One thing that is really important is a good set of clippers and either files or sanding sticks. You can even use the cheap ones for manicures to get a really smooth finish.

I've heard about those files for your fingernails being used to sand and buff parts to get rid of nubs.

I've been getting into that stuff myself. Mostly the game side of it instead of actual kits. Been having a lot of fun with Gundam Breakers 3.

Now this is a topic near and dear to my heart. I'm no expert builder, but I love collecting and snap-fitting mecha kits. :D

As far as tools are concerned, if you're just putting together what you've got in the box and not planning to paint (or you're planning to paint later) you really just need a decent pair of flush-cut nippers for cutting parts off the runners, and either a hobby knife or sandpaper to clean up the nubs that are left over. Be warned that the hobby knife method takes a careful hand, because it's very easy to gouge the piece you're working on if you're not careful. I prefer it over sanding because I find it easier to get into hard-to-reach places with the point of a hobby knife than with some sandpaper.

There's plenty of other tools that can make thing easier, like I have a Mr Polisher Pro, was about $20 on eBay. It's literally just an electric toothbrush that's been fitted with a wheel that takes tiny sanding discs, and you can get the discs in a variety of different grits, it's great for removing nubs, faster than regular sandpaper and doesn't have the gouging risk of the hobby knife.

As far as where to get the stuff, sandpaper and hobby knives are easy, should be at any hobby shop or even most one-stop kinda stores (Wal Mart and the like). For nippers you might need to find a hobby shop that actually sells model kits, or you can just order online. These Xurons were my first nippers and I still use them for heavy-duty cutting, just $9 on eBay these days (I'll put links at the end).

The other end of the nipper spectrum is GodHand, at $45 on eBay. I have a pair of SPN-120s and I absolutely love them, I've used them for years and dozens of kits, and if you treat 'em right they last forever, and they do these very precise cuts that make it way easier to clean the nub. They're certainly not necessary, but if you think you're gonna jump into the hobby in a big way, it might just be worth the investment. Back when GodHands used to be upwards of $75 a number of companies started making good quality clones, but these days the clones are $35 while the real deal is $45 and it's worth it to just get the real thing if you're paying that much for nippers anyways.

As to the kits you're looking for, these days eBay is a boon, but BE CAREFUL. Watch those seller ratings. If there's only a couple-few hundred ratings or less, proceed with caution. If there's like 1000 or more ratings and you're seeing like a 99% or higher, then go for it. Usually the cheapest sellers are only a few dollars cheaper than the more reliable sellers. These days you can find kits in interesting places, like Barnes & Noble and GameStop, but you're not likely to find the specific Wing kits you're looking for, they mostly have recently-released kits (but it's still cool that they're carrying them at all, that's only happened over the past few years).

Anywho, sorry for the wall-o-text. Here's some links! :D

Xuron Cutters
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Xuron-170-.....4AAOSwWZ9XoX4S

GodHands
https://www.ebay.com/itm/God-Hand-U.....gAAOSwjrZdCl-n

MG Wing EW
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-sale.....kAAOSwsWVctdND

I'd figured I'd need to go to a hobby store to find nippers. Just a simple, cheap pair. I don't need something like God Hands (though I hear they're pretty good at what they do, even though I don't get what sets them apart from others...) I doubt a place like Wal-Mart would sell them. Maybe I could look up a Hobby Lobby.

I'm not fond of ordering stuff online. But I do know there are places you can order Gunpla like Hobby Link Japan and USA Gundam Store online.

And, yeah, I know some of the older Wing kits would be a little more pricey given how old they are. I mean, I'm not trying to get something like those Hi-Resolution kits (seriously, those things are beautiful but will break the bank!)

And, aside from the Wing kits, I REALLY would like to get that MG Barbatos that's coming out later this year.

Yeah, for nippers, pretty much whatever you can find will work, with the only real difference being how much nub you'll need to leave behind to avoid stressing the plastic on the part. And that's really the only thing that sets GodHands apart: they cut very clean which means you can cut very close, which means minimal nub, which means quicker nub removal, which means shorter build time. But unless you're doing a lot of kits, like steadily doing a kit or two a month, they're definitely a luxury instead of a recommendation.

As far as online ordering, I'll point out that eBay and Amazon have great customer service if you run into issues. I've ordered a TON of kits through both services and only had maybe four issues total between the two of them (and one of those issues was sorta my fault as I was almost certain was a scam but it was too good to pass up, and eBay still coughed up a refund without question). The only real risk with ordering from Amazon and eBay these days is that you may end up wasting some time on a chat with a customer service rep. Weird caveat: don't order stuff that's sold and fulfilled by Amazon. Amazon themselves refuses to pack kits in a reasonable way, and I've gotten some destroyed boxes and broken runners (but thankfully no broken parts). They made it right each time, but I avoid going directly through them now. Third party sellers on Amazon, though? Go nuts (just watch those ratings to save yourself some potential annoyance).

There are some great specialist sellers that I can happily recommend without reservation, though. I order stuff from AmiAmi all the time, their prices are Japanese retail price or lower, and they charge fairly for shipping (use SAL Small Packet Registered, it's only a little more expensive than the cheapest shipping methods but it's tracked and usually takes less than a month). They're great for pre-ordering new kits, like that new MG Barbatos. I'll be going through them when I order it for my boyfriend.

