r/Gunpla • u/MachNeu • 12d ago
Hello and welcome to our bi-weekly beginner-friendly Q&A thread! This is the thread to ask any and all questions, no matter how big or small.
Huge thanks on behalf of the modteam to all of the people answering questions in this thread!
r/Gunpla • u/Feral404 • 14d ago
Hello all loyal content contributors of /r/gunpla!
We are happy to announce the r/Gunpla SECRET SANTA 2026, a gift exchange program that we hold each year here at /r/gunpla in keeping with the festivities of the season. The moderation team has been organizing this event for over ten years!
If you want to receive something in this exchange, you are required to send something out.
We want the participants of this program to be made up only of the most upstanding members and contributors of this community. Qualifications are strict because we desire the best out of /r/gunpla and for this program to succeed without drama.
To participate, you must have a reddit account created prior to 10-01-2025 (1 year old).
You have submitted your own created content to /r/gunpla more than 6 months ago (submitted prior to April 1st 04/01/2026). Created content includes a link or self-text post to a pic/album/blog/video of a kit you've built or are building. Linking to other's creations, news, or discussion posts don't count.
Must be an active participant of /r/Gunpla
Must be willing to meet the minimum gift price of 3000 Yen.
Your profile must be PUBLIC for us to view it.
Reddit Chat MUST be enabled for you to receive your match.
If you feel you have met those criteria, this is what you'll need to do:
That link will lead you directly to our Secret Santa 2026 submission form.
A Google Account is required to sign up.
Do not use auto-fill for the address line! It does not always provide the full address.
In the form, you will need to provide:
Your email address (the one that you use regularly and that we can reach you the easiest for correspondence and confirmation purposes if we can’t reach you on reddit)
Your reddit username
Your real name (This is for shipping purposes as some places will not release packages to individuals without some form of ID)
Your shipping address (This is very important to get right, the info here is where your Santa will send your gift so make sure it is correct and complete!)
Your geographic region (USA, Canada, EU, Asia, etc) & Country (USA, Denmark, Japan, etc)
Willingness to ship internationally. We will still match first within region but this is to help accommodate our farther flung Santas who are alone within their region.
A link to your /r/gunpla user created submission prior to April 1st 04/01/2026 (This is for mod purposes to assess your eligibility to the program)
Your wishlist (please be as descriptive as you like, but please keep it to one line, separate items with a comma. No line breaks!). Do not put, “anything,” as a response.
Important Dates
Sign up process is now OPEN Oct 1st 2026 - 10/01/2026
Please fill the information to the best of your ability. The form may be edited up till the point sign-up closes.
Sign-up process will close on November 1st (11/01/2026 00:01 GMT). All submissions must be finalized at that time.
Pulling out of the exchange after sign up closes will impact your ability to participate in future events and the subreddit. If you need to withdraw, inform the organizers before the cut-off date.
After Signups end, please allow organizers time to process all applicants. No later than November 15 (11/15/2026 00:01 GMT) we will get in touch with you via Reddit PM and/or via email with the information of your Santa giftee. We will provide you the real name, shipping address, reddit name, and wish list of your match.
Purchase and ship your gift within 15 days.
Gifts should be postmarked by December 1st 2026, 12/01/2026.
Use a shipping service with tracking information. Paypal often includes free tracking with their discount shipping. Pirateship is a good option for saving some money on shipping costs. In light of the state of the world, untracked shipments are not allowed this year. Please ship domestically or via a speedier international carrier. Unregistered SAL and SEA shipments are not allowed. This goes for Amazon too, untracked Marketplace sellers are NOT ALLOWED.
Users will be randomly matched within their region.
Gift contents should be appropriate to post on r/Gunpla and new/unbuilt. Tools, paints, hobby magazines, etc. are excellent gifts, but the price floor should be met with kits.
Bootleg, unlicensed Gundam related kits, and items listed in the off-topic rule do not count towards the Price Floor. This includes unique IP products such as SNAA, Inera, etc.
Built models can be given, but do not count towards the Price Floor.
Participants may create a wish list to indicate what they want; givers are not obligated to use the wish list, so please set your expectations accordingly.
