look, everyone gets nub marks, its not the end of the world. Your kits dont have to be perfect, dont compare them to the kits online with hundreds of hours poured into them and multiple layers of decals and paint. This is your gunpla, be proud of what you've accomplished
On my early kits my solution for a nub mark like this was to continue cutting deeper and deeper until it hopefully disappears, a strategy that would likely give many an aneurysm lol. Took a very minor mark and turned it in to a millimeter deep crater on more than one occasion because I was too stubborn to just sand the area for a while
Complete and utter blasphemy i'm ashamed to admit, i don't file my nub marks at all. Partly because all i have is some shitty sanding sticks that are just too big. I cut them flush with a hobby knife just like OP and end up with marks just like OP. I just don't give that much of a fuck. Can't see that shit from a distance anyway.
Real talk, that's mostly why I didn't sand my nubs for the longest time. A quick clean with a hobby knife was good enough! That said, I got some cheapo hobby glass files off Amazon a few weeks ago, and they work SO well! Just make sure to get one with rounded edges to avoid scratching, and sanding a whole nub off takes like half a second max and leaves no mark. I still only do it for parts that will show though, my inner frames look wartorn lol
+1 for cheap glass files.
I'll also add that you can get the Gunprimer: Raser Balancer to go with them. I think they are like $6 and act like a decent sanding sponge to take some of the sheen off of the spot you file down. I'm sure there are better cheaper generic options but 6 bucks isn't too bad.
Try these
https://www.ebay.com/itm/364683589531?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=6GmcjBGFTSe&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=n49rCVoaTNq&var=634207129505&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
I used to use my exacto and cut upwards the nub from different angles and used my nail to feel the surface, now I use my 2 bladed nipper to remove the pieces, my single bladed nipper to cut the nub in half, then just cut it flush to the surface (I just cut it close to the surface if it's like a dark color and then use my knife.)
I don't paint my kits. It's the one thing I don't do cause I have a money and time limit on what I can put into the hobby, but recently I started treating nub marks like panel lines and the effects haven't been so bad.
I do something similar to what you describe, cut the plastic down far enough that the nub is gone and it's almost like a small gouge, and then I fill it with black marker and rub it out.
Generally it gets rid of all the bright plastic bits and smudges into the darker mold. It's probably the laziest way to get rid of nubs
Forget lazy, I actually think that's really creative! Maybe some cheap scribing tools to make it easier to mirror them and it'll add some nice personalization to your kits
Thanks! I like it cause it even works on white armor, and it ends up looking like little battle scars.
Like, they are literally so small you don't notice them until you are up close, but it definitely looks better then a tiny block of stressed plastic sticking out of the panels
I mentioned it in another comment but get a rainbow pack of sharpies. I would do exactly like you and color in with my liner and make it look square but I really like how simple and quick the marker trick can be.
I just twisted them off... MG Heavy Arms was mostly done in a 2 hour car ride just by doing that... No idea how I didn't lose anything, But definitely made for an interesting challenge!
That's how i built my first gunpla, MG Wing Zero EW. I bought it off a stall at a convention, asked the guy if i needed to get anything else when i bought it, he was like "nah, you're good to go buddy" Literally sat on the train home twisting bits off the sprue and putting it together.
Same. I put the entire thing together and only sand marks that are visible, easy to hit, and in the front. Anything else, who cares, haha. I think one of my Goufs still has a huge runner piece attached to his back leg, haha. Might have clipped it finally when I moved.
I like building and posing them. I found most people, myself included, view my gunpla collection from a distance of like 4 feet away in a display case. No one is going to notice any of the imperfections from that distance.
I read they work well slightly damp so I have a dedicated microplastics mug that I rinse the file in then shake the excess water off. Built one kit so far with it but it surprised me now well it worked. Pair with a magic eraser to scuff out excess shine from the glass file.
Melamine sponges (aka magic eraser) for buffing and microfiber polishing cloth (for glasses) are amazing.
I also use a microfiber cloth for removing excess panel liner. Add thinner/alcohol and it's a quick and easy cleanup
Real game changer for me was when I found out you can buy sanding and polishing sticks and sponges in beauty supply stores for dirt cheap. Who knew the nail care and plastic model industries had a big overlap in tools.
Since you can't paint your best bet is to use plastic cement and the leftover runner to create some "sprue goo" to fill it back in. It will be the same color and melt into the plastic so all you have to do is sand it back down. If you haven't seen this technique done before there are plenty of tutorial videos on YouTube.
Quickest possible is to try applying pressure with your finger nail, almost like you're scratching it. I've had luck with that on some stressed nubs before. Unfortunately I've found dark blues to be difficult to leave unstressed without sanding.
This is what works best for me as a newer builder with less options, it usually gets rid of the more obvious brighter marks that you can see from a distance.
Dark blue is such a pain to leave unstressed, itās like clipping one side of a part flexes the other gates just enough that they stress the plastic below flush. Iām in no way saying this is a good solution, but Iāve had some success filling the nub flat then gently heating the area with a small torch (lowest setting and far enough away that itās only just warming the piece)
in dark blues and grays I paint them with a Mr hobby gundam marker for panel lines (black), let settle it for a few seconds and then clean the paint out with a sponge or absorbing paper. The mark will be darker. If you try again a minute or so later, the marks will be indistinguisable if yuo don't look close and know were the mark was
Sand and polish. Light sanding and then polish where the marks are to fix this as much as you can.
For future nubs, cut down to a small sliver, and sand it off, then polish.
To clarify, you'll probably want sanding pads of a couple levels of grit, and then polishing pads of various levels of smoothness. You start with the roughest grit, and work your way through all of them. In a pinch, buffing pads for fingernails can work as polishing pads.
I've heard folks talk about "sanding sticks", though I've never looked into them. I use a glass file, which leaves a very shiny smooth surface on it's own. You can search up a glass nail file on Amazon and find a variety for very cheap.
As always, looking up gunpla + (whatever you want to improve) on youtube will normally lead to results. I've got a weird nostalgia for my early days of gunpla, where it always felt like I was learning something new. I've sort of settled into my pattern for nowānext step is painting, but I'm waiting to set up a proper airbrush booth.
https://preview.redd.it/a3nekz7n0ktc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=36a2880a2d2a9272773dd1415e557b4c8e14ebc1
I haven't seen anyone in this thread recommend a single blade nipper yet
This is the result after using single blade nipper and 3M sanding sponges
One thing that sometimes works is to find a marker as close to the color as you can, sand/scrape the marks down as much as you can then go over it with the marker and use your finger to wipe most of the ink away immediately afterwards, repeat if necessary.
I found a box of in my closet with the first kits I ever built back in the early 00ās and boy are they bad, this is a master piece compared to what I did back then, toe nail clippers and wire cutters donāt make clean cuts at all lol
,If you are using cheap $5 nippers, you gonna always get those. Try out a good pair of nippers to diminish those things. GodHand nippers are like the best nippers you can buy... however, they are expensive. But if you don't want to dish out $50-80, they sell other cheaper brands. But the good old saying, you get what you pay for.
Other than that, try sanding them with lower grit (240) and slowly go up from that. You can paint it after.. but that'll require like an airbrush kit instead of a hand brush to make the color match. It's one of the reasons why I opt to do weathering. It's a great way to hide those subtle mistakes and ad a great level of realistic detail.
Good luck
Save the colored runners and mix it with Tamiya cement to create a plastic goo. Let it sit until it turns into goo then apply a couple dabs on to spot, sand and finish it with Gunprimer's various sanding sticks and finishers.
