How to apply decals
August 13, 2008 at 2:35 pm | Posted in How-to | 45 CommentsTags: decals, dry transfer decals, gunpla, Mr Mark Setter, stickers, water slide decals
I don’t know why, but applying decals is my favourite part in building gunpla kits. Maybe it has something to do with my habit of slapping stickers everywhere (TV, fridge, furniture, cars etc…) when I was a kid. Anyway, decals are basically stickers you apply to your finished gundam kit. They add some sense of ‘realism’ and makes your kit look unique.
Basically there’s 3 types of decals:
The green one on the top left are just stickers. You peel them and just apply on the surface of your kits, just like you would for any sticker. The white one on the bottom left are dry-transfer decals and the blue one on the right are water-slide decals. I’ll explain how to use them in a bit. In general, all Master Grade kits come with sticker type and dry-transfer decals, while 1/144 HG kits just come with stickers. The water-slide decals are sold separately; the official Bandai ones cost ~400yen while custom decals vary. Personally, I don’t recommend using the sticker types. They stick out too much and look unnatural. I’ll be showing how to apply the dry-transfer and water-slide decals here.
Dry transfer decals
1. Cut out the specific pattern/design you want from the decal sheet using any sharp blade
2. Using a clear cellophane tape, pick up the piece of decal you just cut out
3. Place the decal where you wish. The cellophane tape helps to keep the decal in place
5. Rub on top of the decal using whatever stick-like material you can find e.g. toothpick. I used the bottom end of my paint brush. The decal will stick on you gunpla surface. In case of large decals, make sure you rub the entire surface. You can peel back the tape a bit to check if there are any bits still left on the decal sheet.
6. Peel away the tape. The decal should be on your gunpla and the tape should have an empty decal sheet.
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Water slide decals
1. Again, cut out the design you want from the decal sheet
2. Using a pair of tweezers/forceps, pick up the decal you cut out and dip in water for roughly 8 seconds. I found that Bandai water-slide decals need less time, maybe 4-6 seconds while custom decals might take longer than 8 seconds. The purpose of this step is to detach the decal from the decal sheet.
3. Using a cotton bud dipped in water, gently ‘tease’ the decal away from the decal sheet and onto your gunpla. If the decal won’t budge from the decal sheet, dip in water for a couple more seconds.
4. Once the decal is on your gunla, you can still adjust or reposition the decal. Once you’re satisfied with the position, use the dry end of the cotton bud to gently roll over decal to absorb extra water.
If you’ve got cash to spend, try using Mr Mark Setter. To use it, apply some on the surface of your gunpla before you apply the water-slide decal (before step [3]). Then you apply some directly on top of your decal (after step [4]). The purpose of Mr Mark Setter is to make the decal stick better to your gunpla surface and to give the appearance that the decal was actually ‘painted’ on your gunpla. It’s just optional, the decals still look fine without it.
Enjoy decalling!
Mass Production Gelgoog Ver2.0
August 2, 2008 at 10:23 pm | Posted in Master Grade | 3 CommentsTags: battle damage, gelgoog, gelgoog ver2.0, Master Grade, military decals, minelayer, Tamiya enamel, wash method, weathering
I’ve noticed that I’ve been lacking Zeon monoeye units in my collection. Well this is the first step to fix that problem. My initial idea for this kit was not to paint it, but to apply some weathering and battle damage effects. I did however sprayed the inner frame with Mr Color Dark Grey spray can. I painted some details on the inner frame using Tamiya enamels and used wash method using flat black enamel for the panel lines. So here’s some pics of the inner frame first:
It was a real shame that I had to cover the inner frame with the armor. So much of the details like the ass and leg thrusters would be obscured from view. Even the eye slit was so narrow that you can hardly see the monoeye. Anyway, I decided to make a rough surface on the knees, foot and shield to add some weathered feel to the kit. The method can be found on the How-To section.
After putting on the last piece of external armor, I proceeded to giving it a full-body wash using a mix of flat brown and flat black enamels to give both panel-lining and weathering effects. Then I added battle damage using my penknife (I’m too cheap to buy another hobby knife). I used some pics from Dengeki Hobby magazine as reference on where to place the damage effects. Nothing major, mostly scratches and bullet damage. Then I painted chrome silver onto the damaged parts followed by a little bit of black to add some sense of depth to the damage.
The next step was my favourite, adding decals. The dry-transfer decals that came with the kit were not impressive, especially the huge words ‘Principality of Zeon’ for the shield. I only used a few of them and the rest I used water-slide decals I got from the Shizuoka Hobby Show. I added minor scratches to the decals to further simulate damage. And to top it off, I sprayed with flat Topcoat.
Overall, the design and details in this kit is awesome. Now comes the bad points. Too many parts in the inner frame adds a lot of weight to this kit, which in turn makes the joints loose very easily. The legs are particularly heavy, and the polycap joints in the groin can’t hold the weight when posing with lifted legs. Second, I was dissapointed it didn’t come with a backpack like previous Gelgoog MGs. Nevertheless, it was a fun build and worth my yen.
EDIT(8/19) – Added new pics with the minelayer backpack and bazooka I got from Toys R Us
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