Layman's Gunpla Guide

Here are some other weathering tips that didn't quite fit in any of the other sections...

Distressed Decals

If you’re going to weather a kit with decals it’s important to weather those decals as well. A scratch or faded decal can add a lot of depth to the look of a kit. For the most part, weathering and stickers don’t work well together as weathering tends to accentuate the sticker’s border.

The simplest method to distress a decal is to scrape at it with pointy end of a toothpick or similar tool. It’s important to make sure that they’re fully dry and set with decal set solution before doing so. Don’t scrape too hard, you don’t want to mess up the paint. Note that your surface is heavily chipped, the decals should not cover the chipped area, as the paint would normally have worn off there as well.

Welcome to the weathering section of the Layman’s Gunpla Guide. Why a whole separate section? Well weathering is a complex thing to talk about and would be immensely cumbersome to scope out over a single plage. The good news is that weathering is a lot of fun and accessible for modelers of any skill level.

What is Weathering

Weathering is the process of taking your kit, be it Gunpla, tank, airplane, etc. and giving it the appearance of having been exposed to the elements of time, combat, day to day work, and the weather (hence the name).

This could be as simple as applying a few scratches here and there to make a part look scraped up. You could apply battle damage throughout the kit to give war worn appearance. Apply rust and crud techniques to make it look as though it’s been sitting around outside for years.

Decanting is the process of removing paint from a spray can so that you can use it in an airbrush (or possibly with one of those old fashioned regular brushes I’ve been hearing about). Depending on the manufacturer the colour of paint you have in a spray can may not be available in other forms. Or you’re looking to get a thinner, more precise paint job than a spray can can usually offer. That’s where decanting comes into play.

 Painting your kit with camouflage patterns is one of those weird things that's not quite for beginners but is incredibly easy and satisfying to do. Getting camo to come out just right needs only a bit of extra materials and some patience, 

Before you begin to contemplate camo designs, you should at least be comfortable painting your kits with an airbrush. While it's possible to hand paint or use spray cans, there are some issues that arise. Spray cans typically leave a thicker coat of paint than airbrushes. Normally this isn't a problem over entire parts where, after assembly, you can't tell where the paint begins and ends. Camo typically involves masking hard edges of overlapping colours and these edges can become unsightly with thick paint coats. While I've never tried hand painting when camo has been masked out, I would be concerned with the potential for moisture to seep into the edges.

I wanted to take a minute to write about priming as it's something a lot of modelers do before painting a kit. Though generally a good idea, it's not always needed.

You should use primer when......

Now, 90% of the time, you'll be able to complete a kit without needing any glue. Unfortunately, that other 10% is filled with broken parts, loose joints, and extremely small pieces. There's quite an assortment of glues out there and picking the best one for the task can make life a lot easier, and make your kit look better. These all should be available at your local hobby shop, aside from super glue, which is available at grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations etc.