[WIP] 1/100 Vintage Real type Zaku I WIP 1

So I finally got to start building this kit.

This kinds of kit are perfect if you want to practice and/or improve your basic model kit building skills. These kits doesn't have the snap fitting technology that modern kits have where the pegs lock into other pieces to form different parts of the kit. For this kit you will be required to glue pieces together.

Plus due to the age, this kits design and proportion looks ridiculous compared to today's standards.

Like I said earlier, this kit requires that pieces be glued together. But since I want to paint this too, I'll have to systematically build this so that I can efficiently paint this kit.

Before painting, I need to make sure all the glued areas are clean. That's called SEAM LINE REMOVAL. Basically I want to make a part look one seamless kit. For more realistic looking models, seam line removal is used to hide where pieces join together and make it look like the full scale version.

I think seam line removal is one of the most repetitive phases of model kit building. It's nearly impossible to get all those seam lines in just one passing. After gluing the pieces, we sand the parts then paint primer to check if the seam lines are successfully removed. The primer helps to bring out all the imperfections of a part, whether a rough area that needs finer sanding, or seam lines still showing. If you're still not satisfied with the results, another round of sanding - priming - checking may be done until you're satisfied.

To properly deal with the seam lines, I need to glue parts 1st that would normally lock other parts together. That is OK and all but not if you plan on painting the kit. 

This is where PRE-PAINT MODS come in handy. It involves modding parts that would make painting and assembling much easier.

A common example of this pre-paint mods would be the knee and elbow joints. without doing those mods. I wouldn't be able to reach those edges and corners during painting and will look bad once finished. 

While dealing with specific parts, I like to put it all together every once in a while to get an overall look of the kit, and to see areas that still need to be worked on. 

As of now, I'm still dealing with the seam lines while I plan my color scheme.