The 'sense of discomfort' from my childhood has been resolved

▼ The 'sense of discomfort' from my elementary school days

Gunpla.
Have you ever built one?

I used to build them for a while when I was in elementary school. I was a little hooked on them because of my friends.

I had watched the original Gundam on TV reruns, so I would buy Gunpla of the mobile suits I liked from the anime (my allowance was small, so I bought the cheap ones ( ´∀｀ )).

I assembled the classic 'Gundam' and 'Zaku' models, but even as a child, I felt...

(...something is off...)

That was the feeling I got every time I finished building one.

I would start building thinking that I would be so happy and it would look so cool when the Gunpla was finished, but once it was actually done, every time I felt, 'something is off'.

A precious Gunpla I got with the meager allowance I received from my parents.

But when it was finished, I didn't get as excited as I thought I would.

I even felt a sense of guilt for thinking, 'something is off'.

I wondered if I was just bad at building them.

Because of all that, my Gunpla boom didn't last long and faded away quite easily.

▼ Triggered by unearthed Gunpla

Since then, I hadn't paid any attention to Gunpla, but my son unearthed the ones from back then that had been left at my parents' house.

I felt nostalgic, thinking, 'Oh yeah, I used to build these.'

But at the same time, I also remembered that feeling of 'something is off'.

—The sense of discomfort from back then—


I looked it up on YouTube and realized it just now.

Matte finish.

The finished Gunpla models I saw neatly lined up in stores when I was in elementary school must have had a 'matte finish' applied.

Because I had seen the finished products with a 'matte finish' and perceived Gunpla with that image in mind, just building them straight out of the box resulted in a Gunpla that was, so to speak, 'full of plastic look', and I had that feeling of 'this isn't it'.

This was the sense of discomfort I had been carrying around since I was in elementary school.
(A bit too late to realize)

Anyway, now that I've realized the source of that discomfort, I decided to build one for the first time in a while (^^

▼ Built one for the first time in a while

This is what I built this time!
It's the Char's Zaku (HG).

Since it's an HG, I was able to build it quickly.
Here is the snap-fit version.

Hmm...
This is it. This is the one. ('ω')
This glossy look.
It feels like pure plastic.

Long time no see, my elementary school self.

But this time, I can go further. I've grown up (lol).

I'm going to use a matte spray to get rid of that plastic look.

I sprayed it in a well-ventilated outdoor area, being careful not to create uneven spots, and...

You can see the matte finish appearing right after spraying.

“Oh! This is it! This is what I was looking for!” I got excited like a child (lol).

After letting it dry thoroughly, it's finally time to assemble it.

What do you think?
Compared to before the matte finish, it clearly has a matte look, the 'pure plastic' feel has vanished, and it has transformed into a rubber-like texture!

Hmm, it has a sense of weight and
it's cool! (*‘∀‘)

This was my first time trying a 'matte finish', butit was surprisingly easy to do.

The matte spray isn't that expensive either, so I think I'll want to use a matte finish every time I build a Gunpla.

I've finally fulfilled the regret of my elementary school days (lol).

For Gunpla beginners,'matte spray' is highly recommended!!

Thank you for watching until the end!