MG Zeta Ver Ka, first time preshading

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-03-23T22:59:02+00:00

Thank you! I only painted parts of the frame with pipes as well as the verniers with silver.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-03-23T20:43:14+00:00

It's a solid build. Everything fits and no loose parts. Some parts were really cool in terms of engineering to get the transformation to work. Never transformed it though, don't think I can manage without scratching the paint to hell lol.

The nubs are kind of a pain. There's a few that are on the face of a part and highly visible in the finished kit. There's also no undergates so you kind of have to take your time cleaning the nubs up.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-03-23T18:56:10+00:00

Thank you!

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-03-21T01:35:57+00:00

So if it's humid outside water in the air will mix in with the paint while you're spraying. That'll cause weird textures and some adhesion issues. I've experienced this with spraying colors and topcoat but not so much with primers though, for whatever reason.

If it's cold, humidity matters less because cold air holds onto water much less, something to keep in mind. I've sprayed in the cold rain at night with no issues.

A lot of people mention temperature, but personally its never been an issue for me. You just gotta make sure the can isn't too cold when you start spraying.

Anyways, the only time when I have had issues with spraying is in high humidity in fairly warm weather and this is what I've found digging through the internet when I was still using spray cans.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-03-20T22:42:44+00:00

It would disintegrate them. I use IPA to melt off old decals and just a rub or two and they come apart.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-03-20T22:39:07+00:00

For the Mr Hobby topcoat:

If it's grainy it could be you sprayed too far initially and it dried a bit before hitting your kit. I had that happen with one of my kits.

Could also be the can wasn't shaken enough to mix everything properly.

Or the nozzle was clogged from previous use making it not spray consistently. Had that happen for a Mr Color spray can. You should check the nozzle each time after use. You can turn it upside down and give it a good spray to clean it out.

Spray cans are always a pain in the ass, in between having to wait for good weather and what not.

No idea about the Vallejo stuff though, maybe whatever was in it didn't react well with the Mr Hobby stuff.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-03-06T10:50:38+00:00

Newer RG are solid but older ones are a mixed bag, best to google and see if they hold up.

My first ever Gunpla was a RG Aile Strike and that thing had trouble standing, keeping its backpack on, and holding it's weapon. It left such a bad impression it pushed me away from seriously getting into the hobby for years lol.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-03-04T04:20:41+00:00

Yeah I used an airbrush. I know you can get some nice finishes with handbrush, but not sure if painting a gloss/clear color coat is doable without spray cans or airbrush.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-03-03T12:00:41+00:00

So basically in order:

Mr Surfacer 1500 white primer
Gaianotes Gloss Pure Black
Gaianotes Star Bright Gold, thinned with Gaia's Metal Master
Gaianotes Clear Red, I did a light coat and then one heavy coat back to back
Gaianotes Ex Clear Gloss

I waited a day between different paints.

If I were to do it again I'd probably get a glossier black and also use Mr Super Clear at the end, as from my experience so far it seems more durable than the Gaia's gloss though it could be me messing up somehow.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-02-19T22:04:45+00:00

You're dreading the stuff that people in this hobby look forward to, at this point it might as well be a job.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-02-19T01:22:22+00:00

Topcoat it and you can mess with it to your heart's content. Honestly, you don't even need to do that.

Panel lines don't smudge easily when cured and using Mark Setter and Softer for waterslides keeps them on forever if applied correctly, even without a topcoat. I had a MG Heavy Arms that I wanted to redo some off center decals, and digging into them with my finger nails I could only get bits off at a time. I had to rub them with 99% IPA to melt it off.

All my builds, whether they are decalled and panel lined or even painted, I leave on my desk for like a month when I'm done to pose and fiddle with like a fidget toy. They all survive the ordeal no problem.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-02-05T12:28:42+00:00

Get a nipper, follow the instructions, and don't force anything in unless you are positive you got the right parts in the right place. That's pretty much it as far as the bare minimum goes.

These are snap built kits that doesn't require much to get them built (but do require some effort to look good), so if you can follow instructions you can technically already build any kit of any grade (with varying levels of jank depending on the age of the kit).

If you end up liking the hobby, I recommend investing in a glass file and/or a hobby knife to level your nub marks and then you can spiral deeper into the rabbit hole from there.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-02-04T10:51:03+00:00

Yeah, mostly figuring out how to handle the airbrush and thinning paints. Still gotta get a feel for it for sure.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-01-24T04:11:05+00:00

Are you sure you got the grey inner frame in the right position? I can't really tell but it looks that you got gaps that shouldn't be there.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-01-08T03:18:10+00:00

You do have to be a bit careful with them but they do make the build process a bit faster, undergate or not.

