1/100 MG RGM-79C GM Kai Space Type (Snap Fit)

I began building this model over a month ago and finally finished it to my satisfaction after many intrusions from the real world stealing my time. My cat has undergone two of his six weeks of recovery after his knee surgery. He's doing well!

It really needs to be said that the Master Grade GM Kai is a fantastic kit, one I found shockingly underrated. The price is very low on these kits (~$30 - 35) since they're older but they definitely do not lack quality. The design of the MS is excellent, a perfectly convincing update to the original GM that is still aesthetically in line with classic suits. I have grown to love the clean, understated design which isn't afraid of leaving areas bare, especially on those curving shins. There's just the right amount of complexity and detail to make it not feel retro.

The only real criticism I can field is that its articulation is rather low in the ankles, making dynamic poses almost impossible. The ball joint that the shins pop into is just fine, it allows for a huge range of motion, but unfortunately it's handicapped by the large ankle guards. That said, it looks gorgeous just standing there, it's far more menacing than the 0079 GM ever was. 

There's a good composition in the look of the GM Kai. It's pleasantly asymmetrical with a single beam saber on its back as well as a delicate antenna on the head. It's quintessentially Gundam and serves as a great example for what I like so much about the design vocabulary of mobile suits. The colors are very bright but such a restricted palette (light green, dark green, red, gray) that they feel in harmony with each other. The light green of the body will most likely be toned down a bit when I paint it, in person it's very green.

Here you can really see the limitation of the ankle guards which make pulling the toe upwards rather difficult. The rest of the joints are solid and have good range, each leg has two screws and numerous sliding pistons which make for another feature I enjoy a lot - underneath all that simple armor is some mechanical and visual complexity. The back side of the shield, for example, has a great deal of embellishment including space for both beam sabers, a nice contrast to the calm and flat red face.

The arms have double elbows which give the hands great range. You can actually pose him pulling the saber off his back with ease. Again, get used to the upright pose!

The back has some nicely contrasting detail, I'm a big fan of the quad thrusters but unfortunately the two on the left side aren't as snug as they should be and they tend to droop, ruining the symmetry of the jets. Maybe when I'm done I'll glue them in place to avoid the issue. The rear part of the suit's waist opens up and accommodates a gun rack that can store the disassembled rifle. Also note that the rifle has a couple types of barrels and magazines so you can customize it. I happen to like the look of the extra-long rifle.

What makes this such a fantastic kit for the low price is the unusual detail like the fabric tubing behind the knees. You get a single tube of rigid fabric piping which you cut to 4 x 13mm and slide on to a plastic piece. They don't move at all so you don't have to worry about them getting messed up, however the process of cutting and placing them can be frustrating as they lose their tube shape a bit and flare out if you mess with them too much. It adds a really attractive detail that I appreciate for the price.

I've still got the Earth type in my storage which is almost identical save color, weapons, and a few minor details. I'm more excited to build it now than I was before, this is a kit I definitely recommend as a quality build (if you're okay with limited posability).

Beginner's Guide - My Tools

I've seen a lot of videos, articles, and blogs suggesting the best ways to build Gunpla. I really can't give singular credit to any source, but I have drawn off of many sources in my own model adventure. The most important thing you should always remember when working on your kits is that these are works of art, they're plastic sculptures, and as such they deserve your very best effort. Under no circumstances should you ever rush a model. Always try your hardest on each and every piece to clean them up to your satisfaction, do not skimp on this step.

I view the initial snap fit and construction as the foundation upon which the rest of the model has to be built. Any flaws here will show in your final product and can end up making you feel like you just wasted weeks of time, materials, and money. The inverse is also true - putting the right amount of effort in shows, people notice it, and the feeling of satisfaction is more than enough to make you feel like your time and money was well spent. So try your hardest, take breaks, and do not try to finish the kit you're working on solely to start the next one. It's tempting, but do your kits and your skills some justice; you only build them once but you will have them for the rest of your life.

The first step to building a good model is getting the right tools.

Cutting mat

This is really the most basic tool. There are times when you simply must lay a piece flat and trim with a knife. This can leave really unsightly gouging in your work surface which is not ideal and is especially upsetting when it's a nice table. Invest in an affordable cutting mat that's a decent size. It's also a very good surface to keep all of your pieces on as you work and most double as a ruler for when master grade kits occasionally ask you to trim pieces to a certain length. I also collect all of my nub trimmings and shavings on my mat by sweeping them together with a flat file. When I'm done, I dump them in the trash and my work space is clean as a whistle. Don't deny the cutting mat, use it to your advantage.

My Tool: X-ACTO self healing cutting mat (12" x 18")

Side cutters

While the mat is the most basic, cutters are the most crucial. A decent pair of side cutters can make building a model many folds easier. What you're specifically looking for is a 'side cutter for plastic.' It looks like a delicate wire cutter but what makes it special is that it's completely flat on one side of the cutting head. This allows you to be very precise in your cutting because you know exactly where the blade is going down. You push your cutters very snug up to the piece during clean up and you can sometimes cut so close you don't even need to go to your craft knife. It speeds up the process, it's gentle on plastic, and in the end will provide you with a much higher quality model. I use a Tamiya side cutter for small, delicate work and a Xuron side cutter for larger work, such as cutting pieces off the plastic tree initially.

