1/100 MG Hi Nu Conversion ProgressMarch 10, 2008: I started this kit earlier this year, but put it aside to work on some resin figures. Now that I have some of the figures out of my system, time for some gunpla. This is a conversion kit from Vicious Project for the Master Grade Hi Nu Gundam. So far I just have it snapped together with the resin parts to get a better idea on what I need to do with the kit. From the initial sanding process, I haven't seen many issues with the casting, so hopefully I can get through the sanding process fairly quickly.
March 18, 2008: The following process happened over the past week or so. After the test fit, the parts were taken down and some of the smaller parts were glued together. All the parts were then sanded to remove the pouring gates or any defects I could see. The sanding process went from low grit(60) to high grit(400). Once all the sanding was done, all the resin parts and some plastic parts were thrown into the purple industrial strength bath (Purple Power from Walmart) This is absolutely necessary when working with resin as it removes any left over mold release agents that may still be on the surface of the resin. If this residue is not removed, paint, primer, etc will not stick to the surface of the parts.
The parts sit in the purple bath for a full day. Afterwards, I remove the parts with a glove and place them into an ultrasonic cleaner. I'm lazy and the ultrasonic cleaner takes care of the scrubbing session on the parts to really clean off any residue mold release and cleanse the part of the industrial strength cleaner. The solution in the ultrasonic cleaner is water with a small drop of dish soap. If the parts still feel a little oily, I rinse them again through the ultrasonic cleaner with water only. The parts are then taken out and dried.
Placing the parts on holders of every sort, clips, skewers, or sticky surfaces, they are ready for the initial priming session. This will show all the sanding mistakes and areas that need to be corrected with putty. Lots of parts were primed tonight.
March 10, 2008: Continue work on the MG Hi Nu Conversion kit from Vicious Project.