Toys Collection, Memories...

Wow, such a long time I haven't write anything on this space. This is nothing but a story of a person who likes toys, and how it all started.

At first, the kind of toys that I played with when I was a kid were trucks, construction vehicles, and some wood puzzles. However, that all changed when I watched my first ever mecha animation, Macross. Yes, I watched the original Macross series that was Cantonese dubbed back in the early 80s, where it was a norm to rent VHS tape from video rental shop, at this part of the world. I was fascinated by it, and glued to it, and eventually not only the mecha but also managed to pick up Cantonese just by watching the show. Probably the younger the person is the more easier for the person to adapt & learn? Hmm...

I used to have those toys; the Macross VF-1J & VF-1S, the Orguss, Godmars, Transformers, Baxinger, and even the old RX-78 Gundam chogokin toys. All these toys happened to be available at local supermarkert or specialized shop at the same time that I watched the Cantonese dubbed animation. My father used to buy these toys for me as either my birthday present, or Christmast present. Bragging here? Well, yes. I was considered a good & obedient young kid back then, with good results in study, hence I was able to have the toys, without asking for them. Later year, not so much, which I must confessed because of various reasons like I was not taking good care of the toys, of which I can blame it on someone else for that, but when I think it through now, it was me who did not being responsible for it, can't blame other people.

I do treasure my toys, and it was a shame that I was not able to keep most of them in good condition. Hence, when I was much older, I was able to at least make sure that my new found interest, plastic model kit, that all the kits that I have built during secondary school years, be stored in good shape. Now, those are inherited by my younger sibling.

There are stories to the toys that I currently shown in this post. The God-Sigma (second row, left most), I used to have the old one, where it was purely toys but with a lot of gimmicks esp. the combination. My late father, I still remember it very well, that one of the night back in the late 80s, when I was only primary school year 3 or year 4, my dad saw in the newspaper that a supermarket was going to close for good, so it helds a clearance sale. My dad, who was about to leave to work at night, saw it, with a little time left, he actually went to the supermarket to see if he could buy something. Later that night, dad called home to tell my mum that he managed to get something for me, and asked her to wake me up early in the morning tomorrow. So, I did. When I saw what he bought me, I was really happy. I heard that dad bought that for only RM50. Back then, RM50 was considered a lot of money. I really treasure that toy, but as time goes by, something happened and it was no longer in good shape. Hence, when Bandai was releasing the God-Sigma as part of its Soul of Chogokin lineup, I did not think twice & proceeded to order it. This was to remind myself, not only that I liked it, but also the night, of what my late father did for me.

Then, Godmars (second row, far right), I used to have the old one as well. I got that as a Christmas present when I was in primary school year. That time I was really into the Godmars animation (Cantonese dubbed too). Hence, when I got it as a Christmast present, I was happy & surprised! Again, I didn't ask for it, but it was my father & my elder sisters, who knew what I like, that has enabled me to have it. That's why, again, when Bandai released it as part of the Soul of Chogokin lineup during late 2000s, I bought it from a local toy store, as a remembrance of that moment.

Lastly, the VF-1J Valkyrie from Macross. That was the first mech toys that I have owned. I still remembered that my dad bought me the VF-1J, and then my eldest brother bought me the VF-1S. I treasured them to the extent of carrying them around during my kindergarden days (yes, I got the toys at that young age). As I think back, it was a very unbelievable act for dad and eldest brother to buy me toys because it was considered luxurious back then, of which I did not know about, and I thought that it was normal for people to have toys. I was wrong after learning about it as I am getting older (not really wiser). So, this VF-1J, is to remind me of that moment, the moment where my late father, who is a very strict & stern person, was willing to buy toys for me.

And, the saddest things of all, as I think back, I can't recall if I have ever say "thank you, papa, I love you". There can be many excuses that I can give, but if I have never say it, then so be it & bear the regret. These are all reminders to me, making sure that the importance of appreciation & showing gratitude esp. to those who are blood related be in checked all the time. Although things may turn sour with the conditions that we're currently in at the moment, nevertheless, have to strive for it because true life is never easy, which I believed.

