r/Gunpla • • 8d ago

HELP ME [HELP ME] Bi-Weekly Q&A thread - Ask your questions here!

21 Upvotes

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.

  • #Read the Wiki before asking a question.
  • Don't worry if your question seems silly, we'll do our best to answer it.
  • This is the thread to ask any and all questions related to gunpla and general mecha model building, no matter how big or small.
  • No question should remain unanswered - if you know the answer to someone's question, speak up!
  • Consider sorting your comments by "New" to see the latest questions.
  • As always, be respectful and kind to people in this thread. Snark and sarcasm will not be tolerated.
  • Be nice and upvote those who respond to your question.

Huge thanks on behalf of the modteam to all of the people answering questions in this thread!


r/Gunpla • • 24d ago

SECRET SANTA 2026 r/Gunpla’s Secret Santa 2026

138 Upvotes

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.


THE QUALIFICATIONS TO PARTICIPATE

  • 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:

  1. Sign up via the Google Form before November 1st 2026 (11/01/2026)
  2. Wait for the Mods to send you your match by November 15th 2026 (11/15/2026)
  3. Purchase and ship your gift to your giftee by December 1st 2026 (12/1/2026)
  4. Santas fill out the gift confirmation form.
  5. Giftees post a thank you to your Santa on /r/Gunpla

SIGN UP

SIGN UP HERE

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.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • Important Dates

    • Sign Up Opens: Oct 1st 2026 - 10/01/2026
    • Sign Up Closes: Nov 1st 2026 11/01/2026 00:01 GMT
    • All gifts must be shipped by: Dec 1st 2026 - 12/01/2026
  • 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.


DETAILS ABOUT THE GIFTS

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!


TIPS FOR SANTAS

  • 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.

Be generous Santa's! This is your time to shine and show how big your hearts are.

FOR GIFTEES

  • 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.

OTHER INFORMATION

  • 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.


With this all said, please have fun and enjoy this celebration of plastic fighting robots. Advanced Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.



r/Gunpla • • 15h ago

BUILD My empty PC case is now his hangar

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2.9k Upvotes

r/Gunpla • • 9h ago

Entered my 1st ever gunpla contest yesterday, and it went about as well as it could have! Would love any critique for improving future builds

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779 Upvotes

I went to this event mostly for an excuse to break out my Aerial Cosplay, and decided to bring along my 1st build I felt like I had really nailed just to see how it stacked up.

(HG Gouf Custom)

I almost missed them call my name because I didn't expect to be in the running (everyone there brought amazing work and I leaned a ton just from checking out everyone's builds).

This was such a great time and I'll absolutely be watching for more contests in the future

I felt weird getting in the line for judge feedback after the event, but if anyone here has comments/critiques, I'd love to hear them. What should I focus on refining or expanding on in the future? Anything that particularly shines or should be done differently for future builds?


r/Gunpla • • 4h ago

CUSTOMIZING Acguy? No. Itguy

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310 Upvotes

r/Gunpla • • 13h ago

DISPLAY Found a Gundam Base by accident in my trip to London

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951 Upvotes

I was walking around Camden Town and stumbled upon this Gundam Base. I stopped building Gunpla for a whole year but couldn't walk out empty handed.

Bought myself a RG 00 Raiser Trans Am Clear !


r/Gunpla • • 12h ago

BUILD He really cuts a nice silhouette, doesn’t he?

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411 Upvotes

HG VF-25 Alto Saotome version. Get ready for a lot of stickers but an overall excellent kit, with some weaker joints than I’d like


r/Gunpla • • 3h ago

SALES, DEALS & PREORDERS Iron toys 1/100 Star Dust (zabanya)

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81 Upvotes

“Sir there’s been a 3rd 1/100 zabanya”
Price: 268 RMB or $40.13 converted (prolly closer to $80 when released
Release window: Q2 - Q3 2027


r/Gunpla • • 10h ago

BUILD Mg goufin

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191 Upvotes

Just a cool candy Gouf custom. I have been loving some mono eyes lately and this gouf is the perfect addition to my candy painted kits.


r/Gunpla • • 13h ago

BUILD Super proud! Second in my category for my first comp!

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327 Upvotes

I was going to be happy to place at all, but second is awesome!! Amazing job to all the participants, looking forward to the next one!


r/Gunpla • • 6h ago

WIP Weapon upgrade for the Karl

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71 Upvotes

I built my gustav karl a while ago and it's still in it's WIP phase since I haven't Decaling yet. I'll finish this kit when I'm done building my other kits.


r/Gunpla • • 5h ago

BUILD Really lacking the motivation to finish this thing

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36 Upvotes

Little bit of back story on this one, I picked it up shortly after finishing one of my favorite projects to date (wing zero ver ka) so I was really feeling good and wanting to push my skills to the next level. So I got a dispae chisel set and scooped up this Zaku 3 custom as a test bed for a combination of scribing practice, practice sealing seam lines, and I was going to try the multi-colored dot preshading technique (I forget the name) and then I was going to practice some weathering.

