HOME | DD
Pyramidcat β Garage Kit Tutorial
Published: 2012-03-11 19:05:01 +0000 UTC; Views: 23258; Favourites: 216; Downloads: 378
Redirect to original
Description
Here is my third attempt at a complete garage kit building tutorial. I got many comments that my previous Gk tutorials were unclear for beginners and looking back on them I completely agree ^_^Most images are from my previous WIPs but the wording and format is entirely new. I used many different kits for examples and spaced out the steps for easier readable.
Related content
Comments: 36
Thank you so very much for your tutorial! I am just starting to enter the garage kit hobby. This has been very helpful!
π: 0 β©: 0
hello, so it's possible to paint with brush, thank you.
Any paint is usuable ?Β i use cital paint from Game workshop, i was wondering if it's good or should i change and another ? thanks in advance.
π: 0 β©: 0
this is kind of a dumb question but can you just glue the pieces together instead of pinning them? also are there any other ways to paint a gk without an airbrush but still have it be smooth?
π: 0 β©: 1
It is not a dumb question at all! Yes you can just glue the parts together without pinning, but it depends how well the parts are keyed and how heavy they are. So for example, on a sailor moon kit, you probably want to place a pin when gluing the head and hair together on Sailor Mars, since the hair will be very heavy. But on Sailor Mercury, a pin is probably not necessary since her hair is much shorter, and much lighter.
I've been using oils paints on my kits for over 5 years now. I'm still improving using them, but I'm happy with the finish I'm getting without having to airbrush.
Β
π: 0 β©: 0
abit late, but NOT ONE in the community in "The clubhouse" has helped me until I found this on google..
so far I DID sand ALOT OF areas to smooth them but I didn't primer them and ended with a difrent result!..
So now I know I need to add primer on the figure!....which is something I didn't know (THIS IS ME BEING A FIRST TIME LEARNING stuff)..
so since i made a mistake... what is advise to remove water based acryclic? i was thinking of using thinner but my dad said it will damaged it! so is rubbing alchol better?...or 409?....
Example of my screw up::: (its water based acrylic and im using an airbrush to do this)
www.facebook.com/hachimitsu.usβ¦
π: 0 β©: 1
I use Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer to strip paint off my kits.
If you can soak it in a container big enough for a few hours, the paint will loosen from the resin on its own. then use an old brush to clean the part while still in the cleaner. then I use paper towel to wipe the residue off the kit. It works on all types of paint and will dissolve lacquer brush handles. the cleaner gets darker over time but still completely usable. So you can re-pour the cleaner back into the bottle and use it for next time (use a funnel ^_^)
If you dont have a container big enough, then you can use a large brush and brush it over one area at a time. Because the part is not soaking in the cleaner, you have to work more to dissolve the paint, but its still doable. Since it is water based acrylic, you can try using just dishwashing soap and a sponge first, but the brush cleaner method is less labor intensive.
π: 0 β©: 1
thank you so much, it actually helped alot!...
(used an old soft tooth brush so.it worked but only a handful of pigments are left in the figure but i already spray paint it with primer so things should be good! (i hope)
π: 0 β©: 0
Thanks for the tutorial. I'm considering trying a kit like this.
Toward the bottom you have that early and later attempt at doing the eyes. Is that on the same figure--just painted over?
π: 0 β©: 1
yeah its the same figure just repainted.
π: 0 β©: 1
Cool, thanks for the reply :3
π: 0 β©: 0
I love you!Β Β
Thank you so much for this tutorial!
π: 0 β©: 0
Nice tutorial, will definitely give this a try! It'll be my first time creating a figure for my boyfriend's coming birthday. 
π: 0 β©: 1
Hi, sorry for the late reply!! I think Vallejo Model color paints are the best for hand painting, but they need to be thinned to get a good result too. I use a few drops of their brand thinner plus a few drops of water and apply a few coats for good coverage.
π: 0 β©: 1
It's all good, thank you for getting back in touch with me! I'll give that a try then, since so far I've only painted primer on my figure. Thank you so much again!
π: 0 β©: 0
Do you by any chance have a pinning tutorial or know of a good one? I've tried it, but I can never make the pieces line up after applying the pin. I guess I'm not drilling the holes straight, but I don't know how to solve that.
π: 0 β©: 1
Are you drilling by hand or electric? Itβs easier to get smaller straighter holes with an electric, but as the holes are smaller, you have to be exact with the pin placement.
When I use a hand drill, the holes tend to be a lot larger and the pin is not as snug because I cannot hold the part as steady and drill at the same time. But the pin will still fit if I am slightly off with the alignment. I use putty after to tighten the pin.
You can try placing a short pin with paint on the tip and match it up to the other part. In this way, the paint will go on the other part where the pin should be and you know where to drill.
