A friendly chat with Tim Martin-Toussaint
Welcome to the first of our Little Robot blog posts! From now on we will be delivering to you regularly articles and updates about our events, sponsorships program and general topics related to the mecha culture! To kick off our very first article, we had a quick chat to Tim Martin-Toussaint, aka gundam Instagram influencer @gundamnyc. Tim has a very supportive fan-base on social media and regularly updates his followers on his builds, reviews and other related content. Tim also has a YouTube channel by the same now. Be sure to check his website www.gundamnyc.com for more information.
Keep reading for the full article…
My name is Tim Martin-Toussaint, I'm 25 years old. I was born and raised about 20 minutes outside of NYC in Mount Vernon. I support my massive gunpla addiction by working in the advertising industry.
I was first exposed to Gundam during my school days. I used to come home from school every day and watch Toonami on Cartoon Network and that was how I go into Gundam - Gundam Wing to be exact. From there I started buying the action figure, but it wasn't until G Gundam came out in America that I built my first kit. Then, it wasn't until 2011 after the whole Gundam craze ended that I bought my first HG kit. Last year, I started my Instagram page @gundamnyc and I really hadn't built a kit in about 3 years, so my skills were really rusty haha! I build almost every day. I find it relaxing to come home and just build something. It's a hobby that really helps relieve stress after a long day at work.
One of the things I love about this culture is the artists who push their creativity to design new mechs. It's really cool to see a design and get excited at the thought that it might come out as an actual model we can build, or someone can scratch build. I also love the creativity of other people in this community. It is incredible what some of these people come up with!
I think if I could be any of the models, I would be the Qan(t)! There is something so cool about that kit to me. Also, I'm a sucker for those shield bits!
I think the most common mistake people make is how they cut pieces out of the runner. I've seen people cut pieces out by placing the nippers on the piece and cutting it off the runner. The reason why you should not do that is that when you cut on the piece you have a chance of cutting into the piece itself and you will have to do more work to clean the piece rather than just cutting it correctly. So the correct way to cut pieces off of the runner is to cut a little higher on the runner, then go back with a hobby knife to cut off the rest of the nub and finally sand down the piece. Your kits will look so much better if you do it this way.
If you’re new to this hobby, the best advice for you is don't be afraid to try something new and mess up a kit. Even if you're cash-strapped and you can only get 1 kit a year, you should never be afraid to try something new and mess it up. A lot of us want our skills to be at a certain level and they will never get there if we aren't willing to branch out.
Thanks to Tim for taking the time to chat to us! Make sure you give him a like and a follow at @gundamnyc and have a peek at his website www.gundamnyc.com.
We hope you enjoyed our first blog. We’d love to hear your feedback and hear what else you would like us to share with you.
Little Robot