Introduction

I've divided this section into two main sections - Modelling Tips contains info about stuff in the assembly/painting process and the Custom Shop contains slightly more complicated tips about adding custom mods to your kits. :)

BTW, "**" denotes a contributed tip.

If you have something in particular you need help with *or* if you have a tip to contribute, email me at gunbase@hotmail.com.

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Modelling Tips

Painting Chrome Parts

Today I painted the chrome pistons on my PG Zaku. Here's what I discovered:

• Painting directly on the chrome doesn't work.
• Painting primer over the chrome (suggested by a fellow modeller) doesn't work... at least not for me.

What did work?

Well, I masked the part of the chrome I didn't want removed and then applied some hobby thinner to some tissue paper and rubbed the chrome off. I got most of it off this way - what little was left was removed by scraping with my hobby blade. Note: You can also use industrial thinner but I'd recommend that you test the thinner on a spare sprue first because some are too strong and will melt the plastic. Stick to hobby thinner to be safe.

To paint, I tested some primer but it didn't adhere really well to the surface which was surprising to me. I found that my Gunze Sangyo Steel colored paint (Mr. Color no.28) went on pretty well. Since I was spraying the parts copper, the metallic steel base worked fine. The result is a nicely painted part. Check out the pics. :)

painted pistons

Update:
The tip above is good when you need to remove a portion of the chrome from a part but not all of it. If you want to remove all the chrome, try this simpler method. This little add-on tip was contributed by David Bauer, I edited it a little.

"I noticed you said you used thinner to remove the chrome plating from the parts. I had a similar problem with the 1/100 scale Wing Gundam kit. About 15 parts are chromed in a gold color. The chest vents have a very fine mesh detail in the plastic. I would never be able to get the chrome out of there! Besides, the thinner might clog the part and make it look worse!

The best way to get rid of chrome plating is bleach..... Yep good old laundry bleach. Just drop the parts in a cup of bleach and let it sit over night. In the morning there will be a chrome film floating at the top of the cup and all the chrome will be off the parts! It even gets it out of the tiny cracks and details and desolves it. The best part is that there is no work involved. You may want to test it on a piece of the chromed sprue first. some brands of bleach are stronger that others. I use Clorox."

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For spray-painting, you can get a stick (or even a tooth-pick), and attach an end of it to an un-exposed portion of the part you are about to paint.

You can then hold the stick and spray the piece to be painted. After that, stick the other end of the stick into a piece of styrofoam and leave to dry.

It's a little more time-consuming... but it's clean and you can handle your parts without being afraid of messing up the paintwork. :)

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I use putty for a lot of my seam filling but for gaps which aren't too huge this is a good trick that's fast and also very effective. You need to buy yourself a tube of superglue and a superglue accelerator - the accelerator is a solution you can spray over your superglue to make it cure (or harden) faster.

Apply superglue to one of the 2 pieces to be joined. Then assemble the 2 pieces together. There should be just enough glue so that when you join the 2 pieces a little of the glue 'bulges' out from the seam. Then spray your accelerator on the joint.

Leave for about 5 minutes and your joint should not only be strong, the glue also fills up all the gaps. Now use your hobby knife to remove the access hardened glue and sand to a smooth finish.

I've found this method to be not only faster than putty, but I think it's stronger too. Try it!

Some guys have asked me what brands of superglue and accelerator I use... I use ALECO 110 superglue because it was on sale - basically any brand of cyanoacrylate adhesive will do. As for the accelerator, I use GRIP Cyano Activator (For Singaporeans, available at Hobby Focus at Far East Plaza).

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Different people use putty in different ways but here's how I do it:

1. glue the parts together
2. allow to dry
3. squeeze out a little putty (I do so on a piece of paper)
4. use a toothpick (I use an old hobby blade - RECYCLING MAN! lol!) and apply the putty to the seam, trying to ensure that it goes into the gaps. Note: Don't apply too much cos you'll take more time cleaning it up later... but not too little cos you'll have to re-do it. Generally you'll end up with a messy line of putty covering up the seam - don't bother to smooth it out too much at this stage...
5. allow to dry (check your putty for curing time) but remember that even though the outside may feel solid if you have a thick application of putty the inside may not be fuly cured yet.
6. use hobby knife to remove excess dried putty till close to the seam
7. use sandpaper to smoothen - I normally start with 400-600 and end off with a 1000 grit paper. Clean the part before painting (soap and water is nice).

Update:
Here's a tip contributed by Stephen Lee.

"You can actually squeeze putty and mix it with Mr Thinner and it will become a softer paste (you can use a brush and paint it on), but beware of adding too much or it will become too mushy."

