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c o n te nts Back to Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Letter Editor from the

Quick Resin Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Pretty Guardian Nobel Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The Last Hope for the Federation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Reader’s Gallery: Steamguy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Neon Knight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 1/60 NeoGrade Sazabi Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Building and Painting the 1/60 NeoGrade Sazabi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Gaza-D Diorama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Starting Gunpla: 10 Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Gunpla Origins: Plamo Kyoshiro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Facebook Zaku Contest . . . . . . . . . . 64

G-Plus has been a dream of mine for a long time. Like many modellers who grew up building without the internet, I learned the most from imported magazines. Unable to read the Japanese content, I was subject to whatever I could interpret from the pictures alone. After so long we finally have the first English language mecha modeling magazine, and I am proud to say that it is totally free to read, copy and distribute. Unlike physical magazines which are restricted by geography, G-Plus was envisioned as being totally accessible. Anyone, anywhere with an internet connection and basic English can access it and enjoy. All of the articles and photography in this magazine were contributed by members of the online mecha community. They took a risk putting time into this first issue, but I think it paid off. There is a lot of work to still be done getting the format of this magazine right, but I am confident we will get lots of great submissions in the future and iron out all the kinks so this magazine can truly represent what our great hobby is capable of. I would especially like to thank our Facebook page members who competed in our Facebook Zaku Contest. The response was very strong and we have included all of the entries in an Ora-Zaku style presentation. I’m really excited about G-Plus and it’s potential, so please show your support by following Monoeye Press on Facebook and contributing to the next issue!

Nick M Vancouver, BC

THE BASICS OF MODELLING HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN. An awesome way to open up an article, I know, but it seems that all too often I see models that have skipped the over common fundamental tasks to tackle other, more advanced tasks. For instance, I recently saw a model on a site that was decently painted and had metal detail parts, but still had a blaring seam line down the shoulder. I thought at first that this had to be an intentional aesthetic decision, but no, it wasn’t. The modeler just didn’t fill the seam. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that someone that would put the time and effort into painting and spending money on metal detail parts wouldn’t do something as simple and basic as filling a seam line. Filling a seam is Modeling 101, and is the first skill most modelers learn when first entering the hobby. Sure it’s often a messy, unglamorous, menial task, but it’s one of the most im-

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portant things when creating a model. A seam completely dispels any form of realism or proper representation of the subject.

happening? Why are people skipping over very basic techniques?” I could think of a few big reasons, but there’s probably many more.

IN OTHER WORDS, FILL THE DAMN SEAM!

LAZINESS

Unfortunately filling seams isn’t the only basic skill that’s being overlooked. I’ve seen seemingly nicely finished models with nubs, sanding marks, smudges in paint, and the list goes on. I will say that I’ve done all of these in the past when I was first learning, but I did them on very early models that I only hand painted and I also used cheap models, not Master Grades or Perfect Grades, like some I’ve seen. Once I felt my basic skill level was decent enough, I tackled a Master Grade. It was a straight out of box build, then I moved onto more advanced techniques, but the thing to remember is, I didn’t tackle a more advanced kit or techniques until my basic foundation of skills were in place. It’s almost like a baby trying to run before it can walk. It just doesn’t turn out well. Imagine a basketball player learning to shoot a jumper or slam dunk before they can even dribble the ball. Funny right? It’s the same thing with modelers who skimp on the basics. The model just doesn’t look right in the end and that usually is a discredit to the modeler. So I wonder to myself, “Why is this

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Ahh the dreaded L word. Laziness gets to all of us at one point or another. It is one of the great constants in our world. When your energy and enthusiasm about something has been spent, what do you do? That’s right, be lazy! WRONG!!! I understand that getting over laziness is extremely difficult sometimes, but it’s the true modeler that is able to fight through it. I probably understand that better than most. Back in 2007 when I shut down CoM, I was burned out with the hobby. I just couldn’t bring myself to walk into my studio, much less actually sit down and work. It became increasingly tough even to think about it. It was THAT bad, but with time that feeling subsided and I’m back in the hobby with fervor of old. Sometimes you just have to take a break. I’ve also had luck with working on something else for a short amount of time and coming back to what I was working on and also looking through forums, repost sites, art sites, and concept art sites, to kick start my enthusiasm again.

FEAR I think this is another one that we can all admit to at one point. The fear of messing up your model is ever-constant, especially when starting out, be-

cause you may not know how to fix it. As experience builds, I believe that this feeling subsides for most of us, but there are some out there that are still gripped by fear of error. I know this is easier said than done, but fear of messing up is something that a modeler just has to get over. If you mess up, figure out a way to fix it. It’s a simple solution, but a tough one at the same time.

No matter the reason, not covering the basics on a model is usually a large faux pas. If you’re creating a model for yourself and are not showing, then that’s one thing, but if you’re going to show it to the world, don’t expect any mercy from more advanced modelers who’ve spent years working to improve their craft.

NO DESIRE TO BE BETTER Believe it or not there are some of us out there that have plateaued and are comfortable with that. Some just don’t want to be better. This is a completely foreign concept to me, so I won’t lie and say I understand it, but I would still question, “Why?” Why would someone spend money on something and devote their time and energy and not want it to be the best they can? Are they comfortable with mediocrity? There are many people in the world that are not competitive by nature and are not driven to try and prove their worth opposed to someone else, but I would still tend to believe that there is a fundamental need to do the best we can for personal gratification; maybe not. I probably will never understand this concept. Maybe I just notice things that others don’t. Maybe I vcritique too harshly. Maybe I’m an asshole (probably). I just can’t stand to see a nice kit with such basic flaws.

This article was originally published on www.childofmecha.com. Visit it!

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quick resin tutorial Justinius Builds

Many people familiar with Gunpla start off building the Bandai plastic models, but after a while the plastic builds become a bit monotonous, so sometimes builders will seek more challenging builds. Be it in the way of modifying their kits, looking at different manufacturers for more challenging model kits, or perhaps dabbling in resin. Resin kits are a special material that you can find some very beautiful and detailed kits in, that may not be available or possible in plastic form. Some resin kits even require a plastic frame from an existing kit for improved possibility!

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Resin comes in many different shapes and sizes, as far as how it’s packaged. Recasters generally use generic packaging, but more dedicated casts get their own boxes with fancy box art and other goodies stuffed inside. But inside these boxes the contents are generally similar. Your resin pieces will be divvied up into vacuum sealed plastic bags, this is where the absolute most important part of the pre-build process comes into play.

