My First Ichiban Kuji Pull ..... a Failure?

 After finishing a rather time-consuming project (i.e a scale model kit of the Going Merry pirate ship), I have been guilty of taking it easy these past two weeks. Apart from checking out some budget-friendly pre-painted figurines to add to my collection, I didn't really do anything much on the hobby front. Usually I'll source both pre-owned as well as brand new pre-painted figurines from online shops based either in Japan or Malaysia. But occasionally I do visit local hobby shops if they're having promotions, and get such figurines from a bricks-and-mortar store. And it was in one of these rare visits that I decided to try my hand at an Ichiban Kuji pull to see if I could win a prize figurine.

 Above is a short video of my very first Ichiban Kuji pull. You might wonder what on earth is an Ichiban Kuji? Well, it's a lottery prize game operated by Banpresto, a Japanese toy company under the Namco Bandai Holdings umbrella. How it works is that you purchase a ticket, and then check what prize you have won with said ticket. Obviously Ichiban Kuji is not as widespread in Malaysia as it is in Japan. But if you look hard enough, you can still find them in local specialty hobby shops. Anyway, I should be getting back to the hobby worktable soon after this extended rest. All that's left to do is decide what exactly I want to work on as my next project. That'll be in my next post. For now, I thank you for taking the time to visit my humble blog, and wish that you be well and happy.

Going Merry (ゴーイングメリー号) | Custom-Painted Build of the One Piece Pirate Ship

 After 12 long years of procrastination and delay, the Going Merry pirate ship is finally complete. For the longest time, I was intimidated by the idea of starting a project involving this iconic ship from the One Piece anime. Then as the years went by - although I had started to acquired the skills needed to at least make an attempt at a project of this scale - the kit was effectively out of sight, out of mind; hidden away in a storeroom gathering dust. Then news hit that a live-action series of One Piece was airing (note: it was released on Netflix on 31 August 2023), and memory came flooding back about the very first scale model kit in my collection. It was time to gather the courage to finally start the project, results of which you see below after three whole months of on and off work on the kit.

Going Merry pirate ship from the One Piece anime: Custom-painted build [Completed]

 As for the project itself, there is still the crew of Going Merry i.e. the Straw Hat Pirates that have yet to be assembled and painted. They will come later ... sometime in the future ... hopefully sooner rather than later. But for now, the focus is on the ship itself (see below) sans her beloved crew.

Going Merry | One Piece pirate ship (isometric view, from the bow / port side)

Going Merry | One Piece pirate ship (isometric view, port side)

Going Merry | One Piece pirate ship (isometric view, from the stern / port side)

Going Merry | One Piece pirate ship (isometric view, from the stern)

Going Merry | One Piece pirate ship (isometric view, from the stern / starboard side)

 From the zoomed out view of the ship (see images immediately above and below this paragraph), you can perhaps get a sense that this is a large scale model kit. From the bottom of the display stand/base to the top of the main mast, the ship measures approximately 12 inches (over 30 cm). It definitely makes for an excellent showpiece in any collection of One Piece ships as well as figurines.

Going Merry | One Piece pirate ship (isometric view, starboard side)

Going Merry | One Piece pirate ship (isometric view, from the bow / starboard side)

Going Merry | One Piece pirate ship (isometric view, from the bow)

 Let's move on now to a more intimate and closeup view of the Going Merry herself. Below are some zoomed in views of the ship highlighting work done in the captions.

Closeup of the iconic figurehead that adorns the bow of the Going Merry pirate ship

Having an anchor attached to a string mimicking a rope is a cool gimmick of the model kit

It was essential for the 'wooden' sections to be painted (either with acrylic or enamel paints) to prevent the Going Merry from looking too toy-like or plasticky

 While the figurehead is an iconic feature of the Going Merry, it's not the characteristic that first draws your eyes to the ship. That job is accomplished by the huge Straw Hat Pirates symbol on the main sail. Bandai seems to have understood the significance of this, because they provided a large water decal of the symbol (in five separate pieces). This allows scale modelers to apply a realistic looking symbol of the Straw Hat Pirates on the ship's main sail. Two alternative methods would've been to paint the symbol yourself or use the sticker decal version. However, the former is time consuming while the latter looks tacky. So in the end, the water decal was a welcome addition to the kit.

This huge Straw Hat Pirates symbol on the main sail was put together using five pieces of water decal  

Each of the smaller Straw Hat Pirates symbols found atop the main and secondary masts comprised ...

... only a single piece of water decal, but number four decals in total, one for each side of either flag

 As a ship that is based on the 15th century caravel, the Going Merry has as smaller secondary sail located near the stern. Unlike the main sail, the smaller sail required masking and painting to color in the red stripes. Details of work done on the spar and masts were highlighted in the previous post.

All the rigging and ropes attach either to the sails, masts, deck, or side of the ship's hull

Going Merry's secondary sail/mast/flag is the smaller of the two that exist on the ship

Painting the red strips on the secondary sail was preferable to using the color correcting stickers

Rigging and ropes around the Going Merry make for a more realistic looking pirate ship

Tangerine trees is the key characteristic that defines the uniqueness of a Straw Hat Pirates ship

 Apart from the secondary sail, the ship's rear half was populated with other important details such as the tangerine trees (see above) belonging to Nami, a main character of the anime. Right at its stern is a rudder (see below), which has extremely limited degrees of movement to the left and right.

