Saw one in Wal Mart just browsing. It was cooler than I thought(as I’m used to military aircraft). I did some searching on the web and there’s tons of models from this series ranging from $9 to $250.
The kit was molded in color so no painting, though I would have done some on certain pieces. All snap-together but I used my zap-a-gap on a few areas. Did quite a bit of sanding of course.
Really fun build and huge list of kits and every kit has crazy articulation as well as different modifications you can do with multiple weapons to put on. I got overwhelmed at the web stores.
gundams are THE way to get people into plastic. they are fast, fun, and need no painting and you can play with em. the perfect grade kits are also just as fun, even though they are about 2 feet tall and cost maybe 150 dollars.
The only thing I don’t like about them is some of the plastic colors are hard to sand and get to return to original polish. The quality of plastic is good, but doesn’t take to sandpaper too well; and I hate seams
You almost have to treat the pieces like canopies on aircraft and go as far as polishing it with toothpaste to get the scratching completely invisible, since I haven’t really been painting the pieces. I suppose my grits aren’t really capable of doing canopy scratch repair ultimatley, so I should look into some emery boards with very fine course.
seams are a pain, but i usually overlook them on gundams, i look at them as fun builds that are quick and stress-free. you could alwyas paint em, but then again…
Ah, you have experienced the almighty trendiness that is the Gundam model[^]. Do not worry about the seam lines, unless, of course, you have too much putty and time on your hands. The Master Grade model kits could be considered one of the best ideas ever, right up there with sliced bread, microwaves, and cheese graters[;)]. It would be nice, however, if the molders would make it in a single color, like normal models, so you could camouflage 'em and stuff. But if they did that, they’d be perfect and the universe would explode, or something to that general effect[xx(]
If you ever look at Hobby Japan or Model Graphix, the Japanese builders do some insane work on even the small Gundam models. If not for the Japanese modelers and their rabid interest, we probably wouldn’t see 1/2 the kits currently available.
I’ve built a few of the 1/144th and 1/100 kits from Bandai. The Master Grade (MG) kits (1/100) are excellent. For the most part, the seam lines are pretty close to the actual seam/access panel line on the cartoon, so it lessens the amount of filling and sanding. Easy to put together and fully possable, it’s a great break from the regular aircraft kits I put together. I’m eyeballing the 1/60th scale Perfect Grade ZAKU II at a local store. It’s pricy but worth it.
Anyway, I love building them ^^ As for the Hobby Japan/Model Grafi comment: Not only the Japanese do crazy things… I know a few fellow modelers who do some really nice mods, and whatnot (Example: http://fichtenfoo.home.comcast.net/index.html Foo’s custom decals and paint jobs always please ^^ )
I don’t do much customizeing, maybe a few custom schemes, that’s about it…
And Re: Patlabor Kits: The old 80s/early 90s kits, the rubber leg joints may eat through the plastic… If you notice on my site, I replaced them all with fabric covers… (They’re really easy to make, just make like a pattern from the rubber piece, cut out the fabric and sew away! )
Also, if you want to learn more, you can always come over to ChildofMecha.com, I lurk around there, too, but they’re really knowlageable and all you might like it there
I ocassionally build Gundam Models, but are not too fond of the newer snap-together/poly-capped models, but prefer the older kits that were still plastic-models and not half toys.
Said that I am looking forward to the upcoming “Ball” Kit.
Patlabor Kits are fun, but some people have experienced problems with the rubber sleeves. Personally I prefer the 1/35 & 1/60 Vinyl Kits, also still got my feelers out for the old 1/24 Resin Kits by Volks.
[:D]
you might like it there