Pandemic Meltdown 2.0

 As the rest of the world heads to some form of normality, my country sadly, is heading in the opposite direction at full steam. With ICU occupancy beyond 100%, cases per capita higher than India, special storage containers being used for the dead, front-liners overworked and way past their breaking point, as well as covidiots running rampant, the worst I fear is yet to come. Much worse.

 Well, long before this the science was already there for all to see, at least for those without their head in the sand. And I could go through a long list of why this is happening but to do so would be pointless as it's the same human stupidity repeated ad nauseam. But enough of this pithy, rambling 'woe is me' monologue. If you are in the same boat as me, wherever you may be, I hope you and your loved ones stay safe and well. Always think of others (and not just yourself). Assume you are an unknowing, asymptomatic carrier, and mask up (or even double-mask up) before you go out. In that way, you stay safe and at the same time also keep others safe. Think safe, be safe, and stay safe!

Booth Bunny Companion Girl A [WIP - Assembly]

 Okay, so I know I mentioned that this was going to be a 'simple and uncomplicated' project. Well the assembly of Booth Bunny Companion Girl A was all that, and at the same time not that at all. You might think I'm springing a Schrodinger's Cat situation on you, but I'm really not. It's more a case of the words 'simple' and 'uncomplicated' being mutually exclusive. In other words, the assembly of Booth Bunny Companion Girl A turned out to be uncomplicated but difficult. Let me explain. 

Hasegawa 1/24 scale Booth Bunny Companion Girl A work-in-progress: fully assembled

Booth Bunny Companion Girl A closeup; a slightly angled view from her left

Booth Bunny Companion Girl A closeup; a slightly angled view from her right

 Upon a cursory glance of the instructions laid out for the assembly of Booth Bunny Girl A, the steps looked straightforward and uncomplicated. However, the actual assembly process turned out to be difficult because none of the parts fitted together as say wood joints do. Essentially the separate parts 'fitted together', and I use those words loosely, by contact alone. What this means is that the parts had to be held together in place precariously by hand as glue is simultaneously being applied. Getting parts into their correct positions require feel, visual checks, and pure dumb luck.  

Assembly instructions for the Hasegawa 1/24 scale Booth Bunny Companion Girl A

Pieces of the Booth Bunny Companion Girl A prior to the assembly process

 For example, attaching parts A12 and A13to the main body or A7 (see above) turned out to be a complete nightmare. No guiding grooves existed to ensure the said parts fitted together accurately. Moreover, trying to hold such tiny pieces together while gluing it, and also making sure they were correctly positioned, all at the same time, was nigh impossible. Meanwhile placing parts A9, A10, and A11 onto A7 was slightly easier, helped primarily by the existence of visual cues such as surface details. Lastly, attachment of part A8 to the main body was helped by having part A11 already glued on. Having one leg already attached allowed it to act as a positioning guide of sorts. 

Mr.Hobby's Mr.Cement S was essentially to the assembly process being successful

 Assembly of this figurine would not have been possible without the use of thin plastic glue in the form of the Mr.Hobby Mr.Cement S. There were two reasons for this: one, a thin, watery consistency allowed the glue to seep into the joints during application. This helps greatly when one is trying to hold two tiny parts steady in the correct position while applying glue at the same time. Two, plastic glue is essential in that it serves to melt the plastic pieces together, thus covering over obvious and unsightly gaps when two parts come in contact. These gaps were consistently present prior to gluing. 

To enable the secure positioning of the figurine onto a base for painting ...

... a 0.8 mm hole was drilled into the figurine's foot ...

... and a 0.8 mm brass rod was then inserted to act as anchor of sorts

 An added step was carried out to enable me to paint this figurine without being obstructed as well as to prevent damaging paint already layered on.This step involved anchoring the figurine securely to the base using a brass rod. To this end, I drilled a 0.8 mm hole into the base of the figurine's right high heel, deep enough to insert roughly 2 cm of a brass rod of equal diameter. The rest of the brass rod was secured onto a lump of adhesive tack on a hand-sized container. Although using cork material instead of adhesive tack would've been better, I didn't have the former so I made do with the latter.  