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It’s incredibly important to make sure your instructions are present (or at the very least a parts list) and you want to check that against your pieces. Here, I’ve arranged everything according to the photo, and everything is there. But for larger kits, or smaller workspaces, this might not be an option. What I typically do is cut the bags open and lay out the parts, then using a Sharpie, I dot or check off the pieces in the instructions as I come across them.

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Some of the basic tools you’ll need to assemble a resin kit aren’t much different from a standard Gundam — or really any model kit. Some cutters for removing the larger parts of the gates, a knife for small areas and rescribing, a file and/or sandpaper for smoothing areas, and blu-tac for test fitting.

When I cut resin, I try not to cut too close to the piece because resin is harder, but also more fragile than plastic. You can crack or break your piece and create more work for yourself. So here I take my time, and I trim the resin gate down.

Another common issue with resin, is your longer, thinner pieces have a tendency to warp either in the molding process, or in the shipping process. Fortunately it’s a relatively easy fix. All you have to do is throw some water in the microwave (or boil it) and dip the part just past the bend for about 5 –10 seconds at a time, and slowly work it until it’s at the desired shape. (fun fact: This also works for most plastic!)

After trimming it’ll look something like this. Not too shabby for some cheap-o cutters. Next we’ll take sandpaper and try to round it out so it looks nicer and fits into the other part of the chest better. Another thing to take note of, is that resin is more toxic than plastic, and as such you should wear a mask whenever sanding or prepping the pieces.

Looking good! The bottom (front) part of the molds are a little different, but it looks fine so I’m not going to mess with tweaking it too much.

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PRETTY GUARDIAN NOBEL PROJECT ASHE BLITZEN

Every Gunpla Builder has that dream project. A project that piques their interest, challenges their abilities and becomes more than just a project: it becomes their passion made tangible through paint, putty and plastic. The HGFC 1/144 Nobel Gundam and Nobel Gundam (Berserker Mode) were two of my very first model kits, nearly three years ago. At that point I wasn’t aware of the importance of the basics: sanding, puttying, removing seam lines… so my Nobel Gundams sat on their action bases, unaware of what was ahead of them. After some much-needed tender love and care, my Nobels were nicely sanded

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and fit together well. I sat and thought about what I could do with them. Then, it struck me; the most obvious choice! Sailor Scouts! As an avid Sailor Moon fan since childhood, it was only natural to combine my two great loves. I would recreate each Sailor Scout in Gundam form, keeping each one as accurate to its anime counterpart as I could while maintaining the traditional Gundam look.

simulate the Sailor Scout tiaras. Every Nobel has a vinyl decal of each Scout’s planetary symbol on the right thigh, opposite its trademark garter. The silhouette decals on the shoulders are actually nail art decals I found online. (All paints I’ve used are Mr. Color unless otherwise noted.)

All of the Scouts were painted with Mr. Metal Iron inner frame and a Cool White base color. Each of their sailor uniform collars, bows, and skirt armor correspond with their color schemes in the anime/manga, along with a gold V-fin to

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I began with Sailor Moon. For the hair buns I cemented two Builders Parts scopes together around a ball joint, smoothed it out with putty, and put a crystal sticker on each side. After that, I modified the two pigtail-like Berserker hair pieces to be twin-tails to replicate Sailor Moon’s trademark locks.

I stuck to traditional Gundam colors when I painted the body, keeping it as simple as possible. For her hair, I decided to do two coats of MS Yellow, topped with three coats of Mr. Crystal Color in Topaz Gold to give it that ethereal gold sheen.

My favorite scout, Sailor Jupiter, was next. Her color scheme consisted of a lightened Mitsubishi Green with Pink as an accent color.

To recreate her ponytail, I modified a Berserker hair part by using cement to slightly melt the plastic so I could bend it into the right shape. I also added two individual pieces for her bangs.

The hair color is a mix of Red-Brown, MS Red and a touch of Cool White with one coat of Mr. Crystal Color Ruby Red on top. I found a spare HGUC Jegan antenna, painted it gold, and mounted it over the base of the V-fin to be Jupiter’s signature lightning antenna. Finally, I added some water slide decals (also nail decals found online) to her boots to simulate laces.

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Mercury had many shades of blue, so I mixed a bunch of shades. The front and rear bows are a mixture of Cool White and Light Blue, while the rest of the armor is AEUG Blue mixed with a touch of Cool White. I wanted to give her Gundam a weapon similar to Mars’ Flame Bow, I made a water trident using another

For Mars, I wanted to recreate the purple sheen she has over her jet black hair. I did a base of Ueno Black and topped it with Mr. Crystal Color Amethyst Purple with just a bit of Ruby Red at the ends. Her dominant color was a deep burgundy red accented with a purple bow on the front of the uniform. Russet was a great match for the red and Purple for the front bow.

weapon from the Matsuri set and painted it in a gradient of Mr. Metal Stainless, Mr. Metallic Blue and Mr. Metallic Silver, topped with Mr. Crystal Color Royal Blue. Her hair was the real challenge here, and I went through 3 different ideas for it before I settled on something that worked. I ended up harvesting an armor part from my

broken HG00 GN Archer, sanded it to shape and painted it with a mix of Light Blue with AEUG Blue topped with two coats of Mr. Crystal Color Royal Blue. I mounted the hair to her head and my Sailor Scouts were complete!

Her weapon was a mixed-media experiment for me. I cemented two Lego fire plumes to a bow from the Kotobukiya MSG Weapon Unit MW011 set. I wanted a nice flame effect, so I went with a nice gradation of red-orange-gold with Mr. Metallic Red, Mr. Metallic Gold, and some Mr. Metal Brass – all topped with two coats of Mr. Crystal Color Ruby Red and a touch of Mr. Crystal Color Topaz Gold to top it off. I had fun with the colors for Venus because she was so varied compared to the other Scouts. For her front bow I mixed AEUG Blue with Ueno Black to get a deep Navy. The back bow was MS yellow with a touch of Cool White. The shade of orange was a bit of a challenge because I didn’t want it to be a neon orange, nor a deep orange. I mixed up Orange-Yellow, some MS Red and a touch of White, and there it was! I wanted her hair to be

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slightly different from Sailor Moon’s. I added some Cool White to MS Yellow and only did two light coats of Mr. Crystal Color Topaz Gold for the sheen. For the ‘bead-chain’ weapon, I used a part from the HGBC Matsuri Weapon set, painted it with Mr. Metal Color Brass, and topped it with a mix of Mr. Crystal Color in Ruby Red and Topaz Gold to give it some shimmer.

