Gundam Building 101: Re-Bending Bent Resin Pieces

I love resin kits.  I love their weight, and just the sheer fact that the majority of the major resin kit manufacturers seem to proportion their kits much cooler looking than the stock Bandai HGUC or MG (or even PG) kits.  And their selection of jaw dropping kits is amazing as well.

However, no caster (or re-caster) is perfect, and when you receive your pieces, you can find many different errors.  One of them is bent pieces.  Typically these happen on smaller and thinner pieces - especially prone is the v-fin.  Historically, I've just ignored it, or tried to re-build the v-fin altogether.  However, fixing the bend is an easy 5+ minute job with steady hands and patience.


1. I received a particularly bent v-fin.  This picture doesn't quite show exactly how bent it was, but it was pretty significant.


2. Get a cup or bowl large enough to hold a part of the piece, and fill it about 60-70% full.  Microwave it until it boils.  I microwaved a coffee-cup sized amount for 2 minutes.  Being careful not to burn yourself, dip the part into the scalding hot water - but don't fully immerse it unless you have to.  Only dip the part until just past the bend.


3.  Keep the part in there for about 20-30 seconds. Gently push and guide the piece into the position you want it to go once you pull it out.  Once that is done, make sure you rest the piece on a flat surface, or one that adheres to the intended shape.
Note: Depending on how thick it is, you may need to dip it longer.  You want the piece to warm up to be almost like a very hard putty.  The way to test this is to SLOWLY and GENTLY bend the piece to how you want it to bend.  If it doesn't budge with gentle pressure, stick it in the water for longer.


4. Voila!  Make sure you leave it alone for about 30 minutes before you mess with it again.  It should be ready in a shorter amount of time, but I err on the side of caution - especially when it comes to v-fins!

I'm sure there are going to be more complicated projects than the one I have demonstrated here for various projects you  may have, feel free to post here for questions.  The process really isn't that scary, and the resin doesn't immediately become doughy or liquidy - it takes some time. 

Gundam Building 101: Plamo Plate Modification

As most of the Gundam Building 101 series goes, I will make this a simple, approachable tutorial. There are certainly more advanced techniques to do, and different ways to approach this, but this is the method I've found to be the easiest. Adding plastic styrene sheets (plamo plates) can put depth and highlights in otherwise boring or flat areas of your model. Choosing the right shapes is entirely dependent upon your own creativity (or that google image you just saw haha).

Materials needed for this tutorial:

- Model
- Plastic Styrene sheets (I buy the clear kind, I find it is easier)
- Super glue/Epoxy Glue
- Pencil
- Scissors


1. Choose the piece you want to add depth to. Pencil in ideas of what you want to add here. Keep in mind a few things: the theme of the particular design of the model, the color scheme, and how complex you want to cut shapes. The simpler the pattern, the easier the cut.


2. Using your (hopefully) clear sheet of plastic, place it over the piece and trace an outline of the shapes.


3. Once finished, double check your outline to make sure you can distinguish the lines.


4. Cut out the shapes. When you do this, make sure you don't shake, and try to cut straight lines. I use heavy duty fabric-quality shears. They cut straight with relatvely little power required.


5. I check here to make sure I like the shape, and how it looks. Re cut lines if they aren't straight, or start completely over if you have to. However it looks is EXACTLY how it will look when primed.  Note:  The blue on the left is just a static protective cover.  I removed it on the piece on the right.


6. Super glue/epoxy glue the shape onto your model piece. Make sure once you set it that it stays in place the entire time the glue is drying. MAKE SURE YOU USE ONLY A DROP OF GLUE, don't glob the glue on.


7. Sandpaper the newly added pieces before you prime, then prime that bad boy and enjoy your hard work!


Voila!

Gundam Building 101: Reverse Wash and Paints

Some models have raised parts that usually are different colors - on gunpla these usually appear on the chest and sleeves. It would be tedious and hard to either mask or hand paint these details with little margin for error. Thankfully, using the natural properties of the different types of paint and thinners available, we can create a natural reverse wash that makes crisp lines and a great finish.