Pinning is definitely difficult to get the hang of. Sometimes I had to drill around 5 holes to find a set that aligned.
π: 0 β©: 1
I drill by hand. I should probably invest in something electric 
I've tried paint on the pin. It's the actual hole that I can never seem to drill properly. It might be in the right place, but I can never get it in the right direction. Thank god though that I'm not just being silly and missing some obvious technique.
π: 0 β©: 0
Hello, first of all I wanted to say this tutorial is gonna help me a lot with the next garage kit Ill buy. (I only have one, was hand painted, and, although the results aren't too bad, they could be a lot better.) Right now I'm thinking of investing in an airbrush kit, and I had a small request. Would you mind helping me select the material I need for it? Going to a shop and ask about the 3-4 compressor models they have is one thing, but if possible Id like to ask someone with some experience with them to help me make my choices. (I found some kits on ebay compressor/brush/+a few tools that made the purchase a lot more affordable compared to those at the art shop. If possible I would like your opinion on the models I saw and maybe know what are the pros and cons to pick a type over an other.)
π: 0 β©: 1
Hello, sorry for my late reply. But actually I donβt think I could have helped you too much, since I donβt really airbrush anymore ^_^;
I used an Iwata siphon/bottom feed type, since I liked to have a large portion of paint mixed and could have saved the mixed color for later. But many other artists seemed to favor the gravity feed. You would want a dual action internal mix to get the best shading results. But if you already bought another type itβs not so bad because you can learn how to use the airbrush first and then get a better model down the road.
For compressors I really didnβt have any good tips of what is the best. The cheaper ones are extremely loud. But the really quiet ones are super expensive. I had a Silentaire Scorpion but I considered it noisy. I wanted to get the SilentAire Super Silent 20-A Compressor but never got around to it because itβs about $500 T_T
π: 0 β©: 0
Awesome tutorial. The tip of using gesso as a primer is good because I live in a small apartment ( for now) and if I use the spray one the smells takes time to go away and itΒ΄s an hazard for the lungs. To matte the gesso you use matte gel right? I`ve found from another brand.
π: 0 β©: 1
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!
I thin gesso with water, but on the Liquitex website, they recommend to use matte medium also if you are thinning the gesso beyond 25%.
At least from Liquitex, "matte gel" and "matte medium" are too different things. The "medium" is very thin and liquidity, I think the "gel" is much more thick. But from another brand it might be different.
π: 0 β©: 0
this actually help me with something i was missing on a zoid model i was working on that wouldn't hold paint i never thought to wash the parts first
π: 0 β©: 1
Glad it helped! I actually did not wash my first kits either ^_^
π: 0 β©: 1
its so obvious too i tried like 10 types of primer to get it the paint to work but it always had problems too
π: 0 β©: 0
Why is the bootleg recast smaller than the original? Does that mean that the master sculpt is bigger then the "original" casted version? Does the size change a lot when you make a mold and cast something?
thank you : )
π: 0 β©: 1
Thatβs a great question and I hope I can answer it for you ^_^
Usually there is not noticeable shrinkage from master sculpt to first generation casts when using pourable silicone molds. Quality of casts depends on casting materials used. Some molds might shrink a lot as they cure, and some mold materials might not get a good impression of the master.
I think the case of the size difference in the recast above just had to do with it being a copy of a copy 10 times over kinda thing. A first or 2nd generation recast will look much more like the original cast in size.
If you are familiar with old VHS tapes or Xerox copies, the same concepts can be applied to casting. If you were to print a copy of something and then copy it again, and so on, the quality will start to drop. Copy it so much and you will not be able to read the words on the paper anymore.
π: 0 β©: 1
Ahh thank you that did help me a lot, I just started freaking out thinking if I had to make my figure bigger so that it would come out the size I wanted to in recasting. Haha shrinkage makes sense (Why didn't I think of that lol).
Thank you for your reply and your tut was very informative too, it's nice to know people are willing to share their tips and secrets to noobies like me. Thank you : )
π: 0 β©: 1
You're welcome, glad I could help ^_^
π: 0 β©: 0
Fantastic tutorial! I've always wondered how to properly assemble a garage kit. This was very helpful in making my own figurines too. Thank you!
π: 0 β©: 1
Thanks so much! I hope it will be really helpful, good luck on your figures ^_^
π: 0 β©: 0
Very halpful and awesomely prepared tutorial ^_^ Thanks a lot
π: 0 β©: 1
You're welcome, thanks for looking ^_^
π: 0 β©: 0
Great techniques and steps here!! Definitely keeping this in my arsenal!!
π: 0 β©: 1
Thanks for comments, I hope it helps ^_^
π: 0 β©: 1
You're welcome!! it really does! I'm unfamiliar with how to build alot of these, so these kind of tutorials help me out in what to do 
π: 0 β©: 0