If you’d like to see more, come find me on Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr! AsheBlitzenBuilds asheblitzen asheblitzen

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Now was the time. The war had been raging on for months now and the Zeon forces had decided to make the last push towards the Federations base in a section of space near what was Side 7. The Federation had lost so many men but they were still determined to win this battle. An army of Zeon Mobile Suits approached the base at an amazing speed. “My God!” a gasp came from the bridge of the Federation war ship “Incoming Zeon forces! Estimated count 120 units.” The Captain had to make a decision fast. If he hesitated, the Federation would be in serious danger of losing their position and the Zeon forces would gain a foothold in an area of space that would be difficult for the Federation to regain. If he hesitated, they would die. “Launch the Deep Striker!!”

THE LAST HOPE FOR

THE FEDERATION Scott Taylor

Building the Deep Striker I’ve always had a soft spot for the Deep Striker, so I thought I’d give making my own version a go. I began work on the build around mid August 2013 starting with the Master Grade Ex-S kit that was released in 2003. The kit went together as most Master Grades do and then it was time to plan the Deep Striker conversion. I searched online for pictures of other models for reference and found a few customs as well as the Fix Figuration model. There were a lot of things I liked about those models but a lot I didn’t, which it was at that point I realised I wanted to do my own version of the Deep Striker rather than a copy of the Mobile Suit. First, the legs were taken off to be replaced with the large thrusters pods and then the front section was created using parts of the transformable pods that are on the shoulders of the Ex-S and the knees. The pod part was modified

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at the end to accommodate the knees by chopping away the plastic using a razor saw and knife. Once the knees were installed, the problem came up of the big hole at the top just behind the knees and how to fill it. There was a sub assembly that came from the back of the legs that I used the centre of to hide the hole and also add more detail where there was none. Next up was the separation of the shoulder armour. I always liked the look of the open shoulder armour, so using a razor saw, I chopped along the centre panel lines which separated the top and bottom armour and then filled in the gap along the edge using some styrene and putty.

Propellant tanks were added to the rear of the Deep Striker using the tanks from the HGUC Full Armour Unicorn and the legs of the Real Grade Zeta to hole the tanks in place and add some further detail. The weight of the tanks caused issues with the legs sagging, so to remedy this, I used some standard self tapping

screws to secure the legs to the backpack using some mounting holes on the RG Zeta legs for the screws to go through. This combined with some pinning at the top of the torso using some left over parts of the Ex-S made it very sturdy. I wanted to add some smaller thruster packs similar to the ones on the legs at this point as it looked too bare on the back. I couldn’t get a hold of the HGUC version of the Ex-S to get the parts I needed, but I did find some old school kits from the 1980s that were just being reissued that had the exact parts I needed. The building part was getting close to being done at

this point but there were some other details that needed attention as some areas looked bare or showed sections that needed to be hidden from view. Using some more parts from the RG Zeta, MG Full Armour RX-78, MG Sazabi and left overs from the Ex-S, I added some more details where it was needed on areas like the shoulders, the front armour and the rear wings. The larger thruster packs on where the legs used to be were beginning to cause problems with the weight causing them to sag and not stay in place. I tried adding some glue to the ball joints that I

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had installed and that worked for a little while but the more it was moved, the less effective it was. I tried a few different methods including magnets but ended up settling on using the arms from the HGUC Full Armour Unicorn mounted using brass rod on both ends which kept it locked into place. The last thing I needed to do was add the Gatling guns, which were modified using two different Kotobukiya weapons sets—the Gatlings and the Ammo drum/belt. These were added together to make a meaner version of the standard Gatlings but needed some Builders Parts hands to hold onto them better which the stock hands struggled to do. A red colour scheme was the original plan for the paint but I decided to stick with traditional Gundam colours of blue, red and white. Lacquers were the choice of paint with a mixture of Mr Color and

Gaianotes paints used. I decided to use lacquers instead of my usual acrylics because I wanted something a little tougher seeing as this build was to be pulled apart for future transport to the GBWC. The white was the hardest part to paint due to the pigments allowing much of the grey primer to show through. To combat this, I used Mr White Base Coat in the spray can to get a nice even colour before applying the Mr Color ‘MS White’ over the top. With the base colours down, I did some small detail painting on some of the vents and panels across with model. Decals were then applied after a clear gloss coat by

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using a combination of various sheets from Bandai, HiQ, and some other 3rd party ones that I picked up during my trip to Japan and also from eBay. Another clear coat was applied to protect the decals and then the weathering began. I wanted to give the look and feel of a well worn machine that had seen its fair share of service. Using a standard kitchen sponge, I applied some Mr Metal Dark Iron around the edges and across various panels. I then added some Mr Metal Silver to add some depth. I finished up with a wash of dark grey as a subtle highlight of the panel lines rather than a stark black.

The Scene I wanted the scene to portray how menacing the Deep Striker could be. I played around with many variations of a debris field but finally set on using some old electronics boards, wire mesh and some old sprues to make the debris. The main base was made using an old motherboard that was pulled apart and damaged using a pair of pliers and wire cutters. The wire mesh and sprues were fixed in place using some epoxy glue and the large fan cover was added. Once painted, everything was weathered using sponge chipping and pigments after some decals were applied. Using multiple scale kits has been something I have done in the past, so I decided I wanted to do that again to show how large and menacing the Deep Striker was. I settled on two different Zaku IIs, the Thunderbolt version and the Tri Stars High Mobility version (both in 1/144 scale) to get this effect. Some minor modifications were done to both models including replacing the

piping with springs and adding IC pins inside the thrusters for example. Both were painted in similar colour to their OOB colours with some slight variations. Decals were applied again using Bandai and 3rd party sheets and then they were also weathered the same way as the Deep Striker. The final step in the build was to mount them on the base itself which was achieved using some clear acrylic rods. The ones holding the Deep Striker were mounted to the underside of the base using some screws and epoxy glue as they needed to be sturdy enough to hold the model in place. The other smaller ones were mounted using some holes drilled into the base, just large enough for the rods to be inserted without them moving but still the right size for them to be removed easily enough for transporting. Using a heat gun, I bent the rods at angles as I wanted the models to be sitting outside the base itself to give an extra feel of depth and the effect of floating in space.