Materials needed:
- model part with raised accents
- primer
- either acrylic or lacquer paints (I use Tamiya's synthetic lacquer spray cans in this example) This will be your accent color
- Acrylic or lacquer thinner
- enamel paint (your base color)
- Enamel thinner
- zippo lighter fluid (turpenoid-based)
- q-tips
- gloss top coat (future is excellent for this). Make sure it is NOT enamel-based.
- Airbrush

As I try to write to include everyone, I'll start off with some basics. If you know about the different properties of paints and thinners, feel free to skip this section.

In general there are 4 major types of paints used in all of model painting. There may be more, but I will be writing on these.

- Acrylic
- This is a plastic polymer paint that is the 'lightest' of all paints I will be describing. It dries in about 20 minutes, and cures in about 24 hours. It is 'water-based' - meaning it can be thinned with water. For airbrushing, we use an alcohol-based thinner that is lighter and dries faster than water.

- Enamel
- This is a paint that usually dries to a hard, glossy finish, and takes usually a few hours to dry, with 24-48 hours curing time. It requires a stronger thinner than acrylic to be thinned properly. Enamel is special also in that a turpenoid-based lighter fluid - like zipppo lighter fluid - can also thin it out (not for airbrushing).

- Lacquer
- This is the 'strongest' paint as far as pigment goes. It is relatively fast drying (around the same as sprayed acrylic) but requires the strongest thinner. Lacquer thinner is dangerous and should be used only in controlled areas with proper breathing precautions taken.

Note: Lacquer thinner can thin all 3 paints listed above, enamel thinner can do both enamels and acrylics, and acrylic thinner can only thin acrylics. However, I would only use the proper thinner with each paint. I use cheap lacquer thinner to clean out all my parts after using them.

The final type of paint is Oil
- This is a very slow drying paint where pigment is put into a type of oil. As a result, mineral spirits is usually used to thin oil paints. Oil paints are not airbrushed and useful for creating weathered washes.

What is a wash?

A wash is a cover-all term used to describe any process where you go over a model in two different types of paint, and use the different properties of them to work in harmony for a desired effect. The most common type of wash is for panel lining - after a model has gotten a lacquer or acrylic coating, lighter fluid and enamel paints are used to fill in panel lines. I will have a tutorial soon.

For this tutorial, we will be doing what is called a 'reverse' wash. It is the same basic concept as with panel lines, but when we take away the enamel paint using lighter fluid, we will be showing another paint layer beneath the enamel - either acrylics or lacquers. This is how it is done:


1. Choose your part.


2. Prime your part.


3. Paint your entire part the color of the raised ACCENTS in either lacquer or acrylic ONLY. On this wristband, I want the emblem to be white; on a Sinanju, you would paint this gold. Here I am using Tamiya's synthetic lacquer spray cans. I went lazy and just did spray cans because I had them lying around. You usually want your paint to be glossy here.

4. Once it dries, spray a glossy top coat on. I used Future floor shine (which is acrylic-based), but you can use anything non-enamel.


5. Spray on your enamel paint for the fill color (here it is black, it would be the same on the Sinanju). Gloss helps a lot, but it is not totally necessary. It really does help though.

6. Let the part dry for 12-24 hours.



7. Using your q-tip, get it damp/wet with lighter fluid and GENTLY rub it across the raised emblem surfaces. Watch as the enamel just comes right off! Be very careful not to press too hard, and don't be afraid to change out your q-tips. I use about 5-12 swabs per piece depending on the work needing to be done.


8. Clean up the remaining paint on the surfaces once your are done with CLEAN, lightly damp q-tips, and voila, you are done! Add your flat or gloss coat to protect it.

Gundam Building 101: Metallic Powders

Using Kosutte Ginsan or MGM Hobby Powder (same thing, different name) - aka Metallic Powders.

I usually use this technique on parts I want to be shiny chrome (i.e. thrusters and the like). The process is quite simple really.


Materials you'll need:

- Model part
- Gloss Black paint
- Kosutte Powder
- Gloves
- Q-Tip
- Paper Towels
- CLEAN WORKSPACE

Tip: The powder I'm using is purchased from gunplasg.com from the vendor MGM Hobby. Others use Kosutte Ginsan, purchased from hlj.com.

