Are THere Any Gundam Model Series That Are Prepainted?

[Mirabilis]

So I have been wanting to start my Gundam Model Collection but am really picky about crossing model series, if possible I would like to stick to one model series. I know most of the model series require you painting them yourself but I already have a hard time finding time painting my 40k Tyranid army. I'm sure this is a gundam model series that already comes prepainted were you just assemble the parts. Does anyone know of which model series I should look up? I've tried googling: Prepainted Gundam Model Series but only got a list of "How to Paint" model tutorails. Thanks for any help! =]

[durendal]

If you don't want to paint, then you have to go HG and higher.  HG looks decent without paint, but might have some small details that needs painting.  For MG, you don't need paint at all.  It has all the parts completely detailed and looks awesome when fully assembled.  PG?  What's to paint when even the fingers have multiple parts.  You don't really need paint for most of the Gundam Models, you just have to be very careful when cutting them off from the runners.  The model themselves don't really need paint.  There are just some people out there (like me) who just want to improve the finish of the model.  You usually paint the model when you do customization on the model, like sanding a specific part to make it look smaller, or adding putty to make it look bigger.  But basically, you don't need paint for your model to look awesome.  Paint just makes them Legen......wait for it......

[durendal]

....Dary!!

[Matt Bellamy]

Since I tend to build a lot, and rarely ever paint, I'll break down how I see the different sizes.

 

1/144 HG - High Grade - Smallest of the kits, but still action figure sized. Sometimes needs a lot of stickers to compensate for smaller piece sizes not being able to be molded in their own color. As well, the bonus with the 1/144's is the sheer amount of kits they release. Older kits ranging back to Gundam Wing and such require a lot more work... But more recent series ( Seed, 00 and AGE) try and make them as best looking as they can, with as little stickers as possible. One of the most popular sizes to buy because they are always show accurate in proportion and looks. The one thing about them is that the difficulty on some ( not all) can range drastically. A simple MS or Gundam can be a great startingkit... But transformable or gimmicky suits can be frustrating even for experienced kit builders.

 

1/144 RG - Real Grade - The "Master Grade" in 1/144 size. Only a very limited number of MS available so far... But these are pretty amazing little kits. Would recommend some 1/144 building experience before tackling them if you find one you like.

 

1/100 HG - High Grade - Much bigger in size to the  1/144's, they had many more piece molded in color. Some of the more simple ones only had stickers for the eyes and cameras ( very similar to the Master Grades). Sadly, AGE didn't get any 1/100's. The Seed and 00 1/100 HG's were fabulous though, as were some older series. The biggest problem with them was the fact you usually did not get many suits from a series. You'd get sometimes 2-3 1/144's released for each 1/100. So usually you got the main characters units and the occasional popular grunt.

 

1/100 MG - Master Grade - Only the most popular MS get MG kits... But when they do, they are usually spectacular. And I say "Usually" because they are not show accurate designs. They "updated" and "Stylized" versions of most things. Some are more show accurate than others. But when they do the improvements and get them looking much more awesome? Yeah, it's a good thing. Usually a ton more pieces and the difficulty is quite apparent from the above two releases. Stickers that are provided are usually only for eyes and cameras. Also included dry transfer decals to add further details and such that are not necessary, but can look cool.

 

1/60 BG - Big Grade - Not very many in this category. They are basically just HG kits in very large form. Great show pieces to be sure, and fairly easy to put together. Though they tend to suffer from the fact that they are just big HG's and do not get very many new features, if any. ( the 1/60 Strike Gundam was almost EXACTLY the same piece by piece of the 1/100 HG... Except it's hands had movable fingers)

 

1/60 PG - Perfect Grade - Details. OMG the details. Basically meant that if you remove armor bits, it will look like ( and technically have) moving parts underneath. Definately the highest difficulty of all the kit levels. And expensive. So you'd definitely want lots of experience before building one.

 

Personally, for the longest time, I preferred the 1/100 HG's... Especially after a bad run in with the crappy 1/144 Wing kits... But newer series 1/144 kits have gotten so much better in quality that the 1/100 line seems to have been phased out... Which I am actually fine with now. I really am enjoying the 1/144 AGE kits ( Earth MS only... Vagan scum!... Ok I did buy the Legilis...).