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GBWC The Australian Gunpla Builders World Cup was held over the weekend of August 9th and 10th 2014. I made my yearly trip up by car which took nearly 12 hours with my models packed away in a large box. This year, I was excited to win 3rd place in the ‘Open Course’ category which I received a bronze trophy and a gift voucher for Australian store Hobbyco (the GBWC organisers and sponsors in Australia). I enjoyed this build greatly as it gave me a chance to build a non Zeon suit as my main centre piece and try something a little different to what I have built in the past. Granted, it has its flaws, but it has taught me some new skills and thought processes that I will most likely apply to future builds.

If you would like to see more of my work, you can check them out at the following places online: ghostofzeon.com TheGhostofZeon TheGhostofZeon theghostofzeon

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BEARPUNK

1/144 Bearguy Modelled by cekidot

“The concept is mixing steampunk, rustic, and Gundam aesthetics... I want to make something in a different way from how people normally look at Gundam. I want to make cute+scary+detailed work...” - cekidot 28

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NEON KNIGHT

This is my first time customizing a exactly customizing. I just used sh er to do the edge lining. Since th green psycho gundam already a terial, i just need to edge line the by one with my neon marker.

It was tedious and time consumin great for me as the whole gunda UV light.

SD FA Unicorn Modelled by Anthony Tan, Malaysia

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Anthony Tan used a neon Sharpie marker to line the edges of this SD kit.

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“It was tedious and time consuming, but it turned out great for me as the whole Gundam pops out under UV light...” - Anthony Tan

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1/60 NeoGrade Sazabi S T A T S : 1/60 NeoGrade Sazabi (original cast) – 18” tall | 8 lbs | roughly 365 parts 12 cans of Krylon Primer

3 bottle of Alclad Steel

5 bottles of Mr. Color GX Astray Red

2 bottles of Alclad Matte top coat

3 bottles of Mr. Color GX White

Prep & Pinning – 5 weeks

Panel Lines – 10 hours

5 bottles of Mr. Color Black Grey

(And several other assorted colors)

Painting – 7 weeks

Photography – 3 hours

2 bottles of Mr. Color GX Black

India Ink pens for panel lines

Dry Transfers – 20 hours

Approximately 275 hours of work

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building and painting the 1/60 NeoGrade Sazabi When I was asked to write a piece on my process of building and painting the 1/60 Neograde Sazabi, I was first very honored, and second very nervous. I have never written an article so how was I going to explain what I did with words? Well here is my attempt at explaining how I built and painted the best resin kit I have ever worked on. First let me say that this is not a review of this kit. The following paragraphs will explain my processes, thinking and strategy on tackling this monster of a garage kit. That being said, I cannot help but to mention how fantastic this kit is. It is by far the best resin kit I have ever worked on, and being that I own about 200 of them I feel comfortable saying that I know what I am talking about when it comes to resin/garage kits. As with any garage kit the first step is to do a parts check. Luckily Neograde provides a very nice and clear parts sheet to check against. Some garage kit manufacturers just give you line drawings or no parts list at all. This kit has roughly 350 pieces give or take. I went through the kit marking off each piece. If there are missing pieces, it is important to contact the company that the kit is purchased from ASAP to get replacements. The sooner you contact them the better your chances are that you will get what you are missing quickly and without any additional fees. I have had to pay for parts in the past because I waited too long and the kits were out of production. Sometimes it’s a few bucks, sometimes it’s more. Once you verify you have all the pieces, it’s very important to examine and study the instructions. I do this step over the coarse of a few days

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Matt Mrozek

or weeks. As with most garage kits, the instructions are broken up into major sub assemblies unlike a Bandai kit, which is broken up into several steps. Where a Bandai kits may have 30–60 steps, garage kits may have only 1–5 steps. The 1/60 Sazabi’s instructions are broken up this way. There are steps for the following: 1 step for both legs, 1 step for both arms, 1 step for the weapon, 1 step for the shield, and 1 step for the torso. So studying the instructions and visualizing how you are going to assemble the kit is very important. It’s critical that you have a game plan in mind so that you reduce the chance of making mistakes.

Cleaning the Pieces Once you are familiar with the instructions and your set to build, it’s time to start cleaning the pieces. Luckily the 1/60 Neograde Sazabi is casted almost perfectly. What I mean is that there are little to no mold lines, the gates are small and located in inconspicuous locations, and all the details have been reproduced very well. When cleaning up resin, I use a large Sharpie marker to indicate the areas that need work. These would include the gates (the tabs of resin that protrude from the pieces from where the resin was poured into the mold), and mold lines or seems, and areas that look or feel rough. The Sharpie will act as a sanding guide for us. I usually work a few pieces at a time. I find that I miss things less frequently, plus on such a large kit, working on a few pieces at a time is less overwhelming. I use a variety of tools when cleaning resin. I have a spru cutter dedicated to resin kits that I use for cutting gates off. You do

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not want to use your $65 God Hand cutters or your $40 Sharp Pointed Tamiya cutters. The resin will ruin these in just a few cuts. For sanding I use a diamond file and my home made sanding sticks with 400–grit wet/dry sanding paper. I usually start with the gate since that is typically what needs the most work. Like I mentioned before, the gates on this kit were fairly small and pretty easy to clean up. I start with the diamond file sanding the gate. This is where the Sharpie helps. As you sand, the Sharpie will slowly disappear as the area gets worked. Once the Sharpie is gone, you know that area is smooth. I then finish up with the 400 grit sanding stick.

Any scratches left by the sanding stick will get filled in the priming stage. So this method works great for flat areas, on curved areas I don’t use a diamond file at all because it will just create a flat spot. The thrusters are a great example. For the gates and other areas I simply used 400 grit sanding paper in my hand. This allows you to conform the sanding paper to the shape of the thruster avoiding any flat spots. Continue marking all the areas and sanding the gates and any imperfections from all the pieces of the kit. Once done, we are ready to move onto the pinning and magnetizing phase.

