Orange 3D Plastic

2012!

2012-01-02T16:58:00.003+08:00

Happy new year one and all!

Yup, I'm still here and still busy as ever. With the new year comes the chance to reflect on the past year and plan the year ahead. As usual, there's always a ton of project ideas swirling in my mind, some get started but very few get finished. It's a bit disconcerting that I've only done 18 posts in 2011. Here's a list of projects I've got in progress and promise to finish this yer:

"1/48" Hasbro ATAT diorama

1/35 Vietnam PBR diorama

"1/72" Space freighter

1/72 FT-17 WWI vignette

So let's see how soon I can do this and what else I can come up with.

Jeep photoetch on Blitz 72

2011-10-26T10:09:00.002+08:00

We got a wonderful review for our Airfix photo-etch jeep upgrade set from Blitz72. You can find the link here.
Awesome, thanks Jose!

Modellours Workshop

2011-10-17T23:49:00.002+08:00

I recently discovered a couple of interesting modelling websites.
1st is AFV news which regularly reports new military model related product release in a blog format. I like the layout and easy to access news articles. They seem to have been around since Jun 2009... the web is big!
http://www.afv-news.com/

Next is modellours workshop which features models around the world and the web. Again, it's in a blog like presentation and I especially like the "diorama of the day" entries...awesome! http://www.modelloursworkshop.com/

1/6 concertina wire details available soon!

2011-08-15T22:43:00.006+08:00

Available now for pre-order (free shipping for pre-orders), send me a private message for pricing. Pre-order ends on 31 Aug 2011, item available for shipping in first week of September 2011.

1/6 ouch

2011-08-14T16:10:00.000+08:00

Coming soon:

cold in hoth part 2

2011-08-14T15:29:00.006+08:00

Here's a breakdown of what went into the Luke figure.

He'll be looking up into the belly of the AT-AT as it is about to trash his downed snowspeeder with the poor dead dak inside. Speaking of dead dak, here he is waiting to be squished:
Dak is the other snowspeeder pilot that comes with Finemolds model, the head and left arm were repositioned. I got a new right arm from the Hasegawa 1/48 pilot from their aircraft carrier deck crew set. Magic sculpt was used to fill the gaps.

cold in hoth part 1

2011-06-12T23:07:00.008+08:00

A few weeks ago, I embarked on my biggest diorama project to date. Here's a first preview at some of the progress I've made. It involves the old hasbro AT-AT toy about to smash the Finemolds 1/48 snowspeeder to smithereens! Trying out some new (to me) techniques for painting the snowspeeder. I used some silicon wax to simulate paint chipping on the dark gray color markings instead of the kit supplied decals. Also experimented with wet on wet acrylic wash and drybrushing with more acrylic paint mixed with some retarder. Next step: add some broken "glass".
The base is about A2 in size and is made from plywood drawing board, basswood sides, styrofoam terrain filling covered with fiberglass plastering mesh and topped with a generous dose of sculptamold. The dark bits are plaster cast rocks and the 3 woodblocks are there to support the AT-AT later on. Painted with acrylics and awaiting a final layer of snow. I'm trying to get some microballoons or 3M glass bubbles. We'll see how it goes.ing board, basswood sides, styrofoam terrain filling covered with fiberglass plastering mesh and topped with a generous dose of sculptamold.

Magenta now available in Mworkshop

2011-04-12T00:16:00.003+08:00

Hi guys,
If you're in Singapore or ordering model kits from overseas, our Magenta resin kit is now available from MWorkshop Hobby Shop.
You can check out there website here, and the physical location is here.
They also have an online store, so if you want to save on shipping, they might be able to combine orders.

Can you smell what the Sgt.'s cooking? 2

2011-04-04T23:00:00.002+08:00

All done, for now. This must be my quickest build to date, took only a couple of weeks to finish up. Now I'm not making any promises, but he does look kinda lonely rushing into the fight all by himself. Perhaps Bulldozer and Little Sure Shot?

Can you smell what the Sgt.'s cooking?

2011-04-02T13:56:00.005+08:00

My latest project, another 1/72 scale figure conversion. This time it's DC comics' Sgt. Rock character. I've always wanted to do a figure with the iconic machine gun bullet belt slung on both shoulders and this character was perfect for it.
Again, I started out with Valiant miniatures 1/72 WW2 GI's using these for the arms and legs. Had to carve out the sleeves from the arms as the Valiant figures wore long sleeves. I got the bare torso from Esci's Vietnam War US marines. These are soft plastic, so I recast them in resin for the conversion. The bulkiness of the Valiant figures becomes very apparent when you compare it to the Esci figure. I decided it was easier to bulk up the torso rather than slim down the legs. This was done with magic-sculp 2 part epoxy putty. The grenades and sleeve extensions were also done this way. To complete the detailing, I added copper wire grenade handles and photo-etch .30 cal bullet belts from O3Dminiatures Jeep upgrade set. The weapon sling was added using a strip of paper. Still missing from the photos are the helmet straps and bayonet blade. The original figure had the bayonet blade, but I scraped it off. I then realized it would be hard to get rid of the handle, so I'm going to add a new blade using plastic card.
Stay tuned for the painted up version coming soon!

Painting an Army 2

2011-03-26T21:48:00.006+08:00

Round 2 of Valiant Miniatures mini-soldiers. This time its the British Tommies in 1/72 scale. I quite enjoyed painting these. I believe these guys have slightly better detail than the GI's!

hasbro AAT custom paint

2011-02-26T19:03:00.006+08:00

Tried my hand at some custom paint job on a Hasbro Star Wars (The Clone Wars) AAT toy. I got lazy so I didn't really re-paint the tank. I just added the chipping, shading, drybrushing, wash, mud on top of the original paint. I feel the weathering is a little heavy handed but I'm pleased with the results. Gonna do better next time, I've got AT-AT waiting in the wings.
Click Thru for more pics:The original toy before painting.Might be posting this on ebay to sell.

1/72 US Tank Commander Vietnam

2011-02-19T23:20:00.003+08:00

Back to more normal subject matters. A 1/72 US tank commander for the vietnam war era. I chopped up a resin cast of an Esci US Vietnam war figure. I then attached a head from Fujimi aircraft carrier crew and arms were sculpted from super sculpey. Magic sulpt was used to fill in the gaps and modify the helmet.

US WW2 Jerrycan - digital model

2011-02-15T18:37:00.005+08:00

A little something different - a US style WW2 gasoline jerrycan digital model. Uploaded a new version. For old version I adjusted the spec maps and tweaked the shader. Still not entirely happy, but I'll render it with a background for final tweaks.

Painting an Army

2011-02-13T23:12:00.002+08:00

I recently finished painting en-masse - US WW2 GI's from Valiant Miniatures in 1/72 scale or roughly 24 mm.

Magenta Kit Review on Historicus Forma

2011-02-08T14:37:00.002+08:00

Magenta figure kit review on Historicus Forma figure modelling forum. Check it out!

