From: coco@whitebase.ukp.com (Michael Pepe)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: A beginner's guide to building garage kits
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 14:34:30 EST
Organization: UKP Systems, Middletown, NJ

 A beginner's guide to building garage kits
 
 
 I've just recently finished building my first three resin garage kits. I'd
 like to share my experiences and help others who have been hesitiant to 
 drop $100 for something that only stands 10 inches tall. If you want to
 learn more, read on.
 
  
 
 Firstly, this document only covers resin character figure kits. I have yet
 to build a vinyl or mecha kit. If and when the time comes, I'll add those
 to this posting.
 
 
 What exactly are these "garage kits" anyway? Simply put, they are scale
 models of your favorite anime characters. The are constructed using a resin
 casting process, using (I believe) silicone molds. The process itself is 
 expensive, and the molds have a limited lifespan. That's why these things
 cost so much. They are very often hand-made by individual hobby shops. 
 The law of supply and demand work well here. If you want a certain 
character,
 you have to pay the price.
 
 You should be a competent scale modeler before you attempt working on these
 kits. If you can put together and paint model planes, cars, or ships you
 should have very little problem adapting to the unique challenge of these
  models. Keep in mind that character kits have by far many times fewer 
parts
 than your average 1/48 scale airplane. The most I've seen so far is 7 
parts.
 (head, 2 arms, 2 legs, torso, and a clothing piece) 
 
 Go ahead and order yourself a model. Open the box and carefully inspect the
 parts. Stick them together and get a feel for how it goes together. Note 
 which pieces fit together well and which ones do not. Take a look at the 
 instructions given with the kit. If you can read Japanese, you've got a 
 distinct advantage. 
 
 Gather together all the materials you need to start working on the kit.
 Here's a suggested list:
 
  -emery board (yeah, the thing used to sand fingernails)
  -fine and very fine wet/dry sandpaper                  
 
  -tiny paintbrushes. GOOD ones. Sable or camelhair. Cheap brushes will
        give you poor results. expect to spend $5 a piece on brushes.
 
  -5 minute epoxy. This is the only thing I could think of that adheres to
        this stuff.
 
  -paints. Any good model enamel should work fine. However, I used Tamiya
        acrylic model enamel for the first time on this project and I won't
        use anything else. Make a list of the colors you will need. Avoid
        mixing your own colors. Trust me, you'll never get it right again!
 
  -a base to mount your model on. Wood or plastic bases work well. Although
        your model will probably stand on its own, you don't want it 
falling!
 
 Start off by noting where the mold flash and rough spots are on your 
model's
 pieces. Sand off big areas with the emery board. When you get down close to
  the countour you want, use the fine sandpaper. Sand off the seam with fine
 sandpaper. Be careful not to sand too much. Don't hold the parts too 
tightly
 as resin is somewhat brittle. If you have to remove excess material from a
  recessed area, use a needle or a jeweler's screwdriver. Now is the time to
  clean up the mounting surfaces. Enlarge holes and seams where the pieces
 join if they don't seem to fit together well. You can easily spend 2 to 3
 hours just on this clean-up phase alone. One word of caution though. Be 
careful
  around the face area. You don't want to accidentally sand off the nose or
  ears or something.
 
 When your kit is smooth and ready to go, wash off the model in a strong 
 solution of detergent and warm water. This will remove the mold release
 agent and your skin oils which are no doubt all over the model. I noticed
 a problem with areas that are recessed. For some reason the paints don't 
stick
 as well there as on the flat areas. I think the mold release agent never 
came
 off of those areas. If you have a kit wit many recessed areas, like spiked
 hair or something to that effect, try using a toothbrush to clean those
 areas. I hear a special solution exists to clean these models as well. 
 
 Now you are ready to paint. Be sure your hands are clean and oil free. 
Don't
 eat before you paint. Wash your hands well. Skin oils will cause the paint
  to not stick to the model. Paint with a strong light shining directly on
 the  work. Using a light like this will help you see spots you missed. 
Figure
 out  which color you're going to use the most of. Start with this color. 
Paint
  the pieces with a thin coat. Don't put it on real thick in hopes of 
getting
  even coverage; you won't. At least 2 coats will be necessary to make an 
even
  finish. Reds and yellows especially may need 4 or even 5 coats. Be sure 
you
  keep the paint wet when you are painting (don't put wet paint on areas 
that
  are semi-dry: you'll pull the paint off!) when your first coat is fully 
dry,
  put on the next. Do this until you've got the desired finish. Keep in mind
  that you should paint the inside and outside of the parts. You won't be 
able
  to get to some areas to touch up later. However, try and keep paint out of
  the centers of the mounting areas. Paint the edges by all means, but the
 glue  won't stick well to paint. If you get into big trouble, you can 
always
 wash  the parts under warm water and soap (if you used acrylic paint) and
 start over.
 
