How to add wingtip strobelight details

January 4, 2009 at 12:01 am | In How-to | 3 Comments
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This is just a simple tip to add details to winged parts. Although there’s not too many gunpla kits with proper wings (Wing Zero Custom wings don’t count), you can apply this to other aircraft plamodels. It basically simulates the wingtip strobe lights you find on aircraft wings.

First you need parts that will be the ‘lights’. I used leftover spruce from beam sabre parts, like the pic below. The reason why I use them is because they’re soft, meaning they’ll be easier to cut and shape. Another reason is they already come in different colors, depending on the beam sabre color of the original kit. So far I’ve encountered pink, blue, green and yellow colored beam sabre parts. If you have transparent ones, even better. You can paint em to any color you like

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Then you need to cut out some parts off the wing so that you can insert the ‘lights’. I use hobby cutters (or use whatever you use to cut the parts from the runners) to roughly cut out the parts, then use a blade to even it out.

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After that you need to attach the ‘lights’ to the wings. Since the leftover spruce is cylindrical, you need to make flat edges using a sharp blade. You don’t have to cut it to the exact shape just yet, just a rough but manageable shape will do. The just apply some glue or cement to the wing and attach the ‘lights’.

wing-light-03

After the glue has set (make sure the parts don’t move), you can remove the leftover ‘lights’ using a hobby cutter. Then using your sharp blade, cut unwanted parts and shape it into something that resembles wingtip strobe lights. I can’t tell you exactly how to cut or shape it because it will depend on you and the model you’re building. But generally you should eventually end up with something nicer and more neat than this:

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And there you have it. Hope it was useful.

How to apply decals

August 13, 2008 at 2:35 pm | In How-to | 30 Comments
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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!

How to create textured/rough surface

July 25, 2008 at 9:54 am | In How-to | 1 Comment
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First, you apply plastic cement on the plastic surface, like so:

Before the cement dries, take a used toothbrush (make sure you don’t put it in your mouth later) and just ‘brush’ randomly on the plastic surface. Notice I’m using pliers to hold the piece coz I don’t want it to fly off when I brush vigorously.

Once you’re satisfied, let it dry and you’re done. Below is a comparison between the textured (left) and original piece (right).

There you have it. There are other methods to achieve the same effect using primer/surfacer, but I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t comment.

How to do panel-lining

June 16, 2008 at 2:16 pm | In How-to | Leave a Comment
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Panel lines are those lines which resemble tiny drains on the surface of most gunpla. They’re there to provide more details and to brighten-up your gunpla, provided you do something about it. Basically there’s 2 ways about it: using markers to ‘draw’ the panel lines or using the so-called ‘wash’ method.

Using markers

This is the most noob-friendly method. Basically you can use any fine tip marker with the color of your choice (preferably dark colors) to draw along the panel lines. I have a Gundam marker which I bought when I first started this hobby and I still use it from time to time. You can just rub off any excess lines using an eraser or just rub using your fingers. You should get something like this:

Pros: Little start-up material needed, all you need is the marker. Easy to do

Cons: Choice of color is limited by what marker is available. Very tedious when you have alot of panel lines to fill. Looks less ‘natural’ compared to the wash method

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Using paint & brush

This method involves thinning your paint and applying the colors on the panel lines using a fine-tip paint brush. If the paint is thinned properly and the panel line is deep enough, the paint will flow along the panel line due to capillary movement.

Rule of thumb: Don’t use the same paint type (acrylic/lacquer/enamel) as your base paint to do your panel lining. For example, if you use enamel paints to paint your model, don’t use enamel paints to do the panel lining. The reason is to avoid wiping off your base paint when you wipe the excess panel lines. So far I’ve tried the following combinations with no problem: 1) handpainted lacquer base with acrylic wash or enamel wash and 2) Tamiya/Mr Color Spray cans with acrylic or enamel wash

I have no exact formula on how much thinner or paint to use, just as long as it looks thinned. If you find that the paint is too thick, just add more thinner and vice versa. After you finished panel lining, you can clean up the smudges by wiping them off using a cotton bud soaked in the appropriate thinner.

Pros: More choice of colors, depending on what paints you have available (remember: black is not the only panel line color). Easier to do when you have a lot of panel lines to fill. Looks more natural

Cons: More startup material (paint, thinner, brush) needed. Can look smudgy when excess lines are not cleaned.

How to remove seam-lines

May 29, 2008 at 8:05 pm | In How-to | 2 Comments
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A seam line is the visible line left after you combine two symmetrical halves to form a specific part of your kit, for example the head. If left alone, it will give your kit an ‘unfinished’ feel to it. Fortunately recent MG kits have been designed in such a way that seam lines are well hidden so you don’t need to bother with them. But for most HGUC kits, seams lines are very visible.

So, I know of only 2 ways to remove seam lines. If you know of other methods, please share.

1) Use putty (the grey type) to cover the lines. Wait for it to harden then sand away the excess putty. The putty (if dissolved properly with thinner) will fill in the gaps between the seam lines. But the down side to this method is that you have to paint that part afterwards, if not you’ll be left with an unsightly grey line of putty over your seam lines.

2) Using cement to bind the two parts. The advantage of using this method is that there’s no need to paint. The disadvantage is that it’s permanent. You can’t unglue the bound parts, not unless you hack it with a saw. I’m gonna show only the 2nd method, coz that’s what I always do for my kits:

I’ll be using a part from my MG Gelgoog as an example. So the seam line would be visible if I join the two parts here:

Before that, you’ll notice that one half of the parts has protruding parts (herein referred to as ‘male’ parts) and the other half has holes (herein referred to as ‘female’ parts) with which the male parts will fit in. What I usually do is I cut a bit off the male parts and widen the female parts with a small drill (if I weren’t talking about plastic models, that sentence would make me look like a sadistic pervert). The reason for that is to allow more space between the parts to be melted by the glue. I hope that makes sense. Anyway, this step is entirely optional. Here’s what I was referring to about the male parts:

So then you apply glue, also referred to as plastic cement (available in most Tamiya shops) around the edges of both parts, like so:

Then you combine those two parts together and squeeze them tightly. You’ll notice the parts with the cement will ‘melt’ the plastic, thus fusing the two parts together. You’ll be left with excess melted plastic in place of the seam line:

Now comes the fun part. After the glue has sufficiently hardened, you should proceed to remove the excess melted plastic. A file is recommended. Then you need to use fine sandpaper to smoothen the surface and eventually you’ll end up with something like this:

A word of caution, though. Some brands of plastic cement might leave yellow stains, particularly on white parts. If that’s the case, then you will have to paint that particular part. It happened with my Heavyarms custom.

So, removing seam lines is one of the basic steps in modelling. But if you’re observant enough, you will notice that some parts don’t need seam line removal like hidden places (e.g bottom of foot) or parts that will be covered up eventually.

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