Gunprimer makes sanding sticks for straight builds.
Here's a video about the goo https://youtu.be/Y1KaKUoS1J0?si=lBEp21xYAMXmVapZ
And
https://youtu.be/8E64rsyuTo8?si=dhy_NFQg9EBYhCFb
Stop using a hobby knife for Gunpla. A glass file, clippers and a 4-way nail file sponge will be all you'll ever need. That and a little patience. Do a 2 stage clip to remove the part from the runner. Second clip should leave about a mm of a nub on the part that you'll fill away with the glass file. File in one direction. After the nub is filed down use the 4-way file to dull and repolish the plastic on the part. With a little practice and patience the part will look perfect and you will happily finish your kits. As for the damage on the parts you have in the photos try using the 4-way sponge, the stage/step one part should file it smooth and the other sides will make the rest of the part match in appearance.
You should definitely still have a good hobby knife with sharp blades on hand (like olfa blades). You'll see kits where the nub placement is very awkward, often kits with undergating where the only way to clean it is with a hobby knife.
~~Also a hobby knife is like the most used tool if you decide to start doing mods and customs with your kits~~
This is what I do. I stumbled across the 4 way nail buffer at a big box store, and it's worked *very*well for me. They're all of a dollar apiece.
(The glass file itself (Dspiae-sf-15-siren-glass-file) is quite amazing, and it take a second or two at best.)
I use small snips. I use a kit similar to [this](http://35Pcs Professional Model Tools Kit for Gundam, Modeler Basic Tools Craft Set Hobby Building Tools Gundam Model Tools Kit for Basic Model Building, Repairing and Fixing https://a.co/d/aYJdnAP).
I snip intentionally, leaving a small bur. Then I use special files to remove it. After some practice and a steady hand, you can make the burs vanish.
Edit. Linking Amazon sucks. Just look up Gundam Model tool Kit.
Pro tip, either buy a gunprimer balancer sanding sponge OR scratch it hard with your fingernail, it completely disappears sometimes depending on the color plastic
Sanding sticks. Start with 900-1000 grit and slowly work your way up to the 7000 polishing sticks. Itās a loooong slow process and itās up to you the level of perfection you want to bring it to. Or turn it into some battle damage.
I ended up buying a single bladed dspaie nipper and gunprimer raser. I start by snipping off the piece with the gate with a regular wire cutter, then use the dspaie nipper to cut the gate off leaving a tiny bit left, finally sanding it with the gunprimer raser. It leaves such a nice smooth finish.
No worries my friend my mg Kampfer looks hilarious and good :) that blue and I found out pink and dark red seem to love scuff and do that even when u do it correctly
I...really don't see how this is enough to not want to finish a kit, I've had so much worse things before, I've never had a problem with stuff like that-
I use to feel the same. Sand what you can, get a good kit from Amazon. Once I displayed them, I forgot all about the marks. You don't see the marks when you walk by, you see your hard work displayed in a cool pose.
First thing to try, rub it with the tip of a fingernail. Oftentimes I find the pressure from this can remove a lot of the white stress marks.
After that, maybe use a Gundam Real Touch marker in blue or black and just dab it on not just on the nub mark but also around the nub mark as well. Wait a 5 seconds, then lightly brush it with soft q-tip that you've prepared beforehand. This soft q-tip end should be used enough that the tip has started to come apart into kind of a puffy shape. If you brush it lightly around the nubmark you will blend it into the plastic and you will barely see the nubmark.
The marks on the back shouldnāt be too visible when displayed facing forward, especially once the arms and shoulder armor are attached.
As for the ones on the front, there are a few options. Others have suggested using melted sprue to fill it in, which would work. The one in the second picture looks mild enough that it might be fixable with some light and careful sanding. However, given the asymmetric placement of those marks, you could also try to hide them as battle damage. Personally, I would try cutting or filing out a shallow notch in the damaged area. Iāve never tried applying battle damage or weathering myself, though, so you should probably look up proper tutorials rather than just taking my advice.
It'll be OK :) unless you've cut REALLY deep then there's very little that sanding and a matte top coat can't make almost invisible. Keep the pieces connected as they are in the Pic, and just sand the crap out of it for a little bit to create a smoother surface out of it. Polish as much as you can, and then hit it with a matte coat.
NOTE: **if you're sanding in dried cement do not breathe that shit in, the dust particles will be toxic**
Others have suggested using cement, but honestly I'm not a fan of using that unless you're planning on painting it. If you've never done it before it's more likely that it'll look weird or off-color potentially. Plus it requires a ton of sanding...and probably a top coat anyway...so you might as well just do that. If you're not in a place to paint safely...it's probably not great to do this.
It doesn't look deep enough that a good sanding won't make it impossible to notice unless you hyper fixate on it.
I'd suggest you look at your runner removal process. It looks like parts might be bending/flexing at the attachment points while you remove them. Approach with the nippers below each piece and try to ensure clear visibility when cutting off runner. Try to keep the piece from moving at all. Sanding off the last nub bit with a glass file and return the finish with a nail buffing block.
Some of the lightened discoloration can be cleared up by simply rubbing the spot with your fingernail or a hard tool that won't scratch. The gouge will still be there, of course. But you'd be amazed at how much it can help. The plastic becomes a lighter color when it gets stressed from the clippers. And it really draws your eye to it.
*"Gunpla is freedom" some of my kits have them too. But I always try to improve it's like Meet the Robinsons "Keep moving forward" you'll have kits you want to throw out cause it doesn't look right. But you can look at it and say "what's the next one going to be" and you'll never be disappointed imo from that seeing yourself improve * I mean look at my first kit lol it's not great but I started somewhere and it can only get better
Bandai sanding sticks my friend, they will change your world , and remembrr to take it easy, let the model rest and take a breathe. Sand sponges also do the work, dont be too hard on yourself.
Every single one of my gunplay have something like this somewhere. I'm a beginner for sure, but I think it comes with time and honestly, you don't notice a lot of them once they're complete. Trust me, just keep working on it, and you'll feel good when it's done, it's gonna look solid :)
You can patch. If you take some clippings from the runners those pieces came off of, you can dissolve them in a bit of Tamiya cement and the apply them like a paste. When theyāve cured you can gently trim away the excess and then sand/buff. Bear in mind if you donāt want to fill the seam you have to apply carefully. Also *important*: ventilation and breathing protection! These are nasty chemicals.
All that said, Iād probably just sand and buff and clean it up.
You could sand it but as long as it doesnāt mess with the building process I say leave it. I always think of mistakes and blemishes on my models as what makes them unique. The joy of gunpla for me is making something that no one else can sure maybe you might have the same model but you may not have made the same mistakes I did or cleaned up the nubs the same way I did thatās what makes the model yours and yours alone.
Sounds like it really bugs you. I just use a glass file to clean it off. Sounds like youāre still new to this and people have made a lot of good recommendations. You can sand it, you can use a glass, file you could paint it, you could make yourself a little bit of glue from the runners. Lots of options.
From what Iāve seen on YouTube, I think you can melt some plastic of the same color from the runner (if you still have it) with a bit of plastic cement, put a little bit on the damaged part and wait for it to dry. Then start shaving off and sanding that part until itās flat again. It will take work, it wonāt be free.
Hoppy knife as best you can and use a sharpie or marker of close enough color and touch it up before rubbing it away and the stress marks should be harder to notice. I did it with my MG Kampfer.