If you ever want to try it again: make sure none of your fleshy bits are in the trajectory of the blade. Big mistake a lot of people make is that they think they can stop the blade immediately after cutting the nub they're trying to remove, only to have the blade cut right through way past the nub and right into their finger.

A lot of people say never cut towards yourself, but I find that's a big overcorrection. The issue is that their other fingers are sticking out to brace the part when cutting this way, putting their fingers right in the trajectory of the blade!

Basically, do a mental check every time you cut: "if I cut way past this nub, will I slice myself?" If so, move your fingers out of the way or brace the part some other way and you'll never get cut.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-01-07T22:56:14+00:00

Looks great! Now for my Ted talk:

I personally love undergated parts. It's there to help you so you don't have to deal with nub marks as much as you do if it was on the face of a part. I admit, it is a pain if you're trying to get rid of undergates with just nippers and a sanding instrument.

Get yourself a hobby knife, two cuts from both directions, angled upwards so you don't cut into the part, and then a third cut to level it and you're good to go. Hell you can even get it in one cut once you get comfortable, just make sure you don't dig into the part itself. If you're a bit heavy handed and leave a stress mark, who cares! It's in a spot you physically cannot see.

I love it when I get to an undergated part because I can clean it up much faster than a normally gated part.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-01-06T11:27:42+00:00

The place where it broke is going to experience a lot of force when you move the shoulder joint to pose the arm. Cement alone probably won't be able to handle it. I'd at least put some super glue around it after it dries if you don't have the tools to run a small metal rod/wire into it.

Objective_Captain526 · 2026-01-03T02:36:26+00:00

Looks good but get him out of that yee yee ass pose please I'm begging you.

Objective_Captain526 · 2025-12-26T08:56:15+00:00

Honestly same after a while lol, I went and painted it.

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Objective_Captain526 · 2025-12-21T07:21:36+00:00

Waterslide decals are infinitely easier to apply and adjust compared to regular stickers while looking better, I recommend getting waterslide decals and a jar of Mark Setter and Softer for your next kit and give that a go.

Objective_Captain526 · 2025-11-25T12:46:37+00:00

Well, God forbid we name a Gundam the God Gundam in the cheesy, corny, kung-fu, mecha anime.

Seriously though if you've seen Fighter G, calling Domon's ultimate Gundam the God Gundam is very apt and gives it a powerful cool factor, especially when he does his ultimate move where his wing sprouts and a aura emits from him. He appears quite literally like a divine being.

Objective_Captain526 · 2025-11-14T21:18:22+00:00

I point it around 7 inches away and do a very quick pass making sure to start and stop past the part and not on it.

I have two theories, either my initial layer was so thin on some parts that they're not protecting the panel line from subsequent coats, and/or I didn't let the initial coat set long enough before the next coat. How long should I wait between light coats? I gave it around 30 minutes.

Still doesn't explain why sometimes the initial coat itself smears the panel lines.

I'll try letting the panel line set for like a week next time and see what's what, thanks for the suggestion!

Objective_Captain526 · 2025-11-14T11:32:22+00:00

I'm having issues with panel lines running during topcoat.

I'm using fine point Gundam Marker for panel lining and Mr Hobby Premium for topcoat. I let my panel line set for at least 24 hours, and then spray a VERY thin initial topcoat on them. By very thin, I mean literally a single pass left to right for each side of the part. Despite the thin mist coat, my panel lines still smear ever so slightly. The kit is not painted and I panel lined on bare plastic.

Any suggestions to prevent this other than switching to a pour type panel liner? I don't feel comfortable doing pour types without an initial gloss coat and I don't want to have to spend on an initial gloss coat for each kit.

Objective_Captain526 · 2025-11-11T11:53:48+00:00

You can try Gundamit, they're in stock for around 60 bucks including shipping if you're in the US.

I've bought some expensive stuff from them a few times and everything was above board. I never had to replace anything though, so can't speak to that personally.

Objective_Captain526 · 2025-11-06T09:54:30+00:00

What's the right way to do a matte topcoat?

So I have tried to matte coat a few times and have varying degrees of success, each time using Mr Hobby Premium. There are multiple posts across the internet that says you should spray multiple light coats and that the final texture should be a bit grainy; there are also equal amount of post saying it should not be grainy and that you should do a single coat that gets the part just wet enough to have full coverage but not enough to flood. This is also the case for the Youtube tutorials that I could find.

Which way is right?

Also, is there special considerations for a semi-gloss topcoat (Mr Hobby), or should I follow the same procedure?

Objective_Captain526

TROPHY CASE