Pinning and Magnetizing Pinning is the process of drilling holes and inserting metal rods into the resin. This does two things for us. It makes it possible to dry fit the kit together and it also creates stability within the kit once assembled and glued. Adding magnets to certain areas does a couple things for us. It will allow is to assemble and disassemble the kit as many times as we want. This is important for two reasons. First, it allows us to break the kit down into major sub-assemblies for transport and second, it allows us to access parts of the kit in the future like the battery box. The great thing about this kit is that there is minimal pinning. The kit is engineered so well that the weight alone pretty much keeps it together. This is where studying the instructions and developing a game plan makes all the difference. As I studied the kit and the instructions, I soon realized that I was going to build the kit in five major steps. The steps are as followed, the shield, legs, arms, torso, back pack, and rifle. I decided that it would be easier and less overwhelming to complete each of those phases up to the point of adding the dry transfers. The first thing

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I did was dry fit the shield together. There are no pins in the shield. It is simply held together with epoxy. The second phase of pinning was the legs. I dry fitted the interior structures of the legs to get a sense of how they went together. At this time I also dry fitted the armor to make sure everything fit well. Of course the quality of the kit showed through at this stage. Everything fit perfectly. I clamped the interior sections together and while clamped I drilled a 1/4 hole through all the pieces with an extra long drill bit. The clamp insured that nothing slipped as I drilled. These would be the two most important pins in the entire kit. They insured that the legs stayed straight and they also support the weight of the nearly 8lbs of resin that make up this kit. After I was satisfied with the holes I drilled, I cut two sections of 1/4 threaded rod to length and epoxied them into the holes of each of the legs. Pinning for the other areas of the kit are pretty straightforward. I used my Blue Tac method for lining the pins up. I would drill a 1/16 hole into one piece and then put a small piece of Blue Tac on the opposite piece. I would then put the two pieces together and give them a little squeeze. If done correctly, the Blue Tac on the

opposing piece would have a little tab of Blue Tac sticking out from where it went into the hole that was drilled into the other piece. I would then mark that spot with and exacto blade and proceed to drill a 1/16 hole where marked. I repeated this step for the whole kit and then did the first dry assembly of the entire kit. I was able to get the whole kit pinned and assembled and in a few days. I used magnets where the top and bottom halves of the torso went together so I could change the battery as needed and I also used magnets on the arm where the slot into the shoulder joint. This allows me to take the arms off easily for transport.

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Priming Once I was satisfied with my pinning and magnets I moved onto priming. Before doing any priming or painting on a resin/garage kit, it is imperative that the resin be cleaned thoroughly. This means a nice long soak in Purple Power, usually 24 hours or longer. What is Purple Power and why do we need to soak in it you may ask? Well, Purple Power is an industrial degreaser. You can get it at Walmart and I buy the gallon size jugs. You can re-use it over and over. I typically buy a new jug at the beginning of the year. The reason we need to soak the pieces is because in the molding process of resin, the molds are coated with a releasing agent called mold release. This is a necessary step in molding to insure that after the resin has cured in the mold the pieces will be able to be removed cleanly. Without the mold release the cured resin will stick to the mold ruining it. The Purple Power removes this mold release leaving us with clean resin. I use Purple Power at full strength on all my resin and plastic kits. It doesn’t hurt either. It is important to wear rubber gloves when using Purple Power as it will burn your skin if it comes in contact with it. After soaking in the Purple Power for at least 24 hours, I give the pieces a thorough rinsing in water. I then use my ultrasonic cleaner with a few drops of dish soap to give the pieces an additional level of cleaning. Then another

rinse in water and then the pieces are left out to dry. You can never clean your resin too much, trust me—you’d rather spend extra time cleaning than having your paint lift. Once I cleaned all the pieces I broke them down to the following stages I mention earlier. I am just going to explain the priming and painting for the shield since it’s the same steps for the entire kit. I place the pieces of the shield on skewers to get ready to prime. When building larger kits I use Krylon Grey Primer with the fan tip. It is simply awesome for these large kits. It’s inexpensive, you can get it at Walmart, and it covers and adheres very well to resin. When using the Krylon primer, it’s important to use thin coats. The primer is fairly thick, and if you spray heavy coats you risk filling in small details. This is one reason why I only use this primer on kits 1/72 and larger. Make sure you shake the can very well, usually for five minutes or so. Spray the first coat very lightly. This coat will be very transparent but it lays the foundation for the following coats. The second coat is sprayed fairly wet. Let that dry for a few minutes and follow up with the third and final coat, spraying it fairly wet again. Once all the pieces of the shield were primed, I left them to dry over night. The next step is to check the parts over for any imperfections that we missed in the very first round of clean up. The primer will expose any additional areas that need work. Again, the quality of this kit shines through, as there were

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maybe three tiny areas that need extra sanding. I wet sand the primer with 400-grit wet/dry sandpaper. This will sand most of the primer off, but that’s okay because we are going to prime one more time. After checking and fixing any additional areas that need work and wet sanding, the pieces are rinsed again to remove any sanding residue. Once they have dried thoroughly we are ready for the final primer. This time I only spray two light coats, just enough to cover the resin. The parts are left to dry over night in prep for the next phase. The final step before we lay any paint down is a final buffing of the primer. The downside to the Krylon primer is that it dries extremely flat. If we didn’t buff it, the following paint layers would reflect the texture. I use 3M Micro fine sanding sponges for this. I buy them by the box and they last a very long time. The Micro Fine sponges are the equivalent of 1200–grit sand paper. Once the parts are buffed out they will have a nice sheen to them and the perfect surface for painting.

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Painting Now for the fun part—painting. The shield was the first thing I painted and the rest of the kit was painted using the same steps so it’s only necessary to explain how the shield was painted. When painting, it’s always best to start at the lowest area of the part and work your way to the top. The reason for this is that it is much easier to mask off recess than it is raised areas or details. When I airbrush I use a consistent PSI of 20lbs. Lots of painters vary their PSI based on what they are doing but for me 20 PSI works for everything and I control the paint flow with the trigger of the airbrush. So the first areas that were painted were the dark grey areas on the red armor parts. I first sprayed a base color of Plamo Color Dark Grey. I sprayed a light mist coat first just create a tacky layer for the following coats. I then sprayed two wet coats ensuring even coverage and a nice slick base coat. I did the same procedure for some of the other areas of the shield, most notably on the center section. I let the base coat dry over night. I like to let my base coat dry over night because as the paint dries it will dry down or get darker, also I will be able to see if there were any areas that I missed. Once satisfied that I had a good base coat I proceeded to highlight the dark grey. I used Plamo Color Medium Grey for my highlight. I did this

by starting in the center of the dark grey areas and building up a highlight in the center by slowly pulling the trigger back on my airbrush. Once paint starts to flow, I work my way out close to but not all the way to the edges. This is where personal preference comes into play. For a more drastic shading effect, don’t highlight very close to the edge. For a more subtle effect, fade the highlight closer to the edge. I tend to like a more subtle look but on this kit I went for a slightly more dramatic look. Once I was happy with the initial highlight, I back away from the part and mist some of the highlight color over the whole area. This helps blend the highlight a bit making it look more natural. Once all the highlighting was I done, I let the parts dry over night. The next day I look at my highlighting to make sure I have the effect I want. Again, the paint dried down and was darker than the day before, but now the highlight and shading looks more natural. The next step was to mask these grey areas in prep for the next colors. For the red parts it was fairly simple to mask. I used wide Tamiya tape to do this. I simply laid tape over the grey areas extending the tape past the edges. I next used a blunt skewer and pressed the tape into place. I took extra care and made sure the tape was snug to the edges. This is important because for the next step, we want nice clear, crisp edges showing through the tape. Next I took a brand new #11 exacto blade and lightly followed the edges. A new blade is important. With a new blade you don’t