Because this process can be messy, I highly recommend you clean your workspace of all parts except those that will actually be receiving the powder.


1. Spray your part in question in Gloss Black (I usually use primer first).

2. Wait at least 24 hours for the paint to cure.



3. With gloves on and paper towels EVERYWHERE, grab a small amount of powder with your q-tip and apply lightly to the surface of your part. It will have a dull sheen.


4. Continue to lightly rub the surface with the q-tip until you see the shine start to come through. Continue to rub the surface.


5. Your part should look complete! Make sure you shake the part free of any remaining dust, then go over with a smooth paper towel to get the last bits of the powder off.

6. You can apply acrylic top coats if you like. You can then spray clear acrylic colored paints for random effects like yellow for gold, etc.

Enjoy!

Gundam Building 101: How to build resin kits

For one reason or another, you've decided: I want to make a resin kit. Either it's a model that you want that Bandai hasn't made yet, or the proportions of the resin model appeal to you. Or maybe you just want to try something different. Resin for me was very intimidating and it seemed like only advanced modelers were making resin kits.

While there is more skill needed, the same basic principles apply: patience, planning, and care. If you apply these to your models whether its plastic or resin, your model will come out better than most and you will learn that really it's not that much harder than the plastic kits.

So you've got your resin kit. Is it a conversion kit? Or is it a standalone full kit? The builds are a bit different, but you'll understand how to make a full kit here. I may add a small conversion kit how-to once I start on one.

Materials needed for doing a resin kit (in general, without mods):

Consumables for this kit
- Your model kit
- Decals
- Paint shades to your liking
- PRIMER! Super important with resin.
- Solid brass rods. Sizes: 1/16", 3/64", and if you have large pieces, 3/32"
- Epoxy Glue (I usually use 5 minute, but it isn't as strong)
- Various grits of Wet Sandpaper (400-1500 grit)
- Masking tape for painting (lots needed)
- Resin cleaning solution (I use purple degreaser)
- Hobby Base Yellow Submarine joints (optional)
- Neodymium magnets (optional)
- Putty for filling holes (semi-optional)

Standard tools
- Nice hobby nippers
- Hobby Knife
- Something to hold painted parts (alligator clips or blu-tack and Kabob sticks, styrofoam)
- Pin Vise
- Paint Brushes
- Paper towels

Optional tools that I find valuable:
- Drill, drill bits corresponding to brass rod size
- Lots of Q-tips
- Multiple tweezers
- Airbrush/compressor (easier than spray cans)
- Sharp, small hobby scissors for cutting decals
- Nice tamiya paint stirrers
- Pipets (indispensable IMO)
- Paint booth
- Breathing mask
- Daylight spectrum light (to see the actual colors)

This step by step is merely meant as a rough guide. This is the method I generally employ, and I am still learning myself. I took great care writing and planning this guide out, but I'm not perfect. Any screw-ups made by you are not my fault :)


1. Inspection. I always inspect the resin quality when I receive a new kit. Are there bubbles? Bad flash spots? Warps? Bad seams from bad casting? I take mental notes and sometimes even mark them with a pencil on the resin if the mistake is something I won't notice without close inspection.


2. Flash (nub) removal. I begin taking the flash off of the pieces. This is a very relaxing process IMO, and you can generally do this while you watch TV. To see the full process and a tutorial, see it here: (tutorial has yet to be made)


3. Wet sanding. Because resin dust is dangerous (it can clog your lungs like asbestos over time), you'll want to use wet sandpaper during this part. It's real easy to use - just cut out a small sheet of sandpaper and dip it in water and sand away. As with all sanding, start with lower grits then work your way to higher ones until you get a clean finish. Sand over imperfections and over the now-removed flash nubs. Make sure to wipe clean your parts after sanding. I also highly recommend wearing a breathing mask as well.


4. Fixing resin. Here is where you will use putty and other techniques you have picked up to remove casting errors. I won't go too much into detail here unfortunately because there are so many possible errors to fix. I may have more tutorials in the future, but for now, I only have 1 up. See my tutorial on how to use putty here: Gundam Building 101: Putty filling for beginners. It really is a great starting place.


