10 Basic Things You Should Know About Gundam Modeling: Runners, Gates And Pieces

Welcome to the second series of "10 Basic Things You Should Know About Gundam Modeling: Runners, Gates And Pieces". Unlike Gundam action figures, Gundam model kits don't come in a box which it is already fix. They will come like this!

An open box for PG 1/60 Gundam MK-II "Titans".

Hahaha. That's what you get when you get yourself a box of Gundam model kit. Yes! Tonnes and tonnes of plastics till you can start you own recycling center. Hahaha. Just kidding but seriously, there are a lot of plastic frames.

Tonnes of plastics.

This whole plastic frame is call the runner.

And this little thing that connects the parts from the runner is call the gate.

There are several right techniques of getting these parts out from the runners. Some barbaric human will just snap the part out from the runner using their brute force and ended up with a 2-piece-part instead of 1. So here's one of the right technique for civilize human being.

Use one of these to get the part out.

Snap the gate so the part will come out easily.

If you notice, no matter how careful you are, there will always be some nip marks (not sure what is it call) jotting out from the part. So what I'll do is I'll get my scalpel out and run it along the side of the part so it will nicely slice the nip out of the part using the part lining. I'm not sure if you guys got the idea of it but I'll run through it with some pictures as guidance.

Get one of this scalpel from your nearest stationary store and don't forget to pay. Those scalpel from the model stores will cost you about RM 90 plus easily while you can get another scalpel which does exactly the same for only RM8.90 from Thai Kuang Bookstore. Heck, they even give your 2 extra blades if the current blades turn blunt.

Scalpel with 2 extra blades from Thai Kuang Bookstore.



See Only RM8.90

Other alternative is to use a normal blade. Do not use knife !! I say that because I once saw one of my friend using it.

By following the flat surface of the part, gently run your scalpel along the flat surface and slice it away. I couldn't capture this shot because I need both of my hand and I don't have a tripod to capture this. So I borrowed this picture from dannychoo.com, another well-known modeler.

There you go. You can cover that nip mark with spray. Some people would tend to use the scalpel to get the part off the runner by slicing the gate. Well, that's another option but then your scalpel will be blunt pretty fast.

Alright, I'm done with the second series. Stay tune for the third which is "10 Basic Things You Should Know About Gundam Modeling: Lining"