Rin Farrah (Fawcett?)

2011-02-08T13:13:00.004+08:00

A nice little white metal figure from Soda Pop miniatures. It's about 32 mm in height (a little over an inch) and a delight to paint. I used mostly acrylics with just a bit of oil drybrushed hilites to smooth out the skin.

1/35 Pibber Diorama w.i.p.

2011-01-05T23:54:00.004+08:00

Starting the new year with something old. I dusting off some pics of a diorama I started back in 2002 (if memory serves me right).
It's the Tamiya 1/35 scale pibber in a vietnam riverine diorama. A LRRP extraction chopper has been shot down and a pibber has come to the rescue. The pilot is trying to keep the wounded copilot afloat as the guys on the boat try to reach out to them. They've also come under heavy enemy fire and the crew returns fire.
Injured LRRP being helped aboard by his buddy.
Another LRRP reaching out to the pilots that are still in the water.The captain of the pibber is steadying the boat, so that they can bring those guys on board.

Happy New Year - and my resolution!

2011-01-01T22:01:00.004+08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

My 2011 resolution:

Not spend any new money on toys/models.

That means, if I want to buy any new models or toys, I can only use money generated by the sale of an old (currently in my possession) toy/model (built or unbuilt).
Proceeds from the sale of magenta or other orange 3d miniatures products counts as new money (so I can't use that to buy new models/toys).
This serves as a double edge sword of saving money and space in the flat.
Unfortunately I was not able to do a last minute model buying spree, was tempted to.
Currently limited to toys/models (including aftermarket parts).
But I can still purchase tools, paints, books etc. :) This might be next year's resolution? :(

I have not yet determined if I can make an advance purchase with the caveat of having to sell something within a month. Hoo boy, this could get complicated.

Current balance US$0.00

What's yours?

1/72 scale Photo-etch Upgrade for Airfix Jeep

2010-12-20T10:13:00.003+08:00

The 1/72 scale Photo-etch Upgrade for Airfix Jeep was featured on Armorama, thanks Jon! You can order the item through the online store here.

Trex Mech on Toys R evil

2010-12-19T14:32:00.003+08:00

My little Trex-Mech got featured on Toys-R-Evil blog. Thanks Andy and glad to see you back in action!

STGCC pics

2010-12-15T17:27:00.003+08:00

Here's my collection of comics and sketchbooks from the STGCC2010. Click thru for more pics of the event.
Our booth, sharing with Hillary Yeo who was showing his awesome Giant Robot vs. Kaiju animation - Godaizer:Here's me with super sculptor Mufizal and Ben from Xenom orph:
Me and Eldred the drednaut:
I have a lot less pics than I thought I did, I wish I took more. Luckily there's tons of great blogs out there with awesome pics like parka's blog for example.

Magenta in Full Color

2010-12-14T17:33:00.006+08:00

Hey all, finished this about a week ago but was busy with the STGCC event. Glad to be able to finally post the full color pics here. Click thru to see more photos

STGCC - Day 1

2010-12-11T23:42:00.002+08:00

Ok ok, we do a bit of time travelling to day 1. This I must say is the highlight of day 1 for me was meeting "Parka" from parka's blog. It's a love hate thing with his blog, just love to see all the art books he reviews, hate myself for all the money spent in the never-ending quest of all those lovely lovely art books! I have to admit, Parka is much taller in real life than on his blog :)

STGCC - Day 2

2010-12-11T23:17:00.003+08:00

I know, I know - you're all thinking "where's day 1?" Well, I got caught up in all the excitement of day 1, meeting so many talented and friendly artists that by the time I got back, I'm all tired out. Well day 2 is no different, more awesomeness on display and more awesomeness to meet and greet. I'm all tired out, but I really want to take some time to post this. Twas the highlight of today - to meet Andy Heng of Toys R Evil fame. The stroke might have slowed him a wee bit, but I am most happy to say that it has most certainly not put him out of action. Despite still being in the process of recovery, he couldn't stay away from the STGCC and we were all the better for his presence. More power to you and get well soon Andy!

Orange 3D Iconography

2010-12-09T02:37:00.005+08:00

Orange 3D Iconography is a series of 45mm pin badges. Each piece is meticulously cast in epoxy resin and painstakingly hand painted to depict various icons and themes that influence the art of orange 3D. Series 1 will be available at booth K-12 STGCC 2010.

STGCC - the loot!

2010-12-09T00:34:00.000+08:00

My prep for the STGCC 2010 is almost done. Here's a pic of the stuff that's gonna be available at booth K-12. Come visit us!

only 10 days till STGCC

2010-11-30T13:23:00.003+08:00

Woohoo, only 10 days till the Singapore Toy And Comics Convention 2010, I'm so excited! We'll be there at booth K-12 Suntec City, drop by and say hi to us. Get a chance to see Magenta up close and personal. Also get a chance to win an exclusive orange3d iconography badge!

Store Now Open!

2010-11-22T11:06:00.004+08:00

Couldn't wait so we're opening a week early! Online shopping now available by clicking the store button on the top left corner of the blog. Get your magenta figure kit now before it's too late - da da da...

Magenta Blogged

2010-11-17T16:43:00.005+08:00

Check out an exclusive interview we did on popular toy/design blog Everything, Anything better than Nothing for the upcoming release of Magenta.

New Look!

2010-11-16T13:43:00.001+08:00

Orange3D plastic has a new look! Stay tuned for more updates in the next few days, it will be coming in fast and furious.

magenta is born!

2010-11-16T10:30:00.004+08:00

Ladies and gentlemen, here she is! Magenta is finally born and is available for pre-order at US$45.95, send me a message with your location if you are interested so I can send you shipping cost and payment modes. Our online store will be up soon. For those who have already expressed interest (you know who you are :), I'll be getting in touch with you ASAP. For those who haven't, hurry...we have very limited supplies at the moment.

magenta wip

2010-10-23T16:36:00.003+08:00

More progress, I've done up the staff and all she needs are the photo-etch bits. I'm beginning to get fatigued with this project, but it's the homestretch and the marketing process though unknown to me at the moment should prove to be fun and challenging.

magenta wip

2010-10-23T00:09:00.003+08:00

Ah, I sat down and did this in one sitting. To be honest, I haven't built a resin kit for quite some time now. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the resin my friend used. It's easy to saw, carve, sand and drill. The feel is quite similar to working with model kit plastic. Because of this I was able to build up to this point in one sitting. Happiness...

If anyone decides to buy this kit (I hope they do), I've got to warn you, the left arm carrying the staff was a bit of a pain to align properly. Also the photo-etched straps are very fiddly.

Well next up is the do up the staff and add in the metal pieces. Actually I'm still waiting on the final metal pieces to come from the supplier. The one's I've used here are from the test run.