5. Cleaning resin. Give your parts a nice dip in purple degreaser to release the molding grease that is on the parts. This helps paint and primer stick better to the piece as the molding agent is slippery and paint won't stick well to the pieces. I use a mixing ratio of 1:12 with water. Sometimes I'll leave it over night if I feel good, but it really only needs ~30 minutes to an hour because the stuff is so powerful. ~$5 at an autoparts store or even Walmart in the auto section.


6. Primer. Paint primer on all of your parts. Some folks use Mr. Surfacer 1000 (I do occasionally, as in the picture above), others use the large Krylon spray cans, and there are a few more good primers out there (i.e. Tamiya, etc).

7. (optional) Check for minor imperfections, fill in putty, sand again, then prime again. Don't be afraid to be obsessive about it.


8. Pinning and modification (including joints and magnets). Really this goes hand in hand with the next step, but they are a bit separate. This is where you will have to study the instructions and figure out where you want what to go. Here is a simple guide for how this process flows in general:


- Joints typically go at big joint areas where you want movement, like the ankle, knees, hips, shoulders and/or head. I usually only go for the ankles - so the model's feet can lay flat when posing in case I screw up a gluing incident - and the head so it can move around. See my joint making tutorial here: (tutorial has yet to be made)
- Magnets typically go where you want to remove items easily for moving the model around, or you want to see inside a part. I will have a magnet tutorial up shortly.
- Pinning is for the rest of the parts. This ensures a good, solid fit between parts, and allows large and heavy parts to be solidly in place. This is where you will be using the brass rods and pin vise (Tutorial has yet to be made)
- Add whatever mods you want now. Thrusters, pla cards, etc etc. Note: if you are adding small metal details, do not add them until after the FINAL top coat if you want to maintain the nice shiny finish of the metal. Just make a hole for it to fit in. The Thruster tutorial is here: Gundam Building 101: Metal Thrusters.


9. Prefitting. Here is a good test to see how your parts come together. After pinning and adding joints/magnets, begin assembling your model using primarily the large pieces. Small pieces that need to be glued in place don't need to be added here. This is to see how well your model fits together and what pose you want to make it in. Always be cautious though, never try to force fit anything! Snapping a part is never fun.

10. (optional) If some of the parts you handled lost some primer because of extensive handling, drilling, etc, go ahead and re-prime.


11. Begin painting your primary color! I have a pre-shading tutorial if you want to do that (always fun, but adds a few more days of painting): Gundam Building 101: Pre-Shading.


12. Taping. Because resin parts come as large pieces, multiple colors need to be painted on one piece. After your primary color is laid down, tape off the parts that need to be painted in other colors. Make sure you tape well - however good you mask here is EXACTLY how it will look after you remove the tape. It is very unforgiving.


13. Finish painting and taping in layers. Pay attention to detail here, and don't be afraid to sand it all off and paint it again if you screw up.


14. Add a gloss layer to your kit. I use future.


15. Panel line. I recommend using a panel wash (tutorial has yet to be made).


16. Decals. Add your decals carefully. To help with seams you can cut closely around the decals.

17. Final top coat. It can be glossy or flat, whatever you choose. I use Future again for this (Flat I mix with Tamiya Flat base - see the afore-mentioned pic with Future)


18. Final assembly. This is tricky, and very scary (for me at least) and fun because so many completed pieces are on your workspace at once. Start with the feet first, and make sure you have your pose in mind. I use epoxy glue for the majority of parts, and super glue for the small ones. Epoxy glue is simple to use - just combine the two parts (epoxy and hardener) on a piece of cardboard with a kabob stick and apply it! It settles quickly, so only make a small batch at a time and make sure your ratios are even! I typically only get 3-7 good glues out of each round. Because I use 5 minute epoxy, I let it set for 5-10 minutes, then move onto other parts of the body for the next round of gluing. If some of the first parts need additional parts glued on, then I go back to them after they have set for at least 20-30 minutes and add other parts. DO NOT apply too much glue. The glue will seep out after you firmly press it in place and it will stick out like a sore thumb. Also note: take care to not get it on your fingers because as you touch other model parts for the next 10 minutes, you will be spreading small bits of glue throughout the model. I also recommend wearing gloves during this part as the glue is susceptible to showing finger prints if you press hard on a part.

