Philippines | GunplaGallery Profile
Hello! Please introduce yourself
Hello, my name is Gerry, also known as Sharkbait Customs (IG: @sharkbait29; YT: @sharkbaitcustoms6111, FB: sharkbait29). I am self-employed, and I used to run my own small food business. I was born in the Philippines, and currently, I live in Quezon City, one of the biggest cities in Metro Manila.
I first got into Gunpla when I was a teenager. One of the local TV stations aired the Gundam Wing and G-Gundam Anime during the afternoons. I used to walk or run home fast just to get home in time for the show. I saved a lot of my allowance and did some odd jobs to get some money, so I can buy kits. My first Gunpla was a no-grade 1/144 Shenlong Gundam. It was so simple, but I was happy to get my hands on it and didn’t know anything about the grades of kits back then.
I switched to a lot of different hobbies because Gunpla wasn’t cheap back then, and I played with toys at that age, so most of my kits had lots of broken parts. I only got back to Gunpla in 2018. My online gaming friends also did Gunpla, and I remembered I used to build them. So I went around and bought some kits at a local flea market. Fast-forward to a handful of kits later, and I started to buy some Tamiya paints to hand paint the details of my builds.
I tried hand painting, and it wasn’t really easy to get Tamiya paints to stick to plastic, since I didn’t know about primer. After thoroughly researching spray can paint techniques, I invested in some quality hardware store spray paint. The first kit I painted was a 1/100 Full Mechanics Barbatos Lupus Rex. The texture resembled that of an orange peel due to the oversized nozzles on the industrial cans, resulting in excessive paint spraying. It was terrible, and I got a lot of bad comments about it when I shared it online. I got an airbrush set a couple of months later, and I painted an HG Moon Gundam, then my MG Dynames after. With each project, I am continuously gaining new knowledge while also encountering mistakes along the way that allow me to learn and grow.
I am motivated by the creative aspect of the hobby. I used to draw a lot, and also did a lot of tinkering, and scratch-building from scrap toys and electronics when I was young. I didn’t have any outlet for my creativity when I was studying, and also when I started working. This hobby makes me come up with things that I can picture in my head, and then see in real life when I custom paint them. I like making unique color schemes, and trying out new painting techniques I’ve never done before. I don’t want to box myself into just one style, as it will get boring for me to keep doing the same style for each project. When I am not building, I also do a lot of running, sometimes biking, and a little video gaming on the side.
Tell us about your favorite gundam project you have worked on so far?
My favorite project would have to be the MG Sinanju + Takumi Studios add-on kit. It took me about 2 months to finish it. It’s my favorite because the Sinanju is one of my favorite designs, and this one has even more details because of the Takumi add-on kit. I had a picture of it in my head, even before I started to work on it, and after testing a few times on plastic spoons, I made it happen on the actual Gunpla.
I learned a lot from this project, like what colors compliment each other, and how important it was to topcoat your project, so you don’t scratch the paint. I also learned that for the competition level, you really need to pay attention to details. The overall theme, coordination, and cleanliness of your paint scheme are crucial in determining the impact of your final product. I made many mistakes from this, and so I incorporate what I learned from it into my future builds.
The most challenging project, or projects I had, would be the MG Psycho Zaku Ver Ka, the PG Strike Freedom, and the MG Providence Gundam. Every kit is really a different challenge. These three just stood out due to a few reasons. The Zaku had so many parts, and small thruster bells too. I paint by color batches, so it was difficult to paint them all properly if you stick them on alligator clip sticks. I had to stick them onto a cardboard box piece before I could paint them. The PG Strike Freedom had so many big parts, and masking involved. I kept pulling the paint off after taking the masking tape off. Apparently, the paints or primers I was using were not that strong. I use alcohol-based acrylics for painting. Even letting the paint cure for a week it still wasn’t strong enough. I learned how to remove the adhesive from the hobby tape and practiced being patient. The same goes for the MG Virtue, lots of masking was involved to get that color separation on the armor and inner frame. I used a better primer for that one, so no more paint was pulled after masking.
I just want to add that mistakes, and frustration is part of the hobby of custom painting model kits. The best teacher we have is experience. No matter how many YouTube videos you watch about painting, until you experience the problem firsthand, you will not really truly learn about it.
Describe your process when starting a new project
It’s different for personal and commission works. For commission work, I ask the client what they want the final look to be. And then I give a quote of how much I would charge to do it exactly like that. So it’s a fixed vision of an already existing work mostly according to what the client’s taste is. For my personal projects, I have more freedom to use my imagination and mix the custom colors that I want to use. I make mine as unique as possible from existing builds I see online.
I find ideas everywhere. It may be something I saw outside, or some other hobby entirely. You can look at designs from games, shoes, clothes, or nature, and incorporate that into your own ideas to make a unique take on your own works. I use a notebook sometimes just to write the paint mix ratios of the colors I use. A mental image is what I keep of the final product I want the Gunpla to look like. Limiting yourself to one technique in all your builds can be quite restrictive, but I can understand how some people might be obsessed with the consistency of their collections. I want to explore all kinds of painting techniques because when I do get a request for an odd paint scheme, I want to be able to confidently take on such projects too.
Who do you follow on social media?
A lot of people, I don’t know if I can list them all but here goes.
Youtube
SDARK, RAY Studio, EA Gunpla, Crafta Channel, BPN Bokuno Puramoderu Nikki, None Channel, Don Suratos Art, Nico Suratos, Paint on Plastic, Miniaturite.
tsuta772, zilch321zero, wilsonhobbystudio, dumbpla, gunplaparrot, anubispla, yamaneko311, squirtlemilitia, maveriq.gunpla, edayver.ed, riner6780, mourn.one, khoifysh, g1119147, kallamity.
I like all of them for different reasons. The quality of the work is always there, along with how they have different techniques, and detailing that they do. Others also have high-quality video productions. Some have great work-in-progress posts that help me see how they approach their detailing and building. Overall they are just some of the builders that I look up to, and want to get close to their level of passion for the hobby. You can feel how passionate they are, just by looking at their work.
Give us a tour of your workspace/workbench.
My work table is an L-shaped corner table. It’s just a cheap table, but I can put a lot of stuff on it, or under it. My laptop is on the right side, so I can play some music while I build, while on the left is where I do my build work. I just use a generic mesh back office chair. I use it because it is comfortable for me to use for long periods.
I use generic hobby tools like nippers, glass files, sandpapers, an X-Acto hobby knife, a hobby mat, and an airbrush set with a no-tank compressor. I think I am one of those types that don’t want to upgrade tools, as long as the old ones I use are still working. I do have an airbrush spray booth, but I am too lazy to set it up, so I mostly just go outside to the veranda outside my room and set up my painting there.
I want to add that I started building on just our kitchen table and painting outside the front door, with cheap tools. So I am not picky with what tools I use, as long as they work.