 One other note about major part painting. Move the piece around frequently
  and look at it from different angles. You'll no doubt see spots you missed
  this way.
 
 
 The face is by no doubt the most important part. Be extremely careful in 
that
  area. Keep hair color on the hair as much as possible. The same goes for
 the  skin color. Use a very small brush and a very steady hand. You'll no
 doubt be  going back and forth with hair and paint color. It's better to 
wait
 till it  dries fully and cover it with the right color than it is to try 
and
 wipe the  mistake off. 
 
 The eyes: here's the scariest part no doubt. Actually, it's not as hard as
 I  figured it to be. Paint the eyelashes first around the edges of the 
eyeball.
  Don't worry if you get a little bit of that color in the eyeball itself.
 When  the eyelash color dries, get the white out and paint the inside of 
the
  eyeball. Make sure the coat is even. When the white dries, load up a small
  brush with a little bit of the eye color. Too much may blob all over the
 rest  of the eye and cause a bit of a problem. Start in the eye center and
 make the  appropriate shape with a thin coat. When you get the shape you 
want,
 put on a  second coat. Obviously, try and keep the eyes pointed in the same
 direction  and the same shape and size. Skill is what you need here more 
than
 anything.  Add the highlights afterward very carefully. Don't make them too
 big.
 
 After your model's finish is done to satisfaction, you are ready to 
assemble
  it. I've found the best way is to put on one piece at a time. Trying to 
hold
  more than one is difficult. Mix up some epoxy and apply it to both sides
 of  the joint. Be careful not to do 3 things at this point. Don't trail a
 string  of epoxy onto your model's surface. DON'T get any on your fingers!
 And don't  put on so much it's going to ooze all over the place when you 
press
 the  pieces together. Attach the parts together. Any excess can be removed
 with a  toothpick at this point. Clamp the pieces with your fingers. You 
may
 want to  actually hold the model in a paper towel so you don't have to 
actually
 hold  the model itself. It's harder to press fingerprints into it that way.
 When  the epoxy stiffens up you can release the clamping force and place 
the
 model  on the work surface. (You can tell if you used something like a 
toothpick
  to mix the epoxy up. If you leave the toothpick in the excess epoxy, you
 can let go of the model when you can no longer pull the toothpick out of 
the
 excess epoxy) Continue this process until your kit is all together. Then,
  epoxy the model onto the base. If you want to have a colored or stained 
base,
  do that before you glue it on. Leave the mounting surfaces bare. Again, 
epoxy
  doesn't stick well to paint.
 
 Now you can do touch up painting on the model now that the pieces are 
joined.
  You may want to use model putty to fill in any seams left in the joining
  process. (and then repaint the area!)
 
 I recommend spraying the entire model with a flat finish clear material. Be
  careful that what you use is compatible with the paint you've painted the
  figure with. I sprayed one with Testor's Dullcote and it melted all the 
blue
  Tamiya paint on it. I'm not sure why only blue was affected, but be 
careful
  what you spray it with. You can use a brush-on clear gloss to make parts
  shiny that need to be. 
 
 Remember to try and handle the model by the base. Too much touching can 
take
  the paint off. 
 
 Well, that's about all you need to know to put together a resin kit. By no
  means is anything I've mentioned here law. Nothing can replace your own 
 experiance. Two final hints of advice. One: have someone's opinion on what
  you are doing. If someone else thinks what you've done looks bad, it 
probably
  could use some work. A second opinion is very helpful. They'll spot the 
 mistakes better than you would. Two: don't over-touch the model. 90% of the
  screwups you're going to make are efforts to make the model look better.
 When  you've finished, you're done. Don't overwork it.
 
 I hope you find this information useful. This is a very expensive and 
 interesting offshoot of anime fandom! 
 
(eek. sorry about the formatting!)

----------------------------------------------------------
  _      _         Mike Pepe - Design Consultant          
 / )| / (   Radical Vision Systems, Inc.: Manalapan, NJ   
/ \ |/ __)  If you can't do it with a 6809, dont bother' 
__________________________________________________________