I did an oil paint wash to make the resin easier to photograph, now I wish the photo-etch bits would show up better in the photos.

magenta (photo etch)

2010-10-20T23:20:00.004+08:00

A bit of a surprise for all you detail freaks (myself included) who's following the development of this figure kit. If the pic is not enough of a clue, Magenta's kit will come with photo-etch parts! Have a look see at all the details in the preview pic of this lovely piece of metal.

magenta wip

2010-10-20T23:15:00.004+08:00

Bad news, the master for Magenta's body has suffered some seemingly irreparable damage...but wait, with every bad news comes some good news. I've received the first batch of resin castings and they are superb! I'm drooling, so 'nuf said and please have a look see below:Will post more pics soon.

magenta (molds)

2010-09-27T01:08:00.004+08:00

I wrapped up the sculpting of the masters last week. The past few days have been busy with looking for local resin caster and so far no luck. I've expanded my search overseas but still have a few local leads to follow up before resorting to overseas suppliers.
In the meantime, I've also been making molds for the masters. 2 reasons: 1.)I can duplicate the masters before shipping them overseas for production. 2.)If I can't find a suitable supplier, I'll resort to casting the parts myself. (I'm really trying to avoid this) Wish me luck~ I'll need it.

magenta (base)

2010-09-16T14:09:00.003+08:00

Back to magenta. Spent some time to sculpt a base for her. Something that represents the rocky and inhospitable terrain of Magenta's world. The first attempt was done by putting some celluclay on a plastic lid and sticking some rocks on top. Hmm, it's a little too big and the rocks seem to point all over the place. Second attempt was done with a sculpey patty. I tried to break up the shape as much to get a rocky feel and not look like lumpy hamburger. The rock texture was made by pressing some rocks (of course) onto the soft sculpey before baking. After that, I carved the base a bit more to break up the outline and added some peaks to some of the rocks to sharpen it up. Well that's it, I'm off to continue my search for a suitable resin casting service, wish me luck!

O3D logo (part 1)

2010-09-13T11:01:00.002+08:00

Taking a break from the Magenta sculpt, I did a quick sculpting exercise and came up with the orange 3d logo. Something I've always wanted to do - take bits and bobs of plastic kits and household stuff and glue them up to make something sci-fi.

magenta (filling gaps)

2010-09-07T15:43:00.002+08:00

We're on the nearing the end of the sculpt. Time to fill in the gaps in the shoulders and rebuild the collar. Vaseline was brushed around the base of the head, then it was held in the correct position with blu-tack and copper rod to allow me to sculpt the epoxy putty at the base of the neck. When the putty hardens, I'll remove the head and finish sculpting the collar.

magenta (head & helmet)

2010-09-07T10:29:00.001+08:00

After 4 days of sculpting and re-sculpting Magenta's head, I have a new found respect for the Roger Saunders. Roger Saunders is a master sculptor for Hornet's line of resin replacement head sets in 1/35~1/32 scale. This scale is almost half the size of the scale Magenta is being sculpted in, the amount of detail and finesse that goes into the Hornet heads has to be seen to be believed. In fact these heads are the unspoken standard against which all other 1/35 heads are measured against. I can only keep toiling to reach half the level and I would be a happy and fulfilled miniature sculptor.
By the way, this is head number 6.5. I wasn't happy with the helmet and head number 4 sculpt seen here. Partly because of the helmet but mostly because of the nagging feeling that the facial features weren't crisp enough. So I sculpted head number 5 which had better definition but turned out to be too big and still wasn't happy with the eyes. Head number 6 had good eyes but the nose and mouth were too small, so I carved those out and re-sculpted. The helmet was then sculpted on top of that. The tan on her face is the result of too much heat during one of the many many baking sessions. Can I say that the nose and mouth should still be improved?
The helmet still needs some bolt detail.

magenta sculpt in progress

2010-09-02T18:16:00.002+08:00

Spent the whole day working on the data staff today and managed to get it to 90%. Well pleased with todays progress. I put everything together to boost my spirits up and also to see if it all fits nicely. Now I'm really looking forward to seeing this thing finished, and also finding someone who can cast this stuff in resin for me.

Magenta (accessories)

2010-09-02T10:20:00.003+08:00

Fun but tedious, spent the past couple of days to come up with Magenta's gear and I'm still not finished. As you can see in the photos, the white bits are made from plastic sheet, tube and strip. It's better than sculpey when it comes to building hard surface models composed of geometric shapes. I've left off the handle of the tin cup as I'm uncertain how well that can be cast in resin. Next up is the data staff...

Magenta Sculpt (uh oh)

2010-08-30T19:13:00.004+08:00

Since this sculpt is planned as a kit, I sculpted the arms separately. The danger with this is that you can't see the overall shape of the figure and you might be heading in the wrong direction as I found out. One of the things I loved about Ray's original design was the bottom heavy look of the character. This reinforces a youthful girlish look for magenta. In my initial test fit of the arms, it was obvious that the shoulders were too wide. I figured I could do a bit of trimming on the shoulders to narrow it down and make it truer to the original design. After a couple of hours of trimming just around the shoulder area, I got to the result that you see in the middle of the image above.However I am still not satisfied. When sculpting, it's acceptable to deviate slightly from the design sketches however this proportional discrepancy totally gave a different feel to the character. The problem is the torso, it's too wide. Women's shoulders are generally narrower than their hips, a very important proportion when sculpting female characters. This is definitely a redo - I'll have to go in there, carve out a significant part of the torso and re-sculpt.Some good news is that the overall posing of the arms seems to be working when viewed from the other angles.

Magenta (boots)

2010-08-30T12:20:00.002+08:00

After a sculpting surge this weekend resulted in the completion of the boots. This also means the main body for magenta is finished save for some cleaning up of edges and seams. Next up...the fun part! Sculpting the cpu pack, back pack, utility pouches and various accessories that she carries. I'll also need to fit the arms and revisit the head.

Magenta (arm sculpt C)

2010-08-27T22:10:00.003+08:00

Arms finished for now...
There's still some gaps to fill in on the inner left arm, also some sanding here & there. Found a crack on the left forearm, it's pretty small but it bugs me. Gotta fill that in later. I am happy with the elbow pads and shoulder pads though. For next time, we go back to the boots. Stay tuned!

Magenta (arm sculpt B)

2010-08-26T23:19:00.004+08:00

Time to dive in , there's no avoiding it. I've labeled the steps on the image. I also wrapped some foil around the brass tube where the hand holds it. This is so I can easily remove the tube after baking. I also epoxied the wrist to the foil so that the arm doesn't move while I'm sculpting the hand. I tried to keep the left arm the same size as the right one. Pay close attention to the distances between the sleeve, elbow and glove edges. The really tricky bit was the hand itself (actually I'm still a hundred percent happy with it). I started sculpting the hand but when I compared it to the other arm, I realized the forearm looked too long. So I added the glove edge first and re-sculpted the hand. Same as the other hand, I'll have to add the knuckles after the second bake. Next up...shoulder and elbow pads!

