled them, primed them, and painted each part individually then assembled for weathering (for those I wanted to weather) and highlighting.
Superb, if only all gaming g kits were that sophisticated but also straightforward to put together.
picked up my first kit this week. Was very impressed with the ability to pose what is essentially a build your own action figure. the plastic quality and detail is insane.
I love the way that turned out.
After watching this I have now ordered 3 kits lol
I bought a Gundam back in the late '70's early '80's and still have it and the box, it's not as multi part as these darlings, I think about twelve parts and snapfit. There is on the Vallejo channel a chap who does these models abit bloody nice.
I've built many Gundam models over the years, none of which have survived house moves or accidents. Recently started to build a few more as a sideline to my more common 40k and military modelling. I tend to customise and fully paint mine. I've never had any problems with using acrylic paints on them to date.
The modelling world of all kinds is interconnected. We all use the same tools, techniques and materials. And there's a lot of shared interest and skills. But for some reason, it always seems to be so... compartmentalised, between miniature wargaming, gundam modelling, military modelling, and the model railways community - even though they're all linked in a huge amount of ways.
always immaculate music choice from ms paints
Welcome to the hobby! I find building Gunpla scratches a different building itch than war gaming models and you don't need to paint them if you don't feel like it.
I started painting Gunpla before I was painting Warhammer and other miniatures. It was the aesthetic of Gundam and then the engineering of the kits that drew me and kept me collecting them. Sitting at close to 70 MG and endless High Grades, saying that I love them is an understatement. Great job on your first set, you picked quite the bunch!
Thanks mate! Glad you enjoyed it! That sounds like a phenomenal collection!
So there is a super easy way to prime if you want to preserve coloration, the parts are generally SOLID colored all the way though, meaning a light sand followed by a thin clear matte spray paint. the one exception to the solid colored parts is any kit that mentions a 'coating'. Finally there are a specialty product called "gundam markers" there basically a cheat way to do pannel lining
Interesting, I didn't really know what these were besides: "action figure stuff I'm not interested in", but you changed my mind about that. They're pretty cool and well made! I still don't like the aesthetic so it's not for me but I can better appreciate Gunpla hobbyists now! Also, well done on the weathering and painting!
Gunpla is great infinitely customizable and if you into space marines the zaku may be your pick it has a similar aestheic but i would recomend 1/144 scale for your first
check out the non gundam gunpla... I think you'll find something you like...the Dom, zaku, kshatriya, sinanju, sazabi ect
@@dhanu_4539 Thanks! Big robots are just not really my thing, more of a classic fantasy or gritty futuristic guy myself (necromunda, inquisitor) Glad to see so many people enjoying their own thing though!
Was not expecting a Gunpla video today, gorgeous job on them!
It's great to see someone try out Gunpla for the first time and enjoy themselves! Bandai always seems to be improving all of their kit lines - compare the different High Grade Zaku II kits they've made over the years to see the improvement. Custom painting and kitbashing are quite popular among Gunpla enthusiasts as well, and it helps that Bandai and other manufacturers make parts specifically for doing so. I also highly recommend the 30 Minute Missions kit line which is pretty popular and is specifically made for customization - and many parts are actually designed to be compatible with Gunpla as well.
So happy you made this video! Been thinking about crossing over and doing some gunplay for awhile.
glad you've enjoyed your first foray into gunpla. I've been into the hobby for a good few years now but only recently started doing fully repainted kits. Before that it was just a bit of weathering and colour correction instead of using the stickers. The engineering and instructions are really top notch on these things.
I have been wargaming for a long time. But only been in the gunpla hobby for about 5 to 6 years. Just starting to paint them up know. So i can combine both hobbies.
I've made a couple of Gundam and non-gundam Gunpla kits, and yeah some of the articulation is crazy - my Master Grade Gouf has 13 parts in each foot just so he can stand on tiptoe!
My friends were reccomended this video and I decided to check it out. Never seen you before but man are you interesting. Love the frog, love the look, and you have a very nice voice to listen to.
As for Warhammer I still have yet to try it out as I lean more on the Gundam side but seeing you try it out makes me wanna take a crack at it. The Necrons in particular look interesting.
