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VIC Color Mecha Sets for Gunpla

Hello there! Welcome to a new Vic Hobby review!

I’m Anthony, and today I would like to talk about the new Mecha Basic Colors sets by Vic Hobby.

Each set includes four different acrylic paints with a semi-gloss finish. And the best part is that these paints are water-based, which means they can be sent via airmail!

Now, for this article, I used all eight acrylic colors to paint a Gunpla and a model kit with an airbrush.

A few months ago I wrote an article about Vic Hobby Metallic Paints. There you will find a list of tools that I used for a project similar to this one. The only difference is that this time, I used an airbrush instead of a hand brush.

With that said, the extra tools you may need are:

  • An airbrush
  • Compressor
  • And thinner to dilute the paints

In that first article, I also did a small review about the “traditional” Vic Hobby paints. But let me tell you, these new paints are slightly different.

The setup

For this review, I painted two model kits with one set of paints each.

For the Mecha Basic Colors Set 2, I chose Bandai’s HG Juggernaut (General Purpose Type) from the anime 86-eighty six-.

Meanwhile, for the Mecha Basic Colors Set 1, I chose none other than the HG RX-78-02 from Gundam The Origin.

Also, for both kits, I used Vic Hobby Gunship Gray and NATO Black.

Preparation

The first thing to do is to assemble both kits. I used a pair of nippers to cut free the pieces from the sprues and then used some sanding tools to clean them up. After that I washed them with dish soap and warm water, to remove any dust or oils left from the manufacturing process.

Then, I primed both models.

For the Juggernaut and the scavenger, I used Vic Hobby Water-Based Primer-Gray. This is a water-based primer, just like the rest of Vic Hobby paints, but is way thicker than the normal paints*.

Here is the Scavenger and Lena. Lena was primed with a tin can of black acrylic paint.

Then, for the RX-78 I used different primer colors for each part of the mobile suit, depending on the color of each one. I used the same gray primer used for the Juggernaut for the inner frame. The white pieces were primed with Vic Hobby Water-Based Primer-White. For the blue prices (the chest armor) I mixed the same white primer with a very small amount of Mecha Blue. I did the same for the red and yellow pieces, using Mecha Red and Mecha Yellow respectively.

Unfortunately, I lost the photos of the Juggernaut and the RX-78 primed. Sorry about that.

*Usually I dilute Vic Hobby paints using a 1:1 ratio of thinner to paint for Vic Hobby paints, and a pressure of 26 psi or 18 bar. But for Vic Hobby Primers I used a 3:2 ratio of thinner to primer. The pressure for the airbrush was a little high, like 40 psi or 28 bar.

Painting the Juggernaut & the Scavenger

I would say that the Mecha Base Colors Set 2 is the easiest to use and my favorite. It includes the following colors, which can currently only be found in the set:

  • SP405 Mecha Deep Ocean Blue
  • SP406 Mecha Light Ocean Blue
  • SP407 Mecha Jungle Green
  • SP408 Mecha Field Green

These colors are dark enough to cover the gray primer with ease after applying two thin coats with the airbrush. The fourth color, Mecha Light Ocean Blue, needed at least four thin coats to archive a solid tone over the gray primer.

Now I must warn you, these mecha paints are not like their normal counterparts. These paints are almost as thick as the primers, at least for me. I needed to apply a 3:2 ratio of thinner to paint and a pressure of 35 psi or 24 bar. Otherwise, my airbrush clogged after a few seconds.

Nevertheless, the coats were thin and the colors are perfect. Quite clean and solid. I used Mecha Jungle Green and Mecha Field Green for the Juggernaut’s armor and Vic Hobby Black for the weapons. Then a mix of 4:1 parts of Gunship Gunship Gray and NATO Black for the inner frame.

And for the scavenger, I used Mecha Deep Ocean Blue and Mecha Light Ocean Blue.

Painting the RX-78-02

This one was a little trickier. The colors of the Mecha Basic Color Set 1 are almost the same as the color of the plastic.

But, for me at least, these are a bit translucent. And even with the custom primer color, I needed to apply 3-4 thin coats to get a solid color.

The thinner-paint ratio and pressure were the same I used for the Juggernaut. I also used a 5:1 mix of Gunship Gray and Nato Black for the inner frame and weapons.

The Results

This is how both kits look now after I’ve finished painting them. I added a few metallic details to both kits and painted some of the cameras.

The difference between tones is more noticeable on the Mecha Ocean Blues than between both Mecha Greens. And this works perfectly for applying the same color, with a different tone, on the same mech.

Meanwhile, the difference between the Mecha paints and the RX-78 plastic colors is very subtle but it exists. And also, the paints do give a different look to this Gunpla. A more accurate one to the source, I think.

Final thoughts

In general, Vic Hobby paints are great, and these new Mecha paints are no exception. They might be thicker than the rest of the line but, you can still apply thin coats, with an airbrush or a hand brush, with no problem at all!

I must say that my favorite set is the Mecha Basic Color Set 2: the difference between tones for both colors is perfect, very well balanced. It’s easy to imagine using two tones of the same color in the same Mech, maybe for different panels of the armor.

Set 1 is a little more tricky to apply but is as good as Set 2. The colors in this set are vibrant and will make any armor piece pop up for sure! Just make sure to apply a light color as a base or primer first.

I’m very happy with the final results of this project. And I’m going to keep using these paints in the future for sure. Both sets are a perfect purchase for painting any type of mech. And the prices are great too! So consider adding these sets the next time you purchase a new Gunpla or mecha kit.

Also, you Gundam fans may have noticed already that these sets are perfect for some specific Mobile suits! Set 1 gives the impression to be designed for main mobile suits like de RX-78, ASW-G-08 Barbatos, XXXG-01W Wing Gundam, and so many others. Meanwhile, Set 2 is perfect to paint some Zeon Mobile Suits, especially for the Zaku, Gouf, and Graze.

I also recommend you grab black and gray paint alongside these sets, for painting inner frames and weapons.

The only downside for me is that you can’t buy the paints separately (yet). I hope that Vic Hobby keeps releasing these paint sets because they are awesome! As of this writing, two new mecha sets have also recently been released!

Well, that’s all for now.

Stay tuned for more reviews and tutorials here at hobbylink.tv!

If you wish to grab some of these paints, or you’re looking for a cool kit, you can find them at hlj.com!

See you at the next one. Happy Modeling!

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Mexican military modeler and action figure customizer. I made my first model kit almost 15 years ago and I haven't stop since then. My favorite scale is 1/72 and I love to build tanks, mechas, cars and military helicopters and airplanes.

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