Booth Bunny Companion Girl A; fully assembled [front view]

Brass rod secures the figurine to the base without obscuring any painting surface

Booth Bunny Companion Girl A; fully assembled [side view, right]

Her posture looks a bit stiff, not unlike some models you see in real life car shows

Booth Bunny Companion Girl A; fully assembled [back view]

Positioning of arms and feet turned out well although it was touch and go at times

Booth Bunny Companion Girl A; fully assembled [side view, left]

Figurine has good details and at this scale should present a fair challenge to paint 

 So that's one half of the Bunny Girl duo that has been assembled. With both the help of the missus and a great deal of luck, this particular assembly went as well as I could've hoped in my wildest dreams. In some instances, I held two tiny parts together in my best assumption of the correct positioning while the missus help me apply the initial smattering of thin plastic glue to the joint. While the glue was drying, and with the separate parts still pliable (but attached flimsily together), I then further manipulated the positioning as well as added more glue where needed.

 

Details on her hair look a bit faded in places, but this can be rectified through paint

Booth Bunny Companion Girl A closeup; back view

Another way to add detail back into the hair could be to carve or sculpt it in

 Before I end this post, I would like to apologize to you, dear readers, especially those you who have been taking the time to comment on my blog. You may have noticed by now that your comments aren't being published instantly as they used to be. Instead comments are now moderated before being uploaded. Again, my apologies for this inconvenience. I had to take this drastic measure because the comment section was becoming inundated with fake messages that caused Google to temporarily  block my site. So as a precaution to prevent it from happening again, I'm moderating the comment section. On that same depressing note, I end with news that the pandemic situation in my country is the worse it has ever been. Only thing left to say is stay safe everyone!   

Booth Bunny Girls - Hasegawa 1/24 scale Companion Girls Figure Collection No.5 [Unboxing and Pre-Assembly Review]

 With so many ongoing projects requiring either a prolonged assembly or a complicated airbrushing process, I decided start something 'simple and uncomplicated'. That brings us to a quick unboxing and pre-assembly review of the 1/24 scale Hasegawa Companion Girls Figure Collection No.5 aka the Booth Bunny Girls. In the grand scheme of things, I intend to use such female figurines in future vignettes involving similarly scaled car model kits like the Volkswagen Beetle. 

Hasegawa 1/24 scale Companion Girls Figure Collection No.5 plastic model kit

Side view of the box art showcasing completed figurines and the seal of Master Craftsman Takumi

Closeup view of how the figurines could look like after being assembled and painted

 'Simple and uncomplicated' means different things to different scale modelers and miniature painters. To me it means just two things. Firstly, the figurine/model kit is easy to assemble. And secondly, the painting process does not require pieces to be painted separately before being put back together. So in terms of these two conditions, I believe the Hasegawa plastic figurine kit fits the bill perfectly. While the actual painting process itself won't be easy, it's a figurine after all, it at least won't be complicated. 

Hasegawa Companion Girls Figure Collection No.5; first glance inside

Hasegawa's Companion Girls Figure instruction booklet comes with an English translation

In addition to assembly instructions, there is also a color guide for use with Mr.Hobby paints

All parts are found in a single model sprue

Water decals are provided for the figurine's eyes as well as markings for their clothing

 One key characteristic of this plastic model kit that attracted me to it was that it provides eye decals for the use on the painted figurines. At a stage in my 'hobby-career' where I might be getting 'too-old-for-this-shit', any help with a small figurine's eyes is always welcome. However, it'll be interesting to see if I'm able to handle and position the tiny eye decals without destroying them.

Close up view of the facial features of Booth Bunny Girl No.1

Close up view of all the parts that make up Booth Bunny Girl No.1

 Meanwhile, the figurines parts look cleanly moulded with excellent details at this scale (see above and below). They all come in only one model sprue and seem to have minimal mould lines (if any) that needs removing. The parts themselves aren't numerous. Assembly looks to be fairly straightforward, at least based on the instructions given in the mini-booklet provided. 

Close up view of the facial features of Booth Bunny Girl No.2

Close up view of all the parts that make up Booth Bunny Girl No.2

 And with that, another figurine model kit joins the project pipeline. In truth though, I found it difficult to get motivated to do any sort of hobbying at all during this past two weeks. I suppose you could call it 'pandemic depression' as the COVID-19 situation get progressively worse in my country. Apart from having all the deadly variants penetrate the nation's borders, the vaccination process has been extremely slow. All frontliners have been vaccinated (rightly so) as well as politicians and special interest groups selected by said politicians. Sadly majority of ordinary folks have yet to even get an appointment for their jabs. It's getting harder to stay safe. Hopefully, that's not the case for you dear reader. May you and your loved ones be safe and well in these trying times. Au revoir.