Magenta (arm sculpt A)

2010-08-25T17:24:00.005+08:00

So not totally convinced on what I should do with the boots, I proceeded to sculpt the arms.
The photo shows the steps. The trick is to have a firm place to hold the piece while sculpting and avoid messing up other parts that haven't been baked. The thing about working in sculpey or any soft clay for that matter is that it's harder to get fine sharp edges and detail. So in the case of the hand, I'll need to go in and add some knuckles later on.The left arm is another issue altogether. She'll be holding the data staff and so the hand needs to be sculpted in a way that it really looks like she's holding it. To make this possible, I fixed a brass tube in the position I want the staff to be later on. This could be a real tricky proposition, so I'll take a breather before I start on it. Stay tuned!

Magenta (second bake)

2010-08-24T15:42:00.006+08:00

It's been 8 months since the last post on the body sculpt and now I've decided to go full time sculpting this figure.
Since the last images on the body sculpt, I've added

the neck, vest, knee pads and upper half of the pants. Once these have been sculpted, the second bake was done. As usual, fingers crossed and hope that no cracks form.The knee pads were pre-sculpted and pre-baked. Actually a bit over baked hence the burnt color, but still decent. The next step is to finish the boots off though I still haven't fully decided on the design. Stay tuned for more updates that should come in fast and furious in the next few days.

Portrait of Porco Rosso 3

2010-07-31T22:47:00.005+08:00

I'm trying a different technique, for the hilites, I'm using oil paints!
This is the first time I'm trying this. I'm trying to get a smoother transition between the various colors which is hard to get when using acrylic glaze. So I'm trying a drybrush technique with oil paint to add the hilites. Here are some color guides:

Khaki Coverall Hilites - again to avoid a monotone look, I'm using 2 hilites colors, a greenish ochre hilite and a warm buff light hilite.
Skin hilites - I used a warm pinkish flesh hilite color.
Scarf and Gloves - Titanium White

At this point, the figure is pretty much finished. I'll go back and look at it next week and do some touch ups. I've been thinking about and still undecided on whether I should do a shadow box type of display for him. Stay tuned!

book binge 2010 part 2

2010-07-31T22:37:00.002+08:00

Part 2 of the book binge happened because of holiday trip to taipei.
Without further ado, here's the list:
1.) Hyperweapon 2009 - (had a chance to get 2008 but stopped myself, now I wish I got it, this one's not too bad but I still prefer the 2007 version over 2009)
2.) The Figure Complex
3.) How to Make Figure 2 (Kotobukiya)
4.) Armour Modelling August 2010 (special feature on female 1/35 plastic military figures)
5.) Motto Tanoshii Miniature Craft (chinese version)
6.) Old Days but Good Days (Takuji Yamada dioramas)
7.) Mari Inukai art book (www.mariinukai.com)

Portrait of Porco Rosso 2

2010-07-31T22:21:00.004+08:00

Boy am I glad I stopped procrastinating on this figure, it's a joy to paint! I laid down some shading, again using a mixture of Vallejo and Andrea Color vinyl acrylic paints. Sorry I can't list the exact color mixture as I mix them as I go.
In mixing the colors for the shades and shadows, I aimed to avoid a monotone look. Here are some basic guides to the color I used.

Khaki Coverall shading - a darker version of the base color but with some greenish hue
Skin Shading - browns and reds for the darks and some ochre wash for the midtones
Leather boots - I used the khaki shading color but mixed in some black
White scarf and gloves - a light gray with a bit of bluish tones.

I painted some specular hilites on the goggle and spectacle lenses.

Shading with acrylics is tricky and most techniques I've read up on involved multiple passes of very thinned paint (like a glaze) to blend the colors. I've tried to follow this but tried a bit blending technique that is similar to what water color artists use - apply the color and then quickly blend with a clean moist brush.

Stay tuned for the next part - hilites.

book binge 2010 part 1

2010-07-31T22:05:00.004+08:00

Hmm, seems like it's that time of year again - book binge! We start of this year's edition with 5 books ordered from amazon US and japan
and the book depository and the local Kinokuniya.
1.) Valkyria Chronicles - (book review on parka's blog)
2.) Military Modeling Manual - (got this from kino)
3.) Sheperd Paine: The Life and Work of Master Modeler and Military Historian (amazon)
4.) Death Traps (amazon)
5.) Panzertales World Tank Museum - (amazon was out of stock so got this from the book depository) this is the english version

Post a comment if you want to see any of these books reviewed

Portrait of Porco Rosso

2010-07-04T23:15:00.003+08:00

Been wanting to do this piece ever since I got this FineMolds kit of the Savoia S.21 Seaplane from Hayao Miyazaki's animated feature film Porco Rosso. I must say that this is one of if not my most loved animated film of all time.
I know it's kinda silly, but who could not love a movie whose main protagonist is a grumpy middle aged fighter pilot that also happens to be a pig! Anyway, the original injection plastic figure in the fine mold's lit is 4 cm high and scales to about 1/35 (Porco is shorter than the average 6 foot guy). I redefined some of the molded detail with magic sculpt and made a cast.
I primed the figure with gunze surfacer 1200 from a spray can, followed by an airbrushed basecoat of tamiya acrylic paint. The image above shows what colors were used.
This is only the first step. The figure looks disparate and flat, also the different colors aren't quite sitting together nicely. All this will be fixed once we proceed to the next step which is shading.

Bazooka Joe = done

2010-05-09T01:15:00.001+08:00

The actual title for this piece is "david beats goliath".
The base was finished off with some drybrushing and pigment dusting. Also found a nice 1/48 scale photoetch barbed wire set from Eduard which seems to work for 1/72 and just nicely rounds off the base.
I'm quite happy to finish this in a reltively short amount of time. The final result was close to what I originally envisioned and I hope you all enjoyed it.

Bazooka Joe 5 almost there

2010-05-02T23:11:00.001+08:00

The weekend proved to be as if not more hectic than the weekday. Lucky to have managed to do 95% of the painting done in 2 sittings, I guess that's the beauty of 1/72 scale figure modelling.
I used vallejo acrylics, they're pretty good for a quick sit n paint. And clean ups are a breeze.
Next step would be to spray a dullcote, mount on the base and dirty up his boots to sit with the environment. As usual the week ahead is gonna be hectic and I foresee the weekend will be as well. Fingers crossed I can get him finished.

Bazooka Joe 4

2010-04-26T22:04:00.005+08:00

...and more progress on the fig. Actually "Bazooka Joe" is just the working title for this project. I've got a more appropriate title in mind, more on this later. In the meantime:

I have to admit it's not the cleanest build ever, especially looking at it from a macro photograph.
He's also been primed with Gunze Mr. Surfacer 1200, followed by a wash of black oil paint. Trying out a variation of paint techniques. Can't wait to start painting him, but sadly the weekend is over and the coming weekdays will be filled with overtime.