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have to use hardly any pressure to cut through the tape. I went through 10–15 blades on this kit. So I lightly followed the edges with my blade and removed the excess tape leaving a perfectly taped off area. The process was repeated for all the large areas. For smaller areas I simply cut several small pieces of tape and taped off the areas that needed masking. I used my blunt skewer again making sure to seal the tape around the edges to prevent any bleeding of the next color. For the red color I again laid a base coat. This time I used Mr. Color GX Black. The GX line of Mr. Color paints is awesome. The have a very high pigment content, which means they cover extremely well. Also, they spray smoother than your typical Mr. Color paints so I use the GX line whenever possible. So I base coated the red areas using the same steps as before. I also base coated any of the metallic areas in the same manner. I let the black base coat dry over night, and to highlight the red I used white. The first step to get the red shading that you see was to highlight the black using white. I use the same method I did with the grey. Once all the highlighting was done it was time to spray the red. One thing about red paint—and this is true for any red paint—is that red does not cover well. For what ever reason it just doesn’t hide well so we are going to use this to our advantage. When I spray the red on top of the highlighted black, the highlights will show through the red. If we tried to highlight with just red, it would get very muddy. I did the red in four layers. First, I sprayed a very light mist coat. This coat is barely visible but it’s important because I was going to really lay on the paint in the next three coats. The second coat was sprayed on wet, almost to the point where I thought the paint was going to run. I let that layer set up for about five minutes and I sprayed on a second wet coat, let that set up for five minutes and sprayed on the fourth and final wet coat. Spraying wet coats can be easy to screw up if your not used to it. It’s easy to run the paint so practice on some scrape plastic or spoons, but the final results are a

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few minutes and then removed the tape. Once the shield was painted and assembled I set it aside and moved to the feet. I followed all the same steps for the feet and set those aside. I then repeated the process for the legs, then the skirts, then the waist and torso, then the arms and back pack, and finally the head and gun. All together I estimate I spent 125 hours painting. Once everything was painted I gave everything a nice coat of Mr. Color GX Clear. This seals all of my hard work and preps the kit for my least favorite part, panel lining.

glass-like paint finish. I let the red dry overnight to check my work and everything looked great. I removed the tape and I could see for the first time what the kit was going to look like in the end. I based the rest of the kits red paint on this method to keep everything consistent. Now that the red was done I went ahead and sprayed Mr. Color Super Metallic Titanium for the main metallic color. I let the Titanium dry over night because I wanted to mask and spray a second metallic color. I masked the little circle details and sprayed those with Mr. Color Super Burnt Metal. I then removed all the tape. This is where I had a slight boo boo. I had some lifting of the paint. It just lifted down to the primer, which tells me that the resin was clean, otherwise it would have lifted to the resin. But I must have had a contaminant on the primer so the

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I started using India ink pens for panel lines on this kit. The technique is the same as it is for Gundam Markers. Simply fill the panel line with ink, and wipe away the excess with a Q-Tip or paper towel. I love this method because the India ink is water-soluble and is easily removed. I spent about 20 hours putting panel lines on the kit. Once done it was time for my favorite part—decals.

paint did not adhere. The solution was fairly simple. I lightly sanded the area that lifted and cleaned the area off with some soap and water. I then masked all around the area that needed to be re-sprayed and then just went through the steps of spraying the grey again. It only took me about 15 minutes to fix. This was the only problem I had through the whole build.

Surface Details Now that the recess and the red were all painted, I moved on to some of the surface detail. The shield was fairly easy but the other pieces required a bit more work so I will use a leg armor as an example. After the red had cured, I masked off the areas that I wanted silver. I simply laid a piece of tape on top of the area and using the panel line as a guide, I used a brand new blade to lightly cut around the area. I removed the tape and then sprayed the silver. I did this for all the silver areas. Once the silver dried, I wanted to paint the raised details another color. I masked around the raised details and using a dull skewer I sealed the tape around the detail. I then sprayed Alclad Steel. I let dry for a

I was surprised to find that Neograde provided dry transfers rather than decals. I don’t mind dry transfers, but they are very tricky to use. The final results are spectacular though since they are very thin and have no visible edge. The way I do dry transfers is pretty simple. I carefully cut out the dry transfers one at a time as I use them leaving the protective backing on them until I am ready to place them. I use clear Scotch tape to pick up the cut out dry transfer. It’s important to use clear tape because you need to see where the transfer is being placed. I locate the spot I want the dry transfer and carefully tape in place. This step is crucial as you only get one shot with dry transfers. If you mess up you have to scrape it off and move on, unlike waterslides in which you can reposition them. Once satisfied with it’s location I used a very blunt skewer and rubbed each transfer starting from the center work my way out to the edges. Once I though it was down I slowly lifted one edge of the tape to check that the transfer was all the way down. If I noticed that it had not laid down all the way, I carefully laid the tape back down in the exact same spot as before and re-rub the transfer. Repeat this process until the transfer is in place. This took me forever since there were so many. I am proud to say that I did not mess a single transfer up.

Final Steps After all the dry transfers were on, which seemed to take days, it was time for the final step, which is topcoat. I usually do a flat coat on my kits. I do this because one I like the way it looks and two flat coats does a great job of making any shading pop and it also does a fantastic job of hiding decal and dry transfer edges giving them a painted on look. I use either Testors Dullcote from my airbrush or Alclad flat. For this kit I used the Alclad flat coat. It is fairly thick and can be sprayed straight from the bottle but I like to thin it a bit with their airbrush cleaner. It just goes on smoother and easier if thinned a bit. I spray each sub-assembly with three wet coats of flat and they are left to cure for a few days. The last step in the building process is final assembly and photos. Well I hope all of this makes sense. It’s a lot to take in but I hope that I explained things in a manner in which you understand. Building this kit was an awesome experience. I loved it so much I have another one (the SMS version) in my collection for another day. Happy building! Matt Mrozek AKA mvm3897

