Bloody excellent guide. I've been wanting to do a Origins style Garma's Zaku for a while now, but a lack of budget in purchasing a replacement in case experimentation with being able to remove the arm joint for painting kept me from trying. This method should make the project much easier. Thanks!
You gotta figure, what's the worst-case scenario if the joint mod didn't work? You'd wind up with an elbow joint that wouldn't stay put in the forearm, I guess. It wouldn't be that serious of a problem, after painting you could secure the joint into the forearm with epoxy or super glue + talc. I think sometimes it's very helpful to keep the mindset that almost anything that might go wrong can be fixed. That kind of approach can get you in trouble sometimes but rarely in a way that can't be corrected.
True. The worst case scenario would basically be buying a new kit to steal joint parts from, though I guess practically nobody would be clumsy enough to mess up that badly. BTW, are you Tetsujin from scope-eye.net?
I really like how you broke this down into sections, showed us how to solve the joints and all your good advice on how not to over remove etc... and even demo the scribing parts. I'm just wondering, bc it makes sense to me initially: can't I just paint those internal joints like the elbow etc BEFORE assembling it into the forearm (where it gets locked)? That way they're already painted when they go in, before I remove the seam lines of the forearm? I'm not a pro and maybe there's a few good reasons why not to do that. Please lmk what risks happen if I go that way?
This is pretty much what I had to do with my contest Zaku earlier this year. Only thing I did different was keep that forearm tab with the elbow frame part so I could use it to "lock" that frame piece in with the forearm part.
9:58 - I've done a similar mod, but actually retaining enough of the peg socket to create a joint that I can snap into the arm, and still pull free when I need to. (A more complete "C" joint, basically) It does encroach onto the forearm mount a bit, but that's not a serious problem: enough of the rectangular peg remains to support the parts that will attach - and nothing I attach there is going to be particularly demanding either. (Usually it's just another part of the forearm, and it gets glued on anyway. In the case of the C5 it's the gunpod, but that's small enough that it doesn't put a lot of load on the peg... and, again, it can be glued on.)
I think hallowing out the arm and leaving the joint system whole would have been a better move. The hand being in place and the part on the back of the arm that plugs into the frame that you pointed out would have been plenty to keep the forearm armor in place when assembled. I think having the armor hollowed out like a sleeve would have been less work. I'm concerned that the separated elbow would cause issues with stability or gluing it back in place might accidentally mess with the paint or the articulation. I need some of them chisels. Do you have a recommended brand?
Yep, that would have worked as well. But a drop of glue on this will hold it perfectly fine and won’t bother the paint or articulation. I don’t really paint with articulation in mind much to be honest because moving a painted kit around a bunch will just lead to scratches- which I hate! Check out them MadWorks chisels!
I was gonna do that originally. The inner frame won't fit the armor without cutting off a significant amout of the part where the hands plug in. Well, at least thats what happend with my zaku 2 the origin.
Nah, I've done this mod on the forearm a few times now and it is dead-simple. Hollowing out the forearm could work but I think it'd be more effort. ...And this mod can be done in a way that lets the elbow joint _snap_ in, too.
Just curious, you could, paint the join first, then assemble the armor and mask the joint before painting the armor - tis really very easy. I have a feeling OP really likes cutting plastics because that is always his first go to method. :P
Yeah haha I thought about that too. Its probably just so you won't need to touch up in case there's a break in the masking. You can't really tell until you remove the tape. Well, I can't at least.
Yeah it does tend to be sort of a knee-jerk reaction among Gundam modelers. Like "Hey this is a different color, is there any way I can separate it so I don't have to mask it?" The upshot is that on these simple Gundam designs it does tend to be pretty easy to separate things.
I can understand the arm modification, but the shoulder mod perplexes me. I understand the C-Joint mod, but why not just mask the grey brick then glue?
I saw an alternate, and somewhat better in terms of amount of work, method of gluing the seamlines that would work well for this arm. It's been a few years and can't remember who did the video (I want to say it was vegeta8259). In short, instead of gluing with glue, you use solvent-based putty (or it could have been some of the extra-thin cement with sprue plastic mixed in), and immediately use a qtip with (something - paint thinner?) to get rid of the excess that comes out of the gap. Makes it so you don't have to rescribe the panel lines. I'll try to find the video later today and link it.