Bazooka Joe 3

2010-04-26T22:01:00.003+08:00

I've really wanted to get this one done, and I've managed to get some good progress this weekend.
Starting with the base:

I mixed some celluclay with white glue and acrylic paint, plopped that on top of a styrofoam slope. A dragon king tiger drive sprocket, road wheel and spare track was buried along with some sand, pebbles and the bristles from a cheap paintbrush. (see above)
Paint technique is based of Calvin Tan's method. http://zyclyon.blogspot.com/
I spray painted with flat black and drybrushed white oil paint on top. I started painting the tank parts with vallejo paint followed by the groundwork. Now all it needs is some drybrushing and a dusting of pigments which will be done once the figure is in place.

Bazooka Joe 2

2010-04-11T23:09:00.004+08:00

Some good progress on B. Joe. I decide he'll be wearing a winter coat with his web gear worn over it. He's got a scarf wrapped around his head too.

All courtesy of my ever trusty magic sculp. I've replaced the head with a more detailed and "to scale" resin copy of a soft plastic head from an esci spetnatz figure. Helmet came from a really old esci hard plastic G.I. fig. Arms are more resin copies from miscalleneous 1/72 scale figure manufacturers. The backpack is a resin cast of an original sculpt I made. Added some webbing gear made from copy paper. The bazooka itself is from the Valiant miniatures figure set. I drilled out the ends with a pin vise. It's temporarily attached by a bit of blu tac. He's still missing his ammo bag for the bazooka rounds and the left hand has to be rotated to sit better on the bazooka.

Bazooka Joe

2010-03-21T23:09:00.009+08:00

Quite some time ago, I bought a bag of short wooden cylinders from a Jap thrift shop. Didn't know what they were for but they looked like they would make nice little bases for 1/72 figures. The wooden cylinders though nice and smooth were in an unfinished light basswood color. More work needed to be done, and of course I needed a figure. That was almost a year ago, a few months after that, I bought a box of valiant miniatures 1/72 WW2 American GI in hard plastic. Even though I knew they were a bit overscale I just couldn't resist.
Fast forward to 3 weeks ago, I came across some nice maple colored varnish from the same thrift shop. I quickly bought some and tried it. I loved the results and this provided the momentum I needed to do this little piece.
Another idea that languished in my mind was to show how a lone infantryman can take out a giant mighty tank. The best way I thought was to use a tank's drive sprocket as a base for the guy to stand on. I initially wanted to use parts from an airfix sherman kit which I suspected I'll never build, but the detail on those sprockets were a lot worse than I expected. I then turned to a spare ESCI sherman but decided that these sprokets were too small. I need something big to emphasize the David slaying Goliath theme. So hard as it was, I eventually relented and raided my unbuilt dragon King Tiger kit. The sprockets were twice as huge as the sherman's and were perfect for the job at hand.
Some day I'll try to build that king tiger and I'll have to somehow find a replacement for those parts.
What you see in the photo is the base before painting. The ground was built up with styrofoam covered with celluclay. The sprocket and roadwheel was embedded while the groundwork was still wet.
The figure will eventually become a GI in winter gear (long coat), set somewhere in the Ardennes region in 1944. I need to dig up some reference.

Magenta Helmet

2010-03-21T23:00:00.003+08:00

Some progress finally...I started building up the helmet around a cast of head number 4. Used a mixture of precast details, magic sculp, brass tubing and a piece from a plastic kit. Something still quite not right with it yet. Gonna let it simmer in my mind before moving on. Should get back to sculpting the body. More to come soon I hope!

Magenta (head part 4)

2010-01-18T01:45:00.005+08:00

I made a mould and a few casts of the heads. I primed with Mr. Surfacer and painted with Vallejo Model Color and Andrea Color vinyl acrylics.
There was a bit of a disaster with 2 of the heads, I didn't wash and prime the heads properly. So some parts refused to take paint. Also during transport, some paint chipped off. So you see head no. 2 and 4 in an alcohol bath to remove the paint.1 of the heads survived though. So I did a quick paint up. It's looks quite decent: asian and just a wee bit androgynous. Although it's very tempting to use this head, I'm still convinced that it's underscale. Next up...painted prototype head no. 4

Magenta (head part 3)

2010-01-09T17:09:00.007+08:00

So I ran out of Sculpey Firm just as I was about to start head no. 4 I scrounged my stash and found some normal sculpey (which I feel is too soft for small details) and some old Fimo. I decided to use the Fiom and re-constituted it with some isopropyl alcohol and diluent, I shaped a cube around some wire and baked it. This was then carved and sanded down to an oval shape close to the size I wanted the head to be. I then proceeded to sculpt details on top with more unbaked Fimo.

Fimo has a different consistency compared to sculpey. It's firmer and rubbery akin to duro epoxy putty while sculpey feels more like magic-sculp. After a couple of attempts, I switched back to some normal sculpey to which a I mixed a very small amount of Fimo to reduce the softness. This was much better and I proceeded to my second bake.
Not wanting to be over emotional but - aaarrrrgggghhhhh! Some bumps appeared on the surface caused by airbubbles. I suspect it's the underlying Fimo not getting properly conditioned, no more Fimo for me. Plus the neutral gray color of sculpey firm reflects the light in a way that shows off the surface shape better.
I decided to carve holes to get to rid of the bumps and then fill this in with magic-sculp. I also made some refinements to the overall shape of the head and mouth. I wasn't happy with the ears either so these were sliced off. This also made it easier to shape the side of the head. We won't need ears under the helmet anyway.
At last I was getting closer to what I imagined the head to look like. At this point I decided I had worked on it enough and that further refinement might actually do more harm than good. It's still not a hundred percent but I can still make refinements later once it's been cast. All 3 heads were prepped up for casting so I could have more options later on. These were glued on to bar of resin as can be seen below.

Next step moulding and casting! stay tuned...

Magenta (head part 2)

2010-01-02T19:36:00.003+08:00

So here's head number 3. Again done with sculpey firm, this time, without the epoxyputty or beads inside. The image above shows how far I sculpted before the first bake and also the final result after adding details and baking again. This time no problems with cracking whatsoever. The result with this attempt was decent. I felt I achieved the following things:
1.) The face should look feminine.
2.) It shouldn't look too caucasian, a mixed racial look would be preferred.
So although I was not able to hit the mark in terms of look, I felt the head was usable. That is until I compared it to the Krote Mechanic. Head no. 3 felt small and under scale. The scale issue is not so obvious in the photo but was quite severe in reality so I decided to embark on head no. 4 This time, not only would I sculpt a larger head, I would also try a different approach to sculpting the head.