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When working on the conductive cables zeon mechs like Zakus and Goufs, it's normal to not just spend a lot of time... you'll probably end up with sore fingers too. Here's a tip to help you out... you'll need a hobby drill, a little stick and sandpaper.

1. Remove 'ringlet' from parts tree.
2. Cut off as much of the sprue as possible (I use a nail-clipper for all my sprue cutting)
3. Use a stick and shape it so that the ringlet fits on it snugly (a little masking tape might make it a better fit).
4. Put the stick in your hobby drill if you have one, and turn it on (slowest setting if it's a variable speed).
5. Now you can carefully sand the piece and it'll come out nice and cylindrical. No fuss.

It still takes some time, but it is faster and a lot easier on your fingers.

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Yeah baby! Thanks to David Bauer for this tip.

It is always a pain trying to remove the "nubs" left from cutting parts from the sprue and sanding seams left on the model after gluing and puttying. Sandpaper can leave small scratches that show up during painting.

I use women's three stage fingernail buffers. They can be bought in the cosmetics department a most stores for around a $1 to $1.50 .They come in in packages of three stick. One coarse (like 400 grit sandpaper) , a buffer stick, This one polishes the scratches out. And finally a polishing stick. This one gives the part a high shine. I have given silver plastic almost mirror shines with these.

The buffers come in various sizes and are made of a stiff rubber like plastic so they can bend around small curves. Best of all parts can be cleaned up really quick. They are also avaliable in various sizes. You can even cut them into different sizes and shapes to suite your needs. I hope this helps. This one saves me a lot of time.

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Most Master Grade kits come with a set of normal stickers (peel and stick) and dry transfers (I'll refer to them as 'DT's). When used correctly, DTs look a lot better than normal stickers because they stick so much closer to the surface of the model they actually look painted on.

It took me a while to figure out how to get these done right. Here's how I do them:

1. Set the whole DT sheet on a cutting mat. Flip it over so the adhesive edge is upwards towards you.
2. Use a sharp hobby blade (I normally use a new one) to cut out the design you want to use with at least 1mm of space around it.
3. Remove the rest of the DT sheet you won't be using and carefully flip the cut-out portion over so the adhesive edge is now on the cutting mat.
4. Cut a small piece of cellophane tape.
5. Position the tape over the DT so that the DT sits in the middle, then stick it on.
6. Carefully position the tape with DT where you want it on the model, then paste it on.
7. Use a pen or blunt pencil to go over the DT. Go over it a few times in different directions. Check to ensure you have the whole symbol/marking covered.
8. Careflly lift the tape off from one end. As you remove it, check to see if the transfer has stayed on the model. If not, the tape allows you to position the DT over the same area again (or at least close to it) to finish your job.
9. Remove tape and you're done!

A few notes:

• this works well on painted and non-painted surfaces.
• test the cellophane tape first. I can't guarantee that different brands will work equally well. I wouldn't recommend cheap brands if they leave glue or residue on the surfaces after removal.
• do *not* stick the cellophane tape over any DTs already applied... they may pull them off! If you have 2 DTs to be placed close together, stick them both on the tape first and apply them together.
  

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Thanks to David Bauer for this tip.

"Most Master Grade and High Grade kits now come with clear parts for the beam sabres, eyes or mono-eye visors. Sometimes after use or during construction the clear parts get small (sometimes large) scratches on the part either through sprue attachment points or accidents!

Not to worry. Mount the part onto a toothpick and simply dip the parts in Future Floor Polish or in any other acryllic floor polish. Let the part dry (I reccomend overnight) and the scratches will be gone. The acryllic material in the polish fills in the scratches.

Also dipping clear parts in acryllic floor polish will protect the part from fogging if you use super glue on them.

Acryllic polishes uses are not just limited to clear parts. Try dipping the blade of a painted beam sabre into the polish for a bright shine!"

Additional Note:
This was taken from G-man's post on the Machine Mess Forum.

Future Floor Wax has other uses too:

1. Dunk canopies/clear parts in it for brilliant shine.
2. Airbrush onto matt paint to create gloss surface without the smell, prep for decal adhesion since decals prefer gloss surfaces.
3. Airbrush OVER it AFTER decal has set(about 2 days to be safe) to seal it. Alternatively, can be mixed with Tamiya Flat Base at a Future to Flat Base ratio of 7:3 to 8:2 to create flat overcoat. Always experiment on unwanted model!
4. Works great in levelling out brush strokes of hand-painted models, though of course, brush strokes should not be too er... obvious.
   

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Some Gundam MG models come with additional parts for you to customize your mech - like handles and vents. While vents are available from WAVE under their Wave Option Parts line, you can make cool handles on your own.

1. Buy some thin brass tubes/rods (For Singaporeans: available from Art Friend Crafts shop at Bras Basah Complex)
2. Cut the length you need with a pair of wire cutters
3. Bend to desired shape - I use a pair of long-nose pliers
4. Glue to part - I use superglue.

