Wait, building something? Why not Lego? Well, for starters Lego is super very expensive and it doesn't provide me the level of challenge I want, for the price I can afford. I've assembled Lego's Wall-e and Poe's X-wing in less than 6 hours. That costs like Rm100 per hour.
Of course a lot of people argue that there's a lot more complicated Lego projects like Mindstorm. But those really blew the budget out of proportion.
I might as well pay Rm200 for a very decent gunpla and sit at my workbench for 3 weeks. A cost efficient way to keep me busy.
If you're not into building stuff, I'll suggest you still read on and hopefully you'll catch the builders flu.
Don't know anything about gundam? Here's some good series that will definitely gets you in the gear. Try Char's Counterattack, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (God knows you'll be worshiping Kira after this), Gundam Wing (you'll definitely fall in love in these suckers once you see one of them grew wings), Zeta Gundam (possibly the best gundam series ever, but not Camille Bidan), 00 Gundam (I AM GUNDAM!) and of course Iron Blooded Orphans.
Once you feel like you cannot contain your excitement anymore, then you're game. Time to pick your favorite suit. Try watching a few series and decide which one you like best.
Ready to start?
Decide first on the grade of the gunpla you want to build. There are a few grades of gunpla which determines the level of detail and the size of the model. And of course different grades are priced differently.
Non-grades (NG)
If you appreciate gunpla models, don't go for the non-grades. Non-grades are usually called by the size the model are e.g. 1/100 or 1/144. Non-grades for me are like pilot episodes for TV series, to test fans reception for a particular gundam model. If the fans reception are good, then Bandai (his holiness of the gunpla maker) will decide to produce graded version of the specific model. This means non-grades are usually poorly detailed, not accurately proportioned, lacks accessories, decals etc.
Well, you can go for the non grades if you can't wait for the graded models e.g. right now there's only the 1/100 non grade Barbatos. Although recently, non grades are improved rapidly and some latest its like the RE-Bawoo is even better than master grades of the 90's.
High Grade (HG)
HG models are a great place to start for beginners. And great place for season builders as well. HG models are denominated by a contoured orange-white HG mark on the box. Or just simply the HG lettering.
High grades are a 1/144 scaled model which typically are around 13cm in height. Some could be larger but seldom lesser than that. One HG kit typically costs around Rm70. More complicated model will go more. Good news is there are tons of HG models out there and you'll definitely find your favorite HG models right off the shelf.
Since there are so many of them, HG kits are usually classified based on the Gundam series. For example, HG00 for the 00 series, HGBF for the build fighters series, HGUC for the universal century series etc. Each series box has their own unique design.
HG models are great looking straight out of the box with considerable amount of details. A HG box typically has around 6-8 runners and will take from few hours to a few days to complete. HG kits are also great for builders who like to customize or paint their kit.
Master Grade (MG)
MG is also a great place to start for beginners. But do take caution as MG kits are more pricey and some kits, especially ver ka or kits from 2015 onwards are very very complicated to build which will kill off beginners.
But MG kits usually has very good color separation with less dependency on colored stickers. You'll get more decals to bring out extra details of the kits.
MG box is easily recognizable by a gold MG label. Master grades are a 1/100 scaled model which are typically around 18 - 23 cm tall. MG kits starts at around Rm150, some older kits may cost less and some extended kits will cost as much as Rm250 or more.
The upside of MG kits are they're way better detailed than HG models. MG kits includes a lot of gimmicks and have an inner frame/skeleton mechanic to give the kit great pose-ability. Some builders even go to the extend of building and displaying just the inner frame alone to show how much they appreciate the level of engineering that goes into making this. Plus, the decals are better and a larger model is definitely better looking on your shelf.
The downside, MG tends to be more fragile and less stable. Parts will randomly fall off, it requires huge effort to get MG to pose properly, some kits has weak joints where gravity is their worse nightmare, back heavy kits (especially those with wings) and most of them looks best with an action base. But newer models tends to overcome most of these drawbacks, except the back heavy part cause gundam models looks best with wings and dragoons and fin funnels.
But, just for the level of details alone and the sheer amount of satisfaction you get out of completing a model, MG models are worth every penny.
MG models looked amazing straight out of the box. And it will look even better once you level up and ventured into effects, painting etc. An MG box can range from 12 to 30+ runners depending on the amount of toys a model has. Building MG requires a lot more effort compared to HG. Rushing an MG build can take around 3 days while detailed build including lining, concealing nubs and applying decals can take up to 3 weeks or even months depending on hours you're willing to invest in a day.
Perfect Grade (PG)
PG is a holy grail for gunpla builders and are definitely not for beginners. There are only about 10 PG kits available in the market today and they cost you a bomb. The cheapest being the PG strike which cost you Rm490. And that is without the skygrasper.
PG boxes usually looked like a huge briefcase and will definitely caught the eyes of nerds and geeks if you carry one of those out from the store.
Perfect grades are a 1/60 scaled model and are usually around 30cm tall. PG models can take months to build because of the sheer amount of parts in the kit. This is seriously not for beginners. Even I don't feel myself qualified to build a PG kit.
Real Grade (RG)
When Bandai releases a new line of 1/144 real grade few years back, all hell broke lose. Finally a kit with the details of a MG/PG kit but with an affordable price and doesn't require that much effort to build. RG kits starts at Rm90, which is a reasonable upgrade over HG. RG provides a stepping stone for fans moving from HG to MG.
But there's a few downside to RG kits. First, there's much less choice. So only popular models got an RG release. Second, details plus sized at 1/144 equals to lots of small and I mean very small parts. Again so, take a bit more of your time on these kits.
Super Deformed (SD)
If you played super robot wars before, then you know what I mean. Midget gundam. If you want something easy to assemble and cute looking, these are the kits for you.
By this time, you should have your mind set on which gundam suit you wanted to build. I'm guessing HG, RG or MG kits. But don't jump your guns yet. Always go online and read reviews on the kit you wanted to build. There might be a few drawbacks on the kits that you like that makes you think twice about purchasing them.
For example, I was tempted to build the MG strike freedom until the internet says no because of the 3 different gold plates. So I'm putting the plan on hold until I was ready to spray paint the kit or perhaps 2.0 kits will come with better quality gold plates.
I'm a MG builder so my next few post will involve recommendations on MG kits. If you're not ready to take up the challenge of building an MG kit and wanted to start slow with HG and RG, worry not. Internet is your best friend. There are tons of review sites and youtube channels that you can watch. I would recommend dalong.net, gaijin-gunpla.com and youtube channels of jabman025 and rrobbert184.
Up next, choosing the right MG kit for you.
See you soon!