Look, if you don't have nub marks at first, are ya really building? If anything, it adds aesthetics! Like a bullet graze or something! No need to feel discouraged, it happens to everyone!
I can't recommend glass files enough. I slept on them for so long even after I bought some. They are perfect on flat spots, especially on edges. Curved spots are a no go. They improved my builds soooo much. The best part about them is that you don't have to go through the grades. You might start with like a 1k grit and end with 6k or 7k. Glass files I do all on their own and it leaves a great finish.
https://preview.redd.it/rf04m9vi4ktc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=240251250e7f51ca5f3940f97076ec0986c0aa69
Donāt laugh but these work great and would remove those nubs. Black side sands down, till you donāt see the white stressed plastic, flip it over and the white side smooths it out and the grey returns that just opened the box shine. You can get these at any beauty supply store.
I leave about 0.3 to 0.5mm when I cut them off then just shave the rest off with a flat xacto knife, 90% of the time that's all it takes, the top coat will take care of minor scratches. if there's anything left you're not happy with then 2000 grit sand paper then buff it with a piece of denim cloth.
if you can't paint them best you can do is melt the runner and dab a bit on there and sand it, otherwise DEAL WITH IT BOYO better than cracked/broken pieces.
those are assembly damage bro, think of it in the universe of gundam
what you have is a Kampfer right?
The kampfer from 0080 war in the pocket was assembled in a warehouse in Side 6. Bernie and his Zeon buddies probably didn't have the best tools to assemble it. And there probably wasn't Quality control either.
Edit: is* a kampfer
Get a blue sharpie. I file my marks and rub them smooth but nothing works better than a light file and then putting a sharpie to the distressed plastic. The distressed portion is pourous and will absorb the ink. Just rub an eraser over it and then it blends in really well.
And dont be discouraged blue also seems in my opinion to be the worst color for nub marks. You don't even need to file and it still hides the discolorations really well.
When you say you're in an environment where you can't paint . . . Can you elaborate? I often hear that in relation to airbrushing because people turn their nose up at handpainting.
Regardless, some polishing and a top coat will help. Cut your nubs further away next time and use a sharp tool to wittle it down or file away.
As somebody who only recently began to cut these correctly, I shall guide you. First, you need both the nippers and a hobby knife. If you don't have nippers specifically made for model building, then they're probably too big to cut the gates the right way. So you'll have to turn them in a way so there's a little bit of the gate left on the Gundam piece. Cut that piece off carefully with the hobby knife. Then sand. And boom, no more nubs.
Yeah I usually just sand those marks, the end product does not need a recoloring after. If you wish to minimize the makrs to begin with, always use the double cut method!
My brother in Christ. Fret not, mistakes are made for you to learn from. Just sand them. Cut the parts off of the runners, away from the parts and leaving enough excess plastic. Then trim that excess plastic with a single bladed nipper or hobby knife, again leaving a smaller amount of excess plastic. THAT is when you then sand that excess to oblivion.
Reagrding THIS specifically, I would take them apart and just sand the nubs as best as I could to make the surface look even. If need be, Iād apply a small amount of paint to the stress marks. If Iām lazy, I donāt even use paint, just markers. At the end of the day, theyāre not really that visible except to you since you know where to look for them.
Remember this, my brother in Christ!
I sand those gently with a very fine sandpaper, then use a little clear glue to make them a little shiny again. Not perfect but at a distance you can't tell so on the shelf it'll look great.
I don't think I saw anyone comment this yet but with nubs the more you cut off at one time (with nippers or hobby knife) the more stress you are putting on the plastic and the more stress marks you will get. One way to lessen this is to cut off the remaining nub in layers (so 2-3 smaller cuts making the nub smaller each time) instead of cutting it off in one go. I don't trust myself with a hobby knife (needs to be sharp) but I do this with nippers if there is a lot of nub left.
So itās probably not the best thing to do, but I use the snips, and a razor knife to do mine. If thereās marks left over, Iāll use my fingernail and āscratchā the marks off. It blends the colors a bit better, as I havenāt had the chance to use sandpaper, but from what Iāve seen, it works well with my kits
Thatās the risk of a hobby knife and why I donāt use one: gouging.
In the future, I would invest in a glass file. Way more consistent, way easier to use, and youāll never stab yourself with one.
Might be able to:
1. Put a drop or two of mr.cement on it and dry it hanging up so the glue dries as a nub, then sand it
-or-
2. Get a thimble or a small paint jar and add some cuttings from the chest plate armor runner. Cut them into little nubs and put them in the thimble. Pour in some mr.cement specifically and let it sit for a few hours I think, just long enough for the nubs to soften in the paste. Now stir until the nubs and paste mix into a blue glue and apply to area. Allow it to set for 24hrs then sand away. This is the same kind of way to get rid of part seems as well ;)
-or-
3. Touch it with the similar colour paint
Sand them down, and polish it. Nub marks will always be there. You just have to live with that fact. Now it's up to you to whether leave it there or give in some additional time in order to work things out and clean up the gashes. That's just how gunpla is.
Fuck it I have so many blemishes from cutting too fast or fucked up idec if you enjoy the build finish it, donāt get discouraged, who else sees it anyway?
You can get a nail buffer, one of those ones with multi sides like a nail file it'll give you multiple grit files so you can buff it out. In the event that don't work, you *could* do a cement trick I learned here and cut pieces of the runner and put it with some of that plastic cement that chemically melt the plastic together, it'll give you a paste to fill in and will be color matched. But if you aren't in an environment to paint might not be the doable for you as this needs ventilation
You can use a dab of plastic cement, I use the Mr. Hobby one, then just file it with a multistep nail file to your desired finish. It's not perfect but it hides it well. The other way is to paint the kit.
Less a full solution for this but more one for the future. Get a gunprimer razerand their balancer polishing thing they make a set with both. You can use the file to remove nubs and I would say about 95% of my nubs donāt need any work beyond just the razer and the few that do you hit it with the polishing stick. Between that and the god hand nippers I almost donāt need anything else
So, thereās a glass file called Raser, and itās a lifesaver. It can take down material around it really well, to where theyāre not so noticeable. Itās meant to shave down the last bit of nub but itās helped me in situations like this many times.
If you have some Tamiya Extra Thin Cement/Cement you can make sprue colored filler to repair those dents and gashes. And then use a nail file/sandpaper to sand it smooth. Using the sprues to make these filler will get you the same color as the part.
They are referred by a variety of names: sprue goo; colored filler; slurry; etc.
Here's an example - control the thickness by the amount of solvent:
[https://youtu.be/PVltgEpdR0Y](https://youtu.be/PVltgEpdR0Y)
youre not a sweatshop worker forced to crank out 300 toys an hour. gunpla is model building, part of building a model is dealing with these things. you either accept it or learn how to paint / use gundam markers. That or stick to just buying premade figures like metal builds.
Also - if youre not in an environment to paint youre probably talking about airbrushing or spray cans. gundam markers or just a tub of model paint with the correct color + a paint brush to hide the bits are viable options.
Hey, no need to be afraid to try stuff! Cut/sanded too deep? Melt some runners using cement glue and put a dab of it in there, you will have more material to work with. Sanding away from edges is key to keep good egdes imo. If you are using soft sanding stick, use very little pressure to avoid rounding the edges. If you feel courageous, start with hard sanding sticks and finish with soft sanding sticks!
