Gundam? Gundamn! Or: How I learned to stop Warhammering and love the Gunpla

 Following on from my last article on GW’s pricing, I actually had a hankering to get on with some painting. Though I might be somewhat disenfranchised with GW's wargames at large, the models are still great and that Underworlds Vampire set have been begging to have some paint slapped on them. 

Then I went and broke my hand. It was a fight with Nazis you see, ten, no TWENTY of them. 

Oh alright, the truth is I fell on the stairs and smashed my hand on the bannister, a nice big splintered diagonal break on my fifth metacarpal.  Six weeks to two months to heal

Yeaaaah, that's not meant to look like that. 

Bollocks, there goes any painting. Kinda hard to hold a model when your hand is in plaster. 

Thankfully I had a backup. 

A few weeks ago, I had (fortuitously) ordered a Gundam model. 

This one in fact: Foresight, or mere coincidence?

I’d always known about Gundam, in fact I'd got Lee one for Christmas a few years back as he was into making them. But I'd never given it much more thought than that, hardly requiring yet ANOTHER hobby. But, I finally checked out the series as Lee had been urging me to do for ages and found out i REALLY liked the Samaurai-esque design from that series. 

Well i say series, it was only the first of many. Gundam is an antiwar anime franchise that has been going for over 40 years now and has a LOT of entries across many timelines. In fact it’s the same age as me, having started in 1979. By watching the series and ordering my first kit I had entered into the world of Gunpla. 

My collection thus far: All from the original series. 

So: what is Gunpla? 

Put simply Gunpla is short for Gundam ‘Plastic Model’ they are kits of the many, MANY suits from the myriad series that, due to some spectacular engineering require no glue to assemble. Exclusively made by Bandai they come on sprues (known as runners in the hobby) of different colour plastics so that painting is not required to complete the model, though there are certainly many that do paint and customise their figures. 

So essentially, it’s a mech action figure that you assemble yourself. They have full articulation just like a normal action figure and come in various sizes depending on which ‘grade’ of figure you pick up (more on those in a second). 

The amazing technology that Bandai uses means that different colours and even different TYPES of plastic can be on the same sprue (sorry i don’t use runners, call it 27 years of habit). I was blown away by the rubbery plastic that was on one corner of the sprue that was flexible so the parts could be bent. Incredible. 

See those hoses top right? Softer than the rest of the Sprue, MIND. BLOWN

And that’s to say nothing of the engineering of the kits themselves. It's a real marvel how these things go together. The chest sections reminded me of the engineering in Lego, where you build it up in layers for a strong core. The instructions are excellent. Despite being in Japanese, I have never had an issue assembling one of these models. I have now built four and the High Grade models that I have been building normally take a couple hours each. A couple of very enjoyable hours that results in a really cool posable figure. I have a Real Grade Gundam that will be a more complex job, that one is being saved for now. 

So let’s go through those grades quickly. 

First Grade: These are generally remakes of the first kits that were released back in the 80's. They are dirt cheap and moulded all in one colour so I'm not sure they really count as true Gunpla. They usually need gluing together too. The first kit I built was actually one of these but I replaced it with a vastly  superior High Grade. I do have a Guntank that is FG that turned out ok. 

This was thankfully big enough to stay still and be airbrushed.  

Entry Grade: Like it sounds these are the most basic versions you can pick up aside from the 30MM (Thirty Minute Missions) that I don't really consider real Gunpla. Entry Grade have minimal colour separation, meaning that areas that would be different colours on more advanced kits will be one piece here, allowing for easier assembly. They are made of less parts than more advanced grades and though basic, can look surprisingly close to high grade models though they often have slightly reduced articulation.  

High Grade: This is your bread and butter kit, and the majority of the Gunpla that I own are High Grade (when i broke my hand I ordered a bundle of kits). Like the previous two they are 1/144 scale so they stand about 5” high. They will usually come with more colour separation and a small sticker sheet. On average I've found they take a couple of hours to assemble if you want to do a decent job. 

A HG Zaku. about £16

Real Grade: These were designed to be a step up from the High Grade while staying at the same scale. They tend to be designed as a core skeleton that you then bolt the armour on to, making for a much more accurate and authentic build. These kits also tend to come with the transfer sheets for detailing your Gundam, there are not as many of them available as they are a relatively new concept (2010) but I think that often they are the better choice if you have a few High Grades under your belt. 

RX 78 Mk II. Real Grade, real detail. Soon

Master Grade: This is where we start getting serious. Firstly they are bigger, 1/100 or roughly 7.5” tall. Secondly they are FAR more detailed with loads more parts to the assembly (the instruction manuals are books as opposed to leaflets. They also have room for LEDs and working pistons that move as you articulate the figure. A big advancement from the other kits, i might get one one day (maybe when i go to Japan later this year) but it's a much more intense investment. 