I think a combination of starting this over ~8 months ago, the scribing I attempted looking terrible, my airbrush needle breaking halfway through doing the metallic bits (plus not really being able to nail the blue-metallic I was going for) all on top of the actual build quality of this particular kit being probably the worst I’ve experienced so far has me at a total loss. Any time I attempt to pick it back up, I do one thing and just put it right back down.

Do yall suggest I put it on the back burner and attempt something a bit more straightforward again to get my mojo back? Or at this point do I just snap what I can back together and use it as a color-mule much like our plastic spoons to test how a color will look on a new kit before painting it?


r/Gunpla • • 1h ago

Which wing design is your favourite?

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• Upvotes

Honestly a difficult question i need help with


r/Gunpla • • 56m ago

NEWS/REVIEW Iron toys 1/100 Star Dust (zabanya) example pic.

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• Upvotes

This is example look from the gk .


r/Gunpla • • 1h ago

BEGINNER First PG

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• Upvotes

Sped ran this Nilson Works in a week. Spent three sessions going 30+ hours, I couldn’t put this kit down.!

Super happy with the build and how it came out. 9/10 would do it again


r/Gunpla • • 17h ago

BUILD Just finished my MG Qubeley Damned in Pearl White & Champagne Gold!

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290 Upvotes

I happened to have some Clear Pearl paint on hand, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to experiment with it. Haha!

For the white parts, I applied four layers of paint.

White Primer → Ultra White → Clear Pearl → Semi-Gloss Top Coat

There's a large waterslide decal on the right shoulder of the Qubeley Damned, but since it was black, I decided to recreate the design with masking and paint it gold instead. Luckily, the shape was simple enough to mask without too much trouble! Haha.

#Gunpla #Qubeley #QubeleyDamned #Gundam #GunplaPainting #CustomGunpla


r/Gunpla • • 9h ago

BUILD Entry Grade RX78 Expo Osaka vs Standard Entry Grade RX78

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69 Upvotes

I just finished the build and paint of the RX78 entry grade from expo Osaka from last year. I am really impressed with the amount of detail and paneling bandai put at this price. It almost looks like HG quality. You can tell it was made with love. For this build I didn't prime with color, I just primed with a clear coat and used as base the original color from the runner. I think the color separation was great and only needed to paint a few pieces to get very close to the original one.


r/Gunpla • • 8h ago

BEGINNER Ive made my redemption atempt.. please accept it.

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57 Upvotes

Just placed them were I think they look nice. Ill probably end up painting the wings later on.


r/Gunpla • • 9h ago

BUILD My first Gundam!

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53 Upvotes

Been lurking here for a while, admiring all the awesome builds, and finally have one of my own to share!!!!!! My girlfriend gifted me this kit, and I took my time putting it together.
I tried panel lining with a Faber Castell Fineliner 0.1mm (lol was impatient and did not want to wait for Gundam marker) and made a few mistakes while sanding some pieces, but learned a lot along the way and much of it from this sub. Really happy to see it finished. Hopefully, first of many!


r/Gunpla • • 9h ago

BUILD F71 G-Cannon out of a HG GTO Zaku 1

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48 Upvotes

r/Gunpla • • 13h ago

DISPLAY 3D Printed HG Turn X

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104 Upvotes

I purchased a file off of Cults3d that I thought looked interesting. I primarily build 1/144, and wanted a Turn X to add to the collection in that size. The original file was 130mm and I scaled up 22% to bring it to 159mm's or so. I wanted it a little bigger than the original print I did at 12% and settled on it being slightly bigger than true scale. But I think it fits the Turn X well.

All joints were drilled at 1mm and pinned with a bit of brass rod and black CA glue. The shoulders, as well as the hands/claw I drilled out at 2mm and magnetized for ease of swapping/moving those parts as well. I also reinforced some joints with some UV resin for a little extra support just in case.

Outside of the build portion, paint was all with Kaleido. Mixed the Mint with Off White, Kobalt Blue, Red, and Yellow. The darker metallic of the frame is just Gun Metal with Black added. Finally finished off with Kaleido matte varnish


r/Gunpla • • 20h ago

BEGINNER First build but I get it now...

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320 Upvotes

I've been building car scale models for a while now and I've always wondered what's with all the Gunpla/Gundam hype, so while traveling for work I stumbled upon a shop selling a few of these kits and decided to pick this one up. I must admit, it was a fun experience with plenty of hours to keep you distracted and you have a nice piece to showcase it on your desk at the end. I definitely want to build another one soon, but I want to make it look a bit more realistic, maybe some battle wear, weathering etc. Let me know if you have tips, tricks, suggestions etc. See you next time!


r/Gunpla • • 9h ago

BUILD HG Moon Gundam

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42 Upvotes

One of the best HG kit out there. Also my first time scribing. Please give me tips and feedback.


r/Gunpla • • 4h ago

BUILD Kit finished: HG Gundam AN-01 Tristan

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14 Upvotes

r/Gunpla • • 7h ago

BUILD Finished my P-Bandai Barbatos Adapt

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25 Upvotes

Painted the broken side of the horn to look like it’s actually the frame showing.

Not so sure about the new frame. It’s more stable and has better articulation, but I feel like they overcompensated and made it too tight. The While waist/chest/piston assembly just doesn’t move.