Custom Shadespire Terrain

Wow it’s now 2018.  I believe my last post was way back in 2012, I am surprised I am still able to access this blog.

So what have I been up to lately?  For the most part, I’ve been busy with work a lot.  Obviously the idea of maintaining a regular blog was soon abandoned.  Now we come to the part why I decided to make a new post.  Mostly just for fun I guess. I also wanted to share a recent hobby project I worked on.

A few months back I bought a game called Shadespire.  It’s a game by Games Workshop that is set in their Warhammer Age of Sigmar universe.  The game is a tactical miniatures game played on a hexagonal grid gameboard.

The game had these hexagonal spaces which signified some blocking terrain. Unfortunately the only way to tell if they are such is via a darker shade on the hex and a slighly thicker border line, which in my opinion, could be missed by some players.

That got me thinking, wouldn’t it be better if they had some token or 3D obstacle to show which of these hexes are impassable.  So next thing you know, I made the decision to make some custom terrain myself and here are the finished products.  Till next time...

Lotus F1 Papercraft

I came across this on Facebook recently...

It's another paper craft project for all you guys who love building paper models.  Just follow the link below to download this model of the Lotus E20 F1 car.  All you need is a colored printer and 6 sheets of thick paper.

Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/LotusRenaultGP/app_132035906926688

Lessons learned from buying knock-offs

What is pictured below is a product called "Faith Leader" by a company called iGear.  iGear is known as one of the more popular companies producing knock-off Transformers action figures.  In fact the "Faith Leader" figure is actually a scaled down version of Hasbro / Takara's Masterpiece Optimus Prime.  This 8.5 inch high action figure is a faithful copy of its original taller counterpart.

There are probably a number of reviews for this product out there on the web.  I'm not really doing a full review here today.  However, I just wanted to share some bad experiences I had with this figure. That's the price you pay for buying knock off products.

First off, I noticed there are that a lot of loose ball joints in this figure.  The figure's head keeps on popping off and additionally the ankle joints are not exactly tight either.  It will take some effort balancing the figure just to make it stand, action poses are more challenging.

Next I'd like to note that the chest panels don't seem to lock in place in robot mode.  It does however close properly in truck mode.

Finally, my worst peeve with this figure is that the plastic used for it seems to be quite brittle.  In fact I've managed to break a panel off its arm already.  Well, this is probably a failure on my part. I was definitely mistaken when I assumed this would be a sturdy action figure.  I wonder if the original Masterpiece Prime owners do encounter the same problems with their arm panels.  I am assuming that Hasbro or Takara would stress test their products before they hit the market.  Unfortunately since I don't own an original Masterpiece Optimus, I can't make any fair comparison on this matter.

Yup, I broke it...

Now for those who are still thinking of picking up this product I would like to share some advice.  When revealing or storing the hands DO NOT use the arm panels as a lever to push or pull the hand component in and out of the forearm.  That is how I ended up breaking my figure.  It's advisable to push in the hand itself to store and try to find some other way to get the hand out without using the arm panels. 

Instructions seemed simple enough... Flip panel up, push hand component in, flip panel down.

In conclusion,  although this product may have been a good replica of the Masterpiece Optimus Prime action figure.  People who consider buying this product should treat it with great care and understand that it is a real fragile item.  Extreme caution may need to be exercised during the transformation process.  This collectible figure is definitely not suitable for younger children.  (Well the box did say 18 and above)

Oh well, since it's already broken and have already lost its collector's value, I'll probably try some DIY repair work on it sometime in the future.  That's all for now, signing off...

Bburago 1/24 Mini Cooper Monte Carlo Metal Kit Review

Today was I doing some cleaning during the Easter holiday break when I came across one of my old die-cast models collecting dust on the shelf.  The model car shown on the picture below is a 1/24 die cast replica of a Mini Cooper with "Rallye Monte-Carlo" livery.  If my memory serves me right this car was driven by Paul Easter and Timo Makinen in 1994 wherein Mini was celebrating the 30th anniversary of Paddy Hopkirk's Monte Carlo Rally win back in 1964. Don't you think it's a funny coincidence that I should do a review of a car driven by someone named Easter on Easter day... 

