# Any kits still molded in multiple colors?



## grampi (Nov 23, 2006)

I remember when Monogram (just to name one) kits came molded in several colors, which meant you could build a decent looking model without doing any, or very little painting. Now days, it seems like most, if not all kits are molded in one solid color, with clear being the only other. I just don't like painting. For me it's a big headache...having to buy all of the paints, air brushes, compressor, trying to find a place to paint in the winter time (when it can't be done outside or in the garage, all of the cleanup, etc, it's just a huge pain...do any model manufacturers still make kits molded in multiple colors?


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

A very few. Monogram's reissue of the Phantom Mustang still comes in several colors. I think the Academy 1.48 Phantoms come in a a couple of colors but they molded things like the landing gear in black and they should be white. 

The problem with multiple colors and weird colors is that it can make painting more difficult if you do paint your kits. If they mold something in a light, neutral, color, you can paint it any shade you want. When they mold a car body in black, you can forget about painting it yellow without a lot of work. Some colors too are just not user friendly. Black and pure white are hard. Metallics always show a dark line where a mold seam was, even if you remove it. Today you usually find kits in light grey, light tan.


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

I've got several Bandai kits that feature different coloured styrene _on the same sprue......_


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

miniature sun said:


> I've got several Bandai kits that feature different coloured styrene _on the same sprue......_


How in hell do they do that?


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

scotpens said:


> How in hell do they do that?


Multiple styrene injection points in the mold and controlled injection of the plastic.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Yeah I forgot about the Bandai Gundam kits. Tamiya has done that on a couple of their motorcycle kits... like the clear windshield has a silver frame molded around it.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

miniature sun said:


> I've got several Bandai kits that feature different coloured styrene _on the same sprue......_


The Bandai Star Trek kits also had full hull aztecing plus markings while still on the sprue. The Refit used gloss and flat white to create the paneled effect- very good for that scale without getting into checkerboards.


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## Faust (Dec 1, 2012)

Bandai is the king and god of multi-colour moulding.

If you want to see impressive, look at a Master Grade Gundam kit. One example is the Guntank, here:

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/bandai-1100-master-grade-rx-75-guntank-oob/

You've got blackish-grey, red, white, blue, yellow, clear blue and lighter grey, all in one kit. Others are even more impressive, with metallic colours like gold and silver, as well as multiple different clear colours. 

I think there are a few Creator Works kits form Hasegawa that are in a few colours. The Bentenmaru from Bodacious Space Pirates is in magenta, black and maybe another red colour, and the Space Wolf has a white skull and crossbones for the stand, at least. 

There are also the Bandai Yamato 2199 kits; I've seen them built with no painting, and it's somewhat impressive. 

Other than the old Matchboxes, though, you just didn't see it a lot in non-Asian kits.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

And, as cool as the multi colored plastic is "in the box" an unpainted plastic model, no matter how many colors it comes molded in, still looks like plastic.


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## finaprint (Jan 29, 2006)

Most are going to simple neutral plastic color to make more money off the kits while saying the modelers prefer it that way (they may in fact).

Colored plastic cost more when the machines have to be purged clean for color changes. 

Another admission that children are no longer assembling models too, a big reason why multiple colors were used.


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## Faust (Dec 1, 2012)

finaprint said:


> Most are going to simple neutral plastic color to make more money off the kits while saying the modelers prefer it that way (they may in fact).
> 
> Colored plastic cost more when the machines have to be purged clean for color changes.
> 
> Another admission that children are no longer assembling models too, a big reason why multiple colors were used.


I actually do, in fact, prefer a single-colour kit. Light grey or white is best, although I prefer the grey to the white by far. Primer seems to cover the (almost primer grey) plastic best. Also, you can see detail on light grey plastic easier, so it makes doing out of box reviews a lot easier for me! 

I agree that it has a lot to do with kids not modelling any more. Just out of curiosity, has anyone seen any of the Zvezda "Cars" and "Planes" kits from the CG movies? They're clearly for kids, and I'm wondering if they're full-on colour or what.

I find it interesting that the Gundam kits (and most anime kits today) are all full colour. For one thing, that's an attempt on Bandai's part to get as many people interested as possible. They're going the opposite way to our kit makers; they make seriously detailed kits, but in mutliple colours so anyone, not just the "experten", can build and have fun with them. It also encourages people to build their skills. They start by straight assembly, see it's cool, and then see the potential for more. "What if I added silver for the windows or engines? What if I put some black on this piece?" 

Bandai and other Japanese companies have found that by spending more on moulds, they can draw MORE people in. They actively recuit through the technologies in their models, rather than giving up and saying "well, only modellers are going to buy it anyway". 

One thing about multi-colour moulding (at least on Gundams): it meas that part separation usually follows colour separation. This makes it SUPER EASY to get the parts all the right colour before assemby. After all the paint's perfect, you pop the parts together, flat coat it all and BOOM! Instantly awesome looking, actually painted kit!

If you're casting all in one colour, then there's no incentive for the mould makers to split parts up by colour, and you make life much harder. Old 1 or 2 colour Gundam kits were like that. 

To be honest, though, I don't think the full colour moulding matters for armour, cars or planes as much as it does for Sci-Fi. I mean, a plane is a plane, it goes together before painting anyway.


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## finaprint (Jan 29, 2006)

Some of it being the main base color picked. Take the old Aurora kits, if the main parts were in a dark brown or green, the black parts in contrast did not draw the eye nearly so much. On the other hand, the figure kits with glow parts used contrasted so much they looked clunky.

The Bandai thing may be more of the Japanese way of looking at things, they put a whole lot of effort into things we as a society would view here as childish. The children there seem to have a more sophisticated view of things, even those we here would consider not doing that on. The Japanese mentality of more complication is better thing. It sure shows in their products. I love how they take the effort to do that. They just smack you in the face with like a 4X4 with all that color. Here we are way too concerned with more profit, it's all about the money, even to the loss of quality over it. 

I miss the old 2 color kits myself. Nothing said the '60s more than that to me, and I LOVED being a kid back then.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Even as a kid I painted my models so the plastic color really doesnt matter. The only colors I don't like to work with are extremes - white and black are more difficult to see the details. Silver and metallics always show ghost seam lines so its trickier to make sure you have removed them.


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## Faust (Dec 1, 2012)

Yeah, I've almost always painted my models as well, I think the first couple I built were "half painted", but that was the last time I let bare plastic show. 

for just looking at an unassembled kit, I think grey is the best colour, myself.

What you say about black and white (and silver, for that matter) is correct. Even worse, though, are some of the MPC colours, like Yellow and Red; those are hard to see details on, and they tend to change the colour of any primer you put on them; there's always a bit of 'bleed' it seems!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I like light grey or light sand/tan. The newer, lighter, olive that Tamiya uses is not bad either, at least compared to the old black olive in their 70s kits.

The trouble too with unpainted plastic is that it always looks like plastic. I had an old Revell car 57 chevy body in nice, opaque, black plastic. I spent hours and hours polishing it until it had a mirror like, flawless, finish... yet it still looked like plastic, somehow. Plus you could see some mold sink marks on the hood that just killed any realism. Plastic just looks like plastic. And a lot of colors like red, yellow, etc. especially today, are translucent. At least back in the 60s they used better quality plastic, more dye, and kits had thicker parts.


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

djnick66 said:


> And, as cool as the multi colored plastic is "in the box" an unpainted plastic model, no matter how many colors it comes molded in, still looks like plastic.


And plastic with metallic pigment in it always has swirls and flow marks from the molding process. That's acceptable for a toy, but not if you want to build a model that's even halfway realistic.


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