Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Oh-No! Manga Cosplay Camp 2012

Attention all gundam lovers out there as well as anime fans! Mark your calendar for the upcoming "Oh-No! Manga Cosplay Camp 2012" It's gonna be held on the 29th of July 2012, Sunday at the Skydome, SM North EDSA.


Expect a lot of fun for the whole day for there will be different events like cosplays, band and vocal battle, exciting activities and displays, and a whole lot more! There's also a Bandai caravan for gunpla fanatics as well as marathon screening of Gundam age which will start at 11am.


One thing that people would definitely look out for is the 3D display of the 18ft Unicorn Gundam.


Do not miss this event. So buy your tickets now at all SM Ticket Outlets for only Php100. You may also check their website at www.ohnomanga.com for further details.

*all images credited to www.ohnomanga.com

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Tools and Materials Needed

Certain tools are needed in building gunpla. It depends on how far you wanna go in painting, modifying or customizing your gundam kit. I'll enumerate and tackle these tools and their uses the best way I can. Below is a look of my current tools and materials in gunpla building. It may differ from others. Actually it depends on the modeler...on what he is more comfortable to use.



Basic gunpla building requires only few tools. Basic building means you will just straight build the kit by snapping the parts as indicated in the construction manual. No painting or any customization required. Here are the tools needed:



Pliers - used to cut the parts from the runners. Some use Tamiya pliers but as for me any brand will do as long as it is sharp enough for cutting. lol





Hobby Knife - used to remove sprues. Sprues are little excess plastics of the parts after cutting from the runners. It is needed to smoothen them to be able to fit to other parts. I do not have/use a hobby knife because I prefer this cutter blade instead.




Cutting board - used to avoid scratches on your table when cutting sprues. This on is free. I got it when I bought my Gundam Astry Green Frame.






Cutter Blades - for refilling in case your cutter/hobby knife runs out of "ammo" ^__^




However if you wish to modify your gundam kit like to repaint it...you need more tools and materials than that. And of course more tools required means more money that you need to spend (just a simple reminder ^__^) so you better be ready for that. So here are the things that I use when repainting my model kits.

Air Brush Set - used to produce even and fine paint on the kit, thus better outcome is achieved. You need a compressor along with it. However this Tamiya Spray Work that I bought from a friend has already an included mini compressor. This is advisable for beginners in air brushing. 



Paints - they vary in brand and substance. Tamiya is the most common. They are usually in bottles and can be acrylic or enamel. Tamiya also has lacquer paints in spray cans. I also use industrial spray cans since they are cheaper. Sometimes I decant them and place in empty bottles so I can use through air brush. I will discuss on a another post the differences between lacquer, acrylic, and enamel paints.


Spray Booth - this is where all the painting is done. I can't afford to buy a real spray booth so I just improvised one. This is made from illustration boards glued together to form a box-like figure. The only thing that lacks my booth is the exhaust pipe that will suck the fumes from the paints.




Thinner - for diluting the paints. Different thinner is needed for different types of paints. Paint thinner is used for enamel paints. Acrylic thinner is for acrylic paints. However alcohol can be used as an alternative for it. Before I was using Tamiya thinners but again in order to save money I switch to industrial thinners. Last but no the least lacquer thinner is used for lacquer paints, as well as for cleaning the air brush and paint brushes.




Top Coat - is applied on the finished kit after painting. It gives the kit a different look and at the same time protects it from scratches. Top coat can be gloss, semi-gloss, and matte or flat. Matte is the most commonly used among the three.





Alligator Clips - used to hold the pieces/parts that were painted until they are dried. These clips are attached to barbeque sticks, and can be placed on a styrofoam or any cork board.







Sandpaper - used to smoothen the surface of the parts before painting. It is also used to remove the sprues left on the kit's parts. It may come in different textures...from course to fine to very fine. I also use a file as an alternative for it.






Gundam Markers - I used them for detailing/coloring some parts. Gundam markers come in different colors. They could be used for painting (flat tip) and also for panel lining (fine tip).





Other tools needed are cotton buds for cleaning the parts with excessive paints; different paint brushes for hand painting or dry brushing; and gloves to protect your handS from paints' stains.




There are other tools for customizing like face masks, masking tapes to prevent other parts from being painted, empty bottles for mixing paints, and a lot more. They won't cost that much so don't worry! These things may vary from other users but again the important thing to consider is the benefit of comfort and ease that will give it to you.

So now that you have the tools and materials needed...we are all set to build a gundam model kit. Let's go!!!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Bankee Gundam Model Kit Contest 2012

Last Sunday, May 27,2012, my girlfriend and I went to The Block SM City North Edsa to witness the closing day of Bankee Gundam Model Kit Contest. Unfortunately we were late to arrive that's why I wasn't able to take a closer look at the entries of different categories. We were just able to view them from a distance because the organizers closed this certain section for judging time.


Different gundam model kits were available for interested buyers. There were also raffles and on-the-spot gundam making contest to make the event more brighter. While on the stage two modelers were discussing and teaching gunpla enthusiasts on different techniques in modeling and customizing.

participants in on-the-spot building contest

army of gundam blue frame :D
Since I didn't had a chance to take a close-up pictures of the entries, (plus my digital camera gets low batt from time to time) I just spent my time looking at the samples of different gundams mostly from Seed series. I was upset seeing that recently re-released versions of their 1/144 kits has special effect parts, which is absent when I bought them couple of years ago. Plus the re-released has more vibrant colors than before.




Customized 1/60 gundam models were also displayed in the event. I was so impressed on how they were repainted and redesigned as well. That includes 1/60 Strike gundam, 1/60 Freedom gundam, 1/60 gundam Exia, 1/100 MG Duel gundam, and mobile suits from Unicorn series like my favorite gundam Unicorn Banshee and the red comet - the Sinanju.There were also models that were included in some international gundam events that took home special awards.





The highlight of the event of course is the awarding of the winners from the different categories. There were also special gifts for 8th to 4th runners up, while the top 3 all received trophies, gundam goodeis, and cash. The 1st prize will also participate in the international gundam contest to be held in Singapore. To all the winners.....congartulations to all of you!

These and other more reasons gave me a boost to try joining in the contest next year. There's no harm in trying and it will be a great experience for me for sure ^__^