|
I've never seen anything give a cleaner cut than those tweezer nippers. You do need to eyeball it so that the blades are both parallel to the surface of the part and cutting through the least amount of plastic possible though, otherwise it can be just as sloppy as any $10 piece o' crap nippers. They're also not made for cutting through thick sprue, which is something the POC types are good for. Speaking for myself, I do almost all nub removal with a #16 scoring blade and only use sandpaper for final leveling and cleanup. Files are highly destructive tools IMO and I don't really use them for this sort of work. edit: if using the tweezers is causing discomfort, try gripping them closer to the blades and see if that helps. Bimmi fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Oct 13, 2014 |
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 17:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 27, 2024 08:11 |
|
|
My backlog is so huge now that I've given up on perfectly sanding every single nub. I'll just paint over it anyways. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 17:51
|
|
|
Yeah you just sand it till it's gone with no regard of marks or scratches, painting rules.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 18:52
|
|
|
AVeryLargeRadish posted:That base comes with the little card that goes inside. The Action Base 3 just uses standard size post cards so you just buy/make one and stick it in. The little display thing that comes with the Action Base 1 is a do it yourself type of deal, you would have to make a label on your computer and print it on sticky labels or card stock and tape it on. Sorry for postomancy, but I used this to great effect: http://www.gundamtoyshop.com/gundam-news/customize-design-gunpla-gp-base-display-stand-template-gundam-build-fighter Comes with templates that match both the ones that come with the GP Base itself and the ones that match the anime as well, although my color printer sucks for the anime template contrast. Bimmi posted:I've never seen anything give a cleaner cut than those tweezer nippers. You do need to eyeball it so that the blades are both parallel to the surface of the part and cutting through the least amount of plastic possible though, otherwise it can be just as sloppy as any $10 piece o' crap nippers. They're also not made for cutting through thick sprue, which is something the POC types are good for. It's the act of squeezing that put fatigue on my finger. It hurt after using it for a while, and taking Aleve after seeing my orthopedist a couple of times helped. Do you just kinda push that #16 blade up against the sprue to cut it? Seems like it's really difficult to use. I think one of the Gundam Planet videos mentioned that a curved blade was the master race for nub removal - any experience with one?
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 19:47
|
|
|
If I'm trying to get a really clean surface I'll generally use the tweezers to cut the part away with about .4mm of sprue left on it and use the knife to shave the rest of the nub off. Unless the blade is dull this takes very little effort. I have mild arthritis and haven't experienced any discomfort using the tweezers, so not sure what else to tell you there. A curved blade would probably do the job very well and might be less likely to mar the part than a straight one. I like the #16 because the cutting edge is small and it's easier to keep an eye on where it's going. Bimmi fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Oct 13, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 21:12
|
|
|
EthanSteele posted:Yeah you just sand it till it's gone with no regard of marks or scratches, painting rules. I'm really, really tempted to just buy a bunch more empty paint markers. That way I could prime and airbrush, clip, and then use a marker with my own chosen paint to go over the nub. I think I need to do this. It's more expensive than gundam markers, but... gently caress gundam markers.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 21:29
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:I'm really, really tempted to just buy a bunch more empty paint markers. That way I could prime and airbrush, clip, and then use a marker with my own chosen paint to go over the nub. Are the paint markers one-shot items? Because that sounds really, really useful for my situation - shave the nub, paint over, move on with life.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 22:00
|
|
|
Why not use a detail brush instead? Do-it-yourself paint markers sound to me like a solution in search of a problem.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 22:09
|
|
|
Bimmi posted:Why not use a detail brush instead? Do-it-yourself paint markers sound to me like a solution in search of a problem. Yeah, a detail brush suitable for nub covering is really cheap; you wouldn't have to be terribly picky about what you got, honestly, as long as it had a nice point. Though, if you're already airbrushing it wouldn't take a ton more work to clip and sand, THEN airbrush, negating the need to paint back over nub marks at all. Alligator clips + wooden skewers + electrical tape should make all the clip sticks you need, and on the cheap.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 22:25
|
|
|
MJP posted:Are the paint markers one-shot items? Because that sounds really, really useful for my situation - shave the nub, paint over, move on with life. Nah. Here's a link. http://www.dickblick.com/products/montana-acrylic-markers/ Go for the empty markers and pay attention to the nib type so you don't get some massive marker tip. I just ordered a bunch. Here's a video I made of one of these markers being tested, painting BattleZones terrain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ4QI1vSJV0%5C And here's the result in a picture:  Basically what you do is you get the marker, you remove the nib holder assembly, and what you've got is a container with an agitator rattle can ball in it. You fill up the marker with paint about 60-70% of the way up with paint that should be like... airbrush consistency. Badger's Minitaire line is great for this. Reassemble the marker and it works pretty much like a gundam marker. You have to pump it a few times to get the paint up into the nib, and