Perfect Grade: This is it. The best you can get. They are 1/60 so absolutely huge. Obscenely detailed and complicated with many hundreds of parts, you are looking at dozens and dozens of hours to assemble one. The articulation is beyond compare, with even the fingers being movable, the colour separation is perfect, and there are myriad moving panels and parts, you can even remove the pilot. They are invariably lit by LEDs and cost hundreds of pounds. A bit too much for me to take on I think, (I mean some pieces even need screwing together) but they are undeniably impressive. 

So that’s all the different Gundam (well, not all, as there are variants of each Grade, but most). So, assuming you are still reading, what’s involved?

First Grade at the front (painted) the HG updgrade at the back. 

Well, thankfully, not much. This is what you'll need

A GOOD pair of clippers, the ones you use for Warhammer will most likely not 'cut it' (sorry). You will need clippers that give as fine and clean a cut as possible. I grabbed a pair of Japanese ones for 12 quid that seem to do the job just fine. The main reason for this is stress marks. If you use cheap clippers you will most likely end up with marks from the sheared plastic, if not at first then when they inevitably blunt. 

A SHARP knife. OK, the knife doesn’t matter too much but you need a sharp blade as you clean up the last bits of burr or ‘nubs’ as they are known in Gunpla. Once you have the plastic flush you can often even out the colour with a fingernail BUT…. 

So satisfying and simple to construct.

Polishing/sanding sticks. These are the best way to get the plastic back to the original colour, work down from a 600 to a 5000 grit and you’ll get a lovely smooth unblemished finish. 

Then OPTIONAL:

Gundam Markers, these are markers that are used to cover up marks and sometimes to line panels but honestly, if you are reading this you likely have a range of paints that will do the job just as well. When I have two working hands again I'll likely panel line with thinned down paints be they acrylic or oil. 

Come on now, that's not bad for a tenner. 

Honestly, if you have any experience with plastic miniature kits you’ll likely find Gundam a breeze. I have encountered no difficulties thus far and I have REALLY enjoyed it. 

But the BEST thing about Gundam? The price. 

My first kit, the classic RX 78 which was a high grade kit cost me £9.95 from Chaos Cards. That’s right, a tenner. Though this was the first kit i bought, it was not the first i assembled. But i WOULD say it's probably my favourite thus far. NO glue needed, no paint needed. Although you really should get the stuff I mentioned above which will cost a bit, you could get a cheap pair of clippers for a couple of quid and put that bad boy together there and then (after all there are people who inexplicably do NOT clean up their minis).  

Two hours work while watching TV. With one hand. 

That’s a lot cheaper than Warhammer. A LOT. And it results in a nice big poseable model. It’s frankly a bit of a bargain. 

Now, we do need to qualify this. Gundam kits are mass produced in China so they are very cheap to produce, but I would argue that they are AT LEAST as well engineered and designed as Citadel’s miniatures (if not better). A good chunk of what you pay with GW is the fact that it is produced in Britain.

And yes, Gundam can be pricey. HG Kits will be between £10 and £25. Real Grade, £25-£35 and Master Grade frequently £50 and above. Perfect Grade? Well over £100, sometimes as much as £200. But you are talking DOZENS of sprues. GW kits frequently hit £100 for three or four sprues. Honestly, Gundam seems much better bang for your buck, even with the above caveats. It’s also worth mentioning that they are even CHEAPER in Japan (man I'm gonna need a big suitcase). Yeah Bandai have been doing this a lot longer than GW but they also seem to do it a lot better. 

This is a Gouf. Some of the names are a bit weird. 

Anyway, I'm not going to be dropping GW. I’m too invested. 27 years in, I can't drop it just like that, even if I am leaning away from armies and more into skirmish games where I only have to paint half a dozen models rather than masses of models that will just be deleted en’masse. But Gunpla was a nice experiment, a nice distraction, and while there are hundreds to choose from, most are frankly a bit OTT for me looks wise as they start having wings and armour on top of armour so they look a bit toy like and lean away from the mechanical samurai look that i like. That said, there are a few more that i want (I’m currently watching Gundam ZZ) so I’m sure the six that i have accumulated over the last three weeks will be added to, after all, I'm still looking at another few weeks before i can use my left hand properly. 

Anyway, I'll shut up now, this has taken a while to write with one hand in plaster. I urge you to check out the world of Gunpla, whether you merely dip in a toe or jump right in. It’s fun, it’s easy and it’s cheap.

Gunpla? Qapla!