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GAZA-D DIORAMA ALAN BRITTEN

aka

MOKANAMAN

An online group I am part of – Gunpla Builders Australia, set a friendly and challenging group build titled Forgotten Relics. The general theme and rules were to build a model in a state of disrepair and forgotten with a mandatory missing limb. Time limit for me was one month and my goal was to tell a story through a diorama without a description or title. Being a 1:144 scale model and only wanting a small vignette the whole diorama was based inside a cheap picture frame with 0.5mm styrene sheet glued over the glass panel. The model, High Grade Gaza-C from Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta and 2 1:144 military dressed officers in heavy coats were positioned on the base and attached using rare earth magnets. I traced the Gaza-C feet to prevent the model not fitting on the diorama in future. The military figures were based on a mount of Milliput epoxy putty. The Gaza-C transforms into a mobile armour which was taken advantage of in its pose. A drawing was produced as well as this photo for future construction reference. The general impact I’m going for is a hilly dense forest during cold climate winter. Around the outline of the feet I started PVA gluing scrap balsa wood around the base to form a hill. Substitute for balsa wood would be stacked corrugated cardboard sandwiched in between PVA glue and bound with masking tape. Make sure to regularly test fit your model on the base in case elements of the diorama obstruct its placement. The Gaza-C model kit was separately built and painted from the diorama. A lot of areas were sculpted with Tamiya quick type epoxy putty to add bulk and round surfaces onto a lot of the blocky features. This gave the model a more of a Gaza-D look, seam lines were filled and a little plate work followed suit. The kit was broken down in to individual pieces, primed, pre-shaded then salt chip weathered using Mr. Hobby lacquer paints. Each piece was then pin washed black and edges dry brushed for

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weathering. The model was assembled and mid-section glued down for the pose. The entire kit got clear coated mat and airbrushed white on top and around for the snow effect. A little baking soda was also glued down on top. An additional prop, a surrender flag was scratch built using a brass rod and a thin piece of leather. The rod got cut to size using a hack saw and the leather piece cut and glued to place using super glue. More super glue was then used to stiffen the flag in its current shape.

Scale model shops stocking railway layout diorama supplies are well-known as an amazing source for military and mecha diorama needs. Examples: water effects, flock, trees and buildings. Unfortunately they are marketed as pre built/ painted and ready to be used out of the box leading them to be extremely expensive. I paid over $50 AUD for two packs of trees in colours I did not really care for. Some railway trees can look quite fake or cheap, so look carefully at the shape as they can be repainted later. Trees can also be scratch built quite easily with war gamming modelling methods. These trees were super glued down to the base – again, test fitting the model for fitting issues. To add depth and realism to the terrain of the diorama, cheap hardware wood putty was mixed with PVA glue.

After one month and a few late nights the photos were submitted hours before the dead line. I admit the HGUC Gaza-C is not a very good kit or build plagued with awkward seam lines and a mid-section, stressing a 1mm beam of styrene ready to snap under the weight of half the kit. But I enjoyed the entire process and finish of the diorama. None of the techniques or products used are hard and can be attempted by anybody with an active imagination and willingness to challenge themselves.

The sticky putty mix was then applied around the balsa wood to smooth out and add definition to the hills and valleys. Looking at pictures online of real life terrains you are trying to depict is fantastic for inspiration. After a day or so drying I covered the whole base in a thin layer of PVA glue and sprinkled natural sand for texture. After drying, shake off excess sand followed by sealing the glued sand with a heavy coat of primer. To save money, a cheap automotive primer out of a rattle can is fine. Painting was done via airbrush and Mr. Hobby lacquers. The whole base received a matt black under coat and a few layers of brown from dark to light on the earth. Same approach on the trees but green as flock can be painted easily. The

tree trunks were hand painted different shades of brown and the ground received some light hand paint dry brushing. Both earth and tree trunks were sludge washed black for definition and detail. The snow effects were applied considering where snow commonly lands and collects though reference material online and some though put into the trees and bent over mobile suit preventing build-up of snow. The effect was easy enough by dusting white paint across the whole diorama via airbrush and densely painting and shading some areas solid white. These areas were followed up by a thin layer of PVA glue and baking soda just like applying the sand. Once dry the whole model received a coat of clear matt varnish.

If you have enjoyed my article and build you can find more of my work and content in the links below: mokanaman mokanaman Happy modelling!

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INTRODUCTION TO PRIMING MR. FINISHING SURFACER 1500 REVIEW Many scale modellers struggle to achieve affordable application of primer. With many products on the market it is extremely confusing to beginners and veterans. To add to this frustrating topic parts of the online community have advised to avoid the use of primer all together.

Primer is a type of paint designed to stick to bare clean surfaces. Its job is to give the surface a uniform colour. Example: if the bare plastic is black and white, application of yellow paint will create darker shades of colour on top of the former black areas and a brighter yellow colour on top of the former white areas. This is due to different paint colours having different pigment density. Most colours of primer are grey, a neutral colour which benefits a large range of lighter and dark paints. Paint also does not have the ability to stick to all surfaces. Only a base coat of paint may crack, rub off or chip over time while handled. Think of primer being like glue between the surface and paint allowing dry paint to be more durable to being touched or moving parts making contact. Application of primer has other benefits. Many apply a coat of grey or white coloured primer while still building and fine tuning the surface of a model. A light colour of paint applied over the surface of a model casts shadows and shows all faults such as fine scratches, gorge marks, flash and seam lines. This alerts the modeller to

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attend to these faults though sanding or putty work, the coat of primer is normally sanded off with high grit sand paper. Another type of primer known as micro filler or liquid putty is also useful for surface preparations. The GSI Creos Mr. Hobby paint range normally indicates micro filler though a grit number. Examples in the range is Mr. Surfacer 500, Mr. Surfacer 1000 and Mr. Surfacer 1200 all grey or in colour and white in 1200.

