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If you’ve come from dannychoo.com, then you may have seen my post where I posted my purchases from WHF Final. One of them was of this;
Normally, I have a rather strict rule about finishing my current project before working on another. The only time I have worked on 2 projects concurrently was when I built WildFalken, but then I knew that it wouldn’t be very long. Technically, I’m working on 2 now, but all my efforts were being focused on Ignis. However, I couldn’t pass up this one so I bumped her up the queue!
For those of you who don’t know a thing about this item or it’s maker, this is a variable pose figure created by a group called liquidstone. They are event only and the group have only made figures for the characters in Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS. This figure depicts Fate Testarossa in her final form, True Sonic Drive
(Mini Translator note: A lot of guys (and fansubbers) translated her form as “New” sonic form or 新 ソニクフォム. But Liquidstone and a lot of other model makers have been using 真ソニクフォム Which translates to “true” sonic form due to the different Kanji. Don’t you just love how words in far eastern languages can sound identical but have completely different meanings? -_-’
In any case, I’ll be using the translation from the modellers from here on out.)
So back to the figure, If you think fraulein Revoltech or Figma, then you’re half way there. Of course, there isn’t currently a figure for fate in her true sonic form and there are currently no plans, although there is going to be a Fate in her standard combat form from Figma.
So far, so exciting. We’re going to get a movable figure of Fate wielding 2 separate blades and looking really cool, right? Well, time to hold your horses, cos when you open the box, you are greeted with this!
Yup, you have to build it yourself!! plus, the parts aren’t labeled so you need to pay close attention to the instructions to find out which parts are which. It’s a bit of a pain, esp for the small parts. And let’s not forget the separate joint parts too!
OK, if that hasn’t scared you yet, well done. But now the first word of warning. This figure is HARD!! REALLY HARD!!!!
Don’t even think about getting one unless you’re fairly confident about your modeling abilities. Especially
regarding drilling holes and pinning! The reason I say that is because you will be expected to drill holes in the parts to fit the joints in. The parts are also resin, not plastic so plastic glues like Poly cement won’t do anything here. Some parts are also incredibly fragile! You are also expected to cut some of the joint sections to allow for a clean fit.
Long story short, I didn’t do a particularly good job. My main problem was that I didn’t have the correct size drill part. I bought a new one, but the diameter was 3mm while the joints (and by extension the required hole size) was 2.9mm. It may sound like a small amount but it makes all the difference. In the end, I had to fill the sides with some putty to make the fit, but it meant that the joints aren’t as strong as they should be. This is definitely one thing which would benefit from a streamlined production method.
Yay! She’s finished!! Another one to add to my completed list. I present Yoko, 21 years old!!!
This post may be a bit on the long side as the final part of the building section will also be included. For those interested, earlier posts can be reached here:
Lelouche did…
And a little devil she was to paint as well!!
This was probably the first time I was happy to paint the eyes on a kit before! Of course, the final assembly of the head caused a whole load of problems and I ended up having to redo the face and hair several times before coming to a compromise…
Thanks again to Melonpan over at Figure.fm, who’s pics of the E2046 C.C allowed me to figure out how everything stuck together!
For those who would like to see my past posts about her, you can find them here:
There wasn’t much to go through this time as there were no complicated parts, just troublesome.
This post should really have come a lot sooner, but dark forces (read: the mail service) conspired against me at every turn. Somehow, the mailman managed to lose both separately after failing to deliver them to my doorstep, since I was out! It took considerable patience, numerous trips to the depot, several complaints and a ridiculously inflated customs tax (some fool worked out the tax thinking the price of the item was in Hong Kong Dollars, not Japanese yen, despite the box saying so. Thus, the exchange rate went from 211 to 13… Big difference!) before getting these 2 so I haven’t been able to post this until now! Shuraki Box 1 and 3!! Mishiro Akatsuki & Char Rhousseman!!
Mishiro only came in this week so this review will cover Char as she has been waiting almost 2 weeks for a chance to shine!
Well, there was no way I was going to pass up on one of these!!! It’s YOTSUBA!!!! in revolvtech form!
(Note: the title of the post was from one of my fave yotsuba sketches (when she goes around shooting ppl with a water pistol quoting a movie she just saw. It’s not a dig at ppl who bought yotsuba by implying they are pedo. Though Don over at orbital, is…)
As always, click on the pics for bigger versions.
Well, it’s been a (not really) long time coming but She’s finally finished! I give you Getsumento Heiki Mina (Densha Otoko ver). Now standing proudly with my other works, unless my very own Herme-tan comes and takes it away…
After the extreme pleasure/pain experience of Bunny Haruhi, I had forgotten how easily things flow when you have a relatively non complex kit to work on! There were no real challenges in this kit, save for the usual thorns and it feels great being able to finish another piece of work. Of course, it still doesn’t match Haruhi in terms of cost (cost of haruhi: £don’t ask) or time spent (6+ months) but it was able to get me back into the groove!
also, for the regular visitors (hah!), I’ve added some more categories to make browsing a little easier. Now, you can click on the “completed works” link to view all the painted figures be they resin (like most) PVC or even the few revolvtechs I have. The in progress link will take you to the posts which comprised of my mini tutorial. Both should grow as I get more kits under my belt!