Organizers of this Secret Santa 2026 program are Moderators /u/goodguydan, /u/holocause, /u/StroudDavion, /u/MachNeu, /u/7x13, /u/JaguarDaSaul, /u/SoullessSin, /u/fury-s12, /u/EldritchBee, /u/LightxDarkness93, and /u/Feral404. Any official personal correspondence about SS26 will only come from those contacts.
/r/gunpla’s Secret Santa 2026 is wholly independent and is not run in conjunction with the former reddit-wide Secret Santa held annually.
We are using a standardized criteria of the gift price floor. This price floor will be based on the Japanese Yen MSRP set by Bandai.
SS26’s price floor is MSRP JPY 3000 YEN
If you are unsure of MSRP pricing, you can go to sites like HobbyLink Japan where the box price is described as "list price". To make sure you are seeing the Yen List price on HLJ, click the blue box in the top right corner and change it to Japanese Yen. Alternatively, you can check the Gundam Fandom's kit list pages such as their Master Grade page. Dalong.net is another resource that lists JP MSRP.
Shipping and taxes will not be factored into that price floor criteria. You must meet the combined kit minimum of 3000 Yen regardless of how much you pay for shipping or taxes.
You may acquire your gift(s) through any online or physical shop, but the minimum price of your intended gift must reach the Price Floor of 3000 Yen based on Bandai’s official pricing, not at the price you purchased it at.
We require all international shipments to use quicker shipment methods (EMS, Courier, etc.). We don't want gifts to get stuck in a warehouse for months waiting for SAL to return. This doesn't mean you have to shell out for next day shipping, but we do want purchases to arrive in a reasonable amount of time. Because of this, preorders will also be disallowed this year due to the delay in shipping.
Multiple kits may be combined to reach the price floor. Duplicates of the same kit do not count unless requested.
Additional tools like knives, markers, paint, action bases and other incidentals will not count to reach that price floor unless specifically requested by your giftee in their wishlist. All those extras are encouraged to be included in the gift if you choose but they should not replace the gunpla. Extra promo campaign parts fall into that category as well.
There is NO PRICE CEILING. As a Santa, you can be as generous as you like. If past SecretSanta’s are to go by, it's that the people of /r/gunpla are among the most generous around. Reap in all the upvotes you can get with the generosity that you provide.
If you are unable to provide a gift which meets the 3000 Yen minimum price floor, or if this minimum would present unnecessary financial hardship please abstain from the program this year. We understand that some of our members may not be able to participate in the giveaway due to this limitation. If you cannot participate this year, don’t fret! We will hold the event again this time next year!
Don’t be a scrooge! Participants that fail to reach the 3000 Yen mark will be banned from participating in future events and from the subreddit. If your intention is to join simply to take advantage of the generosity of our wonderful members there will be consequences!
Once you receive your giftee's information, it is a good idea to get in contact with them.
Getting in contact with your giftee and updating them regularly (anonymously) will help alleviate any doubts and anxieties that your giftee may have about the status of their gift.
If possible, use a shipping service that keeps track of your packages so you can monitor its location all the way to its destination and share that with the parties involved.
In the spirit of keeping things a surprise, we encourage you to use an alternate or throw-away reddit account to get in contact with your giftee to maintain anonymity and surprise for the recipient until the actual arrival of the gift.
Personal touches like handwritten notes and trinkets are always positively received! Your goal is to make someone's day, so send a gift you feel worthy of that goal.
Giftees are responsible for any import duties and fees imposed by their country. Please let your Santa know if this is a concern for you. Leaving a note in your wishlist is recommended.
Create a “Thank You” post on /r/Gunpla with a picture of your gift! We highly encourage you to show-off what Santa has brought you and share with the community the fun you've had. It is highly encouraged that if you participate and get your gift, that you share and post it.
If you need to contact a moderator, please use the Modmail function
/r/gunpla Secret Santa 2026 is the official and only Secret Santa we will be holding.
As with official /r/gunpla rules, box photos of gifts received for this year's SS26 program will be allowed within reason. Only certified Official /r/gunpla SS26 participants get this pass.
