yeah there really isn’t too much you can do if you want to keep the factory gloss finish. just do you’re best to only cut away the nubs without damaging the rest of the surface. I wouldn’t use an xacto knife, though use a modeling knife and.or a sanding stick. xacto knives are just too big.
Anyways a bunch of the nubs won’t be visible with the…[Read more]
The problematic thing about these types of kits as you said is that sanding it would remove the special finish.
Personally the only way I know of dealing with these special finish kits is being very slow and careful with a hobby knife (exact o knife) to shave off the nub without touching the finish. It can be done, albeit very slowly. If this…[Read more]
Hey guys,
I’m new to the site so not sure of the etiquette haha. But I’ve been building kits for a few months but have a few questions.
1) how can you tell the difference between water slides and dry transfer decals that are provided in kits?
2) how can you paint transparent parts on a kit such as the MG Unicorn?
3) finally, how can you flat…[Read more]
Water slides are always on a paper backing. Dry transfers are always on a clear piece of plastic.
If you want to paint clear parts, use a clear paint, or a metallic color that isn’t the color of an actual metal(i.e. gold, silver, steel).
I suggest you spray the parts separately if you’re unsure of it. or use a high gloss coat. Of course a high…[Read more]
Adding to what @slater4u said, for most painting I’d take apart a model then coat it in sections. This will also help exposed joints not get sealed by top coat.
Also, I wouldn’t recommend trying to top-coat clear pieces as they can fog up really easily.
Thanks a lot guys, I will be sure to keep all of this in mind while working on my unicorn. I will definitely be using the tips on the clear parts because I want to keep the transparency. And now the thing I was most confused about with decals is now cleared up haha
I don’t have a link to anything as simple as just painting, but I’m sure Youtube has tons of those videos. Try looking up a guy on youtube called GhostofZeon. As for some more advanced stuff, I recommend trying this guy: http://codyscoop.com/models/how-to he does great work, and he makes it rather simple to pick up.
That’s a good way to start there, however i suggest against using an x-acto knife to remove the gate. Once you have your part separated from the tree, use your sidecutters with the flat side facing the part, and trim the gate off as close as you can. This gives you less of a chance of gouging the plastic with the knife, which is a common issue by…[Read more]
oh didn’t even notice he was using that in his tutorials, just found a site with a bunch of tutorials and posted to help out.
Anyways yeah don’t use that, use a modeling knife, with changeable blades. Though I must confess when I started I was using a nail clipper to cut sprues,, would not recommend that either btw lol.
Well almost done with my first kit but i have one question left. I know you can buy waterslides of stickers but can you also get dry transfer versions of stickers.? I love so far how the dry trans are coming out. Just need to wait for aligator clips then ill top coat.
I don’t think Bandai sells dry transfer decals, as they’re moving away from providing them in their kits due to the fact that they’re not very well liked. They look good, but they’re easy to mess up, WAY to easy.
I suggest that if you cannot spray coat the parts yet, to use a good flat brush, like brand new or the best you have, and brush some…[Read more]
‘sup. there’s a site (pulsarprofx.com) here in the states where you can make custom dry transfers with a laser printer. but having said that, Slater4u said it best-it’s way, way too easy to make a mistake. that’s the main reason (I think) most people use water slides, while they’re wet, you can move them around and place them perfectly.
The p800 (or 800 grid) is for finishing the sanding process prior to painting. In other words, it gives a smooth surface.
What I tend to do for cleaning nubs is; trim the nub down with a knife until there is only a fraction left, sanding the rest with p400, then p600 and lastly p800. Then I prime and paint the parts.
When not painting, even a…[Read more]
don’t know about better but the higher the number the finer the abrasive and the smoother the finish. On the other hand this also means it’ll be more work and go through your sandpaper faster trying to grind down big imperfections. In general you want to use the highest grit sandpaper that you can that will still grind away the imperfection you…[Read more]
like I said there isn’t a better. higher numbers are fore finer work, try grinding down a nub from the runner with p1000 sandpaper, then try it with p400 you’ll see that the p400 does it quite a bit faster with far less work. the higher number however will leave the smoother finish.
as for the difference between the numbers it’s basically the…[Read more]
So before I top coated any of my better kits, I tried it on an old hg, and the matt finish seems to have a blotchy look on the plastic. Anyone know why?
there’s probably a guide around but the basics are trimming the posts before assembly as was already mentioned. What the means is simply a 45 degree cut on the peg to make it easier to pull back apart. the other thing is that prying apart, and anything that can slip between the cracks and is sturdy enough will do, so yeah knife blades, though…[Read more]
i also recomend if u were to plan ahead and decided to paint the kit as u were building it dont assemble the stuff that is impossible to come out when ur trying to unassemble the gundam done that a few times not a pretty sight at all