Magenta (head part 1)

2009-12-28T14:24:00.008+08:00

Undoubtedly, the most challenging part of this project is sculpting the head. The figure was designed to have the head come as a separate piece, to aid in sculpting as well as casting.
I started off with a blob of duro epoxy putty wrapped around a piece of wire and with 2 beads representing the eyes stuck to it. This was then roughly covered with sculpey to get a sense of the head's overall size and proportion.This revealed one glaring problem which was that the eyes (beads) were too far apart. I felt it was best to start over again. The result can be seen on the right side of the image above. Satisfied with the position of the eyes, I went ahead and refined the overall shape of the head using a subtractive technic with the box cutter / razor saw blade technic.
Here's a comparison of the head with a 1/20th Ma. K. plastic figure. Once I was satisfied with the overall shape and size, I begain adding and refining the head until I reached the stage in the image below. The head was then baked in a toaster oven. A huge crack developed in the head after baking. I didn't anticipate this happening considering how small the head is. The number one cause of sculpey cracking during baking is the uneven rate of cooling, and I suspect that the epoxy or the beads underneath was the main culprit. Not to worry as this can be easily patched up with more epoxy putty, but of course a second baking is now out of the question. In this final image, I've patched up the cracks and built up the eyeballs with magic sculp 2 part epoxy putty. I stepped back and assessed the result and my conclusions were:
1. Although the head was adequately feminine looking, it did not achieve the look I wanted. I wasnt all that happy with the shape of the eyes and the cheeks or the forehead for that matter.
2. There were some rough spots on the cheeks and neck.
At this point, it's taken me a couple of days sculpting. However I decided to press on, knowing my subsequent attempts can only get better. I also wanted to try a different approach to sculpting the head. So this head was put on hold for now, you will see the result of the 3rd attempt soon!

Tools for sculpting

2009-12-28T14:09:00.003+08:00

Let's take a bit of a break from sculpting and look at the tools. I'm currently exploring the use of razor saws to shape the sculpey. My usual technic is a press and roll with the back of a paintbrush, but the problem with this technic is that it sometimes pulls the sculpey off the wire armature. With the razor saws, I use a subtractive method by slicing big chunks off with a box cutter, then scraping with the razor saw to further shape it. Also the marks left by the saw helps you read what's going on with the topology.
When I'm happy with the overall surface shape, I will then smooth it out using a paintbrush loaded with sculpey diluent. Folds in clothing and other smaller details are sculpted using clayshapers or needle points. More on this in a future post.

Magenta (first bake)

2009-12-25T18:46:00.006+08:00

It's been a while since the last post. Merry Christmas to one and all, and with the season comes my traditional sculpting surge. The picture shows the state of the figure sculpt at first bake. I've roughed in the basic mass of the fig with sculpey firm. The parallel scratch marks serves 2 purpose, 1 to shape the clay without pushing it away from the armature. 2 to provide a surface that subsequent sculpey can adhere to easily. These marks were done with a small razor saw and mimics an ancient sculptors technique.I'm constantly checking the sculpt agains the drawings and also against a commercial 1/20 scale fig. In this I'm using the Ma. K. krote mechanic from the old nitto kit. Based on my calculations, the figure is a little bit big for the scale. Magenta is a small sized girl, but the size discrepancy with the mechanic didn't feel right. I've decide to fix this later by adding the a bit of height under the feet.

girl with a stick (magenta beginnings)

2009-10-10T18:51:00.005+08:00

As usual with weekends, I find it escaping my grasp as quickly as sand in a sandstorm. My current project is this 1/20 scale sculpt of a sci-fi character. It's an original design by torei, done up as a possible prototype for the trex mech pilot. I decided to make a small scale sculpt in sculpey. My first go at the armature was to use stikfas as a base and build on top of it (above middle). I went as far as putting on a layer of sculpey before deciding that the stikfas was just too big. So I came up with another armature made from wire (above right). Stay tuned for more progress of this sculpt and feel free to leave a comment!

Head Sculpt Primed

2009-09-19T15:43:00.005+08:00

More pics of the head, this time primed with silver spray paint. There's some unevenness on the forehead that I've got to sand away. After that, it will be time to make the mold.

Head Sculpt unpainted

2009-09-17T23:59:00.004+08:00

Here's a head sculpt that I am almost finished with. Its done with sculpey and if I am not mistaken, I started this sculpt about 3 years ago or possibly more. The different sculpey roughly represent the different times I've worked on it. The white and light flesh colored was what I started with, finishing with the grey firm sculpey. After baking, I added magic sculp (epoxy putty) for the eyebrows and eyeballs. There was a long break (more than a year) where the unbaked sculpey started to crack, I had to patch these up with fresh sculpey.
This may eventually be part of a custom 12 inch action figure, and I might be able to make a small amount available to anyone who would be interested.
Can you guess which character this headsculpt is supposed to be?

mech popper popped!

2009-09-07T00:44:00.003+08:00

I've finally added the last few bits of paintwork on the mech popper. Rubbed on some old dry transfer numbers and then drybrushed some metallic paint to break up the outline. I then sprayed on some greenish metallic tint to soften the harsh drybrushing. I followed this with a couple of oil washes. When dry, I touched up with a little bit more selective drybrushing. Hope you guys like it!I took some mood photos with a bit of post processing.Click here for in progress pics.

hash stash

2009-08-24T22:50:00.004+08:00

T'was the kino card's 5th year anniversary and we've more than enough chances to get 20% discount on books, yehey. Got this last weekend, I've seen this book at kino for ages and always avoided it for some reason. Then recently spotted the parka blog review for this here. I told myself, hey, that's pretty good stuff. The art is in similar vein to Koji Morimoto's and Terada's works. I like!
Also managed to borrow the new Miyazaki book Starting Point. Just started reading it but then decided to get myself a copy, but it's sold out at kino.

Rusty

2009-08-22T11:57:00.006+08:00

A quick post before the weekend rolls away uncontrollably into next week. I've managed to paint and age our plastic sauce container to look like a rusty old bucket, yeeeaaauuuch. Why would someone keep and use a disgusting old thing like that? I might have gotten a bit carried away. Check out the before painting image here. Wanted to take more pics but my cam ran out of battery.

Stashed Away

2009-08-17T00:20:00.006+08:00

Recent events have led to an exhausting but otherwise much needed re-organization of my stash. Stuff was cleaned, cleared, categorized and stored. As you can see from the above photo of my model stash, I won't be running out of projects for the blog. All this accumulated despite a conscious but obviously wavering decision to stop buying model kits.
Located nearby is an even more extensive selection of books, magazines and references. It's hard when one finds interest in so many genres. One day I dream of a library...and a toy store?

Fanboy at STGCC 2009

2009-08-15T21:42:00.006+08:00

Well, it's the Singapore Toy Games and Comic Convention this weekend and I had a chance to check out some of the artists. The thing I liked about this year's Con is that there seems to be more things to see in the artist's alley. Where I met and got a signed The Secret Robot Spy Factory book from Sonny Liew.And a couple of comics and a book from Camilla d'Errico
Inspiring!