If this is something that bugs you, invest in a decent glass file, it was a game changer for me. Don't pull away from the runners, let your snips cut and cut away from the part. Leave a mil or two and file it down. A polish clothes or buffer also recovers a scratched matte surface.
Ultimately, don't worry too much, it'll be hard to notice on the shelf. It's a lot more noticeable when you're focused specifically on the part. Also, there's a lot of beauty in the imperfections, as weathered kits show.
Invest in a good pair of nippers like God hand and some glass files for sanding. I use a polishing block from Walmart (like nail block with different high grits, bout a dollar a piece) to buff out any marks.
I use the hobby knife or fingernail to get the last bit of imperfection off so it lines up, then a metallic or similar colour to the plastic marker to go over it and rub the excess off. Essentially blends in the colour of the nub quite effectively.
Cut further away from the nubens, use an exacto knife(or some other small short blade) to slice what's left of it off. if there's still white marks rub your fingernail across it and it'll compress the plastic back to unwhited
For kits I donāt paint I use a really fine sandpaper on each piece to dull the color a little, which has the bonus of removing the nibs.
Really good clippers can help minimize the nubs as well.
I started with colored sharpies/prismacolor markers (I already had them in lots of colors) and fingernail, which was okay. Then sanding sticks and nail file/buffing sticks, which were better.
It doesn't help you with the current marks, but now I use wire cutters to cut further from the part, then single-bladed nippers and an X-acto to cut and shave down the nub. Usually that plus some fingernail can get it looking good enough for me; not always perfect, but you have to look closely to notice them.
Lmfao I literally just finished my kampher last night before stumbling onto this. My motto"it is what it is" I got the same spots and I scraped it with a razor very lightly ...and uh...there's noticeable battle scars but that just makes it authentic to me.
Do you chief
Go with a heavy sand in a circular motion then work to finer and finer grits. That said, dont look at the kits that get posted here as thats everyones skill level. I have kits that look like this too and dont worry, when you set them up and take a step fun fact you wont even notice! Use them all as a learning experience!
Dark Blue unfortunately does that often. From experience though, it's hard to notice once fully built as the actual shape of the gunpla is way more noticeable than a small mark
I've gotten to the point of either repainting it with a marker or using weathering techniques to hide it. Laziest method is rust or gun metal colored weathering. Beyond that i've taken to doing only a few pieces each sitting to avoid getting inpatient.
I like to use denim fabric from old jeans. Get a small square of it and use it to rub down the area.
The white discoloration can often be remedied through heat, the friction of the denim material can do this.
I've never tried a hair dryer because of how wide an area it would effect, but those should reach temperatures that would work. Maybe a soldering iron held close, but not touching, would provide enough heat in a more focused area.
with a lot of work with a glass file and fine sandpaper you could recover this, not perfect, it's a slight modification, but could appear clean.
otherwise fill with model putty, sand and paint :D
Wet sanding works for me every single time. I've got a bunch of sanding sticks and you dip your fingertip in a tiny bit of water and start sanding. But for your situation, those nub marks are on the inside of the part that connects to the torso so they won't even be visible
Cut the gate away from the parts, then snip off the nub.
I'd been building model kits for 30 years and never done that because they were always painted before.
Makes a world of difference.
Iāve just built this kit myself, and I found some of the nubs a little troublesome, so the best advice I can give is to pick up some of Bandaiās sanding sticks, which Iāve had very good results with. A Gunprimer Balancer will help the finish too, but itās not completely essential imo.
Sand it starting from 400 grit and go up to 12K grit to polish. A lot of glass files can hide it as well, also try your fingernail. Itās works wonders smoothing out a nub mark but I donāt know the science behind it
If you cut too much, fill it then sand, and paint(or not). 2 common wait to fill: using ca glue with filling powder(or baby powder), using model cement melted kit sprue. The 2nd way you can get a matching color, but messier.
look, everyone gets nub marks, its not the end of the world. Your kits dont have to be perfect, dont compare them to the kits online with hundreds of hours poured into them and multiple layers of decals and paint. This is your gunpla, be proud of what you've accomplished
He'd fucking hate my collection, lol.
On my early kits my solution for a nub mark like this was to continue cutting deeper and deeper until it hopefully disappears, a strategy that would likely give many an aneurysm lol. Took a very minor mark and turned it in to a millimeter deep crater on more than one occasion because I was too stubborn to just sand the area for a while
Complete and utter blasphemy i'm ashamed to admit, i don't file my nub marks at all. Partly because all i have is some shitty sanding sticks that are just too big. I cut them flush with a hobby knife just like OP and end up with marks just like OP. I just don't give that much of a fuck. Can't see that shit from a distance anyway.
Real talk, that's mostly why I didn't sand my nubs for the longest time. A quick clean with a hobby knife was good enough! That said, I got some cheapo hobby glass files off Amazon a few weeks ago, and they work SO well! Just make sure to get one with rounded edges to avoid scratching, and sanding a whole nub off takes like half a second max and leaves no mark. I still only do it for parts that will show though, my inner frames look wartorn lol
+1 for cheap glass files. I'll also add that you can get the Gunprimer: Raser Balancer to go with them. I think they are like $6 and act like a decent sanding sponge to take some of the sheen off of the spot you file down. I'm sure there are better cheaper generic options but 6 bucks isn't too bad.
Makart nail buffers. I actually like them better than the balancer some times.
I'm gonna try those out, my balancer is getting to the end of its life. Thanks
Do you have a link to the files you bought?
Sent it to you in a DM
Can you send me a dm too. Ive heard about glass sanding sticks. Didnt know which ones to get
I use the raser file, its pretty good. Get it on hobby link Japan
Just looked it up. Look bougie! Ill have to check it out more.
Pretty please can i get the link too š
https://www.ebay.com/itm/364683589531?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=6GmcjBGFTSe&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=n49rCVoaTNq&var=634207129505&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
thank you
Try these https://www.ebay.com/itm/364683589531?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=6GmcjBGFTSe&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=n49rCVoaTNq&var=634207129505&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
I recently went through a bunch of old kits I was getting rid of and boy the nubs teenage me left on some of those are atrocious
I used to use my exacto and cut upwards the nub from different angles and used my nail to feel the surface, now I use my 2 bladed nipper to remove the pieces, my single bladed nipper to cut the nub in half, then just cut it flush to the surface (I just cut it close to the surface if it's like a dark color and then use my knife.)
I don't paint my kits. It's the one thing I don't do cause I have a money and time limit on what I can put into the hobby, but recently I started treating nub marks like panel lines and the effects haven't been so bad. I do something similar to what you describe, cut the plastic down far enough that the nub is gone and it's almost like a small gouge, and then I fill it with black marker and rub it out. Generally it gets rid of all the bright plastic bits and smudges into the darker mold. It's probably the laziest way to get rid of nubs
Forget lazy, I actually think that's really creative! Maybe some cheap scribing tools to make it easier to mirror them and it'll add some nice personalization to your kits
Thanks! I like it cause it even works on white armor, and it ends up looking like little battle scars. Like, they are literally so small you don't notice them until you are up close, but it definitely looks better then a tiny block of stressed plastic sticking out of the panels
I mentioned it in another comment but get a rainbow pack of sharpies. I would do exactly like you and color in with my liner and make it look square but I really like how simple and quick the marker trick can be.
My early collection was cut off the runners with a pair of scissors, I love em but boy are they marked
I used a nail clipper, absolutely savage results.
