Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2009 and Welcome 2010!!

Happy New Year people!!!!

Tools and methods for painting.

All right. Some readers have been asking me the tools for painting and how I paint my kits. Therefore, I decided to do a post on painting. Again, like the previous post, my methods might not be correct, but I do hope that this will help you guys out.
So yep, here's the tools you need!
Firstly, you have to get paints and brush! Obvious heh? Haha!

Here's a set of gold and silver paints I have. However, they are all not the same. ^^ Basically, there's 3 different types of paint here. Aqueous Hobby Color, Mr Color and Mr Metal Color.

This is Aqueous Hobby Color as you can see. And well, Aqueous Hobby Color has always been my favourite. They don't stink as much as those from Mr Color, and water can be used to thin the paint.

Mr Metal Color uses thinner to thin the paint and well, if you want a metal-like finish for your kits, this will be great! However, it can be scratched a little to easily (eg. Chrome Silver). Therefore, always remember to seal it up with Top Coat!

Mr Color comes in many varieties of colours and it uses thinner to thin as well.

For brushes, you can get any brush you want. For me, I got myself a Tamiya flat brush.

Flat brushes are good for painting wide areas. Even though there's also pointed brushes for detailing, I never use them. Instead, I use the flat brush or markers for the job. The tip of the pointed brush is a little to hard to mantain for me. =X

If you are a beginner, markers would be a great choice for a start.

I've been using markers for a year, and I'm still using it now. It really helps a lot when it comes to detailing. ^^ Everytime before use, you got to shake it well. However, don't shake it side ways as there will be too much paint flowing out from the tip, resulting in wastage.

For panel linings, I always use Fine Tip Gundam Marker to do the job. Sometimes, the ink can be too thick or you might accidentally drawn the line wrongly, that's when the eraser comes to use. Also, if you have drawn the line wrongly on parts that you've painted, don't use an eraser as it might scratch the paint. Just cover the line with another coat of paint. Other than this marker, there are many other ways to do linings, but for now, I'll just stick to this. ^^

This thinner helps to clean off paints from the brushes. There's another type of thinner for thinning paint. All thanks to Jay for telling me that. ^^ This is a must-get when it comes to brushing.

Hmmm.... So basically, the ones above are all basic tools for painting. Now, I'll share some tips on painting. ^^

When painting, always paint the part in straight lines and never change the direction of it. ^^

When you accidentally paint a part wrongly, use a toothpick and gently scrape the excess paint off. When it comes to tougher or stickier paints, wet a cotton bud with thinner and clean it off. However, when the excess paint is covering another coat of paint, use the color for the original coat and cover it up. For example, in the picture above, red is covering yellow. Therefore, paint yellow over the red to cover it up. ^^ However, small excess paints can be easily covered up panel lining.

Sorry for the really crappy drawing. Anyway. before you paint any really small and detailed parts (Eg. Fancy designs for Sangokuden kits.), line the parts up first. It helps you to see the small details a little better when you are painting.

So yeap, that's all for this post. Hope this little guide will help you guys out in painting. Some methods might be wrong, therefore, help make ammends if there are any.

Till the next post!

SD Syukuyu Noble Gundam- Completed!

Yay! I've been so busy with my other models that I've completely forgotten about her! Phew, luckily, I managed to finish the paint job on her.

Front view. ^^

Rear view.

Her twin daggers are basically her main weapons. They can be used as handheld weapons or even be stored on her back!

The twin daggers can also combine to form a double sided dagger thingy. Not bad. ^^

That's not it for this kit. Other than those daggers, she got a crazy mode that resembles the one of Noble Gundam! She really looks freaky now. >_<

RAWRR!!!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The tusks from the Master Elephant guy can be used as handheld daggers for her too!

It looks better than the twin daggers she got to me. ^^

So yeaps, that's all for this post. The boxset that comes together with her, Mokaku Gundam, and the Master Elephant thingy sure is a must get kit from the series. The trio boxset is just too awesome to be missed! Get it before it gets sold out!!! Hah, I guess I'm too late to say this already. >_<

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this post.

Till the next post!!!

