PandaPlamo

Hello! Please introduce yourself

Hayoooo! I'm PandaPlamo 🐼 Filipina here born and raised in California but currently living in Washington. I've known about Gunpla for over a decade and to be honest, I was one of those types of people that would categorize Gundams with Transformers during the early years 😅 I learned more about Gundams and the Gunpla community through my husband. I bought him his first Gundam which was a PG Banshee. While he started building and doing commissions, I would help out here and there over time doing panel lines, priming, masking, and editing video content for his social media platforms. I have worked on my own kits (mainly SDs) but was never fully motivated due to my lack of confidence and patience.

When it comes to the kits and customization of colors, I like to be unique. I like to custom paint the kits opposite of the stock colors it comes in. The first SD I laid eyes on was the Hello Kitty Ex-Standard RX-78-2 and after that, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to work on. I still admire and enjoy looking at HG/RG’s and MG’s but my patience just isn’t enough for those intricate parts yet. I have done the MG Genesis and Vigna Ghina and that was enough for me to validate my preferences in scale sizes 😂 I don’t have much of a backlog but would like to get into PGs eventually.

The first kit I custom painted was the SD Hello Kitty RX-78-2. I really enjoyed experimenting with hand paint and spray paint. I had initially planned on hand painting the whole build but was really wanting to try spray paints even though I was hesitant. After I got the natural feel of spray painting I tried a combo of colors. And I believe I did not prime it prior to color paint so I already knew that was an oopsie. But for it being my first, I think it turned out okay and that was my experimental build.

After attending a model event a few months ago, I decided to start my own Instagram page and customize my kits with spray paint which I have been more comfortable using. I plan on learning how to airbrush, water slides, and scribe. I am still a rookie compared to a lot of builders and do not have a lot of photos and builds to showcase. I’ve always dealt with some mental health illnesses over the years and have found it therapeutic. Another reason I started being comfortable putting myself out there is due to the Gunpla community. The majority of the builders I’ve connected with are so welcoming and supportive no matter the skill level.

Other hobbies that interest me are watching anime, building Lego and nano block sets, playing different types of RPGs, writing, learning martial arts through my son, and creating video content.

Tell us about your favorite gundam project you have worked on so far?

 

 

My favorite Gundam project would have to be the SD Hello Kitty Zaku II which was my second custom build. It took me about 3 months to build and complete. This project was significant to me because it brought me out of my comfort zone when working with spray paints. As someone who has anxiety, the smallest steps are like big mountains. I take every kit as a challenge and this one in particular was working with flake spray paint. I’ve only ever worked with solid colors so when I would spray it onto the parts, I couldn’t tell if I was spraying too little or too much since the base color was black. I was worried it was going to be too cakey or it would bubble. Overall, it did have imperfections in the end where some of the parts bubbled in crevices so I knew that I didn’t have good control on spraying it on and other environmental factors played a part as well. I learned when it comes to painting, you have to take into consideration these things prior, or else it could affect the outcome of how the parts will set and dry.

 

 

Describe your process when starting a new project

When starting a new build, I always have a process of organizing the runners and separating the body parts by doing sections. I’ll snap the parts I need for each body part and put it in a container and I don’t snap it closest to the part — I leave a little bit of the runner on them. Next, I go through each container and snap them closest to the part and clean up the nub marks using my electric sander, Exel knife, or filer.

 

I put together the whole build for before photos and I use the build and manual to figure out the color scheme. I usually think up of colors that would look good together and I also love crossovers in which I took colors from Sailor Saturn (Sailor Moon) and incorporated it into my most recent almost-finished build which was the SD Deathscythe. Once I get the color scheme down, I separate the parts again and sometimes I’ll use a parts separator. The priming and painting process starts then the panel line.

And when I learn how to use water slides and airbrushing, I can complete the Deathscythe. Another build I’ve been working on currently is the 1/48 RX-78F00 Gundam Bust Model. It’s an online event project called The Cerulean Project to raise awareness of mental health. Their theme is green this year and I’m really excited to customize this as I’m planning to put everything I know into it. My husband will also collaborate with me on this and use his scribing skills for more customization.

Who do you follow on social media?

My main handle is IG and while I think every one of the Gunpla builders I follow is amazing, the two artists I’d like to talk about are gunpla_customs and cobrapla. They have been the most influential and supportive in my Gunpla journey.

Gunpla_customs is my husband's and has been building for about 5 years. Watching him grow as an artist and builder from the beginning till now has been an amazing journey. He has been doing commissions back to back for the past 4 years and has earned mad respect from the Gunpla community. He is truly talented and it shows in his work.

Cobrapla has been an awesome friend to both of us since we moved to Washington. He has exposed us to model events and meet-ups throughout the surrounding counties. He is also a phenomenal builder and has won competitions. I admire his humble personality and is always willing to help and support other builders.

Give us a tour of your workspace/workbench.

Unfortunately, I currently do not have a workspace/workbench but I wish I did! I switch between the garage to paint and the dining table to work on the parts. For tools, I use the Godhand nipper for the runners, an electric handheld sander, an Excel knife, and a filer to clean up the nub marks after snapping.