Check for any errors and Voila!

Gundam Building 101: Pre-Shading

Preshading is a relatively simple concept that can yield amazing results with enough patience and practice with an airbrush.

The term itself is precisely what you will be doing here - shading before you actually paint in the real color you want the piece/model to be.

Tools you'll need:

- Model
- Airbrush/Compressor
- Primer of choice
- Paint in Color(s) of choice
- White paint
- Gloves (recommended as you'll get paint on your fingers)
- Alligator clips and foam to hold the clips (recommended)


First, make sure your piece is primed. You always want to make sure of this!

Then, there are two ways you can go about pre-shading.

- Paint the whole piece in a darker shade, then fill in with a lighter shade.
- Paint the seams/edges with a wide spray with the darker color, then fill in with a lighter color.

I'm going to show you the latter way, and you can surmise how to do it the first way.

First you choose your paints:

You can pre-shade using quite a few coloring methods:

- Black [darker shadows]
- Gray ['natural' shadows]
- White [Fading effect - not usually recommended]
- A compatible darker shade of your chosen color
- Your chosen color plus gray/black ( then fill in with your normal color)
- Your chosen color (then fill in with your color with white added)


A pic of your piece before it is shaded - make sure you prime! It's just easier.


Now, make your darker color. If you have it as it's own color, just thin it and paint! If you are adding colors to darken the shade, make sure you use caution - don't over or under do it! If it's too dark, your shadows will be more harsh than you expect, and too light, you won't be able to see your hard work!

The trick here is less is more - but you want to be sure that the color is filled in the middle of your spray so that no primer showing.
Just follow along the edges and/or seam lines. Take care choosing which lines you want to shade - not all edges should be shaded (some are part of a larger piece), and only highlighting panel lines can look great too.

The more precise you are, the better. You can fix your mistakes later depending on how you chose your colors, but sometimes the shading can show through your next layer of lighter paint. I've heard on a few youtube videos say that you can be lazy on this part, but I have found this on the contrary. The more precise I am, the easier it is for me on the next part.


Now you create your lighter color. If it is it's own color, just thin it and go. If you need to add white to it, mix accordingly. A great way to test if your shade is too light or not light enough - paint a large square on a white piece of paper using your darker color. Then test your new shade and see how it compares. Remember, if there isn't enough of a difference between the two colors, your hard work of preshading will go unnoticed.

While painting your lighter color, you want to be as precise as possible, and really pay attention to how 'natural' the gradient is between colors. This is where experience and practice really pays off. I suggest using a 'test' piece first. ALWAYS paint starting in the MIDDLE first, then work your way out - this helps you determine how wide your airbrush's spray is.


If you like, you can paint over the darker color to soften the change between colors. I went ahead and did it to my colors because I didn't realize the difference was going to be so drastic. I just lightly painted over everything first, then filled in the middle with the same color with a bit more flat white paint added.

Once complete, you can add more white to your color, and add highlights to certain high areas of a given part. This part is optional, but can really add pizazz to your model, and it's not too difficult once you nail the preshading down. You don't want to do this step too much though - again, less is more here.


And voila! You have wonderful preshaded pieces that look fantastic!

Alternately, over at the fichtenfoo.com forums, user "T1000" posted his method for applying paint, and is a great visual for how to go about preshading. All credit goes to him for this picture:



I hope this helps everyone. Post questions you have or revisions I might have missed in the comments please!

I will have more pics up soon - I realized I may need a few more pics to illustrate some points as I was typing this out.

Gundam Building 101: Metal Thrusters

A quick semi how-to for thrusters:


I purchased some thrusters from eBay (make sure you measure how big yours are according to the largest diameter at the bottom in millimeters (mm)). Kind of expensive I guess at $10.50 for 4, but that's the nature of gunpla itself haha.



Figure out where you want to put the thruster. Usually there is already a place for you to put the hole in, or you'll have to cut off a nub for the plastic thruster to go on the plastic kits in order to drill.


Make the hole pretty deep. Note: If you have a shallow piece, you can also snip the long pole to be shorter.


Test fit the part that will go in the hole once you're done.


And Voila!

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