NCSX to offer pre-painted Skygirls Vic Viper Anime Ver.

comtar · Post by **comtar** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:25 pm

bcass wrote:Make sure you get an undercoat/primer and apply that before appying any other colours.

Is Primer still needed for the Gundam Marker paints?

And also, won't it loose alot of the plastic shinyness with primer?

bcass · Post by **bcass** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:51 pm

You only need to apply primer if you're going to paint the model. You don't need primer if you're only doing panel lines with a gundam marker.

comtar · Post by **comtar** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:10 pm

I only plan on painting the wing tips and stuff blue like you see on the model, the model itself is already white. I don't see the reason to primer and entire ship to get the fins of the wings blue. But maybe I'm way off.

The black lines I definitely want a Gundam pen for, like I said, I'm weighing my options and getting input. I'm putting my two feet into the fire as this is my first model I've ever built.

ReKleSS · Post by **ReKleSS** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:52 pm

Isn't there a Reijin model in the box too? Why can't you experiment with that?

bcass · Post by **bcass** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:31 am

My advice is don't paint any model without using primer first. If you prime the wings only then it's going to look at odds with the main body. If you intend on panel lining the whole ship (not just the wings) then I advise you prime the whole ship, then paint it all white, then paint the wing tips, then apply the panel lining. The panel lining will be easier if there is paint on the model.

If this is your first model, I recommend you to buy a cheap airfix kit and experiementing on that. Things don't always go as planned at first, so experiment first. The final results will speak for themselves if you put in the extra effort.

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:35 am

bcass wrote:My advice is don't paint any model without using primer first.

Primer is definitely necessary for brush painting. If you use brush paints, be sure to thin out the paints with thinner for enamel paints, or acrylic paints can be thinned with acrylic thinner or water.

If you're going to spray paint the model, primer won't be too necessary if you can just soak the parts in soap and water or Windex. I've been using Tamiya primer for airbrushing a Voltron model I'm putting together using gloss enamel paints, but I just put together a Char's Zak and I airbrushed it with flat acrylics with no problem. Maybe primer is better if you're using enamels for spraying? I'm not sure. I'm still learning about this.

Comtar, if you would like to go ahead and paint the entire model (it will probably look nicer and not look like a plastic toy), you can get an even paint job without buying an airbrush by just getting some cans of flat blue and white paint. Mask off the parts with masking tape (Tamiya masking tape is great, or you can just use regular masking tape---just don't use Scotch tape) and make quick passes with the spray cans across the model until you get an even mix. Holding at a decent length away, begin spraying before the spray hits the plastic and stop the spray after you pass over it. If you do this, you'll give the model a nice, even paint job without brush strokes. Then you can apply a gloss clear coat to give it a bit of a shine. After that, you can do the panel lines by using the flat enamel and zippo lighter fluid trick I described earlier, and you won't have to track down any Gundam markers that way.

I'm suggesting this if you just want to put together a nice-looking Viper model without investing in a ton of supplies, because I am assuming that you are not interested in exploring model-making as a hobby. what you will need (in the order of use) is:
1. soap and water to wash the model off
2. nippers/cutters to take the pieces off the plastic runners (or you can even use toenail clippers)
3. an X-Acto knife to cut off the remaining nubs
4. an emory board (nail file) to file down where the nubs were removed and make them flat with the surrounding area-- the fine grain on emory boards are perfect for modeling
5. two cans of flat spray paint: white and blue (you can get Testors enamel spray paint, or you can find some acrylic paint cans)
6. Testors Gloss Cote to give the model a nice finish and a nice sheen
7. Testors flat black paint
8. Zippo lighter fluid can from a smoke shop--mix with the flat black enamel, apply with a fine-tipped brush and let the panel lines draw themselves

Oh yeah, and some paper towels. There you go. You'll spend maybe about $15 or so if you already have some of this stuff. Steal the emory board from your wife/girlfriend/daughter whomever. Did I spell emory correctly? I don't know. I don't care.

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:20 am

Here is a tutorial on painting the panel lines. I found it on the hobbyfanatics.com forum, where I spend more time than on the shmups forum these days. Check around on his site. He has some cool tutorials and even videos.

Syndicate · Post by **Syndicate** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:49 am

Now I can prove my nerdyness.

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:03 pm

Syndicate wrote:Now I can prove my nerdyness.

As if playing a lot of Japanese video games isn't nerdy enough!