That, concludes my toy stories.

PG 1/60 00 Raiser - 2nd Build

Back in 2010, I built my own PG OO Raiser, initially thinking it's just for my own personal interest.  In the end I ended up using it to join the competition, which is on a different level; I can't just simply build something out of the box and join in the competition, I need to at least do some extra stuff to challenge myself.  Back then the time was indeed short, so I only did some color customization, which basically just add in some color stripes, with the designer color version as a source of reference.

After 3 years, I decided to give the PG OO Raiser a shot, to give it as much details as possible, using the RG concept of different color tones and panel lines.  This is my first attempt to make it as far as possible, and because it's a PG, therefore there are a lot of rooms to add in details.  Without further ado, the finishing product is as follow.


PG 1/60 OO Gundam

PG 1/60 O Raiser

So the challenge that I've given myself for this build is to give it details as much as possible that it would have the RG feel, and at the same time the details got to have a reason why it is there.  The sources of inspiration come from the RG line of product, and also from Iron Man (movie).  Frankly scribing those lines are not that easy at all because it has to be done with a lot of patience and with a lot of concentration, plus perseverance.  The work in progress for this kit is not that interesting at all, but the end result is really satisfying.  Like a friend of mine has said it, that unless this kit is seen closely, otherwise one will not be able to notice the differences and the effort that been put into this kit.

As usual, the work in progress for this kit and the finishing product are posted in the pla-zone forum.  The following are some close-up shots and some comparison shots with my previous OO Raiser build.  With this, I'll be taking rest from doing PG, not until I cleared up my current stash.  This kit belongs to my colleague's husband, so am really grateful for him for allowing me to use his kit for my first attempt of extensive panel line work.

Photos:

Comparing with My Previous Build

OO Raiser Mode
I didn't take much photo of this particular mode because am too lazy to adjust the pose, due to that complex joint locking system.

Build close...

Games Workshop - War Hammer 40K - Wall of Martyrs - Imperial Defence Network

Grateful to a friend of mine who introduced me to work on this kit.  This is the terrain kit for the War Hammer 40K series, and it belongs to the same owner whom I've previously help to build the Fortified Manor of the War Hammer series.

This Imperial Defence Network is a limited item kit consists of 1 Imperial Bunker, 2 Imperial Defence Emplacement, and 3 Imperial Defence Line.  It is a huge box for a War Hammer 40K.  The basic requirement is to have it painted as closely as possible to the box art.  Well, all went well except that I can't figure out what's the correct colour for the skull plate motives.  Anyway, the friend who got me this work has not been hearing any complain from the owner about the skull colour, so it is a case close I supposed.

Right, here are some of the pictures taken after the whole thing was put together.

When the whole thing is put together, it produces a huge layout of the defensive network, which will require a very big table to have it stationed.

The painting process is of another level in terms of the process.  Firstly, there are similar pieces; secondly they are all big pieces; thirdly, they are all big pieces with a lot of details.  So the challenge is really on how to paint them all so that the colour will be consistent when they're put together.  The whole process, starting from assembly till painting, took me about 50 working hours, within 1 month.

The whole thing is done with airbrush painting, and dry brushing, with a little bit hand painting on some small details.  The color that I used is Mr Color, and Tamiya Enamel Paint.  The new thing that I learned here is the thin wash, where a thin layer of enamel paint been applied to give the finishing a different kind of feel.  I've learned as well that thin wash with enamel paint is best if the surface is not rough, otherwise the paint will not flow.  The work in progress for this work is recorded in Pla-Zone.

Overall, I've learned something new from this build.  Basically learned something new on the weathering part, and then I've learned something new as well on managing the painting process.  Lastly, the most important part is still to learn from mistake and to keep on improve.

Finally, some other pictures that I've taken during the work in progress stage.

That's all for now.

Fujimi 1/24 Honda Today (You're Under Arrest Movie Ver.)