This car was given to me by an old college buddy who's really fond of Minis.

The  metal kit featured here today was produced by the Italian company Bburago.  The model is not your typical out of the box collectors die-cast models, this one required some assembly.  Despite of that setback this kit was easy to build, in fact the box states that you only need to be eight years of age to put it together.  That is due to the fact that the parts simply snap into place and no glue is necessary.  It does have a few screws under the chassis so a screwdriver is required.

The body is made of die-cast metal while the rest of the parts are in plastic. Most of the major components came pre-painted.  However, if I recall correctly the decals needed to be applied.  I may be wrong though since it's been ages since I've completed this one.  I did not bother to paint in details on the other parts so what you'll see on the following pictures will be pretty much how the kit will look when assembled straight out of the package.   Now on with my review...

The pre-painted die cast body looks nice and clean.  The color still retained the original quality even after all these years.  The decals also held up pretty well. I don't see any discoloration on any of them.  I am not much of a fan of the wheels though, I do not like how the axle peg looks out of place on the tire rims.  I also wished they had some clear parts for the lamp below the rear bumper instead of just plain chrome. 

The chassis on this kit looks very much like a toy, with the manufacturers labels engraved on it. There are however, a few nice details for the front and read suspension but I feel there is nothing much to look at here.  That's the reason why I normally keep this car mounted to the display base which came with the kit.

Like in most die-cast models, the doors and bonnet are operable which leads me into the next part of my review.  I have to apologize for the untidy interiors, I didn't have the chance to thoroughly clean up the kit before taking the pictures.

Generally, I think this kit's weakness is the interiors.  Most of what is inside are just molded in black plastic.  However to be fair, I think the kit does have a lot of potential for detailing.  I'm sure the engine and dashboard will pop out when the details are painted in.

In conclusion, if I were to rate this kit from 1 to 5 with five being the highest I'd probably give it a 3-1/2.  The pre-painted hull and ease of assembly is great for Mini Cooper lovers young and old.  That's all for now... Happy Easter everyone!

Love Motorcycles?

Here is an interesting site for motorcycle lovers, paper craft enthusiast and scale modelers out there.

http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/entertainment/papercraft/

Yamaha has this webpage where you could download several paper model kits of selected motorcycles they've produced for free.  All you need are some card stock, a craft knife, lots of glue and a printer.  Just follow the instructions provided and viola you'll have a paper replica model of an actual Yamaha bike.

The webpage also includes some non-cycle related models for the paper craft lovers. One will definitely find lots of interesting things to do here. I'll probably give one of these motorcycle kits a try in the future.  But first, I'll need to stock the necessary supplies and find some time off from my busy work schedule.

MS-06S Zaku II - Char Aznable Custom Mobile Suit Gallery

After building my Gundam RX-78-2 last month, I had the urge to assemble another kit from the Mobile Suit Gundam series.  This time I wanted to put together a model kit representing a mecha from Principality of Zeon, the opposing forces in the original Gundam series.  

In the anime, the forces of Zeon churned out a variety of mobile suits to oppose the Gundam.  I wanted to pick one that I remembered very well from my childhood, namely the Zaku. The Zakus which appeared early on in the series were not the best mobile suits in Principality's arsenal, in fact they ended up mostly as fodder for the Gundam. This particular robot design however it is probably the most recognized by fans of the series.

But the choice wasn't that simple... As depicted in the series, the MS-06 Zaku II units were mass produced and many variants of this mecha were made.  Of course Bandai, the company who makes Gundam scale models, also made several kits representing each of these variants. 

So from all of the kits that were available in the market I settled for the MS-06S Char Aznable custom version.  Char, who was also known as the Red Comet, piloted a custom painted Zaku II donning his signature colors.  He was one of the main antagonist in the original anime series, however he also became a protagonist in the later sequels.  

Here are some pics of my finished model...

Such a big box for a tiny figure...

Char Aznable boarding his custom MS-06S

Zaku II with the Bazooka at ready.

Engaging the opponents with the Heat Hawk.

Sniping targets with the machine gun.