I built some Gunpla and Macross models in the past, I usually used Tamiya mat varnish as sealant at the end of the build to remove the gloss plastic effect. I was curious about priming first with varnish but like you didn't find anyone trying it, so thank you for experimenting. I will follow your process on some of my models that need a less pristine look.
As a fan of both gunpla and Warhammer, I'm always excited to see some crossover! Hope to see more in the future!
Also I've never picked up one of these kits before, but definitely will be looking out for some of them now!
I built a couple of the entry level kits years ago and found them to be really quite amazing; and frankly, the price makes them feel like a steal.
Just started my Gundam journey, anime and model wise, but really enjoyed the kits built so far. No official wargames but there is Mobile Suit Skirmish, a community fan created rule set and Drop Zone Commander models are roughly the same scale as High Grade (1/144) kits.
Great video.
Everytime I see someone cover these kits I always have an urge to buy them. That weathering is fucking sick as well
Always kinda wondered what would happen when these two hobbies collided, and now I know. It's awesome!
Welcome to our ranks! I would love to see more gunpla(Gundam plastic model kit) content. Either way, you've earned a sub from me. Love your style.
Looking forward to see a custom painted gundam.Great work ont he model.
got into building these during the pandemic. I love that I can go as low as like a 15$ kit and still have a hell of a good time building these. Custom painting them has also been an adventure!
Best model kits out there. Got quite a few now
I collected Gunpla almost 20 years ago when I was supported entirely by the student loan company. I dug a few out the other month whilst cleaning the attic. I think it's worth trying a few of these techniques!
Now imagine a gundam build plans being at the same level as gunpla instruction manual with the parts needed to build the gundam ending up in the hands of Guilliman. Basically what if Guilliman were too recivie gundams.
So Bandai actually sell an entire line of “Gundam markers” that’s designed to let you “paint” on Gunpla that’s not been primed. There’s even a line of weathering markers (called “real touch markers”) that works similarly to what you’re doing in the video. They’re not substitutes to actually painting the kits, but are a gateway for people to try it out before investing in brushes, paints, an airbrush setup etc….
Oh yeah, the multicolored plastic parts works well enough that there’s an entire segment of the Gunpla hobby that just don’t paint their kits (since they can still look pretty good bare), something that’d be unimaginable for a miniature wargame.
So excited to see MSPaints tackle gunpla! Thank you and please consider doing more :) I Love 40k but turned to gunpla after finding the detail on Citadel/Forge World miniatures a little intimidating. With an airbrush, panel lining and decals (and some simple techniques) I find I can achieve satisfying results and they have so much shelf presence!
great vid Dave, love to see you dipping into gunpla. I remember the first conversation we had I mentioned bandai kits and enamel products and you were telling me about 3d printing. that's pretty crazy as I only popped in to get a copy of tiger woods for a ps2 !
Great looking results from that technique. I often change the colours of my gunpla kits so I use alligator clips on BBQ skewers to airbrush or rattle can the parts. another option is priming on the sprues and then painting GW style in sub assemblies. great work as always mate.
Gundams were probably my first peering into the painting and modeling hobby space as a whole. Like so many other things in life, most of the paths that lead to where I am today came from my formative years into anime at around 12-14 years of age, when video games became secondary in my life and I was still young enough, that things other than rent and survival could be my primary interest in life. While I never really had the interest for and still to this day never had an interest in models and figurines that weren't a means to some other end like wargaming and the like, it was the first time I could see and appreciate the amount of time and effort it takes for people to make these things and make them look stylish as fuck. At the time, I didn't even know if I was ever going to get into this kind of stuff, oblivious to what a couple of lore-guides and some angry robot skeleton bois could do to a person, but even at that time, I always had respect for people that put in the effort.
That said, I don't know if Gundams would be the thing for me. To me, as someone to whom modeling and painting is a bit of a tertiary interest in Wargaming, a big point in this stuff to me is the sense of expression. The idea that the models are merely the skeleton that I can shape and mold to my liking and the paints are the flesh that will personalize my creations. I wouldn't even know where to start kitbashing a Gundam and the want to do so is another point entirely. Even as someone who hasn't seen an episode of it in my life, the iconic look of Gundams just makes trying to customize and personalize them feel like sacrilege. This video certainly showed a way in which you can add your own spice while staying faithful to the models.
Now rushing into my garage to dig out the Gundam I made 15 years ago. Awesome.