Building Gunpla: What I Do With My Downtime

The current Gundam shelf in my apartment

If you know me well enough you would know that I am quite the nerd when it comes to space, robots and comic book-adjacent media. From a young age I wanted to be an astronaut and studied space like my life depended on it, Transformers was some of the first media outside of what my parents directly showed me that I was exposed to, and my dad's comic books were my favorite things as a kid. Well what happens when you combine all of those things? You get Mobile-Suit Gundam.

I wrote a previous blog on a Gundam series called "Mobile-Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury" earlier last year, so if you want to check out elements of one of the TV shows click here. But what I really want to talk about is the Gundam model kits that accompany the suits in the shows. 

The model kits that emulate the suits in the Gundam anime are called Gunpla, derived from the name "Gundam Plastic Model." Since the 1980s Gunpla have been popular model kits in Japan and the rest of the world for their high level of detail and the enjoyment of building it. They are like Lego, but with more work. I personally believe the work is worth it but I know not everyone shares the same sentiment. 

In order to start one of these models you will need to buy one first. Gunpla models can easily be found at Hobby Lobby and other comic book stores in-store or online at various different sites. Then you will need a model tool kit. These are a set of tools used for cutting the plastic sprue the pieces are injection molded in and doing other maintenance on them. These can also be found at the aforementioned places. And then you can begin building (finally).

A layout of my tool kit, plastic sprue, and instruction book for a Gunpla

The complexity is hard to describe without getting very technical about the details, but in short the complexity can be broken into the following most common categories: High Grade, Real Grade, Master Grade, and Perfect Grade. These generally are in order of complexity, piece count and average price range. My favorite ones to build are the Master Grade. They are complex, usually harder to get, and take much more time. It is like my own form of painting. Each kit may be the same in the instructions, but as you build them you find ways the kit will become your own. Whether it is a chip out of the plastic you make, an extra sticker you apply or simply how you pose it when it is finished, the kit will be your own by the time it is finished.

The inner frame of the kit I am working on

I have made a few of these kits in the past couple of years and I definitely say this is one of my favorite ways to spend my alone time. It is so easy to put on a playlist and listen to something while I build the next kit in my backlog. If this blog interested you at all in trying this hobby I highly recommend you explore it! If you decide to only build one that is okay, you will have that one model to display however you wish.