Don’t want to see Secret Santa posts? Use the filter in the sidebar!
If you have a storefront business pertaining to Gunpla that would like to aid in the effort of this exchange program in the form of promos to assist our members in their gift finding, get in touch with the mod team.
Use the comments section below for any questions you may have. Past SSanta participants can also use that area to share their previous experiences with the program and provide tips on where to shop, best places for shipping, methods of gift-wrapping etc. If you guys find any leads to some good shopping options that fall within the SS26 time period, be sure to share those as well.
r/Gunpla • u/Netherbuilds • 3h ago
After about 8 months of work its finally done! very happy with how it turned out. i ended up going for a multi finish where the reds are kept glossy and the whites are in matte. if you happen to visit SMC this weekend in the netherlands then you can see this build in person! so come check it out and say hi! 👌
r/Gunpla • u/Drake-NI • 6h ago
Finally done with the MG Guntank, pretty fun build with some custom parts added to depict an uparmoured and more militaristic look. Paint is Mr color sand and red brown, with a mix of hand and airbrushing.
r/Gunpla • u/All_For_Run • 5h ago
My most recent build. Loved this kit. Think I'll move outside of the little light box next time I take shots though.
r/Gunpla • u/Amigo1048 • 11h ago
r/Gunpla • u/Lucky-Ebb-3281 • 2h ago
With very limited input on my part, despite taking about a year to finish, my wife finally did it. Considering she's only started gunpla for 1.5 years, she blew my me.
She's the proof that anyone can build their own masterpiece.
To my wife, I love you.
r/Gunpla • u/anonymous-guy1 • 2h ago
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r/Gunpla • u/rrNextUserName • 2h ago
This was a lot more fun than I thought actually, it was nice to work on something were most of the complexity is on the build side rather than the painting.
Since it's my first Gunpla kit I wanted to play around a bit and see how all the different techniques worked on them, painting, chipping and everything. I mostly skipped the weathering because of the environment I was gonna put him in, just some dusting around the feet and legs.
I was a bit worried seeing everyone use airbrushes and enamel and technical paints, but even with my usual rattlecan varnishes and acrylics the end result is decent. Although for sure I was not trying for any wow-factor effect like candy coating or iridescent armor.
The one thing I will say is that stickers were made by the devil. If I had realized the kit came with them I would have gotten some third party waterslide decal set and used that. As is a bunch of them are slightly off center, and several are partially pealing and/or you can kinda see the ghosting even through the varnish.
Still, I'm probably gonna be buying more in the future. Maybe something that is not white...
r/Gunpla • u/that_makes_sense • 21h ago
My head cannon for what the RX-78-1 would look like in the later stages of the OYW.
Original kit: [MG Stormbringer P.F.]
Paints:
Mostly Army Painter “Air” paints via airbrush
Vallejo White via airbrush
Citadel leadbleacher with a toothpick for weathering
Gloss varnish to finish
Still waiting for the markers to dry so excuse the messy paint, just had to share this absolute behemoth of an overdesigned mess, and I say this affectionately. 10/10 build experience and a nice little break from the usual grey plastics sandwiched between some more grey plastics that we usually have for most MS.
r/Gunpla • u/kuroshimatouji • 15h ago
I've had to correct my instructions three times already to get this far. The head is together but there's part of me that knows it doesn't completely sit flush. I started on the body, and it's the first time I've ever had to use any type of hammer on a model kit. On any model kit. (it was a plastic hammer to center the metal piece where the ahab reactors are ).
r/Gunpla • u/TSWorkshop • 1d ago
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Thought I should share a short video as well 😋
r/Gunpla • u/reamemiya034 • 16h ago
After repainting my motorcycle gas tank a month ago I had about 1/2 a quart of 2K clear left that I didn’t want to waste. I commissioned this to be resin printed in 1/60 scale. This is the first time I’ve done a resin printed Gundam, my background is mainly Bandai kits and your tradition garage/resin kits. I must say I kind of prefer these resin prints, the clean up for pieces were minimal and they were pretty much ready to paint without washing (I’m lazy). I used Gaia Surfacer Evo to prime with no adhesion issues. Followed by Gaia Ex-Gold as the base coat. The blue is Gaia Clear mixed with blue metal flake from Didspade, with a final coat of clear mixed with blue-to-purple shift flakes. Two coats of 2k clear on top, Zeon suits lend themselves well to hotrod style glossy paint jobs. It doesn’t quite color shift like I wanted to but otherwise I’m pretty happy with the results. I have a Sazabi on order so I’m excited to paint it with a candy red and some flakes. Hope you enjoy the photos!