HLJ is also great! I used to go through them and AmiAmi about 50/50, but lately AmiAmi has been winning on price for the things I've been looking for. But that seems to just be luck of the draw, which is why I usually check a bunch of sites before placing an order. AmiAmi, HLJ, Gundam Planet, Amazon, and eBay is my usual rotation, with GameStop and Barnes & Noble added in if the kit is the right kind of recent, like I got a bunch of HaroPla kits at GameStop for cheaper than retail.

It's a shame that there's almost no local shops that carry a large selection of Gunpla. There's one in Edgewater, New Jersey, another place near Tampa, Florida, and of course California has some shops. Other than that, you'll get small selections at certain HobbyTown USA, B&N, and GameStop locations, and there's some shops in the various Chinatowns (NY, Chicago, San Francisco, and the like) but they tend to be SUPER overpriced. Kinokuniya stores used to keep a small selection as well, but lately that's dwindled to tiny. Some small hobby shops will try to carry gunpla, but it's a losing battle. There's so many kits, and people's tastes are so diverse, that just keeping a few things isn't feasible unless you've got the resources to keep rotating in the newest stock (like if you're a big multinational like Barnes & Noble, for example).

In reality all you really need are nippers but it doesn’t hurt to also have a file, hobby knife, and send paper for taking care of nubs one way or another if you so choose. Toothpicks and tweezers are good for helping with stickers and decals as well toothpicks are you friend when painting/panel lining instead of a brush. You don’t need them but ir doesn’t hurt to have a little pot of model grade paint thinner and if you can find one get a parts separator it has saved many a kit for me.
I’m a straight-builder (build out of the box minimal effort on detail) and I just use my nippers, knife, toothpicks and separator.if you want to get back in the swing of things I recommend getting getting one or two HG IBO kits if you can as they are a dream build, in your case though go for the HG Gundam Wing Leo it’s designed for people who are new/rusty and takes no time at all.

You got alot of advices already here so I'm gonna try to keep it short ^^; However, do you have any hobbytown usa stores nearby if you are living in the US? Depending on popularity of gundam/gunpla around the store's area district, they'll carry not only gunpla kits but also accessories and building tools.

Panel lining and top coating are a must when finishing the builds, no mater custom or straight builds to protect their surfaces, plus it looks less toy-plastic depending on the coating you use. I usually buy my panel line pens from there, though you could do the panel line wash technique but it'll require more supplies. Black pens for dark plastic colors and gray for white/bright colors. You can use orange panel line pens for yellow/orange colors. I also buy my topcoats, like matte sprays, from my local walmart, though you'll be wanting tamiya topcoat products once you're more serious since they're meant for kits. Some say you can use mechanical pencils to panel line or even regular small tip ink pens, however they're little harder to rub out incase you make a mistake

Also it can be good idea to wash the runners in room temp water with dish soap to remove any possible coating used from the plastic press mold it came from, especially if you want to custom paint making it easier to stay onto the surface. That's entirely up to you.

Let me know if you need any more tips.

Another thing to mention on buying gunpla if they don't have what you want locally. Online is the only option but these two sites I've been seeing are USA located so shipping should be quick. Usagundamstore and Newtypehq are alright on prices and shipping, but USA had gotten more traffic so their shipping prices had gone up a bit going little beyond hobby retail prices (used to even out after shipping cost back then), and newtype seems to be a fairly new store so not alot of selections yet. Both of them can use gunpla Youtubers' codes to get discounts off total purchases; USAgundam also has more variety of discounts depending on seasons.

They're at least better than the overpriced Hobbylink Japan even with cheap SAL shipping. Bought an HG Zaku 2 FS from there, and later saw on at local hobby store and realized I paid double at HLJ. Use HLJ as last resort.

The only advice I have is handle with care.

I used to think those things were build an action figures. Learned the hard way that's not the case.

As far as places to look, ThinkGeek or Amazon. Check the reviews by MechaGaikotsu on YT for his sources. BuildersTV has lots of stuff to check too. As far as ones I have built, the best MG I have is the GM Sniper II. It was a great build and is so amazingly posable. Real Grade kits are good, but you gotta exercise some caution. Those frame pieces can be very stiff. I broke the arm for a Full Armor Unicorn during the build. Could not fix it. Make sure you have the arms assembled before trying to work them loose. Even then, take it slow and avoid forcing it. Until it loosens up, the chace of breaking is a bit up there. Once those super stiff joints are worked looser, it poses like a dream.

Also, bases are a good investment.

make sure you get an action base 2 at least (personally I recommend getting an action base 5 though as it has more uses) if you build the RG Wing Zero EW otherwise you're wasting the kit's true potential. And be careful putting it together because real grades have this problem that's sadly baked into their construction process that you have to literally break the joints in, and you can accidentally break the actual joints of some of the earlier ones if you don't build them before doing so, instead. I found that out while I was watching a video review on the grandaddy gundam RG, I think.

other than that, you can get kits from places like amazon, thinkgeek, barnes and noble, local hobby stores that stock them (check around online, they might be closer than you think!), hobbylink japan, and so on, if you know what to look for.

As for the MG Wing Zero EW and MG Deathscythe Hell EW, I'm pretty sure they're still out there, they might be more expensive though.

You can get a decent builder's toolkit at barnes and noble, if you really want to. They keep them right next to the model kits in most stores. But I've heard that the God Hand nippers are leagues better than the ones I have.

I've got over 60 kits of various grades assembled and on display in my room, assembled over the last seven or so years, at varying levels of competency, and hope to get my first perfect grade before the year's out, with any luck.

*CRASH DOWN FROM THE ROOF* Did someone say "gunpla"? @w@!

Use small nailclippers. And i recommend Real Grade Wing EW. It just more fun because has the Neo Bird mode.