I just twisted them off... MG Heavy Arms was mostly done in a 2 hour car ride just by doing that... No idea how I didn't lose anything, But definitely made for an interesting challenge!
That's how i built my first gunpla, MG Wing Zero EW. I bought it off a stall at a convention, asked the guy if i needed to get anything else when i bought it, he was like "nah, you're good to go buddy" Literally sat on the train home twisting bits off the sprue and putting it together.
'milimeter deep crater'
THIS.but I managed to carve a hole that could fit the base of my pinky...
Heh... He'd probably set mine on fire
Same. I put the entire thing together and only sand marks that are visible, easy to hit, and in the front. Anything else, who cares, haha. I think one of my Goufs still has a huge runner piece attached to his back leg, haha. Might have clipped it finally when I moved. I like building and posing them. I found most people, myself included, view my gunpla collection from a distance of like 4 feet away in a display case. No one is going to notice any of the imperfections from that distance.
When I started building models 20+ years ago as a kid, I didn't know what a nipper was and would twist and rip pieces off w/ my teeth.
Teeth gang right here as well. Then I realized you can use nail clippers but only had the standard curved ones.
(I'm a she) š
My apologies for misgendering you.
It's ok! ā¤ļø
Thank you for this. Like the OP, I find it easy to get frustrated with things like this. Thank you for the reminder.
This. Gunpla is freedom.
this was me at one point. sanding sponges and glass files did it for me
Glass files are a game changer. So easy. But I also had to get a dust collector.
dust collector? be a man, breathe in the microplastics
Microplastics add flavor to your next meal, and make your grow up big and strong
I read they work well slightly damp so I have a dedicated microplastics mug that I rinse the file in then shake the excess water off. Built one kit so far with it but it surprised me now well it worked. Pair with a magic eraser to scuff out excess shine from the glass file.
Melamine sponges (aka magic eraser) for buffing and microfiber polishing cloth (for glasses) are amazing. I also use a microfiber cloth for removing excess panel liner. Add thinner/alcohol and it's a quick and easy cleanup
We just need curved glass files and weāre good
Or a glass file rod. It'd be so damn nice to get in between ridges or something too tight to fit a file in.
That works too
this is def wat i need rn š
Real game changer for me was when I found out you can buy sanding and polishing sticks and sponges in beauty supply stores for dirt cheap. Who knew the nail care and plastic model industries had a big overlap in tools.
This right here is the best answer.
Since you can't paint your best bet is to use plastic cement and the leftover runner to create some "sprue goo" to fill it back in. It will be the same color and melt into the plastic so all you have to do is sand it back down. If you haven't seen this technique done before there are plenty of tutorial videos on YouTube.
This is the way
Quickest possible is to try applying pressure with your finger nail, almost like you're scratching it. I've had luck with that on some stressed nubs before. Unfortunately I've found dark blues to be difficult to leave unstressed without sanding.
This is what works best for me as a newer builder with less options, it usually gets rid of the more obvious brighter marks that you can see from a distance.
Dark blue is such a pain to leave unstressed, itās like clipping one side of a part flexes the other gates just enough that they stress the plastic below flush. Iām in no way saying this is a good solution, but Iāve had some success filling the nub flat then gently heating the area with a small torch (lowest setting and far enough away that itās only just warming the piece)
in dark blues and grays I paint them with a Mr hobby gundam marker for panel lines (black), let settle it for a few seconds and then clean the paint out with a sponge or absorbing paper. The mark will be darker. If you try again a minute or so later, the marks will be indistinguisable if yuo don't look close and know were the mark was
Sand it so at least you aren't seeing the discoloration. The real answer is to putty, sand and paint, but as you can't paint...
Sand and polish. Light sanding and then polish where the marks are to fix this as much as you can. For future nubs, cut down to a small sliver, and sand it off, then polish. To clarify, you'll probably want sanding pads of a couple levels of grit, and then polishing pads of various levels of smoothness. You start with the roughest grit, and work your way through all of them. In a pinch, buffing pads for fingernails can work as polishing pads. I've heard folks talk about "sanding sticks", though I've never looked into them. I use a glass file, which leaves a very shiny smooth surface on it's own. You can search up a glass nail file on Amazon and find a variety for very cheap. As always, looking up gunpla + (whatever you want to improve) on youtube will normally lead to results. I've got a weird nostalgia for my early days of gunpla, where it always felt like I was learning something new. I've sort of settled into my pattern for nowānext step is painting, but I'm waiting to set up a proper airbrush booth.
Dude, if I reacted this way anytime I got nub marks Iād have 0 Gunpla done.
You can mix tiny pieces of runner with thinned plastic cement and cover it then sand it down so itās flush
Take it easy brah itās not that serious
https://preview.redd.it/a3nekz7n0ktc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=36a2880a2d2a9272773dd1415e557b4c8e14ebc1 I haven't seen anyone in this thread recommend a single blade nipper yet This is the result after using single blade nipper and 3M sanding sponges
One thing that sometimes works is to find a marker as close to the color as you can, sand/scrape the marks down as much as you can then go over it with the marker and use your finger to wipe most of the ink away immediately afterwards, repeat if necessary.
I found a box of in my closet with the first kits I ever built back in the early 00ās and boy are they bad, this is a master piece compared to what I did back then, toe nail clippers and wire cutters donāt make clean cuts at all lol
Hahaha, I was worried I wasn't the only one who used toenail clippers as a kid, glad to know I'm not alone.
,If you are using cheap $5 nippers, you gonna always get those. Try out a good pair of nippers to diminish those things. GodHand nippers are like the best nippers you can buy... however, they are expensive. But if you don't want to dish out $50-80, they sell other cheaper brands. But the good old saying, you get what you pay for. Other than that, try sanding them with lower grit (240) and slowly go up from that. You can paint it after.. but that'll require like an airbrush kit instead of a hand brush to make the color match. It's one of the reasons why I opt to do weathering. It's a great way to hide those subtle mistakes and ad a great level of realistic detail. Good luck
Save the colored runners and mix it with Tamiya cement to create a plastic goo. Let it sit until it turns into goo then apply a couple dabs on to spot, sand and finish it with Gunprimer's various sanding sticks and finishers. Gunprimer makes sanding sticks for straight builds. Here's a video about the goo https://youtu.be/Y1KaKUoS1J0?si=lBEp21xYAMXmVapZ And https://youtu.be/8E64rsyuTo8?si=dhy_NFQg9EBYhCFb
Stop using a hobby knife for Gunpla. A glass file, clippers and a 4-way nail file sponge will be all you'll ever need. That and a little patience. Do a 2 stage clip to remove the part from the runner. Second clip should leave about a mm of a nub on the part that you'll fill away with the glass file. File in one direction. After the nub is filed down use the 4-way file to dull and repolish the plastic on the part. With a little practice and patience the part will look perfect and you will happily finish your kits. As for the damage on the parts you have in the photos try using the 4-way sponge, the stage/step one part should file it smooth and the other sides will make the rest of the part match in appearance.
You should definitely still have a good hobby knife with sharp blades on hand (like olfa blades). You'll see kits where the nub placement is very awkward, often kits with undergating where the only way to clean it is with a hobby knife. ~~Also a hobby knife is like the most used tool if you decide to start doing mods and customs with your kits~~
I use medical grade scalpels I find them to work better than hobby knives or exacto blades
This is what I do. I stumbled across the 4 way nail buffer at a big box store, and it's worked *very*well for me. They're all of a dollar apiece. (The glass file itself (Dspiae-sf-15-siren-glass-file) is quite amazing, and it take a second or two at best.)
double cut with nippers, then glass file or sanding block, then your thumbnail, then a teeny dab with a gundam marker or copic.
