Looking for some gunpla advise.

[OtakuDan]

Originally posted this in the All things Gundam thread, but was advised this may be a better place to ask.

Hi all! I’ve dabbled in gunpla on and off in the past and am looking to start up in earnest. I’ve built Entry grade all the way up to MG before. Looking to build a few more MG before I dip my toes into PG… I also ever just assembled the kits, haven’t panel lined or devalued any of them. That will soon change as I’m going to start doing both even on some of my older kits sort of as an experience builder for the newer sets.

Anyways, this leads me to 3 very important questions and I figured this would be a great place to ask.

Is there a list of kits that have decal sets or is there a good (i.e. reputable) place to order them? I would like to limit the amount of stickers I need to use as they look not the best and can fray and peel over time.

What is the consensus best PG to build? I’m deciding on either Perfect Strike or RX-78-2 Unleashed? Any other recent stand outs that aren’t super hard to acquire?

Finally in the case of sticker use, is there a best way to apply a clear coat over the sticker itself to help preserve the application, but also not end up looking like crap?

Thanks for any advice and I look forward to being around here more often!

 

[Chindie]

In respect of kits with decals, ver Ka MG kits almost invariably have waterslide decals (and usually tons of them), and P-Bandai MG kits often, but not always, have a small decal sheet alongside the normal sticker sheet.

For decals themselves, Bandai produce their own but they are bizarrely hard to get, apparently they do limited runs of them and then won't do them again for a while. As a result you'll probably want to look at 3rd party ones, and to be honest a lot of these are pretty good. The ones I've found best are by Dalin, but there's a few brands and they all seem pretty decent. As for where to get them, any place that is selling Gundam kits, particularly if they specialise in them, is probably going to have them, but for particular shout out check out Samuel Decal, Newtype, USA Gundam Store and, if you're in Europe, Hobby Frontline. Amazon is suprisingly good for the official decals - you'll find theres a lot of Japanese sellers on there that carry stock.

For PG kits, the 'best' are usually given as the RX78-2 Unleashed, Strike (and Strike Rouge), Unicorn/Banshee, Exia, Astray and the Mk2. I have built the latter 2 - they're both very good, but bear in mind with the Mk2 it's an old kit now, the hobby has developed a lot and the detail on it is limited compared to newer releases. I understand the Strike is a really good beginner PG, although it's also starting to look old (hence why Bandai has updated it in things like the Perfect Strike kit IIRC with more surface detail), the Unicorn and Exia are more complex, and the Unleashed is simply excellent all round.

Regarding stickers... don't use them (mostly). There's not really a way to make the stickers look good, the issue being that the stickers always have a thickness that you can't 'defeat', and in the case of the stickers that have a clear background they always change the appearance of the underlying plastic, particularly so on dark colours, which looks terrible. As such, just don't use them - if a sticker is used to 'colour correct' (which is particularly common on older kits), paint it. The exception to this is some of the foil stickers, and the PG Unleashed stickers. You can get pretty good results from the foil stickers where they are used for cameras and eyes. Anything else, ignore them. On the PG Unleashed, they have developed a number of different types of stickers (including '3d' stickers and ones that essentially are photo etch for idiots), and those you would need to use.

 

[OtakuDan]

In respect of kits with decals, ver Ka MG kits almost invariably have waterslide decals (and usually tons of them), and P-Bandai MG kits often, but not always, have a small decal sheet alongside the normal sticker sheet.

For decals themselves, Bandai produce their own but they are bizarrely hard to get, apparently they do limited runs of them and then won't do them again for a while. As a result you'll probably want to look at 3rd party ones, and to be honest a lot of these are pretty good. The ones I've found best are by Dalin, but there's a few brands and they all seem pretty decent. As for where to get them, any place that is selling Gundam kits, particularly if they specialise in them, is probably going to have them, but for particular shout out check out Samuel Decal, Newtype, USA Gundam Store and, if you're in Europe, Hobby Frontline. Amazon is suprisingly good for the official decals - you'll find theres a lot of Japanese sellers on there that carry stock.

For PG kits, the 'best' are usually given as the RX78-2 Unleashed, Strike (and Strike Rouge), Unicorn/Banshee, Exia, Astray and the Mk2. I have built the latter 2 - they're both very good, but bear in mind with the Mk2 it's an old kit now, the hobby has developed a lot and the detail on it is limited compared to newer releases. I understand the Strike is a really good beginner PG, although it's also starting to look old (hence why Bandai has updated it in things like the Perfect Strike kit IIRC with more surface detail), the Unicorn and Exia are more complex, and the Unleashed is simply excellent all round.

Regarding stickers... don't use them (mostly). There's not really a way to make the stickers look good, the issue being that the stickers always have a thickness that you can't 'defeat', and in the case of the stickers that have a clear background they always change the appearance of the underlying plastic, particularly so on dark colours, which looks terrible. As such, just don't use them - if a sticker is used to 'colour correct' (which is particularly common on older kits), paint it. The exception to this is some of the foil stickers, and the PG Unleashed stickers. You can get pretty good results from the foil stickers where they are used for cameras and eyes. Anything else, ignore them. On the PG Unleashed, they have developed a number of different types of stickers (including '3d' stickers and ones that essentially are photo etch for idiots), and those you would need to use.

Wow! Thank you for all the info, Chindie. I have a good place to start from now, I’m not going in relatively blind. Especially on the Dalin recommendation, it would have bothered me not having a clue which decal sets were worth it or not. I just recently picked up MG RX-78-2 (titanium ed.) from NYCC and ordered a set of Bandai RX-78-2 3.0 decals off eBay. I also have a roughly completed MG Ez8 from years back and an unopened MG Turn A in my backlog from years ago. Those will be my “test runs” for the water slides/dry rubs until I tackle the RX. I also have both the PG Perfect Strike and PGU RX-78-2 preordered. They are due out early next year a few months apart, so it looks like I have the next 6 months pretty much set, . Thanks again for all the info!

 

[potato]

if you arent decal maniac i suggest browse stores and check out what decals and scale they have. you dont need a specific decal there are decals that cater for few variants like the GM command set. unused decals can be used on other kits. there are also generic decals like warning, arrows, common emblems that you can pair with. usually i prefer the designs closer to original bandai designs.

bandai decals are thicker. you can use decal applicator that adds adhesiveness, once done use cotton bud with a dab of decal softtener this will thin down the decal a little.

for stickers, you can spray clear on them and sand it down to level but risky to sand into the sticker.

as for water slides you can protect them with standard clear of your choice. always start with 2 coats of mist coat before wet coat to avoid damaging the decals.

also water decals can expire. old unused decals tear up easily and loses adhesiveness. you can still use them by applying a layer of thin gloss coat on the whole sheet let it dry before cutting and putting them in water. the clear gloss holds the decal together. also store them in zipper bags to prolong their shelf life.

for me i prefer dry transfer as they look like painted but they are also hard to do it perfectly and you only have 1 chance at it.