I've always like the series You're Under Arrest authored by none other than Kosuke Fujishima, who's also the author of Ah! My Goddess, which is also another series that I used read. It was through his works that I started to develop a liking for cars and motorbikes as Kosuke himself is also a fan for cars and bikes. I still remembered reading You're Under Arrest manga, where there will be pages dedicated to explain about the cars and bikes that were used by the hero and heroine in the series. I still remember, as well, the first time I watched the OVA of You're Under Arrest, I immediately like it very much because firstly the story itself, and secondly the animation, which can be considered as one of the top notch production back in those days, where computer aided graphic has not been widely used yet.

So this Fujimi 1/24 Honda Today kit was produced back in the late 90's as the movie version of You're Under Arrest came out during that period of time. Currently this kit is also one of those hard to find kit as Fujimi doesn't reproduce this kit as to date. I was blessed to be able to buy this kit off from a fellow modeller. The kit comes with 2 resin figures of the 2 main heroine of the series, Natsumi and Miyuki, some other items, and a 1/24 scale CUUTTEEEE-sy little Honda Motocombo. As such, I planned to build it with some scene that I have in mind, which reminiscence one of the shot in the opening of the OVA, where both the heroine were staring at the city from a seaside. Here are some of the photographs of the finished build.

Firstly, the car, it took me approximately 5 months to get it done. The reason being that along the way, I bumped into a lot of mistakes, thus it took me a while to redo the car kit. Secondly, the little Motocombo, which can be considered as the easiest among the other objects in this build. Thirdly, the resin figures. I have a lot of tough time with the resin figure as well, especially the Miyuki figure, which I have to do "plastic surgery" to give it a pointier nose as the original nose was really flat. The figures took me 3 weeks to finish.

Lastly, the base to put everything for display. As I intended to make it as a reminiscence of the scene where both Natsumi and Miyuki are standing by the sea side, I have to make the base to have something from that scence, hence the grass and the out-of-scale (bad) brick roads. I was having problem after the initial stage as I don't like the dark tone color of the grass and the brick road, so I decided to touch up on it to give it a brighter tone.

So overall it is fun to build the kit. Although it was not easy to build car kit given that I used to Gunpla building, yet through this build I could learn a lot of new things. It was indeed a one kit tried all - car, bike, figure, and diorama display. Whether I'll build another one will be a different story...

Gamers Workshop Warhammer 40K Ork Dreadnought

First of all, I'm not really a fan for this kind of fantasy figure. Even though some of them are pretty nice looking, but I just won't buy it and do it, unless it's for special occasion like last time the Blood Bowl tournament table top game. As for this time, I did this figure because of the Christmas Group Build organized by fellow Pla-Zone members for the Christmas occasion, where we'll be exchanging gifts, which were all model kits of all genres, and whatever we received we'll have to work on it within a specific timelines otherwise will have to pay for the penalty of not doing it.

The time I joined was the 2nd time that this GB was organized. The fun of this GB is that you may received something that you've never done before. For me, I got this Warhammer 40K Dreadnaught as my gift. Now previously I've worked on miniature related figures before, so more or less I would know what to do with this figure. Without further ado, here are some of the photographs taken of the finished painted figure.

Normally, painting miniature figure is done by using acrylic paint because firstly it is water based, and secondly it is much easier to control. However, I only have the High Elf set Vallejo Acrylic Paint, thus the color is not really suitable as I would envision it to be no matter how much I custom mix the color. Therefore, I resorted to use lacquer based color paint instead.

Except for some small details, most part of this figure was painted with Mr Hobby lacquer color, either using airbrush or hand paint. After that, I'll paint some of the small details with Vallejo acrylic color, and finally dry brush and wash it with Tamiya enamel color. What I was trying to achieve in this build was to improve on my weathering, i.e. using pastel and chipping. Yet, I was still far short from that because my weathering sense was still not very good. So, will have to learn to improve on that one at least.

So is it fun to build this figure? Yes it is, but I could foreseen that I'll not build another one in a long time as I said before that I'm not really into this genre.