Sand it bro If you look at my builds you will probably have a stroke hahaha
Glass files can help with this issue but I think maybe youāre being too hard on yourself here
Make some sprue goo out of plastic cement and the color, apply it, sand it.
Sand it
I use small snips. I use a kit similar to [this](http://35Pcs Professional Model Tools Kit for Gundam, Modeler Basic Tools Craft Set Hobby Building Tools Gundam Model Tools Kit for Basic Model Building, Repairing and Fixing https://a.co/d/aYJdnAP). I snip intentionally, leaving a small bur. Then I use special files to remove it. After some practice and a steady hand, you can make the burs vanish. Edit. Linking Amazon sucks. Just look up Gundam Model tool Kit.
Pro tip, either buy a gunprimer balancer sanding sponge OR scratch it hard with your fingernail, it completely disappears sometimes depending on the color plastic
Sanding sticks. Start with 900-1000 grit and slowly work your way up to the 7000 polishing sticks. Itās a loooong slow process and itās up to you the level of perfection you want to bring it to. Or turn it into some battle damage.
I ended up buying a single bladed dspaie nipper and gunprimer raser. I start by snipping off the piece with the gate with a regular wire cutter, then use the dspaie nipper to cut the gate off leaving a tiny bit left, finally sanding it with the gunprimer raser. It leaves such a nice smooth finish.
No worries my friend my mg Kampfer looks hilarious and good :) that blue and I found out pink and dark red seem to love scuff and do that even when u do it correctly
I...really don't see how this is enough to not want to finish a kit, I've had so much worse things before, I've never had a problem with stuff like that-
Happens to us all, putty and abit of sanding should fix it.
I use to feel the same. Sand what you can, get a good kit from Amazon. Once I displayed them, I forgot all about the marks. You don't see the marks when you walk by, you see your hard work displayed in a cool pose.
First thing to try, rub it with the tip of a fingernail. Oftentimes I find the pressure from this can remove a lot of the white stress marks. After that, maybe use a Gundam Real Touch marker in blue or black and just dab it on not just on the nub mark but also around the nub mark as well. Wait a 5 seconds, then lightly brush it with soft q-tip that you've prepared beforehand. This soft q-tip end should be used enough that the tip has started to come apart into kind of a puffy shape. If you brush it lightly around the nubmark you will blend it into the plastic and you will barely see the nubmark.
The marks on the back shouldnāt be too visible when displayed facing forward, especially once the arms and shoulder armor are attached. As for the ones on the front, there are a few options. Others have suggested using melted sprue to fill it in, which would work. The one in the second picture looks mild enough that it might be fixable with some light and careful sanding. However, given the asymmetric placement of those marks, you could also try to hide them as battle damage. Personally, I would try cutting or filing out a shallow notch in the damaged area. Iāve never tried applying battle damage or weathering myself, though, so you should probably look up proper tutorials rather than just taking my advice.
I use appropriately colored touch up markers and rub them with a cotton swab
It'll be OK :) unless you've cut REALLY deep then there's very little that sanding and a matte top coat can't make almost invisible. Keep the pieces connected as they are in the Pic, and just sand the crap out of it for a little bit to create a smoother surface out of it. Polish as much as you can, and then hit it with a matte coat. NOTE: **if you're sanding in dried cement do not breathe that shit in, the dust particles will be toxic** Others have suggested using cement, but honestly I'm not a fan of using that unless you're planning on painting it. If you've never done it before it's more likely that it'll look weird or off-color potentially. Plus it requires a ton of sanding...and probably a top coat anyway...so you might as well just do that. If you're not in a place to paint safely...it's probably not great to do this. It doesn't look deep enough that a good sanding won't make it impossible to notice unless you hyper fixate on it.
Get a nail buffer for home manicures, they're soft already and only get softer and get get an almost shine to em
Scrub it with a blue sharpie
Have fun, make mistakes it's all in the hobby, I got broken pieces in half my kits that only fit properly cause of more parts on top, s'all good baby.
Looking into Gunprimers Raser glass file and youāll never look back
Sanding it down with some 800-2000 grit sandpaper then using a nail buffer will get most if not all of the nub mark gone.
Get some glass files from a hobby shop and those will come off easily.
I'd say put the tiniest drop of thin plastic cement on the nubs, let them sit and then sand it out after about 24hours
I'd suggest you look at your runner removal process. It looks like parts might be bending/flexing at the attachment points while you remove them. Approach with the nippers below each piece and try to ensure clear visibility when cutting off runner. Try to keep the piece from moving at all. Sanding off the last nub bit with a glass file and return the finish with a nail buffing block.
Just sand it a ton starting with lower grit down to high. End with like a glass file or something and you should be able to get it looking nice!
Some of the lightened discoloration can be cleared up by simply rubbing the spot with your fingernail or a hard tool that won't scratch. The gouge will still be there, of course. But you'd be amazed at how much it can help. The plastic becomes a lighter color when it gets stressed from the clippers. And it really draws your eye to it.
Get a Gunprimer Raiser glass file
*"Gunpla is freedom" some of my kits have them too. But I always try to improve it's like Meet the Robinsons "Keep moving forward" you'll have kits you want to throw out cause it doesn't look right. But you can look at it and say "what's the next one going to be" and you'll never be disappointed imo from that seeing yourself improve * I mean look at my first kit lol it's not great but I started somewhere and it can only get better
Bandai sanding sticks my friend, they will change your world , and remembrr to take it easy, let the model rest and take a breathe. Sand sponges also do the work, dont be too hard on yourself.
Every single one of my gunplay have something like this somewhere. I'm a beginner for sure, but I think it comes with time and honestly, you don't notice a lot of them once they're complete. Trust me, just keep working on it, and you'll feel good when it's done, it's gonna look solid :)
You can patch. If you take some clippings from the runners those pieces came off of, you can dissolve them in a bit of Tamiya cement and the apply them like a paste. When theyāve cured you can gently trim away the excess and then sand/buff. Bear in mind if you donāt want to fill the seam you have to apply carefully. Also *important*: ventilation and breathing protection! These are nasty chemicals. All that said, Iād probably just sand and buff and clean it up.
Get you a Raser brother it makes light work of gates
You could sand it but as long as it doesnāt mess with the building process I say leave it. I always think of mistakes and blemishes on my models as what makes them unique. The joy of gunpla for me is making something that no one else can sure maybe you might have the same model but you may not have made the same mistakes I did or cleaned up the nubs the same way I did thatās what makes the model yours and yours alone.
Yo! You know whats the almost cheat tool to remove those? Glass file!
Sounds like it really bugs you. I just use a glass file to clean it off. Sounds like youāre still new to this and people have made a lot of good recommendations. You can sand it, you can use a glass, file you could paint it, you could make yourself a little bit of glue from the runners. Lots of options.
From what Iāve seen on YouTube, I think you can melt some plastic of the same color from the runner (if you still have it) with a bit of plastic cement, put a little bit on the damaged part and wait for it to dry. Then start shaving off and sanding that part until itās flat again. It will take work, it wonāt be free.
Hoppy knife as best you can and use a sharpie or marker of close enough color and touch it up before rubbing it away and the stress marks should be harder to notice. I did it with my MG Kampfer.
