Pics of upcoming Figmas from C77

C77 is taking place in Japan right now and the folks from Max Factory have set up a booth to show off some of the new Figmas coming this new year. Pics taken from Moeyo and Hobbystock.



Yay! I've been waiting for a Figma Rider and I've even planned out a custom since they haven't made one. Now I can just preorder and wait which is very cool. The same goes for Yomi also. Now for some individual pics.




I'll probably skip that touhou figma since all I want is that exclusive figma Reimu. Speaking of Reimu, I have it preordered along with figma Kagura from Ga Rei Zero at my friend Eddy's shop Toyslogic. Anyone who happens to read this and wants to pre on one can go there. (site plug!) :p



I got 2 of the figma Lum's on pre and I'm waiting on the solicitation for Kagome. The chick in the white shirt is an exclusive that will come with the PC eroge Se kirara. Pics of the other figmas from that eroge below:







I don't know if I'll have the funds to get the Se kirara figmas, but I know I'll be getting the rest that I mentioned. Looks like it's going to be another great Figma year in 2010.

Custom Project status update

Right. A bit of an update as to where I stand with the rest of my projects. I've got some stuff primered as can be seen below. Figma Archetype She being prep for painting. I've got a couple of swords primed that will turn into black rock shooter Miku's dual black blades. Finally, I've got the 2 legs primed for my ROTF Sunstorm.

I came up with a design for a lightsaber broadsword and I've taken the parts, primed it, painted it, and modded a gundam beam saber for the blade.

I've also got a re-paint that's so intricate that I've enlisted the help of my friend Eddy, owner of Toyslogic. He's been nice enough to educate me on various paints, thinners, and different painting techniques to help me improve my skills. The project he's helping me on is something I've planned months ago, but my skills aren't enough to get it done. I'll be making a post of that one as I get some stuff done on my end. Have a Happy Holidays to all the folks out there.

Black Rock Shooter Miku Figma part 5

It's a bit of a hectic week with the holidays and all that, but what little spare time I have has been devoted to planning and working on some projects. So for my custom figma, Black Rock Shooter Miku, I've been checking out the weapons of Black Rock Shooter and she has both a black blade and a rock cannon. Below is a pic by Huke.

So, if my Miku is "borrowing" BRS's abilities, then she should also have a black blade (or two) and a rock cannon. That's why today I got started on Miku's Rock Cannon.

Like the name implies, it should be a cannon like weapon. Meaning big and powerful. I ended using the cannon off of my 1/100 scale Astrea. I started off by giving it a base coat of chrome silver.

I then let it dry. Based on the pics of BRS I've seen, the handle and trigger is inside the rear of the cannon. This means that BRS has almost half her arm inside the rear of the cannon.


That's where I stand so far for this project. After I finish painting the cannon, I'll start on the black blades. Then I'll do the touch ups on Miku and fix her coat. Finally, her bare arms are prepped and primed for painting. I don't have a lot of time right now due to the holidays and all that, but it's still fun planning and thinking of creative ways to achieve what I envisioned.

Ga Rei Zero figmas announced

Yay, it's about time they made figmas from this series. When I first watched the show I thought it was very cool and really good. I loved the characters Kagura and Yomi, and of course I really liked their weapons. Now there's a figma being released for both of them.

Kagura. Her sword Michael is included with the chains. Very cool. Images are from figma blog.





There's also a Yomi being done, but it's just a prototype image.

It should look better than this custom that I found on the net.



I can't wait to pre on these figs. I just hope they're not exclusives.

Black Rock Shooter Miku Figma part 4

Yay, I'm at the home stretch. I got around to making the belt for my custom figma. I took a bit of time to brain storm and gather some materials for my Black Rock Shooter Miku. I knew I needed a belt and using a rubber band again like I did for the boot flaps would work. However, the belt buckle is a different story.

I went through some old gundam parts and I found a backpack that was used on the EZ8. It has what seems like vinyl straps with plastic buckles for adjusting the straps.

I took the buckles and found them to be too big to use for my custom figma. So, the obvious route for me was to re-size it so that it would fit. What I did was cut the bottom side off, trim the remaining bits until the belt could fit, then glue the bottom side to the remaining part. As can be seen below, the modded buckle is now smaller compared to the original and can now fit my custom figma.

After resolving the size issue, I went about painting the buckle silver and the belt white. Again, I used Tamiya Acrylic paint which served me well.

After it dried, I glued the belt onto miku's shorts. I fit the buckle in before gluing the rest of the belt onto the shorts. The results looked pretty good.

Then I brainstormed on how I can make the bra top for miku's chest. After all, black rock shooter didn't go around topless. I was going to used some black latex, but dirt and stuff tend to stick, so the final result may not look good. Then I remembered about the vinyl strap on the backpack. I took that and cut 2 triangles, a short strap, and a long strap and glued those onto miku's chest.

The glue I use doesn't take long to dry so after about a minute of waiting I put miku together to see what the final result looks like.


Oh yeah, not bad at all.



But it's still not finished. I noticed some paint rubbing off the shorts that needs to be touched up. I also need to replace the figma joints on the knees and the ponytails.




I'm also in the process of making some bare arms for swapping out the coat sleeved arms. That way I can take the coat off and her arms would be none sleeved. It's been a great learning experience so far and I'm glad I'm at the home stretch on this custom.

New rear tires for my Supra

Last week I placed an order for 2 new rear tires. My existing rear tires, Kumho ECSTA AST's, had worn to around 4% thread. I shopped around for tires and did some research. I read good reviews and decided on a pair of Continental ExtremeContact tires. However, not just the normal ExtremeContacts, but the ExtremeContact DWS's which were rated as being really good. I called a nearby America's Tire dealer and placed an order. After a week it finally came in.

This is what my Kumho tires looked like before getting replaced. Both the left and right tires are pretty worn down.


A look at them from the sides. They are on 17 inch after market rims.

The front tires are a different brand and a different size. I have Yokohama's up front at 225/45/17. The Kumho's are at 235/45/17 so it's a staggard configuration which is normal for Supras in my generation.

The DWS's that I purchased are at 245/45/17. They are a little bigger than the previous pair and I hope they last me longer.


The threads on these tires are pretty thick and the grooves are sporty with good grip.



The 2 tires cost me around $315 total and they were $128 each. I've always had a gripe about the life of my rear tires and it's clear why with the price I had to pay. Back when I was still going to college, I would buy rear tires every 6 months. The reason being that my commute to school one way was around 35 miles. Now that I don't commute as much, it's probably over a year ago that I last bought tires. I don't quite remember, but it's still not normal that my rears are wearing out that quickly. Anyway, I just hope that these last me a good 20,000 miles and I'm at 78,349 right now.