Gunpla - Gundam/Mecha Model kits

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From childhood into my 20's, I built military model kits, the old-fashioned glue-up stuff, which took enormous amounts of time and focus. I got burnt out on the tedium one had to persevere through to get the reward of "progress" on a project.

About 20 years ago, with the Western release of the Gundam Wing anime series, Bandai started really bringing their line of Gundam Plastic Models, or "Gunpla" to the West.

These kits are beautifully engineered, press-fit, no gluing, endlessly articulated, crammed with detail and features, usually for a very affordable price. Despite having literally hundreds of parts, and building up into very complex machines, the instructions are Lego-Set-Simple, allowing almost any skill level to access even the most detailed of the kits.

Bandai creates kits that are gorgeous if you build them straight out of the box, or a builder can dive into adding paint, weathering, decals and even third party parts to customize and personalize their builds.

Here are some of my completed kits...



This is the OG Grandpa Gundam from the first series, in 1/48th scale. Bandai calls this "MEGA SIZE", and it is pretty big, 14" tall. This is basically a OOB (Out Of Box) build, with panel lines and decals.







This is a Zaku, a ubiquitous Gundam opponent, in 1/60 scale, around 8" tall. This one has panel lines, decals and some subtle dry-brushing to pop the edges.





This is a 1/144 scale "Jesta" GM, about 6" tall, with panel lines and dry-brushing.





Here's a little in-joke vignette I did for a hobby shop contest.





These days, the term "Gunpla" refers to not just Gundam franchise kits, but applies to a myriad of kits from many manufacturers. Mostly still mecha-centric, Gunpla does include character and vehicle kits from all kinds of franchises, from One Piece to Star Wars to Dragon Ball.

Here are a couple of my Star Wars gunpla builds.









Anyone else enjoy building?