Micro filling has benefits and disadvantages. If your model is riddled with seam lines, fine scratches and putty remnants Mr. Surfacer 500 has larger filling particles and thicker properties to fill and level these issues. The more minor the faults the finer grit required. Unfortunately all bottled hobby primers are micro fillers. These primers struggle to spray though 0.3mm standard airbrushes resulting in regular clogging. Efficient priming requires a perfect thinning ratio using a lacquer retardant and a well maintained airbrush. Micro filler also fills and

My original approach to Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 is a cheap outlet for matt black lacquer paint. Reading the titles of Mr. Finishing Surfacer indicated to me as a base coat after priming but I was soon proven wrong in this assumption. During my first session on a partially scratch built Gaza D the model was primed using Mr. Surfacer 500 and pre shaded using Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black. Using a 50/50 ratio of lacquer thinner I found the primer to spray just as smoothly as Mr. Hobby paints are famous for. Shading gradients and fine splatter free line were very possible as required for pre-shading. The colour came out vibrantly; thick in pigment and the matt finish did not affect the intensity of the black as sometimes you may get white spots or a frost if matt clear is applied too thickly. Second and third sessions were on a normal out of box high grade Gundam kit and a strange One Piece tank. The two models are modern and have above average fitting with some obvious seam lines. Time was taken to glue the models together; Squadron green type putty to fill seam lines and nub marks carefully cleaned using a file. In two coats the primer applied like a dream without issue for both models. Detail popped out quite nicely and due to my prior surface preparation and careful seam removal, no noticeable faults.

USEFUL INFORMATION Brand:  GSI Creos (Mr. Hobby) Base:  Lacquer or general purpose thinner Recommended thinner:  Mr. Levelling Thinner or Lacquer Thinner mixed with 10% Mr. Retarder (Mild) Thinning ratio:  Between 2:1 to 1:1 Application:  Airbrush and hand painting Price:  420 yen or above $10 USD Amount: 40mL Colours:  Matt grey and matt black Grit:  1500 fine Surfaces:  Can be applied to styrene, ABS, cloth, resin and other scratch building materials. Metals need to be treated with Mr. Metal Primer and soft vinyl will be damaged from the solvent. Do not uses on soft vinyl model kits. Conclusion:  Highly recommended on out of box models post mid 1990s and high end resin models.

After about 15 minutes the paint appeared to be dry to the touch, of course you should allow a few hours curing and hardening. Next day I handled the pieces in my bare hands realistically rubbing and lightly scratching curved and flat surfaces. The paint appeared to be as durable as the other Mr. Surfacer primers. damages detailed areas which you may want to paint and highlight latter. Airbrushes with a larger nozzle 0.5mm or aerosol cans are impossible to control while minimizing over spray. Normally you spray from afar and waist a lot of paint in over spray which is costly to the hip pocket. You can also apply the primer far too thickly for kits with recessed or panel detail.

In conclusion, I am extremely excited for an easy to airbrush primer with little to no micro filler and highly recommend the use of Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black or grey. Micro fillers do have a place in my inventory but most current released mecha models are precision snap fit and highly detailed. I can see this product covering 80% of my personal priming needs and will buy this product again including the grey colour in the future.

ALAN BRITTEN 59

Starting Gunpla G

unpla can be a little intimidating to get into as a hobby. For the serious hobbyist, it can seem like a vast ocean of techniques, styles, and kits. It can be tough to weather some of the early waves, but here are 10 tips that may help you get through it a little less bruised.

10 tips

Nick M

5

10 4 9 8 7 6

3 2 1 61

of the manga is named Kyoshiro, hence, Plamo Kyoshiro. The story regards a young group of plamo-kyo, and follows Kyoshiro. After rushing out of school to purchase the latest Gundam model kit from the hobby shop, Kyoshiro gets into an argument with some classmates. It nearly turns into a brawl, except for the owner of the hobby shop who manages to pull the kids apart. He convinces them to go home and build their kits, and compete in a virtual reality simulation against each other. All of the kids tear home, where Kyoshiro hastily puts together his RX-78-2. Meeting back at the hobby shop, they sit in front of the large machine and fight, just as though they were in the Gundam anime. Kyoshiro manages to defeat his nemesis’ Zaku II, but the cost of the battle is damage to their precious kits, forcing them to learn and build new kits throughout the series in an attempt to constantly one-up each other.

GUNPLA ORIGINS

Plamo Kyoshiro E

arly in the Spring of 1982 the third Mobile Suit Gundam film – Encounters in Space enjoyed success in theatres across Japan. The following months saw the launch of the Real Type line of model kits and proved commercially successful as the hobby of mecha modeling grew exponentially. It was a critical year in the development of Gunpla culture, and unfortunately it is the early years of which we have the least information available in the West. The first Gunpla books, How to Build Gundam I & II were released in 1982, as well as the first Gundam manga, titled Plamo Kyoshiro. Serialized in Kodansha’s monthly 700+ page comic epic Bon Bon Comics, Plamo Kyoshiro ran from 1982–1986 to massive popular success. It is possibly the most significant manga to the

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NICK M

Gunpla community, and played an integral role not only in Gunpla culture, but in the Gundam franchise as a whole. Comic Bon Bon was published from 1981–2007, and was the venue for a large variety of mecha anime tie-in manga. Popular Comic Bon Bon series included Fang of the Sun Dougram, Aura Battler Dunbine, Armored Trooper Votoms, Galactic Drifter Vifam, Heavy Metal L-Gaim, Mobile Suit Gundam MS Senki, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, and many others related to Plamo Kyoshiro, SD and Musha Gundam. Appearing early in the life of the comic, Plamo Kyoshiro was one of its first runaway hits. The title is a play on words, as Plamo is a portmanteau of PLAstic MOdels, and plamo-kyo literally means ‘plastic model fan(s)’. The main character

The series would be considered unusual today, as it includes not only Gunpla kits, but various mecha anime and even tanks and real-life armour vehicles. While the series is a fantastical take on mecha modeling, it realized the dreams of so many young plamo-kyo, the idea of piloting your own kit in a non-fatal battle, and it’s popularity endured for four years before launching spin-off series that further the adventures and conflicts of Kyoshiro and his friends. Impact of Plamo Kyoshiro on Gunpla culture was profound, as the Real Type kit line succeeded at retail, the manga introduced and popular-

ized many new designs, most notably the Gundam MSV kit line released in 1983. The original MSV (Mobile Suit Variation) series was masterminded by the modeling collective Stream Base, two of whom’s members were active in the writing collective Craft-DAN, who authored Plamo Kyoshiro. The two men, Masahiro Oda and Masaya Takahashi worked with author Hisashi Yasui and artist Koichi Yamato to produce storylines to introduce new designs, and then promote them and the kits to market. This lead to the production of not only MSV, but BB Senshi (SD) andthe Musha series of Gundam kits and media properties. Plamo Kyoshiro is essentially the heart and origin of Gunpla culture and the course it ran over the next two decades. While there is

unfortunately no fan or official translations available, it is still worth viewing if possible even just to see the first appearances of the Perfect Zeong and other MSV classics. Its influence is still strong today, as Gunpla Builders, and continues with a new generation. Plamo Kyoshiro © Kodansha

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