My Tool: Tamiya side cutter (from the Tamiya Basic Set) & Xuron 410 Micro Shear Flush Cutter

Craft knife

A craft knife is your first defense against unsightly remnants of the plastic sprue that the modeling community refers to as nubs or flash. Modelers allow for a small amount of flash to remain on the piece because cutting too close with side cutters can occasionally damage the surface and tends to stress the plastic too hard, leaving ugly white marks that you can't remove without paint. I go in with my thumb reinforcing the back of my blade and gently push through several times until there is very little remaining flash, in the same kind of method as shaving the bark off a piece of wood.

Take care to avoid the very common (and very nasty) mistake of surface gouging in which you cut too deep when trying to remove a nub. It's always better to leave more than you need to later sand it down than getting too aggressive with the knife early on and ruining a piece. Fixing this requires putty and paint, its best to just avoid it. I don't use X-ACTO blades for my knife, I use a retractable, snap off hobby knife. I like it because it allows you to hold very close to the blade, it allows you to choose blade length, and you can easily resharpen the blade by just snapping the top segment off.

My Tool: Tamiya retractable craft knife (from the Tamiya Basic Tool Set) or a 'Light Duty Snap-Off Knife' works as well

Metal file set

When I first got back into Gunpla a few months ago, I only had one small metal file with very little tooth. I thought it worked great, it was gentle and slow, but I really was missing out. I invested in a $9 set of three flat files from Tamiya and it totally changed the speed at which I build. They're fairly thick tools, dark metal that feel a bit heavy, but it only takes a handful of swipes over a nub until it's ground down just right.

A flat file is incredibly efficient at keeping the angle of the surface you're sanding - what I mean by this is that other methods of sanding that have you come from numerous angles can shave down a side of the model that is supposed to be flat but instead has an odd, rounded corner or uneven surface to it. With a flat file, you just lay it on the surface you want to work and then gently pull or push across the surface in a singular direction, keeping the initial angle. Going back and forth can contribute to the rounded edges and loss of flatness because you rock your wrist (changing the angle) and shave it off unevenly. Keep a locked wrist, only go in one direction, don't use much pressure. Files leave a very rough surface which is fine because it will be cleaned up later by sanding pads.

My Tool: Tamiya Basic File Set (includes three various shapes of files) and Tamiya mini file (from the Tamiya Basic Set)

Sanding pads

Often overlooked, sanding pads are what separate your model from being good and being great. You want them for the obvious reason of cleaning up the mess your flat file leaves behind as far as smoothness is concerned. It's best to have a few grits of sanding pads - one that is less rough than your flat file but still fairly rough and one or a few of varying smoothness. Pads are better than paper because you can get a grip on them, they conform to the shape better, and they last a lot longer than paper. You can always glue sandpaper to sponges but the pre-made stuff is really nice quality and will last through many models.

With your finest grade sanding pad (1500 - 2000 grit), you can buff the plastic in small circles which has a couple beneficial effects - it reduces highlights on the surface of the model which tends to look less 'plastic' and it also aids in removing or reducing the unsightly effects of Bandai's injection molds which can leave an odd, uneven, whirled pattern on the surface.

My Tool: Alpha Abrasives sanding sponges for models, but you can look for 3M sanding pads from Superfine to Microfine, or look for Revell sanding pads (smaller ones in picture)

Model cement


And here you thought Gunpla required no glue! This is actually a bit deceptive because the glue doubles as a seam filler, often times taking the place of putty altogether. Kits often come with weapons which don't even attempt to hide seam lines - with your trusty glue bottle, brush a fairly thick coat of glue on the inside of both pieces, slap them together, let them dry for 24 hours, then sand down. Once you sand all the glue goop off, you'll be shocked to see that the piece has essentially welded together and left no trace of a seam.

My Tool: Mr. Cement Deluxe Economy Bottle (40ml)


Tweezers

Perhaps the least crucial of all, tweezers can make your life much easier when working on small stuff or applying decals. Sanding tiny pieces, such as the mono eye ring on a 1/144 Zaku F2, can be made a lot easier with a fancy pair of reverse tweezers. They always hold tight, so you only push them together to fit a piece in and they do the rest of the work. Good idea to have some, but not absolutely necessary. I'd suggest eventually picking them up though, you'll find a use and they're not that expensive.

My Tool: Generic reverse tweezer (search online or ask at a store) and Tamiya regular tweezers (from the Tamiya Basic Tool Set)

Masking tape

Tape is truly most useful as a system for identifying plastic sprues. It can be quite bothersome to have to search through a bunch of plastic trees to find the tiny letter in whichever unpredictable corner it happens to be in. To solve this headache, I now put a small flag of tape on the side of each sprue and label it with a permanent marker, A, B, C, etc. You'll be shocked how this little step can speed up your process.

My Tool: Generic roll of white masking tape

Permanent markers

As mentioned above, they're useful for marking off the tape so you can easily identify sprues, but colored Sharpies also make incredible tools for coloring transparent plastic like a Zaku's mono eye. Test them out on the clear part of the tree and use whichever color suits your fancy.

My Tool: Sharpie color set - make sure to find something with a magenta or pink color as most Zakus need it! Green is also a very common color.