if you apply it too hard, the nib is generally rough enough to gently caress up unprotected paint. But you, you're smart and you topcoated. This will work with Pledge Future, too, straight up. I've tried it. It's not the greatest at covering up sanding marks, and I can't really think of a use for it because if I'm topcoating paint with it, that means I'm using a marker on unprotected paint. I suppose it would be useful if you topcoated matte and you wanted to use a marker to pick out and re-gloss some areas. And of course, if you're coloring your Gundam with a marker, and you don't have airbrush-thin acrylic paint lying around, you can always thin it with Pledge and water (or at least I think that's true, I wouldn't really know because I buy Vallejo airbrush thinner). When the marker's all used up, just wash it out, replace the nib (they're cheap), and there you have a new marker! Remember also to label your markers with the color they are. I am a compulsive experimenter so if you get any ideas let me know and I'll try them out. I recently bought some Montana Gold acrylic spraypaint to try out on a kit, and I'll see how that works out. Something tells me it might go on a little thick, but if nothing else I got 400ml of good paint for 7ish bucks, which ain't bad. Bimmi posted:Why not use a detail brush instead? Do-it-yourself paint markers sound to me like a solution in search of a problem. Paint markers are for people who know exactly what colors they're going to need, they'll need them on more than one occasion, for repeated short periods of time, and they don't want paint drying out on a palette or to deal with washing out a brush. Consider the act of priming and airbrushing/spraypainting a kit on the sprue. You have your palette set up and are ready to clip, cut, sand, and cover over the spot with paint, repeatedly, with different colors. You could use your brush, wash it out, and repeat, or you could have a few markers right there ready to go that don't need washing and won't dry out. You also front-load the preparation so you can do this for 5 minutes without having to pull out your paints, palette, and water cup only to put it back 5 minutes later. Don't get me wrong, I think brushes are great and they're very versatile and they would do the job handily, if you're willing to put up with the honestly very minor setup. I have brushes, I use brushes, and I will be using brushes for particular things with gundams. Paint markers are not part of a basic kit, but as I've shown before with the mold line remover, I'm not opposed to single-purpose items. This isn't an issue of whether a paintbrush or a marker is a better tool, it's an issue of whether or not you personally think it's worth using for you. And it's definitely not the way of the person who wants to do things for less money. Pay no attention to the things I buy if you want to spend less money. signalnoise fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Oct 13, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 22:35
|
|
|
I still don't get why you'd airbrush on the sprue, then clip, sand and touch up. That's not really how it's supposed to be done.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 22:39
|
|
|
Yeah if you're airbrushing a runner, presumably you shouldn't even have to do any touching up because it's all just inner frame or something.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 22:45
|
|
|
You wouldn't airbrush the outer stuff on the runner? I don't even know how you guys keep up with the parts if you are airbrushing everything individually I mean I get the whole alligator clip thing but even then a MG has so many drat parts
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 22:48
|
|
|
It's an airbrush. They are literally made for spreading paint over a wide area fast. Like, painting the Unicorn's psychoframe? If I did it all by brush it would take three days of work or so. With an airbrush I can knock that poo poo out in an hour, maybe two. The only way I can see airbrushing taking longer is if you're painting every single piece a different color for some godforsaken reason.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 22:49
|
|
|
It might be worth someone giving me a lesson in what the gently caress I'm supposed to be doing if I'm going to completely airbrush, change colors, do weathering, etc.. and keep up with all the parts because the only real tutorials I found in the OP were 1 guy saying what order you should be doing major procedures in, and then the gundam building for busy people tutorial which suggested spraypainting stuff on the runner.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 22:52
|
|
|
You're making it sound more complicated than it actually is. This hobby is very much a flowchart sort of thing. Okay, let's say I wanted to paint  MG Gundam X  Kai colors. This is a pretty simple palette swap since I only need two shades of black. Though honestly if I were to actually do this I'd throw in a third shade to make it look less lazy but eh. First thing I do is figure out what I need to paint. In this case, it's everything but the solar panels and the V-fin/main camera. That's somewhat of a tall order, so to simplify things I'll work on each subcomponent at a time and primer.  I almost always start with the legs because I like being able to make my kit stand up as I go. I snip out everything, and only sand the outside armor; most MGs are designed so that any nubs on the inner frame will get covered by the armor. Once everything's all sanded, I dump the pieces in soapy water to wash off finger oil and plastic residue, stir it a few times, then let it dry. Once it has I mount the parts on a styrofoam block with some alligator clips and give it a quick blast of primer. I leave that initial light coating to bite in for like five minutes, then I do a more thorough coat. It's up to preference as to if you should just do massive passes over all the parts or if you should pick up each clip and rotate it in the spray radius, but I like to do the former just because it saves time. Once the primer is set, I put the block inside one of my larger MG boxes to protect it from dust then leave it out to cure overnight. At this point I've usually used up my spare time for the day anyways, so it's a good stopping point. Come next day I get my paints ready, then blast the appropriate parts. Two to three coats should be enough for any sort of paint, and since I'm airbrushing I can use lacquers which dry super fast. I usually only wait ten minutes between coats. Once it's done I put it back in the box and let it cure for an hour or two, then spray Future. From there I can do weathering, but I usually just do clean paintjobs so instead I Repeat for all other components. Does this sound like it takes a while? Because it does, welcome to serious paintjobs.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 23:08