For added strength, I normally drill small holes first to insert the part before gluing

You can see how the end product looks on my PG Zaku here...

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Although the picture below isn't clear (I'm still looking for a reasonably priced Digicam), check out the embossed markings on my PG Zaku which identifies which type mech it is...

It says MS-06F...

It's very cool and very military looking. How did I do it? The tip comes from one of the Japanese hobby magazines.

1. Look at the runners on your models and you'll find that they'll have almost all the letters you need. For the mech type, it's normally embossed on all the runners - sometimes with different fonts and sizes
2. Decide which letters you will want to use
3. With a sharp hobby blade (I recommend a new one), carefully cut under the letter to remove it. Because the letters are so thin, they'll curl when you cut them out - I recommend cutting from one direction till about half-way through, then carefully use a flat object to press the curled portion back down, then cut the other half from the other direction.
4. After cutting all your letters, carefully glue them to your model. I used a piece of masking tape as a guide.

Now the letters are very thin and this is a delicate process so try it out first on a letter you don't want and please *be very careful* with the hobby knife. However, with a little patience you will be rewarded with a very cool looking ID on your mech.

It'll look even better painted and dry-brushed to bring out the contrast!

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I did this mod for the 1/144 HG Ez8. In my opinion, poseability of many 1/144 kits really suffer from the lack of this joint... so I decided to try to do something about it. Here's what was used:

• plastic sheet (1.3mm) - anything more than 1mm should be fine.
• 3mm drill bit
• 2 spare polycap A from a HGUC kit
• Some spare sprue from a plastic tree about 3mm in diameter
• hobby blade
• glue

I can't give you exact measurements cos they'll differ from kit to kit but with a little common sense and a good ruler you'll figure it out. What I wanna give you is just the idea/concept of what to do. Here goes:

1. Depending on the width of the chest of the mech, cut the plastic sheet to form the following structure on the right; it's basically 2 long strips with 3 pieces providing support in between. The space between the 2 long strips should be the outer diameter of the polycap (mine was 5mm):

Front	Back

2. Next, drill 2 holes on each of the long strips to fit the polycaps (mine was 3mm)

3. Assemble and glue the whole structure together as in the diagram above.

4. Cut the sprue to make extensions to fit the shoulders of the kit as below:

4. Now cut the chest pieces to allow the whole assembly to fit inside and move freely.

5. Glue the assembly in place and you're done!

The desired result can be seen in this little animated pic.

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I once saw a very cool MG Gelgoog in the hobby store which had a very rough texture on its armor. It looked really cool and realistic and for the longest time I just could not figure out how the effect was achieved. I tried multiple primer laters but that didn't work and sanding with various rough grades of sandpaper didn't work either.

I finally discovered how it was done. I was using the wrong primer. I had been using Mr. Surfacer1000 from Gunze Sangyo but what I really should have used was Mr. Surfacer500! It turns out that the numbers refer to how 'fine' the spray particles are so a lower number results in a much rougher finish.

Be careful though, if you spray too many layers of Mr. Surfacer500, you can lose the details on your models very fast so use sparingly. This was what I used to achieve the effect on my RX-93 below.

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One simple mod to add to your MS to make them look more realistic is rivets. Rivets can break the bland look of large flat surfaces and they look even better when dry-brushed over. You can purchase some from Wave, but those are pretty large. To make your own, you will need:

1. Styrene rod (the thinner the better... I use one 0.6mm in diameter)
2. Liquid Cement
3. Sharp hobby knife (a new blade is a good idea)
4. Pencil (optional)
5. Sandpaper (optional)

Here's how to do it:

1. Use the pencil and mark down where you want your rivets to be. Check out pictures on the net if you need references. Normally I put mine about 1-2mm from the edges or 'armor plates'. Skip this step if you think you can tell exactly where to put your rivets without markings.
2. Use the sharp hobby knife to carefully cut off a small section of the styrene rod - about 0.5mm in length or less. This will take some practice, but it's not too difficult. Try to ensure a good cut that gives you a right-angled edge.
3. Use the tip of your blade and just press very gently onto one of the flat surfaces of the little piece you've cut off. The blade will 'pick' up the little rivet.
4. Using the brush applicator of your liquid cement bottle, just touch the other flat surface of the rivet to apply some glue.
5. Touch the glued surface of the rivet to the marked spot on your model. The glue will stick the rivet in place.
6. Allow the glue to dry and then you can use sandpaper to lightly sand down the rivet - this is good if your rivets are all of visibly different lengths or if some of the cuts were not very straight.

Here's a pic of some rivet-work I was recently working on...

Rivet Work

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