I also retook the pics of my Bunny Haruhi kit so you may want to check those out!
For those budding kit builders out there. Here are the likes to the previous posts for Mina.
More pics and a brief rundown on the final steps after the jump.
Now that Danny has posted up the winners of his contest, I’m now free to actually post this figure up!
I have made no attempt in hiding my general dislike for PVC figures in the communities I am a part of. For me, the building process is as important, if not more so than the finished product so I have usually chosen to go for unpainted resin kits over a mass produced PVC. There are, however, exceptions. They are few and far between (the most recent ones being the Shuraki figures and Mirei-san by Shunya Yamashita) as they really have to stand out for me to take notice. Like this one.
KOS-MOS from Xenosaga Episode 1!
KOS-MOS has been one of my fave video game characters in recent memory and this atypical pose for her has been one of the best renditions of her first form, so I had to get it! I also have the BOME version, but like nearly all BOME figures, I found the pose to be very dull and static. Which is another reason why i tend to shy away from PVC figures.
More pics after the jump
Another blast from the past this time around. This is my kit of ren ren nagusa… something from DearS!
This kit was my very first airbrushed kit so I learned a lot over the course of painting this kit, from how much to thin the paint to what paints work well with eachother.
I also got a crash course in what materials to use for very basic modding, free of charge…
A few more pics and extra info after the jump.
True to my word, I was able to purchase a Dark Saber Revolvtech to accompany my regular saber!!
You would think that a recoloured saber with a few design changes would make very little difference to the figure itself and the gripes I had with the original would still be present. Well, in some ways that is correct and in others it’s very wrong.
More pics and review of the changes after the jump.
I have now bought my first revoltech! All Hail Saber!!!!
Orbital Manga had a few in stock and the revoltech line has always intrigued me so I went for the plunge. (still waiting for my Revoltech Dangaioh tho. *nudge*)
On the subject of Japanese renditions of all things British, I also watched eps 24 and 25 of Code Geass last night! Without putting in any spoilers, They really milked the fact that there is a second season for what it’s worth. The ending wasn’t too bad but it did feel like they were milking the fact for all it was worth!
In any case, more pics of Saber and more Geass goodness (with spoilers) after the jump!
gah, my limited Japanese is getting rusty. In any case, here is one of my personal fave kits in my possession, Kazami Mizuho from Onegai Teacher!
There are quite a lot of kits of this character, both in PVC and resin flavours but most tend to focus on her more sexy side. Nothing wrong with that but I prefer the more demure teacher look she had over a provocative lying down pose which she never actually did in the anime…
Thus, when I found out that kotobukiya were doing a re release of this kit a while back, I instantly snapped it up! This kit also has the honour of being my last hand painted kit. After this one, I bought myself a small airbrush and compressor for my future kits. Maybe I should go back and repaint this one…
Again, I’m sorry about the quality of the pics. They do get better, Honest!!
Finally managed to dig out some pics of older model kits so ppl can see how much better (or worse) I have become over the years.
First up, we have Jam Kuradoberi from Guilty Gear X (and it’s numerous revisions). There was actually a very nice coldcast kit of the same model available but I didn’t like some bits of the colour scheme so I decided to paint my own.
This was one of my very first kits and it probably shows. Back then, I painted all my kits by hand (no airbrush for me) so there were many issues I needed to overcome, such as visible brush marks on larger surfaces. Still, I do look back rather fondly on this kit, being one of my earliest works. I hadn’t even developed any skills with the camera at this point so even the photos suck!! Apologies everyone!!
For those curious about my edits in the colour scheme, originally, the right arm was completely covered in a black glove which went all the way to the shoulder and also covered the cleavage. I wasn’t having any of that so I painted the dress so the cleavage was more exposed and painted it as though the glove was never there. I prefer it that way but here’s a pic of the original for those interested
Remember around July last year, the whole anime community went gaga over this kit from a sculptor who went under the name BUBBA? Well, I went and got one of the 200 original kits which he sold at WF (thanks Mayu!!!)
Almost a whole year later, I’ve finally managed to finish her. Just don’t ask what took me so long…
For those who are interested, The bunny costume was painted in a midnight blue colour and not black like the original (I felt that black was a little boring) but the colour doesn’t show up too much in the pics. It can be either a blessing or a curse depending on how you think. The accessories were purchased as part of a Macfarlane toys figure of Jimi Hendrix. So, now I have jimi missing his amp and mike stand…
The Mic stand was extended, otherwise it would only reach the naval. but otherwise, everything else was pretty much by-the-book (what book, I’m not sure). Any questions? feel free to ask and I’ll try to answer them.
And yes, I am aware of the recent flood of official kits on Yahoo Japan Auctions since the re-release .
More pics after the jump