Gundam RX-78-2 Gallery

I recently finished building my RX-78-2 kit.  I really enjoyed putting this one together.  Despite the fact that most Gundam kits could be assembled without the need of paint, I did opt to do some basic painting on this one to highlight some of the model's details. 

Being extremely articulated there are so many poses possible with the typical Gundam kit.  Taking pictures of the model was so much fun.  Here are some photos I took of the finished product. 

The RX-78-2 with the FF-X7 Core Fighter

Painting those 15mm high figures of Amuro was a real pain.

  

Wielding a Beam Saber

Armed with the Hyper Bazooka

RX-78-2 carrying a Beam Rifle with Super Napalm attachment

Taking a swing with the Gundam Hammer

Beam Javelin at ready...

I must confess, I think I've been bitten with the Gundam bug.  I now have an urge to build another one soon.  Perhaps I'll purchase an opponent for my RX-78-2, then I'll be able to set up some battle poses in the near future.

Bandai RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. 2.0

As expected, I haven't had the chance to update my blog lately, that's because we've been rushing to meet several deadlines at the office these past few weeks.  It sure is welcoming to have some time off from work during the Christmas break.  Hopefully the remaining days of the year will be quiet and relaxing.

I've recently decided to try my hand at assembling a Gundam kit.  Bandai, the company who makes these robot models, had churned out quite a number of kits depicting the different 'mecha' and vehicles appearing in the various Mobile Suit Gundam animated series.  I must admit I am not really a hardcore fan of the anime, although I did manage to watch an episode or two.  But as an avid modeling fan, I do admire the engineering of the model kits.  So for my first foray into unknown territory, I went to the local hobby store this afternoon and I decided to pick a Gundam which I have seen many times before... namely the RX-78-2 Gundam.

The RX-78-2 was the model of the Mobile Suit that was piloted by Amuro Ray. He's the lead character in the 1979 Japanese animated series Mobile Suit Gundam.  The success of the series has spawned multiple sequels, spin-offs and the metaseries have grown into a billion dollar franchise.

Since this Gundam is the most well recognized it has been produced in a lot of different scales and the kit have been improved and re-released multiple times over the years.  I bought a more recent version of the RX-78-2.  Bandai calls it a Master Grade Version 2.0.  

'Master Grade' kits are typically 1/100 scale in size however the level of detail and articulation are quite extensive.  I should say it is pretty decent for the price you pay, especially if you cannot afford the much more expensive 1/60 scale 'Perfect Grade' model kits. 

As for Version 2.0, that's because this one is supposed to be an improvement over older versions of the same RX-78-2 kits released earlier.

I guess that is it for now... Happy Holidays everyone. 

Aston Martin DBS Build Journal Volume 7: Conclusion

I’ve been quite busy lately and was not able to post any updates on my Aston Martin DBS project.  I did however manage to sneak a few hours of modeling every now and then, but was too tired to post anything on my blog.  I finally found some free time to go online today and do a wrap up for this project.

A few weeks back I started work on the exterior of this scale model.  The first thing I had to do was to inspect the body for areas that needed some preparation before the paint job.  The Tamiya body was quite clean; however, I did find some excess casting lines that needed to be sanded down.  After that task was done, I went ahead and primed the body for painting.

This needed some sanding down...

Trying to keep the work protected from dust in between coats...

The following week I stated painting the body.  The instructions called for the use metallic black to simulate “Quantum Silver” from the DBS used in the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace.  I didn’t really want a black car and wanted more of a greyish color, so I opted to use Tamiya TS-42 Light Gun Metal instead.  While waiting for the paint to dry I went ahead and applied some carbon fiber decals to the side mirrors and front bumper trims.

Once everything was done, all that was left was to give it a coat of clear gloss and finish the assembly.  Here are some pictures of the finished product.

The V12 engine under the hood.

Front profile.

Rear view.

For the last photograph, I wanted to play around a bit... So I staged a scene using a picture from one of my architecture books as the background, my newly assembled kit and a collectible 3" James Bond figurine by Corgi that was released back in 2001.  It is quite unfortunate that they didn't get to produce a Daniel Craig - Bond figurine to add to this collectible line after the iconic role was passed to the new actor.  It would have been a better match for this DBS miniature.