How do I keep the boxes of my kits?

I don't throw the boxes of my gunpla after finishing the kit, instead, I keep them in plastic folders! The boxes takes up alot of space but I can't bear to throw them away. Therefore, I cut them and put them into folder like bags.
Here's how I do it!
First off, cut the corners of the cover box.

Then, fold the sides in and place all the accessories and stuff in it.

And lastly, slit it into a folder-like plastic bag and tape it up!

And as Sonsaku's box is small, the bag can store two SD kits! Saves plastic. ^^

After some folding and taping and all is done! ^^

And for bigger boxes with lots of acessories, only one folder can be used. =(

Some kits doesn't have much leftover parts or accesories (Eg. Sonsaku, Soldier Unit), therefore, you can place all those boxes in one folder. For example, 6 in 1 or even 8 in 1.

So yeap, that's all for this post. Hope this will help you guys in keeping your boxes.

She's coming!!

Till the next post!

SD Sonsaku Physalis Gundam- Completed!

Whoa.... I bought this kit during late November and I only manage to post the completed model now! Anyway, the Sonsaku is pretty good. Some features of it are just awesome. However, after painting, the thick coat of paint clogs up some of the pegs and acts like glue. Some parts, like the shoulder armour are already stuck and I'm afraid that forcing it to take it out might break the pegs so I refrain from doing so. ^^

Front view.

Rear view.

The Tiger Ball Saber he came with is actually all white. Some painting to it will make it look great. ^^

The 2 giant tonfas that are mounted on the shoulder armours can be used as handheld weapons. In this mode, the mask should come down to cover up Sonsaku's eyes. However, the ones on mine are stuck onto the helmet after painting. >_<

I'm not really sure what is this called, but it resembles the Nuclear cannon GP02A Physalis has. The center part of the thingy can be mounted onto the back of Sonsaku, just like the one on the original GP02A. The two spike thingies on the tonfas are then being mounted to it. Mann... I'm confused.

Overall, this is another must get kit in the Sangokuden line. However, the giant shoulder armours and heavy weapons it have, result in weight issues, The arms like to fall down when holding the big tonfas. And well, I guess that's the only flaw the kit has.

Anyway, before I end this post, lets look at the Yue Jin that I'm still working on. ^^

Still not completed at the moment. Some of the red paints are starting to peel off but I can't fix it yet. I've accidentally added too much water to the paint and when painting, the paint takes a long time to dry and also thinned the ones that's already dried.

See the hand there. The paint isn't working out right. I think it might take some time for the whole kit to be completed as I have to get a new bottle of red paint. >_< Anyway, the rest of the parts are fine, just some tidying and linings to do and all is done!

So yep, that's all for this post.

Till the next post!!!

It's Christmas!

Hohoho! It's finally Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone! Hope that everyone's wishes will come true this Christmas!
That's it yeah. ^^

Till the next post and have a very very great Christmas people!

Random Stuff For The Day.

Oh well, life isn't that smooth today. Anyway, here are some random pictures I took previously. Some of these kits are really memorable while the others are well, great. ^^

SD Impulse! My first SD kit ever. Got it 2 years ago, and it still remains as a great kit to my collection even till today. No lining, no painting, simple snap build. ^^

SD Xu Huang Serpent! The first kit that fired me up to do linings on Gunpla. I don't know the reason, but it's one of the first few kits that I started to get serious about painting. ^^

SD Trans-Am 00. Didn't really did a great job on it, but it remains as one of my most daring attempt in marker painting. >_<

SD Meng Huo Gundam! First ever kit that I tried brushing and dry brushing on. Classic ^^

HG Exia ReII. Hmm.... One of my favourite HG kit in my collection. No reasons.... ^^

HG Gundam Astray Green Frame Custom. My abandoned modding project. Still in progress... =X

HGUC RX-79[G] Gundam! My 2nd HGUC kit and my favourite out of the HGUC EFSF collection I have. The arm was a little loose and I decided to damage it. Hmm... It's okay.. ^^

So yep, that's all for this post. Yue Jin will be up soon. ^^

Till the next post and enjoy your day!