Rudder of the Going Merry can only move very slightly to the left and right

Stern of the Going Merry which provides a good view of the small brown shed on the deck

Airbrushing gold metallic paint on parts of the display stand makes the overall look more classy/refined

 In this build, the Straw Hat Pirate symbols found on either side of both flags are also water decals (see below). As with the main sail, alternative sticker decals were provided for the flags, but not used. And sitting slightly below the highest point of the Going Merry is the crow's nest, which in real life serves as the best vantage point for sailors in a sailing ship.  

While the secondary sail is opaque (left), the main sail (right) is semi-opaque as the Straw Hat Pirates symbol can still be seen from the back of the sail

Straw Hat Pirates symbol is evident on both sides of the secondary flag (i.e. two water decals were used, one on each side of the flag)

A nice visual contrast is a juxtaposition of the triangular secondary sail versus the rectangular main sail

Main flag of the Going Merry sits atop the crow's nest which in turn lies near the top of the main mast ...

... and as with the smaller secondary flag, the main flag has pirate symbols on both sides of the flag

 With that we have now gone all around the Going Merry and back to its main sail and figurehead (see below). The icing on the cake is having a fair amount of rigging and ropes all around the ship. Without this little detail, the ship would look less accurate at least in relation to its anime counterpart.   

View of the main sail and its Straw Hat Pirates symbol, from the reverse angle

A rope runs all the way down from the crow's nest onto the deck at the ship's bow

Custom Painted Build of the Going Merry all done, and awaiting its crew

 Below is the YouTube video that focuses on closeups as well as 360 degree views of the completed build of the Going Merry. It was uploaded to my YouTube Channel i.e. FourEyedMonster Miniatures sometime before this blog was uploaded. A link to the channel can be found on one of the banners at the end of this blog post. Or you could just click on the following link here ... https://www.youtube.com/@foureyedmonsterminiatures9587 

 While I am going to enjoy the high of finally finishing a custom-painted build of the Going Merry, this particular model kit project is by no means fully complete. There is still the matter of this pirate ship's crew comprising miniature figures of Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Tony Tony Chopper. In time, these miniatures will be painted, and the results uploaded to my blog and YouTube Channel at a later date. Of course this is not the final composition of the Straw Hat Pirates. Yet more members will eventually join Captain Luffy in his quest for the One Piece.

 For now, I'll just take a short rest before either embarking on a temporary diversion with a new project or continuing with this one i.e. paint up the miniature crew of Going Merry. It's likely to be the former but I haven't really decided yet. Sometimes when a project is too big I tend to mix things up by doing shorter projects in between. This tends to keeps things fresh for me, and keep the dreaded hobby malaise at bay. Anyway, this blog has dragged on enough. Until next time, be well and be happy!

Going Merry (ゴーイングメリー号) | One Piece - Putting Together the Painted, Panel-lined, and Water Decaled Parts/Sub-Assemblies

 Despite the gargantuan task facing me, all the parts and sub-assemblies of the Going Merry pirate ship is finally either fully-painted or at the very least panel-lined, and where required, the appropriate water decals have been applied. To make the painting process less daunting, I had broken up the task into smaller and more manageable bits comprising myriad of parts/sub-assemblies by sections e.g. deck, hull, mast, sail, rigging, trees, etc. spread over a period of three months (plus assembly).

Going Merry's Central Deck: Painted parts all laid out and ready for assembly

Going Merry's Central Deck: Fully-assembled, isometric view

Going Merry's Central Deck: Fully-assembled, reverse isometric view

 This particular blog post deals only with the assembly of the painted, panel-lined, and decaled parts. Details of the painting process itself will be posted in my other blog i.e. Shire Works as a behind-the-scenes look at the step-by-step process that was involved in the painting of the Going Merry.

Going Merry's Hull, Rudder & Cannons: Painted parts all laid out and ready for assembly

Going Merry's Hull, Rudder, Cannons & Central Deck: Parts all laid out and ready for assembly

Going Merry's Anchor & Rope: Former is panel-lined with its stock painted, while the latter is in its original state

Going Merry work-in-progress: Hull, Rudder, Central Deck, Cannons, & Anchor assembled

 Going Merry has been painted using either lacquer or acrylic paints depending on the areas concerned. In places where I could airbrush I tend to use lacquer paints while in places where I have to paint by hand I tend to use acrylic paints. Meanwhile, any panel-lining or weathering is done by hand with a brush and the relevant enamel paints. As mentioned earlier, step-by-step details of the painting process will be posted in my other blog i.e. the Shire Works blog.