[Mirabilis]

Wow Thanks guys, man sounds very challenging...I did look up one other series and have any of you heard anything about the Robot Damashii Series? I saw some reviews on their Gundams and it looked actually rather nice but just don't want to spend money on something I know I'm going to not appreciate or have buyers remorse.

[Matt Bellamy]

Wow Thanks guys, man sounds very challenging...I did look up one other series and have any of you heard anything about the Robot Damashii Series? I saw some reviews on their Gundams and it looked actually rather nice but just don't want to spend money on something I know I'm going to not appreciate or have buyers remorse.

Damashii's are pretty awesome. They are action figures, and can be a bit more expensive than kits. But they do come fully painted and some with a ton of accessories. I don't personally own any Gundam Damashii's ( though I want to get the Wing TV set. Love the TV designs), I have Damashii figures from other series and they are a fine choice for collecting. They tend to be around the 1/144 scale, which again, is good for action figures.

I will note that SOMETIMES the paint apps are a little wonky in some places, and parts can get bent in the package. But that is something any collector has to put up with.

Also, I hope I didn't discourage you from trying to build a few kits. Once you get a few under your belt, you will be absolutely fine, and they will normally look much better than the Damashii's. By a couple simple ones to start off with ( the AGE-1 series and the feddie grunts from AGE are all great for starters, and are newer thus easier to get and cheap.) You just learn as you go when they throw new stuff at you ( like transforming MS). The only thing I would recommend is getting a pair of hobby clippers. Even the instruction manuals will note that you should use them. But they are like Magic for clipping parts off of the trees.

[durendal]

If you want to go action figures, you also might want to check out fix figuration.  They're basically the same 1/144 size figures but based on the designs of Hajime Katoki.  

 

Newer generation kids nowadays actually look good compared to the olden days, where you really have to paint some parts to be show accurate.  Try a few HG kits and see how it feels.  But if you have a lot of time and a close attention to details, you should get the MG or PG kits.  On an unpainted kit, it usually takes me hours to finish an MG kit, and 2 to 3 days straight for a PG kit.  Yes, the PG kit is that extensive.  Took me 3 weeks to finish my PG Zeta Gundam, and that's not including the paint.

[Mirabilis]

Man this all sounds so awesome. Yeah my only concern is I don't have alot of time for painting as I try to spare my time from writing, to drawing, to assembling my tyranid army, to painting that army, to my animes, and some games plus of course work, and my social life as well. I guess that's why I am not really looking for a model series which I would have to paint myself I would much rather it come that way, I did not know the Damashii series was actually action figures though, I do thing I will start off with the Damashii series though I really liked their Altron Gundam from Wing. But of course that doesn't mean I will limit myself by any means =] Thanks again for all the updates and posts! =]

[*V Guyver]

Gundam repaints can sometimes be pretty awesome. 



What color sets do you use, have you ever tried spray paints and a paint coating for plastics? 

[durendal]

I've tried lots of paints, mostly industrial grade paints.  Learned it the hard way that you can't use undiluted paint thinner to clean up plastic parts.  I use spray paints as primers, particularly ones that can be bought from your everyday hardware store.  I know, I'm a cheapskate.  I can't remember all of the brands of paint I use but I do remember a few like Gunze Sangyo and Tamiya.  Mr. Surfacer is a particular primer that I like to use.  After priming my model, I'd use an air brush to apply acrylic paint to give it that smooth glossy finish.  Then hand paint the panel lines using diluted enamel paint, then wipe off the excess paint with a wet cloth.  Of course I would only paint if I applied putty to the joints of the models to hid the seams, which I mostly do on 1/144 models.  I rarely paint my MG and PG.

[Mirabilis]

 Well I also use primer. But I go over that will different colors such as Chaos Black, goblin Green, Red Gore, and Dark Blue. But this is for my Tyranid army I haven't yet been able to get my hands on any new models yet sense my move back from Texas went through a really bad experience and am just trying to stabalize myself right now hehe.

[durendal]

Since there are literally thousands of models kits in the gundam franchise, I try to limit myself to the flagship gundams for each series, and mainly majority of them are Master Grade (MG).  I made it a point to buy the main gundam of each series, but I stopped at Seed since I still have tons left unbuilt.  So officially, Strike Gundam was the last MG I bought.  There are a few exceptions of course.  Like G-Gundam.  I bought all the 1:144 HG of G Gundam and had them all painted.  I'm missing the MG Gundam Spiegel since I already stopped buying when it came out.