Skull Leader

No problem for the many questions, but please look around in this group first.
It’s handled just a few posts down. To be exact, one post further down than your post over Tamiya cement….
Anyways, I recommended Dupli-Color in that post. I saw a review on YouTube on it and it looks great. If this shouldn’t be available to you, search the kind that…[Read more]

The difference between the two is that the “fine surface primer” has far smaller pigment in it. This results in better upholding the panel lines and details on the surface. The normal primer will somewhat obscure them. If you’d choose to do panel lines after painting I recommend using the “fine surface primer”. The panel lines stay deeper which…[Read more]

I would recommend background, depending on how you plan on setting them up.

before painting because if ur thinking of getting rid of seam lines with glue u glue the parts wait for it to dry and then after u sand it down and then paint. this is because sanding it strips paint

1. where are u getting this signed??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
2. putting marker on it on gloss would probably be the best result since it gives the kit a smooth finish
3. im pretty sure the matte finish will just take over the gloss leaving no traces of the gloss coat but i could be wrong and it can turn in to a semi gloss coat depending on how…[Read more]

1: Montreal’s Otakuthon next weekend, she’s a guess
2: thanks
3: I mean thin matte then gross coat on top of it. I gonna actually try it on the runner first in any case. Will share the result when I am on it this weekend

So for info, gloss finish on matte finish gave the semi gloss effect, one coat on each

use this product called ginsam its wht u use to make that chrome effect as for that gold plating its basically impossible to make that effect but if u want to try and get close to it just use ginsam its like this mettalic powder that has this very very shiny finish to it

The process Bandai uses to make gold is first chrome plate the runners, the they spray a transparent yellow over it.
I ordered Alclad II Chrome to do this. But you will need an airbrush to apply this. In the past I’ve used a silver and applied it with a brush. Then a transparent yellow over it.
The silver I used was an enamel which you can…[Read more]

You can use any soap that you also would use for washing your dishes. Just make sure the water isn’t too hot. If it’s too hot for your hands, it’s too hot for the plastic. If the water is too hot, you could warp/deform the plastic. Hope this answers your question

Thank you very much, this really helped so much. I actually had lemon based detergents/soaps i was going to use. But another question; do you recommend washing runners that aren’t going to be painted?

always use waterslides. because waterslides if you were to make a placement mistake just add a little bit of water and you can move it to somewhere else plus i always find that when i do dry transfer when i make a mistake and the decal breaks apart alittle and i try to fix it no matter wht ull still notice that the decal is broken cuz of the gap

Hi again. Or nobody knows, or everybody is on a vacation. LOL.
If they are provided by Bandai (Let’s hope this comment doesn’t get deleted due to copy rights or I get sued by them 😛 ) the quality of them both is top notch.
In my humble opinion water slides are better than decals, of course. And dry transfers over water slides. The water slides…[Read more]

Building on what others have said, one aspect of rub transfer I prefer over waterslide is that they have less of a shine to them, meaning that they won’t clash with the kit itself if you don’t top coat.
Overall, however, I prefer waterslides as they are a whole lot more forgiving, which I see as a fair trade of for a slightly more visible decal.

I haven’t experienced any silvering on dry transfer, though the cause of silvering (air behind the decal) would just result in the dry decal not being applied properly to begin with.

In terms of cutting jewels, I’m sorry, can’t be of any help. No idea comes to mind.
However, I looked around for you at HLJ and maybe found something interesting for you.

At HLJ, if you go to:
-Sci-Fi
-By “Type” choose: Option Kits
-With “Company” choose: Wave

They have something called “H-Eyes”. These come in round, large and small, and square…[Read more]

Again, adding to what teetee580 said, if you want an easy way to make the back of the jewel shiny without painting, you can cut out a piece of a foil sticker sheet (most Bandai kits would have them) and apply it to the back.
It’s the same method used on the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka to give the clear green psycho frame a “glowing” effect.

always check garage sales and thrift stores. i’m in the US and i was on craigslist daily when i was looking. don’t have an IKEA here so it was my best shot. missed some ads on curio cabinets but was worth it to find what i finally ended up getting.

use lighter fluid its not as strong dont use paint thinner enamels too strong unless ur using tamiya enamel thinner theres a difference

You’re very welcome. Always happy to help.
It’s very nice to know you’ve picked up the hobby again. I did the same a year back after a hiatus of 10 years, and now I’m putting all the techniques learned from building cars (real ones and scale models) and planes into Gunpla.
All thanks to Syd, Ryan, Scott, Brian and all the other staff members of…[Read more]

gloss coat ur model then add decals then do whtever coat u want to afterwards

Yeah, you might get silvering (caused by air behind the water slide) of the water slides if you choose not to topcoat first. I made the mistake of not coating my RG RX-78-2 and some of the water slides slivered on me.
Take a peek at some of the pics ive posted. Those the result of gloss top coat -> decals -> gloss top coat. you can replace the…[Read more]

Maybe a bit abundant, but a new side cutter and some fresh blades for your hobby knife…?

they are used on the older kits that didn’t have the mounting spot for the action base. they are to be cut into small strips and used on the adapters that have the 4 prongs sticking up. Helps to hold the kits in place on the adapter.