I cut them into thin strips, dip them in cement and then stick them to the edges of the seam before pressing the parts together. This usually works and there is less clean up sanding than applying them on the surface of the seam. Unless it is a really huge seam.
Every time I try to apply extra thin cement with both parts separated, the glue drys out, the only way I got it to work is to join the two pieces together with a small gap and then apply the cement. How do you deal with the quick dry time?
yep, just be generous with the glue. another thing you can do, and I sometimes do, is to put the parts together and just leave a tiny gap between- big enough for the glue brush to fit in. Apply the glue that way so that the parts are already almost touching anyway, and once the glue is in you just press it together quickly!
Hey zaku, do you think bandai will make a flauros/ryusei go Non grade? Wonder if u could shows us how to customize the NG graze kai to the ryusei go I.
Hi zaku, I broke my gundam converge unicorn v fin, i use plastic cement but it still breaks off, probably because G converges are not plastic. What would you do to fix it? 😢
I noticed when attempting to removed the seam lines on my HG Leo, There seems to a be some discoloration from where I applied my cement. I sanded the area to be smooth but the discoloration is pretty visible. Would that be something I need to paint over? What technique can I follow to ensure it doesn't happen to future kits?
That elbow joint is way too lose for my taste. I build MG exclusively and most of the 2005+ kits are easy to weld but some of the older kits have really bad ones like the GP02 blue semi circle in its wings/thrusters. I will probably paint the whole piece, put the blue parts, carefully weld/putty then mask and paint the blue.
Theres another mod for the forearm done by DZ Maven here th-cam.com/video/vxsJjAYOeB0/w-d-xo.html (I think he was featured in your Custom Zaku Winners Video) that I think works slightly better. The eiffel tower shaped piece that snaps on the outer edge of the forearm locks the the inner frame in place so you could cut the peg out and cut the frame down lower instead of at the hole. And yeah those panel lines right in the seam are tough to fix => instagram.com/p/BcFxKfUhQ5R/ As for the shoulder, I did pretty much the same thing except I squared off two sides of the shaft on the shoulder so the connector would "key" in at a specific angle. I like your idea too, I have another Origin Zaku I (of course!!) so I will try it with that one.
Kept you waiting huh? You're pretty good...
I really like the these videos, because they show me how to approach a problem and how much removal of plastic is ok.
yeah! You're really only concerned with preserving the outside so that means the inside if free to tear up as needed!
Couldn’t you paint the joint first then put it back after then remove the seam?
Bloody excellent guide.
I've been wanting to do a Origins style Garma's Zaku for a while now, but a lack of budget in purchasing a replacement in case experimentation with being able to remove the arm joint for painting kept me from trying.
This method should make the project much easier. Thanks!
Yaoyao9 Well, well- a small Gunpla world! I'm "Dean" from the FB group, btw lol!
You gotta figure, what's the worst-case scenario if the joint mod didn't work?
You'd wind up with an elbow joint that wouldn't stay put in the forearm, I guess. It wouldn't be that serious of a problem, after painting you could secure the joint into the forearm with epoxy or super glue + talc.
I think sometimes it's very helpful to keep the mindset that almost anything that might go wrong can be fixed. That kind of approach can get you in trouble sometimes but rarely in a way that can't be corrected.
True. The worst case scenario would basically be buying a new kit to steal joint parts from, though I guess practically nobody would be clumsy enough to mess up that badly.
BTW, are you Tetsujin from scope-eye.net?
Perfect timing for the vid. Recently ordered a Zaku 2 type c because of your review and now i can fix the seems!
Great timing, I am snapping an Origin Zaku I now and will definitely be using this guide.
there's other ways you could go about it of course but this way worked for me!
Just paint the inside parts then just a little masking would be way easier than cutting parts off and you still could remove seam lines
I don’t like masking and honestly this takes about the same amount of time and don’t have to worry about messing up the masking at all
I really like how you broke this down into sections, showed us how to solve the joints and all your good advice on how not to over remove etc... and even demo the scribing parts.
I'm just wondering, bc it makes sense to me initially: can't I just paint those internal joints like the elbow etc BEFORE assembling it into the forearm (where it gets locked)? That way they're already painted when they go in, before I remove the seam lines of the forearm? I'm not a pro and maybe there's a few good reasons why not to do that. Please lmk what risks happen if I go that way?
