2007 ~ TOYMAKER

Monday, December 31, 2007

SD Duel Gundam (WIP)

12/31/2007 01:17:00 AM No comments

The base is almost done and I'm planning to have it primed and painted tomorrow.

As this is my first painted SD kit, I would not say it is nicely done. A few blemishes here and there but hopefully, these will be elminated for my future SD projects.

I'm beginning to fall in love with the SDs as they are oh so cute!

SD Duel Gundam

12/25/2007 10:10:00 PM Gundam Seed , WIP No comments

While fiddling with the Gundam Exia, I just could not resist the temptation of painting this little SD. I have a 1/100 Duel Gundam [NG] on display and I thought that it would be cool to have another in SD format.

SDs are generally easy to do except for the masking. It's tedious as some parts are pretty tiny and sometimes hand painting would be the easier option.

Oh man! This is sooooo cute!

My mini maintenance set-up

1/100 Duel [NG]

I'm planning to have this done by the end of this week and hopefully resume on the Group Build project.

Gundam Exodus Exia (Plamo Challenge)

12/16/2007 02:16:00 AM 1 comment

Recently I was invited to participate in a very special Build Group organized by the people at PLAMO. I do believe this is the first of its kind here. There are a total of eight participants including myself:-

Erix 93, Whitebase, G-net from Malaysia,
Izakku81 and Pazu from Singapore
Eday from Hong Kong
Nath_1977 from Philippines

Fantastic modellers in their own rights, I would expect nothing less from them. It is definitely both exciting and intriguing to see what type of variations they can do!

With GN-001 Gundam Exia [NG] as the base kit, members are required to modify, detail, scratch-build, kit-bash or whatever they can think of. Having seen some WIPs from Erix 93 and Whitebase, I am pretty sure that this Build Group [BG] will be beneficial to many. I have already learnt something new!

Personally, I'm pretty excited about this whole thing since it is not everyday that you get to have a "friendly" with these folks. It is also a great opportunity for me to learn and try new techniques.

I have assembled the Exia and was quite impressed by the kit although it's not MG. However, some parts are rather flimsy and makes posing difficult. That is something I need to look into soon. The major joints look good but I thought something could be done to the waist and shoulder joints. Articulation are reasonably good.

The detailings on this kit are remarkable too! I thought Bandai has done a good job here. It leaves very little room for me to work on. And I really need to do something about those rubbery parts!

Head: Very unique design

Body: The same goes for the body, not your usual Gundam design...

Rubber parts!!! I hate those!

Legs: MG-ized?

I have spent some time looking everywhere for inspirations but the Exia seems to be a tough nut to crack. I do recall one episode titled "Seven Sword" or "七剑" and kinda like the sound of it. I could re-create seven blades to pack more punch and "up" its coolness.

I am a big fan of the Gundam Unicorn and can't help myself but to siphon some ideas from it.

Some preliminary ideas/ concepts of my entry:-

Two modes, the "Exodus" Mode and "Exile" Mode
Exodus Mode - Normal mode with seven detachable blades to be used separately.
Exile Mode - Berseak mode with one long sword as main weapon (by combining all seven blades).
The Exia in "Exile" Mode will look bigger in size just like the Unicorn Gundam in Destroyer Mode.

Some of the ideas seems like a tall order to me. But since I'm still in the conceptual stage, any ideas goes! I will slowly weigh my options for the next few weeks and try to do something as close as I can to my ideal version.

I have already bought myself another box of the Gundam Exia so that I could attempt the two different modes and will post once I have some decent updates. Watch this space.

Final Goodbye

11/21/2007 10:11:00 PM 4 comments

Time flies..... It has been more than a month since my mum left me. Sad as I am, I reckoned that it's about time to move on. I thrust myself back into work and tried to return to normalcy. I was raring to go. And true enough, I was able to repress those feelings, or so I thought. As soon as I slowed down, I was suddenly swept by the sense of helplessness. The whole thing just engulfed me with no mercy. I simply "spaced out" Recovery was harder than I expected. I'm still shedding tears. Was I so close to my mum? Then why am I so depressed? Some said that time will numb the pain, but it seems to be getting unbearable for me each passing day.

I keep telling myself there are people younger than me who are in more tragic circumstances and they learnt to pick themselves up. Why can't I? Well I believe I can. But I grief differently too. I will always remember all of her, her kindness, her devotion to us, her selflessness, her cooking! (Yes! I'm really gonna miss her home cooked food....) There is absolutely no doubt she is forever in my heart until the day mine stops.

How I hope that I am like those high achievers, high grades, successful careers, how proud my mum would be of me. Well, I am nothing like that. Or rather far from it! Sometimes I'm really looked down on myself. Would my mum be? Well... I got my answer. Her friends told me at the wake that she was very proud of me, that I have a stable career, a house of my own and given her a cute grandson, what more could she ask for? I was really really happy for her and for myself. Is it possible that I have done something right for once?

As much as I want to see her now, I know it's just not my time yet. I have to shift my focus now to my family and my father. I have to see to it that my son grow up to be a fine young man. I'm going teach him all the things mum taught me. I'll see to it that he will get the best of everything I could afford. I will fight on. I will hang in there for just a little longer.... I will give him all the love I have. Because I know mum is watching....

And when the time finally comes, I will be able to tell her that I have never ever let her down.

"Will you be waiting at the RAINBOW BRIDGE for me when my time is up, MUM?"

BAKUC 2007

11/20/2007 12:38:00 AM No comments

I went down to Takashimaya specifically to look at the BAKUC entries at level 2, Toy Department during my lunch time today. The number of entries this year seem to be lesser than. There are some rather neat pieces which I liked. Anyway, I managed to take some photos of the entries before I rushed back to work and here they are.....

Firstly the one and only entry from the Expert Category.

This is one fantastic looking Providence by Leon Ku, previous years BAKAC/BAKUC winner. To be frank I have yet to come across one modeller who is able to present this kit as sinister and overpowering as this. The modifications and colouring is spot on. Definitely the best one I ever seen.

Providence [1/100] [Conversion]

Clever use of stock bases here! Thumbs up!

Hildolfr [EX model][1/144]

The first thing that attracted me to this kit is the camo scheme which is very pleasing to the eye. I don't know why but this kit gives me the "Metal Gear Solid" feeling..... hahaha.