Optimus Prime Repaint

2009-07-28T00:18:00.003+08:00

Here's a quick repaint of a mini-optimus prime figure that came on top of my softdrink cup from the movies. It also gives me a chance to shout out how much I disliked the movie. Grrr...'nuf said!
Click on this link to see how the original figure looked like.

mech popper w.i.p

2009-07-12T23:41:00.006+08:00

You can't buy gum in Singapore but you can chew it and the guy with the gum in the office is most popular. It so happens my friend's gum comes in a ball type packaging. I procured one for my kitbashing projects and here are the work in progress photos.The bits and pieces are stuck in with super glue. The current stage of painting is less than satisfactory. I envisioned a brushed metal finish but the sprayed on silver paint came out too grainy. I'm letting it dry for now and will attempt to salvage it with drybrushed layer of buffable metallic paint. Stay tuned!
P.S. I'm not entirely sure what this thing is. I initially imagined this to be some kind of futuristic grenade, but now I'm wondering if it could possibly represent some sort of mine as a companion piece for my trex-mech project.

Book Binge 1a

2009-06-07T13:31:00.007+08:00

Apparently the book binge wasn't over just yet. I ordered this about a month ago and it came in about a week after the first book binge. 2 back issues of minitracks, a small scale modeling specialist magazine from France. Just had to check Patrick Lapalu's articles on making 72nd scale figs and it's a good thing it's bilingual. I ordered them online from Tracks and Troops. Lovely magazine but the cost of shipping from Europe to Singapore is about the price of 1 copy of the mag. Bummer but highly recommended. This lot cost me around S$62.
And the binge goes on. This military reference trio came from a local bookstore. Not where I'd normally find this kind of stuff but what the hey. The machine gun book outlines the invention and development of automatic guns from the 1800's to today. Ties in nicely with my braille scale WW1 Maxim MG 2 posts down. The Mechanized Warfare book is huge. Around A3 size, but cost only S$30 before discount. This one has nice big photos of tanks in action from WW1 to present day. The only downer was the use of modern day photos of WW2 re-enactors without mentioning this in the captions. There was a photo of a Tiger and Stug "in action" and the stug was a modern recreation based on a modern tank chassis, same with the tiger. This can be quite misleading and there should have been a mention of this in the captions.
This lot set me back by S$50.

Book Binge

2009-05-23T17:37:00.004+08:00

The Great Singapore Sale is here! And coinciding but not related to it, I went on an almost uncontrollable book binge this weekend. Resulting in my wallet being S$204.14 lighter. The culprits from left to right are:
Military Modeling Manual 19 - some really cool vignettes are feature in it.
Mak Profiles 1 Falke - one of the poorest price/value purchase I made. Still if you bought the new hasegawa falke model kit and can read japanese, then this book is highly recommended.
AFV Modeler Tamiya Anniversary Special - a nice compilation of built Tamiya models and a great selection of interviews from well known modelers. Including our very own Dinesh Ned.
Shimada Humikane Art Works - features girls (cyborgs?) that have parts of military aircraft and vehicles fused to their body. I think this is from a computer game. More on this later.
Exodessey - a great selection of concept art from Steambot Studios. Totally inspiring art works ranging from landscapes to characters and vehicles. I'm well pleased with this piece.

Minimized Maxim MG 08

2009-05-17T23:34:00.004+08:00

It's a scratchbuilt 1:72 scale Maxim MG08. Used by Germany during WW1. Built from bits and pieces of plastic sheet, plastic rod and metal foil.
The machine gun itself is about 2 cm long.
When finished, it will be part of a ww1 diorama where a FT-17 is attacking a German trench.
The whole thing is built up from 3 main components. It is still missing the muzzle, handles and a mechanical bit on the gun mount. I'll also probably need to build an ammo box, ammo belt and the water can that cools the barrel. Stay tuned.

DIY laptop

2009-05-03T20:36:00.004+08:00

Well, not really. It's actually my home made backdrop holder for taking photos of my projects. The photos from the last mazinger Z stikfas post made it painfully obvious to me that I need a nicer background to have better photos.
The list of materials used:
2 x cheap balsa wood framed cork boards
2 x metal hinges
4 x self tapping metal screws
2 x packaging string
3 x paper clips (made from sheet aluminum)
double sided tape
Various colored papers for use as the backdrops.
Process:
The hinges were aligned with masking tape and then screwed onto the back of the boards. A couple of screws were then attached to both sides where the strings were looped over. I made sure the angle of the boards was more than 90 degrees when opened to prevent it from closing on itself while I'm photographing.
Aluminum sheet was cut into small squares, corners were rounded, the edges were sanded and then folded over to form clips that would hold the paper backdrop. These were attached via double sided tape. 2 at the bottom and 1 at the top. Locations were based on the size of my paper backdrops.
The sheets of paper I got were quite small but were big enough for small projects. Eventually I'll need to get larger sheets and I might need to adjust the clips position or add new clips.
We'll see the backdrop in action for my next posts.

Mazinger Z-tikfas

2009-03-30T22:25:00.004+08:00

I'm calling 'im done for now. In fact, he's gone off for a vacation, can you guess where?
One day I gotta get my airbrushed properly cleaned so I can spray a final semi-gloss protective coat on Mr Z here, till then he'll have to wait in the cabinet. Now if you're wondering why you only ever see him in one pose. Why isnt he supposed to be stikfas custom and hence should be poseable? Well you see I built him out of an old stikfas I had lying around. He had yellowed a bit due to sun exposure and the plastic had gotten a bit brittle. The joints started to crack when I put him together so I had to glue him all up. So now he's frozen in that pose, not much action in this figure. Hope none of the baddies come around to bust him up! hmmm...is that an idea for the next stikfas custom?

See here for all the work in progress posts.

Mazinger Plas-stikfas Almost Done

2009-03-25T18:47:00.003+08:00

Got hit by a stomach bug and put out of action. The consequences are of course I get a chance to catch up on some light activities at home. Mr. Z here is all painted up and almost ready to go! All that's left is a protective spray on varnish and final assembly. Of course I didn't forget the second most important chest pieces for all male Mazinger Z fans. See below:
The pieces were pretty small and I was too weak (lazy) to whip up the old compressor and airbrush, so I decided I'd brush paint them by hand. Problem is that brush marks are so obvious when it comes applying glossy paint. I'm thinking of applying a final layer of envirotex lite gloss varnish. Lets hope it works!

Cashless Stash

2009-03-20T00:24:00.006+08:00

Happily received this in the mail about a month ago, it's a 1/35 scale model the Centurion Mk 5 battle tank. It's a generous gift from the folks at armorama for my SAS jeep article which won the feature writing contest. You might remember my first ever post is when I mentioned this article.
It also come with a set of metal tracks and resin gun mantlet as seen in the photo.