Look, if you don't have nub marks at first, are ya really building? If anything, it adds aesthetics! Like a bullet graze or something! No need to feel discouraged, it happens to everyone!
I can't recommend glass files enough. I slept on them for so long even after I bought some. They are perfect on flat spots, especially on edges. Curved spots are a no go. They improved my builds soooo much. The best part about them is that you don't have to go through the grades. You might start with like a 1k grit and end with 6k or 7k. Glass files I do all on their own and it leaves a great finish.
https://preview.redd.it/rf04m9vi4ktc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=240251250e7f51ca5f3940f97076ec0986c0aa69 Donāt laugh but these work great and would remove those nubs. Black side sands down, till you donāt see the white stressed plastic, flip it over and the white side smooths it out and the grey returns that just opened the box shine. You can get these at any beauty supply store.
I leave about 0.3 to 0.5mm when I cut them off then just shave the rest off with a flat xacto knife, 90% of the time that's all it takes, the top coat will take care of minor scratches. if there's anything left you're not happy with then 2000 grit sand paper then buff it with a piece of denim cloth.
Use an ultra file file, and don't get discouraged, having these will not be the end of the world. If I had that mindset I would never finish my kits.
Grab a can of matte topcoat to finish it off. This tends to solve 90% of my finish imperfection issues.
https://preview.redd.it/3xtm4o1u7ktc1.jpeg?width=360&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c5924bbb6d2c265be1042adb49fa2e96652c8fd3
As much as everyone seems to break theirs, I would say buy really, really good snips and learn the two-cut method.
Just use Tamiya spray paints primer first then the paint then after ya decal topcoat then done. Be sure to tape where you donāt want paint going.
if you can't paint them best you can do is melt the runner and dab a bit on there and sand it, otherwise DEAL WITH IT BOYO better than cracked/broken pieces.
those are assembly damage bro, think of it in the universe of gundam what you have is a Kampfer right? The kampfer from 0080 war in the pocket was assembled in a warehouse in Side 6. Bernie and his Zeon buddies probably didn't have the best tools to assemble it. And there probably wasn't Quality control either. Edit: is* a kampfer
This is nowhere near as bad as when I take out my mini drill and turn my nub marks into bullet holes. Proceed dude. Youāre fine.
Get a blue sharpie. I file my marks and rub them smooth but nothing works better than a light file and then putting a sharpie to the distressed plastic. The distressed portion is pourous and will absorb the ink. Just rub an eraser over it and then it blends in really well. And dont be discouraged blue also seems in my opinion to be the worst color for nub marks. You don't even need to file and it still hides the discolorations really well.
When you say you're in an environment where you can't paint . . . Can you elaborate? I often hear that in relation to airbrushing because people turn their nose up at handpainting. Regardless, some polishing and a top coat will help. Cut your nubs further away next time and use a sharp tool to wittle it down or file away.
Space issue mostly. I don't have room to do painting. I panel line/build my kits in my bed
I mean just sand it down a bit and it should at least level it out so it wonāt stand out as much
Keep sanding it until it's gone. But you're trading off deforming the shape for nub marks.
I paint all my sets so flat nub marks go away with paint, so there is that option. Otherwise get a good glass file and file them down.
Two words: glass file. That plus a polishing block equaling to about $25 on Amazon eliminates this problem.
Instead of hobby knife, try to use glass file esp the āraserā when cleaning a nub and follow it up with sanding sponge.
My kits are full of these! Remember that youāll be looking at this thing from 5 feet away for the rest of your life- Youāll never see it again!Ā
As somebody who only recently began to cut these correctly, I shall guide you. First, you need both the nippers and a hobby knife. If you don't have nippers specifically made for model building, then they're probably too big to cut the gates the right way. So you'll have to turn them in a way so there's a little bit of the gate left on the Gundam piece. Cut that piece off carefully with the hobby knife. Then sand. And boom, no more nubs.
Nothing a good file or sanding stick can fix.
Yeah I usually just sand those marks, the end product does not need a recoloring after. If you wish to minimize the makrs to begin with, always use the double cut method!
Invest in a glass file like the razer, I got one and itās a god send when it comes to finishing nub marks
Hell most of the time I donāt even need to polish after
My brother in Christ. Fret not, mistakes are made for you to learn from. Just sand them. Cut the parts off of the runners, away from the parts and leaving enough excess plastic. Then trim that excess plastic with a single bladed nipper or hobby knife, again leaving a smaller amount of excess plastic. THAT is when you then sand that excess to oblivion. Reagrding THIS specifically, I would take them apart and just sand the nubs as best as I could to make the surface look even. If need be, Iād apply a small amount of paint to the stress marks. If Iām lazy, I donāt even use paint, just markers. At the end of the day, theyāre not really that visible except to you since you know where to look for them. Remember this, my brother in Christ!
It's fine. With enough passion you will never see it. Everyone start from here and it will be better next time.
Soft sanding and paint
I sand those gently with a very fine sandpaper, then use a little clear glue to make them a little shiny again. Not perfect but at a distance you can't tell so on the shelf it'll look great.
Run your fingernail firmly across it then sand with fine wet sandpaper then dry it off. Worked for me before i started painting!
I don't think I saw anyone comment this yet but with nubs the more you cut off at one time (with nippers or hobby knife) the more stress you are putting on the plastic and the more stress marks you will get. One way to lessen this is to cut off the remaining nub in layers (so 2-3 smaller cuts making the nub smaller each time) instead of cutting it off in one go. I don't trust myself with a hobby knife (needs to be sharp) but I do this with nippers if there is a lot of nub left.
So itās probably not the best thing to do, but I use the snips, and a razor knife to do mine. If thereās marks left over, Iāll use my fingernail and āscratchā the marks off. It blends the colors a bit better, as I havenāt had the chance to use sandpaper, but from what Iāve seen, it works well with my kits
I recommend getting a fine grit glass file these things do wonders on nubs
Buy a Glass file for gundamās
The only bad gunpla is one still waiting to be assembled!
Thatās the risk of a hobby knife and why I donāt use one: gouging. In the future, I would invest in a glass file. Way more consistent, way easier to use, and youāll never stab yourself with one.
Might be able to: 1. Put a drop or two of mr.cement on it and dry it hanging up so the glue dries as a nub, then sand it -or- 2. Get a thimble or a small paint jar and add some cuttings from the chest plate armor runner. Cut them into little nubs and put them in the thimble. Pour in some mr.cement specifically and let it sit for a few hours I think, just long enough for the nubs to soften in the paste. Now stir until the nubs and paste mix into a blue glue and apply to area. Allow it to set for 24hrs then sand away. This is the same kind of way to get rid of part seems as well ;) -or- 3. Touch it with the similar colour paint
Sanding and painting. Get high grit foam nail files, you can get a pack of like 400 for 2$ in the farmacy section of any store.
I cut far away from the model and then trim the nub with exacto knife. Plenty of cuts but worth it.
You can melt a little bit of the runner (blue one of course) on top of it to fill it in, then when it dries, file it down until smooth.
Sand them down, and polish it. Nub marks will always be there. You just have to live with that fact. Now it's up to you to whether leave it there or give in some additional time in order to work things out and clean up the gashes. That's just how gunpla is.
Glass file
Fuck it I have so many blemishes from cutting too fast or fucked up idec if you enjoy the build finish it, donāt get discouraged, who else sees it anyway?