This is pretty much what I had to do with my contest Zaku earlier this year. Only thing I did different was keep that forearm tab with the elbow frame part so I could use it to "lock" that frame piece in with the forearm part.
ah yeah! your build was definitely one of the best!
9:58 - I've done a similar mod, but actually retaining enough of the peg socket to create a joint that I can snap into the arm, and still pull free when I need to. (A more complete "C" joint, basically)
It does encroach onto the forearm mount a bit, but that's not a serious problem: enough of the rectangular peg remains to support the parts that will attach - and nothing I attach there is going to be particularly demanding either. (Usually it's just another part of the forearm, and it gets glued on anyway. In the case of the C5 it's the gunpod, but that's small enough that it doesn't put a lot of load on the peg... and, again, it can be glued on.)
yeah I could have sliced that a little farther to the front and I would end up probably not needing glue at all! either way, it'll work!
Very useful video Zach. Keep up the good work.
With my sleepdrunken eyes this thumpnail looked like a robot arm grew out of Gyanko's butt
TheCludo it really does.
hmmm
perfect timing with this, i just got an origin zaku ii
Cool quick fix!!! Thanks for the tips!
Love your tutorial ^ ^ but can you do a zaku sniper type head seamline removal video? many thanks
Are we can use we sandpaper to remove seamline?
what?
Nice. This zaku will be ma first zaku. Glad you made this vid.
What about the legs? Same process?
Thanks for the quick fix tips. 😁
I think hallowing out the arm and leaving the joint system whole would have been a better move. The hand being in place and the part on the back of the arm that plugs into the frame that you pointed out would have been plenty to keep the forearm armor in place when assembled. I think having the armor hollowed out like a sleeve would have been less work. I'm concerned that the separated elbow would cause issues with stability or gluing it back in place might accidentally mess with the paint or the articulation.
I need some of them chisels. Do you have a recommended brand?
The elbow joint is fine after painting. I just finished a build on the Origin high mobility type, using these exact forearm mods.
Yep, that would have worked as well. But a drop of glue on this will hold it perfectly fine and won’t bother the paint or articulation. I don’t really paint with articulation in mind much to be honest because moving a painted kit around a bunch will just lead to scratches- which I hate! Check out them MadWorks chisels!
Doesn't look like you'd be able to pull it out without cutting that peg that sticks out on the back of the forearm if you hollowed it out.
I was gonna do that originally. The inner frame won't fit the armor without cutting off a significant amout of the part where the hands plug in. Well, at least thats what happend with my zaku 2 the origin.
Nah, I've done this mod on the forearm a few times now and it is dead-simple. Hollowing out the forearm could work but I think it'd be more effort.
...And this mod can be done in a way that lets the elbow joint _snap_ in, too.
was that a metal gear reference ? god i love you.
hah, I aim to please
really informative stuff, I'm learning a lot from your vids about gunpla!
glad to hear it!
Just curious, you could, paint the join first, then assemble the armor and mask the joint before painting the armor - tis really very easy. I have a feeling OP really likes cutting plastics because that is always his first go to method. :P
Yeah haha I thought about that too. Its probably just so you won't need to touch up in case there's a break in the masking. You can't really tell until you remove the tape. Well, I can't at least.
Blue tack helps :). I usually put some blue tack on edges of the tape. Sometimes I mask before putting the armor on too.
Yeah it does tend to be sort of a knee-jerk reaction among Gundam modelers. Like "Hey this is a different color, is there any way I can separate it so I don't have to mask it?"
The upshot is that on these simple Gundam designs it does tend to be pretty easy to separate things.
I can understand the arm modification, but the shoulder mod perplexes me. I understand the C-Joint mod, but why not just mask the grey brick then glue?
I can't be bothered masking if there's a simple way to avoid it! lol
I saw an alternate, and somewhat better in terms of amount of work, method of gluing the seamlines that would work well for this arm. It's been a few years and can't remember who did the video (I want to say it was vegeta8259). In short, instead of gluing with glue, you use solvent-based putty (or it could have been some of the extra-thin cement with sprue plastic mixed in), and immediately use a qtip with (something - paint thinner?) to get rid of the excess that comes out of the gap. Makes it so you don't have to rescribe the panel lines. I'll try to find the video later today and link it.
probably extra thin with some sprue bits. if you search "sprure glue" you can probably find a tutorial for it.
the kycilia's forces kits are literally impossible to find nowadays, any pointers?