Sly Cherry Chunks · Post by **Sly Cherry Chunks** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:25 pm

http://www.amiami.com/shop/ProductInfo/product_id/90872

Videogame-accurate version.

I'm not too keen on the Sky Girls version but I fancy this.

comtar · Post by **comtar** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:41 am

Awe crap!

Dang it.

Oh well, I guess I sacrificial lamb.

Cause I want the most accurate version possible.

greg · Post by **greg** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:10 pm

I haven't started mine yet. I am looking for some more airbrush practice on cheaper models before I start on a more expensive model like my Vic Viper. Thanks for the reference for the game colors. I was looking at the reference material in Gradius V (at least in the J-version I own) for the coloring.

Those missiles displayed in the pictures though... the model doesn't come with that, right? I only saw those rectangular-shaped pods.

EDIT: NEVERMIND! I didn't realize that this is a completely different model than the one I already own. NEVERMIND!

EDIT AGAIN: The Sky Girls Viper got a two-page spread article in February's Dengeki Hobby magazine. Any requests for scans?

postman · Post by **postman** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:04 pm

NCSX just emailed me to let me know that the Viper kits have arrived unassembled, and wanted to know if I still wanted it.......

That's some real bad news, I just cancelled the order.

Good news is maybe now someone will offer the authentic Viper kit and not the Skygirls version.......I'd rather have that anyway.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:58 pm

greg wrote:I haven't started mine yet. I am looking for some more airbrush practice on cheaper models before I start on a more expensive model like my Vic Viper. Thanks for the reference for the game colors. I was looking at the reference material in Gradius V (at least in the J-version I own) for the coloring.

Those missiles displayed in the pictures though... the model doesn't come with that, right? I only saw those rectangular-shaped pods.

EDIT: NEVERMIND! I didn't realize that this is a completely different model than the one I already own. NEVERMIND!

EDIT AGAIN: The Sky Girls Viper got a two-page spread article in February's Dengeki Hobby magazine. Any requests for scans?

For greg,

Please do some high-res scans of the two page spread of this Sky Girls Viper model... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

greg · Post by **greg** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:38 am

OK, here's a scan of the image. It spread across two pages, so I stuck the two scans together. I scanned it at 200dpi.[/url]

Notice how they painted the cockpit opaque. The way the canopy fits into the model looks rather retarded, with a big plastic tooth in the front and center to fit into the ship. Terrible. In order to make it look good, I can't blame them for painting the canopy.

Sly Cherry Chunks · Post by **Sly Cherry Chunks** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:45 pm

Preorders go:

http://www.shopncsx.com/gradiusiivicvip ... mbler.aspx

But wait, theres more. Colour me officially baffled:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10068274

Gradius III variant??? Oh well, hopefully this will lead the way to an eventual T301 kit. Today is a good day for nerdy toy collectors.

ReKleSS · Post by **ReKleSS** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:01 am

Now THIS is what I've been waiting for. The plain white looks a bit weird, but that can be fixed... I guess I can put up with the shitty production for this.

postman · Post by **postman** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:39 pm

Just got my Gradius 2 model kit from NCSX, wow is it nice.....

It's like a "real" model kit (speaking in terms of the US ones) with tons of parts on the plastic sheets. Excellent quality with a nice looking box too....

Anyone else get theirs?

Thinimus · Post by **Thinimus** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 12:03 am

Sly Cherry Chunks wrote:Preorders go:

But wait, theres more. Colour me officially baffled:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10068274

Gradius III variant??? Oh well, hopefully this will lead the way to an eventual T301 kit. Today is a good day for nerdy toy collectors.

I bet it's virtually impossible to complete too.

ReKleSS · Post by **ReKleSS** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 5:05 am

So... has anyone had a chance to compare the original sky girls kit with one of the newer ones? Has the production quality improved at all?

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:49 am

NCSX has their usual "Sale of the Day" or SOTD clearance offer and is offering the Sky Girls Vic Viper model kit at a lower price point for $43.90 USD (it's listed at the very bottom of the webpage:

http://www.ncsx.com/2008/052608/ncs0526f.htm

http://www.shopncsx.com/skygirlsvicvipe ... elkit.aspx

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Sly Cherry Chunks · Post by **Sly Cherry Chunks** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:22 pm

So has anyone else built one of these yet? I've just about ruined/finished my GII kit. Lots of neat options for open flaps, missile launchers and landing gear. You get bits of the sky girls kit with it too and an option for a T-shaped tail fin like the famous title screen.

The teeny tiny pilot suggests a much larger scale than I'd previously imagined.