RX-78-4 Gundam (G04)

This is my first Gunpla that I have ever done. I know this won't be my best one, but I am going to try my hardest to make it as good as possible and learn as much as I can. I ordered this kit on Hobbywave and was very happy on how fast it got to my house. My reason why I pick this kit first is that was one of the cheapest kits and it comes with a big gun. (Sucker for big weapons) Plus it looks cool.

The size of the box compare to a nomal house phone.

To Do List:
1. Prebuild Kit
2. Take apart kit
3. Give final sanding to parts
4. Prim parts & begin painting
5. Gloss Topcoat model
6. Add panel lining & Decals
7. Add Flat Coat
8. Find spot to display
Color Guide:
Red (Completed)
Blue (Working on)
Purple (Still have to do)

1. Prebuild Kit:
I just finish prebuilding the kit and I must say even without the paint I think it looks really good. I didn't think it would take so long to prebuild, but I guess with around 14 runners, and over 250 pieces, plus sanding each piece it takes awhile, but it was worth it. I am very happy on how strong the hands and feet are, as they can hold all of it's weapons and shields with no problems, even his big gun which is about the size of him. The total height is around 18-19cm tall. One of my favorite things about this kit is that you can move its fingers so it can grab many things. Here are some pics of the prebuild of the kit.

Front View

Back View

Size compare to my action figure gundam.

2. Take apart Kit:

Taking apart this model was faster and easier than I thought it was going to be. I was able to take the whole thing apart in about 30 mins, which it took me about five times longer to pre build. I organize the different parts into three different containers so when I have to rebuild it again it will be supper easy for me to know what parts go where.

3-4. Sanding & Painting:
All of the parts have been sanded, and about 70% are now painted as well. I must say that painting my model has been a complete nightmare so far. Painting the blue parts, I didn't have too much problems with, but the yellow was just bad. When the paint did come out of my airbrush was was to thick and had no luck with it mixing with my thinners, and I ended up using all of my yellow paint, which I ended up taking off anyways. So since I run out of yellow, I change all of the yellow parts to black which was the easiest paint to use by far. The gray and white paints are having some problems with the thinner so I still have paint all of the gray and white parts.

The parts with primer on

The blue parts painted

Update:
I ended up using spray paint for the white and gray parts. The gray parts I was able to get on in one coat, but the white pieces took 2-4 coats to get a solid color.


5. Topcoat:
The topcoat was by far the easiest thing to do. Just added some future in my airbrush and the way I want.

6. Panel lines & Decals:
I had a little trouble with some of the decals, as some of them didn't go on right as I pull them off. As for the panel lines........ Lets just say that the spray paint I use isn't panel line friendly. But the last blue part I did, I try the wash trick and oh did it ever turn out nice.