An introduction to Gunpla

So I've been really inactive for here for many months and thought I'd make an update now. I've been pretty busy with work and I've been flitting between different pastimes in my spare time, video games, artbooks, reading novels, sketching and most recently now, aiming to get back into Gunpla. So I thought I'd make a post for people who are interested in the latter of these.

One of my favourite, the Deathscythe Hell

So what is Gunpla? It is something that you might have heard of, you might never have heard of it. But its pretty cool. Bandai release (scale) model kits of Gundam mechs which don't require any glue or really many tools to put to together. (It depends how much you want to get into it initially, and thereafter in the customisation side of things.)

I'll post some links which I have found while reading up on this. I first started becoming interested in this stuff many years ago, but I've been away from it for a while now mainly because of money. It can be an expensive hobby when you start to get on a buying spree or interested in some of the larger kits out there. Kits range from maybe as cheap as £10 up to hundreds of pounds. I also think it is quite an unknown and quite confusing hobby from what I can tell. And this is from my perspective; I sit somewhere on the edge of the community, having only really dipped my toes into this with a few kits and pieces of equipment. At times it does seem that there are lots of barriers to getting into this, and I hope this post can be useful for people who are interested in trying some of this stuff out, and also spreading awareness about gunpla, bringing it to more people's attention. Even though my blog has a tiny audience, but hey, that doesn't matter V_V

*cough disclaimer time* I'll possibly add some more as I find new stuff. Feel free to leave any comments below, or message me if you have any questions. I didn't create any of the links or guides below or claim any ownership to them. Kudos to the people who did create these, some of the following stuff is really comprehensive and helpful.

This is from a UK perspective, as that is where I stay, and as such, a lot of the blogs are based here, or stores are located here. If you delve into the other links, they will have stores located in other areas, such as the US, and Australia. Ebay and/or Amazon are always good sites as well, which often ship internationally.

Starting point links 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunpla/
This reddit page is a great starting point, with interesting links for beginners on the right hand side info box.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunpla/comments/kzg5v/the_big_list_of_gunpla_tutorials_resources_100/
This master post on reddit/gunpla has a great amount of links and tutorials, especially with certain painting and preparation techniques.

http://otakurevolution.com/content/laymans-gunpla-guide-zero-paint-construction-guide

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1Tr8UyF2Xg5Ojqw0sxcO7oIG7IIsJPes3lMO5pHZKu5o
Really impressive guide 

Reference Websites/Stores

http://dalong.net/
Wow, this place has a great amount of reference pictures, even of manuals and the sprues/runners and stuff that you get in each kit. Good for finding pictures if the store you are browsing doesn't have much info. It has both korean menus and english menu options.

https://www.gundamplanet.com/

http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/The_Gundam_Wiki

UK based stores
http://www.gundammad.co.uk/home.php
http://japan-cool.co.uk/
http://www.gunpla.co.uk/nu_shop/

Gunpla Blogs

http://www.gaijin-gunpla.com/

http://goodguydangunpla.blogspot.co.uk/

http://gundamguy.blogspot.co.uk/

Youtube Channels

https://www.youtube.com/user/Prime92

https://www.youtube.com/user/ZakuAurelius

Gunpla Fixation

https://www.youtube.com/user/JobbytheHong