SD Gundam Part II: Preparation for painting

For today's update, I'm going to share how I prepared the SD Gundam for painting.

Things I need:
- Tamiya Cement
- 0.5mm Plastic plates
- putty
- satay sticks
- blu tack
- dishwashing liquid
- Primer

To begin, the Gundam must be clean from gate marks and seam lines.

Apply the plastic cement across all seam lines and wait for a couple of seconds before "sealing" the parts together.

After applying a little pressure while holding the piece together, you will notice some melted plastic coming out of the seam lines. Wait for approx. 2-3 hours (from my experience) before cleaning the plastic melt.

The golden "horn" on top of the Gundam's head gear can be divided into 2 parts. I decided to cut the golden piece so I can paint the head gear and horn separately.

Seal the head gear...

Onto the shoulder armor pieces. My plan is to seal the armor (green) and "slide" the piece on the shoulder (white).

Cut away approx. 2 mm...

...and seal with cement.

Next is to seal the armors...

The golden horns! My plan is to fill the hollow parts with Tamiya putty....

...Then wait for approx 24 hours (max) for the putty to level and cure.

Another hollow section found under the shoes... I mean feet.. Using 0.5mm plastic plates, I cut out the white pieces shown just enough to cover the empty area.

Sealed with plastic cement....

More empty sections found behind the Gundam's leg!

More plastic plates to cover the pieces...

...took me almost 2 hours..

Just in time to sand away the seam lines!
The left armor was sanded using a sandpaper numbered 320.

After sanding all pieces, I cleaned then up using water and a dish-washing liquid to remove excess factory stuff like wax or other chemicals that can prevent the paint from sticking to the plastic surface.

As soon as the pieces were cleaned and dried, I attached it to the satay sticks using blu tack.

All set for painting and there you go.

I used Bosny Grey Primer [as an experiment on using different Brands]. Other than the strong scent, the finish looked smooth.

I'll let it sit for a while...24 hours....and I'll be back

Next activity will be "Painting using my newly purchased Airbrush"
Thank you for viewing!


"You will see the tears of time." - I wonder why the narrator on Gundam Zeta speaks this line after every episode...