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:It might be worth someone giving me a lesson in what the gently caress I'm supposed to be doing if I'm going to completely airbrush, change colors, do weathering, etc.. and keep up with all the parts because the only real tutorials I found in the OP were 1 guy saying what order you should be doing major procedures in, and then the gundam building for busy people tutorial which suggested spraypainting stuff on the runner. For outer armor on a modern MG you don't tend to have to care about seam lines, so you can cut a piece, de-nub it, clip it to a clip stick. Do that for all the parts, then make with the spraying. At the most basic, all it's doing is changing the order of the steps, and cutting out having to touch up every sprue mark. When seam lines get into the mix, not spraying on the sprue lets you take care of said seam lines, resulting in better-looking kits. By the time you make the jump to airbrushing a kit, tweaking your workflow for quality at worst doesn't add much time, and at best can save a bit of it. e: or, in the time it took to type that BlitzBlast could make something more informative with pictures and everything. Suzaku fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Oct 13, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 23:10
|
|
|
You basically figure it out as you go of what works, and what you should have done prior. I posted what I do before, but it's like this: 1. Wash the runners with light soap and rinse. They have lots of oils. 2. Begin putting the model together, clipping the parts as you go. You can sand them down right now, or do them later. I do them later because I like just putting a model together without any fuss right away. 3. When it's together, you saw all the areas that will give you trouble to paint, and you can see what you probably wont need to paint. Where the joints are, and how far they move. 4. Break the kit down into sections you want to work on. You can do it by appendages, or by color, or just do it all depending on how many alligator clips you have. 5. Trim/clean, Prime and paint. You can put it back together as you go or wait until its all done and put it together then. 8. Top coat that poo poo. Your paint WILL chip if you don't. I initially had problems finding a good matte top coat that I liked. I found Liquitex Basics Matte (336628) and spray it at 30psi with no thinning. It has a slight sheen to it and I freakin' love it. Looks great for Gundams. Cheap too, a big jug for like $8 at any hobby store. Here you can do weathering and washes after a good first coat if you want. Some will do weather before any coats. But a wash must be done after at least one coat. 9. Final coat. 10. Play war. Philthy fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Oct 13, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 23:15
|
|
|
It's actually a waste of time to wash the runners before cutting. Mold release is practically a myth, the thing you're really washing out is skin oil and sanding residue. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 23:21
|
|
|
I'm not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed but I've never had trouble keeping track of parts (probably from having built so many of these goddamn things.) If necessary, one could organize subgroups of parts by color-coding the painting sticks or using different blocks to hold each color or whatever organizational tool satisfies. Still, most of the parts in any given kit are pretty obviously what they are — part of the inner frame, external armor, thruster details, and so forth. It's really not as confusing as it may seem. Other thing is that not each part necessarily has to be painted by itself — if you've got, say, a tank that's made up of 3-4 parts or a weapon that's all one color or a leg that breaks down cleanly into upper, knee & lower modules, these can be assembled and then painted as a unit. You'll need a certain amount of experience to best judge how to paint what, but learning by doing (and by extension, screwing up royally) is a big part of this hobby to start with. edit: mold release is still a thing with Gunpla, but skin oil is the real finish-killer so unless you plan to panel-line all your parts on the runner there's not much point in washing them beforehand. Bimmi fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Oct 13, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 23:23
|
|
|
BlitzBlast posted:It's actually a waste of time to wash the runners before cutting. Mold release is practically a myth, the thing you're really washing out is skin oil and sanding residue. Ehhhh. If you're coming from doing wargaming it's kind of a habit, but yeah there's no point with gundams.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 23:24
|
|
|
Philthy posted:You basically figure it out as you go of what works, and what you should have done prior. If you're going to wash your parts (and you should) if you're painting, it's better to do it after trimming/sanding. Not only do you get any skin oils off, you also wash off dust and crap from your sanding. So, in step 5 above. Gundam kits don't really have major problems with mold release on the parts, and they're not exactly going to be covered with skin oil fresh out of the box.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 23:24
|
|
|
Washing them before is preferable to me because if I don't do it, it feels like I ate a greasy burger as I put the thing together and it grosses me out. My kits always have oils on them out of the box. But yeah, washing after is also a good idea, and I do clean parts that I have heavily sanded in the process. I almost always wash my hands before doing any work, because fingerprints from oils can ruin your perfect paint job before you top coated it. You learn that pretty quick. Philthy fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Oct 13, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2014 23:32