Display stand/base for Going Merry: Fully-painted parts prior to assembly

Display stand/base for Going Merry: Fully-painted parts after assembly

Work-in-progress build of the Going Merry with its completed display stand/base

 In the project's early stages, I had decided to paint the display stand (see above) because I knew I would need something for the partially-assembled ship to rest on while the assembly process is ongoing. I wasn't too worried about scratching the paints off the display stand or off the bottom of the hull because lacquer paints tend to be resilient once they dry properly. I was more worried about the ship not having anyplace stable to rest on, seeing that the bottom of its hull is convex shaped. Just letting the ship rest on its side will more often than not lead to parts being eventually broken.

Going Merry work-in-progress build: front isometric view, from the top

Going Merry work-in-progress build: front isometric view, from the side

Going Merry work-in-progress build: side view, from the left

 Of all the parts of the ship, the ship's hull was the most challenging to paint. It required tons of masking because not only were there are three different colors on the hull, all the differently colored sections were mixed among each other in terms of location i.e. they were not cleanly separated from each other. I'm pretty sure I'm not explaining the issue correctly enough to explain the masking I had to face. It's best to see it for yourself, just not in this blog unfortunately. It would've made this post too lengthy so I had to separate the information into a different post in my other blog.

Going Merry work-in-progress build: side view, from the right

Going Merry work-in-progress build: back isometric view, from the side

Going Merry work-in-progress build: back isometric view, from the top

 Following the completion of the ship's hull, it was time to move on to the painted parts of the front/rear deck and shed (see below). First to be attached to the hull was the front/rear decks followed by the railings and the shed, both of which were attached onto the deck itself. All this before even moving on to the main/secondary sails and masts as well as rigging and ropes.

Going Merry's Front/Rear Deck: Painted parts all laid out and ready for assembly

Going Merry's Shed: Painted parts all laid out and ready for assembly

 Unlike the front/rear deck and shed, the main sail/mast had to be put together into a sub-assembly before they can be attached to the deck. Most noticeable item in this part of the assembly process was the water decal Straw Hat pirate symbols on the main mast and flag. There is actually one more pirate symbol on the secondary flag which sits atop the secondary mast, speaking of which ...

Going Merry's Main Mast & Crow's Nest: Painted parts all laid out and ready for assembly

Going Merry's Main Mast/Sail/Pirate Flag & Crow's Nest: Painted parts ready for assembly

Going Merry's Main Mast & Sail: Fully-assembled and ready to be attached to the main deck

 While the main sail retained its original pearl-like luminescence look, the secondary sail had its look significantly changed through painting. The red stripes had to be airbrushed on using a custom-mix red lacquer paint while the metal parts that attach to the spar were painted with gun metal acrylic paint. The spar and masts had a combination of lacquer and enamel paint, and the flag was painted black using lacquer paint. The rigging/ropes were weathered with enamel paint, and finally the pirate symbol - like the earlier two - was a high quality water decal provided with the kit.

Going Merry's Secondary Mast, Sail, & Pirate Flag: Painted parts ready for assembly

Going Merry's Orange Trees: Painted parts all laid out and ready for assembly

Going Merry's Secondary Mast/Sail/Pirate Flag & Orange Trees: Painted parts ready for assembly

Going Merry's Secondary Mast/Sail/Pirate Flag & Orange Trees: Sub-assemblies completed

 Once all the above parts/sub-assemblies were completed, they could then be attached onto the ship's hull (see below). Even at this late stage of the assembly, the Going Merry still seemed to lack something that made it look somewhat incomplete. And it wasn't the obvious parts like the figurehead and the rest of its railings which will be attached on in the final stage. Before you scroll down, can you guess what it is? Well, it's something we take for granted when we look at an old sailing ship like the Going Merry, which is incidentally based on the 15th-century Portuguese caravel. It tends to become the 'white noise' equivalent of a visible thing. What is it? It's the rigging and ropes.

Going Merry work-in-progress: Ship with masts, sails, shed, and trees attached (front isometric view)

Going Merry work-in-progress: Ship with masts, sails, shed, and trees attached (back isometric view)

 Assembling the rigging and ropes onto the Going Merry at this late stage was more nerve wracking than expected because half the time I was afraid to break something while trying to attach the rigging and ropes. This situation is best seen in a video I uploaded on my YouTube channel, link here => https://youtu.be/ZV6EYIVJ4Kg

Going Merry's Rigging and Ropes: Painted parts all laid out and ready to be attached to the ship

Going Merry work-in-progress: Ship with rigging and ropes attached (front isometric view)

Going Merry work-in-progress: Ship with rigging and ropes attached (back isometric view)

 Finally there was only two things left to do before the Going Merry could be marked as being complete. Well, almost complete as I have yet to paint the miniatures of its crew, but that's a story for another day. So the last two main sections left to be assembled was the rest of the ship's railing as well as its most iconic part, namely the ram figurehead. Only after attaching them was the ship finally done!

Going Merry Figurehead and rest of Railings: Panel-lined and ready for assembly

One Piece Going Merry pirate ship: Painted Build Completed (isometric front view)

One Piece Going Merry pirate ship: Painted Build Completed (isometric back view)

 More photos or images of the completed Going Merry will be uploaded in a later post, together with a video showing closeup 360 degree views of the ship. For now, I'm going to take my leave after this long post. Thank you so much for taking the time to view it. Until next time, be well and be happy!