Japanese site like Mandarake or Amiami?
Is it okay if i use this method with Tamiya Cement? (non extra thin)
Yep!
One trick is to cut up the left over runners and dissolve them in extra thin cement to make PS slurry for seam filling, plus the colors will match.
I cut them into thin strips, dip them in cement and then stick them to the edges of the seam before pressing the parts together. This usually works and there is less clean up sanding than applying them on the surface of the seam. Unless it is a really huge seam.
I like the Boss Ross style background music.
haha, Boss Ross
You must have stock in band aids the way you hold that knife...
at several times you can see the knife go over the same section on this thumb that he's cut over and over again lol
Every time I try to apply extra thin cement with both parts separated, the glue drys out, the only way I got it to work is to join the two pieces together with a small gap and then apply the cement. How do you deal with the quick dry time?
Apply more, until you have enough that it stays put for a bit. But mostly, like you said, join the pieces with a gap and apply cement into the gap.
yep, just be generous with the glue. another thing you can do, and I sometimes do, is to put the parts together and just leave a tiny gap between- big enough for the glue brush to fit in. Apply the glue that way so that the parts are already almost touching anyway, and once the glue is in you just press it together quickly!
Hey what do i do if i cant get tamiya cement in my country as it is really damn expensive
how bad is it to use a hobby knife to scribe?
Did you also remove the seam on the lower leg?
not yet, will do another video on that in the future
ZakuAurelius alright thanks very much
What about zaku II leg?
Hey zaku, do you think bandai will make a flauros/ryusei go Non grade? Wonder if u could shows us how to customize the NG graze kai to the ryusei go I.
I'm pretty positive they will not! Sorry to say
Hi Zack! Do you by any chance know the difference betweek extra thin cement and limonene thin cement?
Jeffrey Alca off hand, no. I’d have to check.
ZakuAurelius thanks!
AFAIK, the limonene is citrus based and is non-toxic. The extra thin cement is solvent based and has a strong thinner smell.
Hi zaku,
I broke my gundam converge unicorn v fin, i use plastic cement but it still breaks off, probably because G converges are not plastic.
What would you do to fix it? 😢
Maybe u could try that again but let it dry for a day.. Or use superglue
Thank you for this!!
great tip, thankya
I noticed when attempting to removed the seam lines on my HG Leo, There seems to a be some discoloration from where
I applied my cement. I sanded the area to be smooth but the discoloration is pretty visible. Would that be something I need to paint over? What technique can I follow to ensure it doesn't happen to future kits?
paint it
Are you done with the Tristan
yep! 100% done!
What do you know about Zaku I!?
ummm?
is that a Metal Gear reference lol
MoChan.Official Metal Gundam Solid starring Big Boss Venom Zach.
Also is that Bob Ross’ theme song playing at the back?
paie85 Oh hey Big Boss!
please make video how to extend waist on barbatos lupus rex 1/100 pleaseeee:D
Check out wotafa video about that, he did a tutorial on how to extend the waist on the 1/100 IBO gundam frame.
That elbow joint is way too lose for my taste. I build MG exclusively and most of the 2005+ kits are easy to weld but some of the older kits have really bad ones like the GP02 blue semi circle in its wings/thrusters. I will probably paint the whole piece, put the blue parts, carefully weld/putty then mask and paint the blue.
Theres another mod for the forearm done by DZ Maven here th-cam.com/video/vxsJjAYOeB0/w-d-xo.html (I think he was featured in your Custom Zaku Winners Video) that I think works slightly better. The eiffel tower shaped piece that snaps on the outer edge of the forearm locks the the inner frame in place so you could cut the peg out and cut the frame down lower instead of at the hole. And yeah those panel lines right in the seam are tough to fix => instagram.com/p/BcFxKfUhQ5R/
As for the shoulder, I did pretty much the same thing except I squared off two sides of the shaft on the shoulder so the connector would "key" in at a specific angle. I like your idea too, I have another Origin Zaku I (of course!!) so I will try it with that one.
Thanks for noticing! :) Hope my method helped.
It worked 100% thanks!
You're pretty good
I thought this was
extinct
Tristan please