Oh yeah before I forget, I’ve also added a simple “rating” feature at the bottom of my posts, feel free to use it to rate my work.

Aston Martin DBS Build Journal Volume 6: Interior Completed

We were hit by a nasty typhoon last Tuesday.  Work was suspended and we were allowed to leave the office around noon.   The storm was so bad that it knocked out the power supply in the area where I lived.  Having no electricity available, there was little to do at home.  I decided to make use of the time to continue work on my DBS interiors while the sun was still up.

Taking advantage of the available light, I proceeded to tackle the dashboard first.  One nice thing about the Tamiya kit was that the interior was divided into several parts making the painting job much easier.  After painting the remaining components, I went ahead with assembling the dashboard and applying the decals. 

 

The photo-etched pedals came with the kit.

Having finished the front section of the interior, all that was left was to apply the decals on the seats and combine all these with the work done the previous week. 

The trim on the air vents and knobs were from the sticker set purchased from HLJ.

The carpet turned out okay.  Too bad it'll hardly be seen once the body is on.

Now the interiors are done, next up is the car body…

Aston Martin DBS Build Journal Volume 5: Interior (WIP)

Having completed the chassis the previous week, I went ahead and started work on the car interiors this weekend.   First off was to spray the individual parts in “German Grey”.   While waiting for the paint to dry, I used the time to review some reference images of the DBS interior.

For this build I decided to have some fun and do some simple carpeting.  Usually an interior carpet effect is done by using really fine flocking powder.  Unfortunately I didn’t have any on hand; so I decided to use something easier to get a hold of, namely some felt paper.  Felt paper, in my opinion, is much easier to handle.  Gluing flocking material can get really messy and I wouldn’t want to accidentally apply the material in areas I didn’t need to cover with carpet.

Using some tape to trace a template for my carpet.

Here is the template used as my cutting guide.

The felt paper was cut slightly larger than my template.

Doing a final test fit.  Scoring the paper in preparation for the final trim.

 

The kit also came with a sheet of photo-etched parts.  These tiny metal parts add another level of detail to the finish product.  I had to attach a couple of these at the rear of the interior.

Things went well this weekend.   Hope my luck persists for the rest of the build.  Here is a picture of what I managed to finish.

Halfway there... Up next, the seats and dashboard.

Aston Martin DBS Build Journal Volume 4: Hobby Link Japan

I recently bought some third party decals from an online store called Hobby Link Japan.  The order arrived promptly and in excellent condition.   Since I was happy with my purchase, I’ve placed a link to their site on my newly created “Favorite Sites” section found at the lower left portion of my blog.

 

The first item I bought was a sheet of 1/24 scale Aston Martin logo decals by a company called Hobby Design.   I’ll be using this to replace the original Tamiya decals which I’ve accidentally torn earlier.  Although my photo does not show it clearly, these emblems have a metallic look to it.

Using some tape, I carefully removed the old decals and applied the replacement logos on the brake calipers.  I guess that problem is now solved.

After applying the decals, I went on and finished up the chassis

The second item I bought was a sheet of carbon fiber decals by Scale Motorsports.  Also scaled for 1/24 kits, this decal has tiny spots printed on a clear transparent sheet.  You could hardly see it while it is still on its backing sheet.  One will have to cut a piece of the decal to the appropriate size before applying it to the model.

This was the first time I tried doing a complex decal job like this; I first tried applying a small piece on a scrap piece of plastic to get a feel of how to use this product.  After my practice run I decided to go for the real thing.   

From reference photos, the actual DBS had a rear diffuser that was made of carbon fiber.  This part had a real tough surface to work with and probably the hardest piece I needed to cover with the C/F decals.  To prepare for the task, I first painted the part with semi gloss black. After the paint dried, I proceeded to measure and cut a piece of the decal a little larger the size I wanted to cover up.  For this job I also used some “Mr. Mark Softer” which helps soften the decal and stretches it a bit over curved or irregular bumpy surfaces.  After applying the decal I gave it a coat of gloss.

Since I was really trying hard to concentrate on this nerve wracking process, I forgot to take some pictures of the process.  I did however take a picture of my finished product.  As expected, it was not a perfect job but I reckon it was a good attempt for a first-timer.