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:You wouldn't airbrush the outer stuff on the runner? I don't even know how you guys keep up with the parts if you are airbrushing everything individually You snap it together while sanding, and then break it down as small as necessary, mask, and spray. That hides seams better too, since putting 2 painted pieces together, doesn't get the same results as putting pieces together, and then painting.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 00:53
|
|
|
I think the major defect in my process is clipping and separating by runner letter instead of by body location.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 02:16
|
|
|
If you sort by body location it's way easier because it's more granulated. I put stuff on sticks and then jam them in the foam blocks you put flowers in. I'll have the bits that are going to be the same colour all ready to go, in little groups sorted by left/right leg/arm and torso or whatever, so I can spray easy and then when it comes to construction I can go "ok I'm doing the right leg, which of these bits is right" and I only have to look at 10 or so parts instead of all of them.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 03:10
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:I think the major defect in my process is clipping and separating by runner letter instead of by body location. Don't do this - runners are often organized in a fashion wholly illogical for assembly.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 03:23
|
|
|
Midjack posted:Don't do this - runners are often organized in a fashion wholly illogical for assembly. Yeah, too late on my test run Strike Rouge MG but live and learn, and then buy more plastic to perfect your technique
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 03:25
|
|
|
I start with legs and build both at the same time. Sometimes the steps repeat since they use the same assembly but if they don't you can tell which part is for another. I keep the 2 leg assemblies apart while I'm building and try not to mix them up. I'm guessing it would be trickier on a MG since there are more parts. I followed someones advice here and only use a coarse sanding stick and a extra fine sanding stick to speed up sanding as well. Will most likely switch to just the coarse when I paint/top coat.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 06:55
|
|
|
So I got my F91 and it looks gorgeous. I can't wait to start working on it. I'm DREADING the rubon decals tho. I just want the F and the 91 on the shoulders but I'm so afraid I'm gonna gently caress it up. First I gotta finish the NT-1 armor though.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 07:09
|
|
|
So hey, looks like it's possible, kinda!
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 07:19
|
|
|
The further I assemble my Unicorn, the more I regret not just going for a generic metallic green. Ah well, what's done is done. EDIT: Hmm, now that I think about it I could just take my spare Banshee's psychoframe runners. I set the thing aside as a public domain kit for my club to work with but... BlitzBlast fucked around with this message at 10:40 on Oct 14, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 10:35
|
|
|
It's still a reasonably fresh paint job, surely a few sessions with the usual approved paint removers would fix it up?
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 10:42
|
|
|
Honestly by now the paint's probably cured. I think if I really tried I could strip it off, but it'd be a lot of effort and I'd risk damaging the parts. EDIT: Despite having four coats, I feel like the Scarabeus is on so lightly I could actually paint over it with metallic green. Guess I'll try that, saves me the time repriming. BlitzBlast fucked around with this message at 11:40 on Oct 14, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 10:46
|
|
|
If you're painting an entire runner, what if you only realize after the fact that there's a seam that needs joining? How do you clean up the nubs without re-priming/painting the nub?
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 16:33
|
|
|
Refinishing is not really avoidable if you want the seam to be hidden. Painting on the runners is a bad idea that creates more problems than it solves. Bimmi fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Oct 14, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 16:42
|
|
|
DamnGlitch posted:So I got my F91 and it looks gorgeous. I can't wait to start working on it. I'm DREADING the rubon decals tho. I just want the F and the 91 on the shoulders but I'm so afraid I'm gonna gently caress it up. I thought the F91 was stupidly fragile? Or am I thinking of something else.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 16:51
|
|
|
Literally The Worst posted:I thought the F91 was stupidly fragile? Or am I thinking of something else. Nope, the MG F91 is definitely fragile. Handle with care.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 16:53
|
|
|
So what is the best choice for foam to stick these sticks into, ya think? Gardening foam? I've got some pink foam insulation left over from another project that I'm using right now. I'm thinking about making a more permanent solution out of two sheets of pegboard connected with bolts that use 3 nuts for spacing.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 17:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 27, 2024 08:11 |
|
|
signalnoise posted:So what is the best choice for foam to stick these sticks into, ya think? Gardening foam? I've got some pink foam insulation left over from another project that I'm using right now. I'm thinking about making a more permanent solution out of two sheets of pegboard connected with bolts that use 3 nuts for spacing. I've had fantastic results by drilling holes in a cutting board. nice square surface, can move it around, and don't have to worry about it tipping over.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2014 17:10
|
|