Mazinger Plas-stikfas all wrapped up

2009-03-20T00:01:00.004+08:00

No, I'm afraid it's not wrapped as in finished, instead it's wrapped up in tissue and tape for spray painting. Actually did this about a month ago, it's the second stage in painting. 1st layer was Tamiya Color Racing White from a spray can. After drying for a day or so, I masked and airbrushed on Tamiya acrylic Blue color mixed with a bit of Field Blue and Clear. The result is what you see in the pic.

Painting Richard's Mind

2009-03-09T13:07:00.003+08:00

Hi all, I got new link today. A very talented concept artist and an excellent sculptor as well (I wish he'd post some photos of his sculpt on his blog!) I enthusiastically present Richard Lim.

Tekkon Kinkreet WHITE

2009-03-02T10:32:00.006+08:00

Acting on a tip off from my daydreaming friend, I hastened down to the local Jap book store and bought my first Art book this year. Splurged S$72 yesterday for a copy of "The Art of Tekkon Kinkreet White".In these foul economic times, the book was still worth the moolah I spent on it. (So what is a blog these days without mentioning the economy?) This hardbound coffee table book is filled with inspiring full color images of the background plates used in the animated movie Tekkon Kinkreet (a word play on the Jap words for Reinforced Concrete). If you love nicely rendered urban vistas that are bursting at the seams with incredibly detailed handdrawn perfection, well then this book is definitely for you. IMHO though, there are 2 things that will make this book even better - bigger size and more characters. I'm a character kinda guy and prefer to have characters set in the backgrounds, but that's just me.

This book will go well with my "The Art of Tekkon Kinkreet Black", which I got a last year for some forty odd dollars or so.

Art Book Blogs

2009-02-16T21:47:00.003+08:00

Someone posted a comment on my post about the Wow cinematic art book. This led me to his blog here. Looks interesting... Thanks Parka!

Stainless Jeep The Beginnings

2009-02-08T23:29:00.002+08:00

Mabuhay! At the start of the year, I've hinted on a "never before seen here" project - a 1/72 scale Stainless Jeep. A.K.A. the "Owner Type" Jeep, its the little brother of the more internationally known "pam-pasaherong" jeep or jeepney. Its origins dates back to over 60 years ago when the first jeeps served in the second World War. The stainless jeep's appeal is firmly imprinted into the pinoy psyche.
During a recent trip to the Philippines, I was surprised - though I shouldn't have been - to see that the owner jeep is still very much alive and kicking up the dust on the roads of Manila. In my short time there, I must have seen at least 2 dozen jeeps of varying configuration with no 2 vehicle exactly alike. Although I have seen an art piece stainless jeep (in a singapore museum) covered entirely in stainless steel, the real thing is usually composed of sheet Galavanised Iron body work fitted with various stainless steel fittings. The picture above is a good representation of the typical configuration and I've listed the main features I wish to represent in my little model. More on this next time...

Metal Gha Nachkt

2009-02-05T23:41:00.003+08:00

I haven't put this baby (ugghhh) to rest. Here's an alternate metallic version I made.
Click here for the progress posts.

Mazinger Plas-stikfas

2009-02-05T23:29:00.003+08:00

I managed to finish all the mods I wanted to make on my custom mazinger stikfas. Here's how it looks in all it's bare plastic (and metal and wood) glory!

Next step is to prime and paint. I don't know if it's the age of my stikfas, but the plastic seems to have gone brittle on me. The sockets cracked when I connected the limbs, so I had to super glue the figure into the current pose. There goes playability!

Around the world in 365 days!

2009-01-29T22:00:00.003+08:00

A new link has been added under Adventure Links. A couple of friends have embarked on the adventure of their lives and has generously set up a blog allowing us to share in their year long travel to places far and wide. All the best F & G! Only 39000 miles to go :)

Welcome the year of the ox!

2009-01-29T21:57:00.005+08:00

I've been retarded about my blog lately. Took several days off from Singapore to visit the Philippines for a couple of weddings plus the mandatory winin' and dinin' = Time just flies when you're having fun. But now it's back to Singapore to usher in the year of the ox, does this mean we have to work ourselves to the bone like the dear ol' ox?
Gong Xi Fa Cai to one and all!

let there be omnilight

2009-01-17T22:47:00.003+08:00

Another new link added to creative buddies. A friend of mine has recently returned to Singapore and introduced me to his blog. There isn't much on it yet, but what little that's there sure impresses me! If it's a sign of things to come, then I'm keeping a close watch on this page.

a link to daydreams added

2009-01-08T23:05:00.004+08:00

Artists often daydream. Some choose to publish it in their blogs. I've added a link to my friend Waiming's blog. There's some cool portrait photography in there.
Check it out here or from the creative buddies link list on the side bar.

In Memory of Gha Nachkt

2009-01-04T22:55:00.008+08:00

Final painted pics of the Gha Nachkt.

So after the details were painted in, I applied a controlled oil wash for the dark shade areas. This was allowed to dry a couple of days before the next step. The highlights were also done in oils, but this time applied using a dry brush technique.Once the oils had dried a couple more days, I sprayed a flat coat over the whole bust. To finish off, I applied some gloss varnish to the eyes, nostrils and edge of the mouth. This makes a nice contrast to the overall flat finish and adds life to the bust.

Trex Mech gear (big bedroll/tarp)

2009-01-04T22:48:00.002+08:00

Bedroll part 2, this time before painting.
Gonna paint this one maroon with beige stripes. I want it to look like a bit rug. I added a metal wire inside so that I can keep it bent to follow the shape of the trex mech's head.

Trex Mech more gear (bucket)

2009-01-04T22:40:00.003+08:00

Here's a bucket I am building to add to the trex mech.I used a plastic sauce container, the kind the chili sauce comes in when you order chicken rice 'take away' in Singapore. I trimmed away the lip, drilled a couple of holes and inserted a bent wire for the handle. I also glued a couple of strips of metal for detail. Next step for this is primer and paint.

Custom Stikfas Mazinger Z GO!

2009-01-04T22:30:00.005+08:00

Here's the beginning of a project that has been swirling in mind for a while now.The super giant robot that started it all. One of my earliest memories of watching cartoon TV. I guess the idea of a pilot's cockpit visible on top of a robot is so ingrained in me. I find this concept totally appealing. You can see it's evolution in the trex mech. It's a theme that I am eager to explore further in my future projects.
So the white dude on the left is a stikfas figure, about 2.5 inches tall. The picture on the right is a mazinger Z toy I have that has really nice proportions but bad articulation (but this is another project altogether). The goal is to customize the stikfas to look like mazinger Z. I'll do this primarily with the paint work. There's a bit of modelling to be done - mostly on the head and the addition of the trademark chest pieces. I'm quite eager to see how this one turns out.

keat's utopia link added

2009-01-04T16:36:00.002+08:00

Another link added: Keatopia, an animator colleague of mine has some nice artworks posted.