Gundam Tips

Ten Assembly Tips

1. Do some homework first. It is tempting to just run out and grab the last kit left at your local Toys'R'Us store, but please do take a few minutes to find out what the action figure model kits are all about.
   • The Speedlines column on the Raving Toy Maniac did an excellent summary feature about Gundam toys. Perhaps the most important page of that Speedlines is the one covering kit divisions: it summarizes the differences between the various sizes and grades of Gundam kits, from 1/144th scale Basic Grade kits to 1/60th scale Perfect Grade kits, and everything in between
   • Another way to see what is involved is to "watch" someone else assemble a Gundam kit: James Kahle built a 1/144th Tallgeese and detailed it online, and Eric of RTM did the same with a 1/144th Gundam Sandrock & 1/100th Gundam Epyon.

2. Assemble a 1/144th basic kit to get it out of your system. If you are like me, you are too impatient to follow anyone's tips for your first Gundam model... get one of the $8.99 1/144th scale kits and assemble it to get the impatience out of your system. I learned a lot putting my first one together, including patience. My first Gundam has something wrong with one of his arms, because I didn't pay attention, and put a piece on backwards - fixing it involved snapping/breaking one of the pieces on a connecting part.

3. Read all the instructions first. Because the instructions are in Japanese, they are worthless to people who can't read the language, but do study the diagrams. When you did your first one, you got a good feel for the way the instructions are coded, but study each diagram carefully before beginning. This avoids the surprise of "hey look at that, I made a leg."

4. Break the pieces off the frame only as you need them. There are tons of pieces in every model, and the only numbering (to match up with the instructional diagrams) on them is on the plastic frames. If you think you are saving time by taking all the pieces off at once, you are wrong. I know that it is tempting, but leave them on the frame until you need them. It really is worth the extra time to take each piece off only as you need it, and shave it then, rather than trying to shave down all the pieces at once.

5. Do shave each piece as you add it to the model. Don't wait to shave them down later, it's MUCH easier and much less damaging to do it one piece at a time. Some people choose to use a hobby knife to cut the pieces from the frame, and this saves a good bit of time - if you cut the piece off carefully, you won't need to shave off any extra bits of frame. (If you carefully rock and gently twist the pieces off the frame, you may have to trim or shave off small bits of plastic from each piece.)

6. Save the extra "rubber" joint pieces for your next model. If you have any left over rubber bits, save them for your next model in the same scale. Especially if you have pets, or dark carpeting.

7. Color as you go. Whether you use pricey Gundam markers (US$3-5 each), or just an ultra-fine point Sharpie (2 for US$1.50 at Wal-Mart) to color in the lines of your Gundam, color as you go. It's a lot easier to color in just a leg or an arm at a time than it is to hold the whole model and color it later. The RTM Speedlines feature mentioned in Tip #1 has a page for finishing techniques, including inking with markers, brushing on ground charcoal, and using an air brush.
   

8. Do color it. For me, stickers are good enough, and I don't feel the need to break out the paints, but the Gundams do look a lot nicer with the lines colored in.
   

9. Use tweezers to help place the stickers. You only get one sheet of stickers with each model kit, so be careful with them. The dinky tweezers that come with pocket knives are especially useful here - they minimize the contact you make with the sticky side, and they are extremely helpful in getting the proper placement of the sticker.

10. Use tweezers to help place the stickers. You only get one sheet of stickers with each model kit, so be careful with them. The dinky tweezers that come with pocket knives are especially useful here - they minimize the contact you make with the sticky side, and they are extremely helpful in getting the proper placement of the sticker.

One Last Warning

Once assembled, Gundam kits are fairly durable. If you pull on an arm or a leg, it will come off, but you can put it back on with no problem. If a Gundam on display decides to shelf-dive, usually a few pieces will pop off, and you can snap them back into place. However, from time to time, a Gundam on a higher shelf will take a dive, and in those cases the plastic might snap. So either keep some glue handy, or make sure to display them in "safer" areas.

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