painting / panel lines tips

[Gane]

Apr 13, 2010 11:40:39 GMT 8 iammario said:

noob questions here. sorry im new in gunpla modelling

Are there TYPES of Canned Spray Paints? or are they all the same?

Yes and No, there's lacquer and acrylic and some both, but hobby brands (Tamiya, Mr. Hobby) are mostly acrylics...

Does the color code of canned spray paints correspond to those in the gundam manuals?

No, but you can check out the corresponding colors in Gundam Paints that come in spray cans, you can look them up in STC (I forgot the name sorry) because I believe they have the most number of Gundam Colors in most variants (markers, bottle, spray) although they are a lot more expensive than Lil's...

And which is better for brush painting the minor details, enamel, lacquer or acrylic? I am really confused about these types of paint even after reading this entire thread.

I will not recommend using any lacquer paints in it's purest form because it is not safe for your plastic specially the thinner.

Sparingly, you can use enamel paint on plastic, just make sure you don't use too much thinner specially over moving parts/joints as this could go brittle in a few years. The damage is not that bad, really because you can salvage it for static model, unless you really want to play with your Gundams...

It's safe to go acrylic, but learn to work with it because it's not as forgiving as enamel as it dries faster in warm climate. For beginners try the cheap bottles in National Bookstore... alcohol is best with acrylics although the cheapest would be free, water...

And which types of paint do I need to dilute with a thinner? and in what proportions?

Enamel thinner or lighter fluid with enamel paint.
Alcohol or water with acrylic paint, but once this dries it's a harder process just to remove them...

Thanks very much to those who'll reply. Desperately need answers. The boxes of gunplas are piling up in my room cause I can't finish them all.

You just got inducted to the world of model kits, where most members will have at least 1-3 unfinished/untouched kits waiting in line... ;D

[niel]

On painting guides on model kits:

The ones on the manuals in gundam kits are the same as those in Aqueous Hobby Color and Mr. Color.
One thing though, there are lots of proportions required of each color to make a combination ex. Strike freedom blue is composed of cobalt blue 50 % + intermediate blue 30 % (i think) + White 20%.

If you are a perfectionist I saw a translation guide in the net somewhere but I forgot where but I saved a snapshot of it.

Well, as another alternative, I have seen a Mr. Color (enamel based) gundam set around 4 colors each box which corresponds to the correct color for a certain kit in STC Alabang and cubao.

Hope this helps!