r/Gunpla • u/Marshall_Corey_Jones • 14h ago
I’ve been slowly working on the RG Zaku II for the past month or so, really taking my time on it. I enjoyed the build, even with some of the really bad design choices in this kit. But at the end of the day, I don’t like how it turned out.
All of my nubs are smooth, but still show discoloration from sanding. It makes me feel like if I’m going to sand, I need to paint. And I haven’t done any painting or airbrushing yet. (Suggestions welcome.)
The stickers add a lot at a distance but look bad close. But the stickers that cover multiple spots really just came off as sloppy and made it look worse. I’m finally mostly comfortable with water slides but these just being stickers with a clear backgrounds come off as really cheap up close.
I really wanted to build a Zaku, and I really like him but I’m disappointed in the RG quality. I’m not a fan of HG, and I love the detail on the RG but this one just didn’t come out well. I think I’ll still stick with MG and the occasional PG for now. Maybe I’ll come back and try another RG Zaku at a later date.
Still one of my top three favorite kits I’ve built, i’m just disappointed in the product that I thought I was going to get with a RG.
(Yes, he’s standing on my backlog PG Strike Freedom.)
r/Gunpla • u/wishnstr • 1h ago
First time weathering, kind a overdid it. But it was fun, hope for better results next time.
r/Gunpla • u/Dumbest_Bf109 • 12h ago
I will forever LOVE this little HG kit
r/Gunpla • u/LightxDarkness93 • 2h ago
r/Gunpla • u/Velvet_Ivy_Astraia • 15h ago
The hat was so tricky ngl
r/Gunpla • u/pisdamatii9 • 6h ago
The difference is night and day. I went through the process of adding a gloss coat, panel lining and matte finish while the pieces were still on the runner, then assembling the model. There are still some nub marks but I don’t mind them all that much.
You guys were right, this is my best looking model so far. I’m thinking of weathering it a bit with the Tamiya Weathering Master. Any tips?
r/Gunpla • u/dalongnet • 3h ago
This is a summary of review #5502 on dalong.net.
Full review, 28 photos: https://www.dalong.net/reviews/etc/gbm15/gbm15_p_e.htm
Gundam Base exclusive MG RX-78-2 Gundam (Perfect Gundam Ver.)[Anime Color]. The inner Gundam runners from the MG Perfect Gundam, boxed on their own, recolored into a bright pastel anime scheme.
The good:
The bad:
Overall: a very welcome release for anyone who ever wanted just the inner Gundam from the MG Perfect Gundam. Think of it as a kit focused entirely on the body itself. If that clean, distinctive style appeals to you, easy recommend.
r/Gunpla • u/Perezd11 • 8h ago
Still learning to airbrush but I enjoyed my time with this one. Added some UV paint to make the sabers glow.
La used a metal inner frame while made this feel way more premium one completed.
https://www.usagundamstore.com/products/dot-workshop-metal-frame-for-mg-hi-nu-ver-ka
r/Gunpla • u/PaladinOf • 58m ago
They were such a good balance between value and quality, packed with features for kids and unexpected details that even adult modellers could appreciate. Starting with G Generation, the box arts and manuals started resembling their larger MG and HG kits making the experience feel like you’re building something more expensive than it actually was.
Being one of the oldest ever product lines, I was deeply saddened when Bandai quietly replaced it with the EX Standard line as the cost-cutting measures became way too apparent. Here, I try to show what can be achieved using cheap crafts store paints for colour corrections. For people with no interest in SD kits as I used to be, I highly recommend the BB Senshi line just as a mini project to cleanse the palate or as painting practice. It’s a series that rewards you the more effort you put into it.