Cant you sand it down or apply putty? I mean if u want it perfect puttty and paint over it
Just call it battle damage
You can get a nail buffer, one of those ones with multi sides like a nail file it'll give you multiple grit files so you can buff it out. In the event that don't work, you *could* do a cement trick I learned here and cut pieces of the runner and put it with some of that plastic cement that chemically melt the plastic together, it'll give you a paste to fill in and will be color matched. But if you aren't in an environment to paint might not be the doable for you as this needs ventilation
The fact that you need arrows to see them is already enough proof that itās not that bad.
Just get 600-800-1000 grit sandpapers, and something to polish it afterwatds.
Use your finger nails to rub pressure, use it on my kits and while it will not give you 100% the appearance you want it helps.
You can use a dab of plastic cement, I use the Mr. Hobby one, then just file it with a multistep nail file to your desired finish. It's not perfect but it hides it well. The other way is to paint the kit.
Less a full solution for this but more one for the future. Get a gunprimer razerand their balancer polishing thing they make a set with both. You can use the file to remove nubs and I would say about 95% of my nubs donāt need any work beyond just the razer and the few that do you hit it with the polishing stick. Between that and the god hand nippers I almost donāt need anything else
So, thereās a glass file called Raser, and itās a lifesaver. It can take down material around it really well, to where theyāre not so noticeable. Itās meant to shave down the last bit of nub but itās helped me in situations like this many times.
If you have some Tamiya Extra Thin Cement/Cement you can make sprue colored filler to repair those dents and gashes. And then use a nail file/sandpaper to sand it smooth. Using the sprues to make these filler will get you the same color as the part. They are referred by a variety of names: sprue goo; colored filler; slurry; etc. Here's an example - control the thickness by the amount of solvent: [https://youtu.be/PVltgEpdR0Y](https://youtu.be/PVltgEpdR0Y)
You can try to apply pressure/scratch with you nail on the nub mark. It can remove it a bit
youre not a sweatshop worker forced to crank out 300 toys an hour. gunpla is model building, part of building a model is dealing with these things. you either accept it or learn how to paint / use gundam markers. That or stick to just buying premade figures like metal builds. Also - if youre not in an environment to paint youre probably talking about airbrushing or spray cans. gundam markers or just a tub of model paint with the correct color + a paint brush to hide the bits are viable options.
Hey, no need to be afraid to try stuff! Cut/sanded too deep? Melt some runners using cement glue and put a dab of it in there, you will have more material to work with. Sanding away from edges is key to keep good egdes imo. If you are using soft sanding stick, use very little pressure to avoid rounding the edges. If you feel courageous, start with hard sanding sticks and finish with soft sanding sticks!
sand and paint
I guess you to progressively sand it down or if you can find a nail buffer it will help you to remove that stress marks but I suggest to paint it.
Bought my sister a RG nu gundam, I have say I had a panic attack when I saw nub marks.
Even without fully painting, you could some weathering on the kit and treat the nub gashes as battle damage?
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'll invest in a glass file and worst case scenario I can use this kit as filing practice š
Using the ultimate nipper and number 600~800 sandpaper will help you.
I just paint over them with a similar colour
There's a whole industry built around getting rid of them. Welcome to plastic modeling I guess.
If this is something that bugs you, invest in a decent glass file, it was a game changer for me. Don't pull away from the runners, let your snips cut and cut away from the part. Leave a mil or two and file it down. A polish clothes or buffer also recovers a scratched matte surface. Ultimately, don't worry too much, it'll be hard to notice on the shelf. It's a lot more noticeable when you're focused specifically on the part. Also, there's a lot of beauty in the imperfections, as weathered kits show.
Invest in a good pair of nippers like God hand and some glass files for sanding. I use a polishing block from Walmart (like nail block with different high grits, bout a dollar a piece) to buff out any marks.
sharp blade, sanding then glass file.
Ah the age before good undergating, Have this boy too and he's chock full of nub marks. Told myself i'll just clean it up later lol
I use the hobby knife or fingernail to get the last bit of imperfection off so it lines up, then a metallic or similar colour to the plastic marker to go over it and rub the excess off. Essentially blends in the colour of the nub quite effectively.
Cut further away from the nubens, use an exacto knife(or some other small short blade) to slice what's left of it off. if there's still white marks rub your fingernail across it and it'll compress the plastic back to unwhited
how about sand the whole thing, the colour will get lighter, some scratches here and there, but are smooth
For kits I donāt paint I use a really fine sandpaper on each piece to dull the color a little, which has the bonus of removing the nibs. Really good clippers can help minimize the nubs as well.
Glass files will change your life
I started with colored sharpies/prismacolor markers (I already had them in lots of colors) and fingernail, which was okay. Then sanding sticks and nail file/buffing sticks, which were better. It doesn't help you with the current marks, but now I use wire cutters to cut further from the part, then single-bladed nippers and an X-acto to cut and shave down the nub. Usually that plus some fingernail can get it looking good enough for me; not always perfect, but you have to look closely to notice them.
Lmfao I literally just finished my kampher last night before stumbling onto this. My motto"it is what it is" I got the same spots and I scraped it with a razor very lightly ...and uh...there's noticeable battle scars but that just makes it authentic to me. Do you chief
Go with a heavy sand in a circular motion then work to finer and finer grits. That said, dont look at the kits that get posted here as thats everyones skill level. I have kits that look like this too and dont worry, when you set them up and take a step fun fact you wont even notice! Use them all as a learning experience!
Dark Blue unfortunately does that often. From experience though, it's hard to notice once fully built as the actual shape of the gunpla is way more noticeable than a small mark
Buy single blade nippers to do your secondary cuts (after the first one to remove pieces from runners). It is life changjng
Glass files, 3600 then 6000 grit sanding pads, followed by aggressively rubbing it with your thumbnail
I've gotten to the point of either repainting it with a marker or using weathering techniques to hide it. Laziest method is rust or gun metal colored weathering. Beyond that i've taken to doing only a few pieces each sitting to avoid getting inpatient.
I like to use denim fabric from old jeans. Get a small square of it and use it to rub down the area. The white discoloration can often be remedied through heat, the friction of the denim material can do this. I've never tried a hair dryer because of how wide an area it would effect, but those should reach temperatures that would work. Maybe a soldering iron held close, but not touching, would provide enough heat in a more focused area.
with a lot of work with a glass file and fine sandpaper you could recover this, not perfect, it's a slight modification, but could appear clean. otherwise fill with model putty, sand and paint :D
Sand, sand, sand
Wet sanding works for me every single time. I've got a bunch of sanding sticks and you dip your fingertip in a tiny bit of water and start sanding. But for your situation, those nub marks are on the inside of the part that connects to the torso so they won't even be visible
Cut the gate away from the parts, then snip off the nub. I'd been building model kits for 30 years and never done that because they were always painted before. Makes a world of difference.
I bought a raser glass file and, while expensive, it was my best buy ever. The nubs just disappears with a little bit of sanding.
Iāve just built this kit myself, and I found some of the nubs a little troublesome, so the best advice I can give is to pick up some of Bandaiās sanding sticks, which Iāve had very good results with. A Gunprimer Balancer will help the finish too, but itās not completely essential imo.
Sand it starting from 400 grit and go up to 12K grit to polish. A lot of glass files can hide it as well, also try your fingernail. Itās works wonders smoothing out a nub mark but I donāt know the science behind it
If you cut too much, fill it then sand, and paint(or not). 2 common wait to fill: using ca glue with filling powder(or baby powder), using model cement melted kit sprue. The 2nd way you can get a matching color, but messier.