Hi World, Gunjap Interviews today with Paul Velando !!!
Hi World, Gunjap Interviews today with Paul Velando. Let’s Start!
[G: Gunjap]
[P: Paul Velando]
G – Who is Paul Velando in the Gunpla Modelers World? And where do you come from?
P -Hi Gunjap! I’d like to thank you first for this interview as this is truly a big honor to be featured in your blog. Thanks!
My name is Paul Velando and my friends in the gunpla community knows me by the name TheVirginAngel or aka TVA. I’m from the Philippines and if you ask me who I am in our gunpla modelers world, I can honestly say that I’m just a simple guy who loves the hobby and who likes sharing it to people who are interested to find out more. 🙂 I never considered myself a pro. I just like spreading gunpla love. 🙂
G – When did you start building Gunpla?
I started building gunpla 2008, but I had always been fascinated with these plastic models since I was a child. Wing Gundam was the series that introduced me to the Gundam mythos and after watching that I was hooked and I looked for other Gundam series to watch and researched on anything Gundam. I come from a family where I have 4 siblings so back when I was growing up I didn’t ask my parents to buy me expensive toys (gunpla is pretty pricey here in the Philippines). It was when I started working and earning for myself that I started building and collecting.
G – And when did you made your first Custom?
P -the first really custom kit that I made would be my 2010 entry to the Bandai Model Kit World Cup which was a customized hguc kshatriya in Char’s colors with a badly damaged Rx Gundam on a moon diorama.
G – Do you have some inspiration for your creations?
P – It really depends on my mood. I’m not into heavy mods as I still would like my kit to look as how they were originally designed straight from the box. I want them to still be recognizable but in a way tell a story after I’ve touched and painted it. This can be achieved through minor mods, subtle weathering, change in color scheme and a good backdrop diorama.
G – After you have finished snap-fitting a model, from where do you start to mod it?
P – I stick to the basics first, which is proper sanding and assembly. It would usually take me two to three snap fitting sessions for me to be satisfied before I apply primer to the kit. I just make sure that the parts are properly fitted, nub marks are clean and if there is a joint/part that would cause problem once painted, I deal with that. Nothing too fancy. I’m very particular about panel lines though so I rescribed the panel lines of my kit everytime before I paint them.
G – What do you think about Gunpla in all the World? modelers, attitude, modelers behavior etc..
P – Gunpla to me is a hobby that compliments life. It teaches you a lot of things that are very useful in the real world. It teaches you how to be creative, how to be patient, how to have a goal and how to learn from your mistakes. This hobby has been my outlet to run to whenever I feel the stresses in life and it has managed to help me get over it all through this time. This is why I always enjoy talking to anybody who shares this hobby of ours, or anybody who maybe is just curious about it. My Moto as a modeller is to just always “spread GUNPLA/LOVE!”. I feel that for our hobby to be successful we should just do this. That’s why sometimes it really saddens me when I get to read stuffs of modellers ranting and backstabbing fellow modellers in their blog where people can just add fuel to the fire. I don’t understand why some people do that still, but in my country this is still happening. I guess we really have a long way to go… Honestly, I just feel that everyone should just maintain a degree of Respect for fellow modellers and their works. Understand everybody has their own ways and just keep the negativity away.
G – What do you think about GBWC Event?
P – It’s the WRESTLEMANIA of gunpla! My first GBWC experience was way back 2010, my entry kit won under the new challenger category but that was not the highlight of that event for me. To be around awesome gunpla works and people who share the same interest as mine, was the price itself. Three days of this every year is something that I look forward to.
G – Please some advices for modelers that wanna start building a gunpla for the very first time!
P – Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. There are a lot of resources out there that can help you be successful and enjoy this hobby. Though I have modeller friends, I always stick to what I want on what I want to achieve for my kits. I’m open to critism but I don’t allow it to dictate how my build should turn out because at the end of the day, that kit is still going to be on my display.
G – Have you a Website/Blog to show your Works?
P -I have a YouTube account that I used to maintain where I post my wits and some tutorials, but I haven’t updated that for long time now as time and work has really caught up with me nowadays. Any one can just check my works on my Facebook account or add me up if they want. I keep my gunpla albums public for everyone to see.
G – Future Projects?
P – I still have a FA Unicorn, Gundam OO seven swords and an Rx-78-2 3.0 on my backlogs of kit I plan to start working on soon. I’ll spend my gunpla love to you when I start on those. 🙂
Thanks again for this interview and opportunity bro Fab! Your blog is a big help to our hobby. I wish you all the best and thanks for keeping this blog alive as yours is a gunpla blog that stays true to the true essence of spreading gunpla love. More power to you my brother! 🙂
G – Many Thanks to Paul Velando aka TVA for this Interview 
See You soon for the next!
