Revisited: SpongeBob & Patrick, fully-painted vinyl figurines now in a video

 Time off in my hometown had reminded me of a project that originated from a similar visit ages ago. All those years ago had seen me acquire a vinyl figurine of the iconic duo of SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star as a miniature painting project. Seeing that I was having an enforced downtime in which not much new was being done hobby-wise, I thought to do a mini video of the duo to try and showcase the painted miniatures in greater detail. I hope you like this SpongeBob and Patrick project as much as I had enjoyed painting them way back then.

 Below then is a video of the SpongeBob and Patrick miniature painting project revisited that I had recently uploaded to my YouTube Channel, FourEyedMonster Miniatures.

 So as the new year fast approaches, and the holiday season before us, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you Happy Holidays and a belated Merry Christmas. May the holidays be a time of happiness after a very trying few years due to the pandemic. Stay safe, be well, and be happy! 

A weekday break in Penang with my family

 It has been eight long years since I last visited my hometown of Penang. In fact, that was the last time my family and I went on a mini vacation of any sorts. For the uninitiated, Penang is a small island off the west coast of north Peninsular Malaysia. Anyway, we finally went on a short break after all these years and spent less than a week just relaxing and enjoying the food paradise that is Penang.

A view off the coast of Penang island, from the balcony of Hilton Doubletree

 So these past few weeks have been a period of enforced hobby downtime, of the positive kind. All I did that was even remotely hobby related was to watch some online portrait drawing tutorials to keep in touch with a skill set that I have ignored for six years and counting. My last two significant practice pieces were pencil portraits of Babydoll and Rey. It has been so long that I have forgotten how to draw portrait pieces. Well, hopefully I can start drawing again soon ... this time digitally, to complement whatever scale model kit hobby projects I have going on. Speaking of which ...  

 Because of the aforementioned positive hobby downtime, I haven't really had any chance to work on projects, new or old. So next up in the hobby blog post will be to revisit a project that was inspired by my last visit to Penang all those years ago i.e. the vinyl figurine duo of SpongeBob and Patrick which I had painted with Vallejo Model Color acrylic paints. This time around though, I will be doing a short video of the painted piece to showcase the details a little better. That should be uploaded to my YouTube channel FourEyedMonster Miniatures before year end ... I hope.   

Coming Soon ... a video of the painted Patrick and SpongeBob vinyl figurines.

 Well, that's it for this super short blog update. I hope the holidays is treating you as kindly as it has me while 2022 winds down. Until my next post, may you and your family, be well and happy.

MS-09R Rick Dom | Master Grade Zeon Mobile Suit [WIP: painting & topcoating parts/sub-assemblies]

 Without fail, the early phases of a mecha or Gunpla project always fills me with a deep sense of trepidation. Be it the amount of planning involved or just the sheer amount of individual parts and sub-assemblies to be painted, it's something I almost want to avoid. Almost. While the hobby is supposed to be fun, it's not the be-all end-all of why we do what we do. At least not for me. A good finish to a demanding custom paint build, which for me means display quality, can be even more satisfying than a simple fun build, if not more. Well that's enough of the why of mecha projects, here now is the what i.e. the initial painting phase of the Bandai Master Grade 1/100 scale MS-09R Rick Dom model kit.

Master Grade Rick Dom painting progress: Mr.Finishing Surfacer 1500 Gray primer

 As with all my mecha projects to date, the painting process begins with the application of a light gray primer (see above). But instead of using my usual go-to primer paint, which is the Tamiya Fine Surfacer Light Gray, I decided to use a GSI Creos Mr.Hobby product namely the Mr.Finishing Surfacer 1500 Gray. I chose the latter this time around because I wanted better control in applying primer coats on parts of differing sizes from tiny to large. This was achieved via airbrushing, which I could not do with the Tamiya primer because I only have those in spray cans at the moment.

Master Grade Rick Dom painting progress: Gaianotes 019 Lavender plus some black

 First and foremost in my color painting to-do list was to decide on the predominant color for the Rick Dom mobile suit. In general that color is purple. But purple is a very general description considering I have seen many different hues, shade, tint, and shades of purple being used to represent the Rick Dom whether in anime or in painted kits. In the end, I decided on a mixture between the Gaianotes 019 Lavender and pure black lacquer paint. I don't have the exact ratio because I was just eyeballing it by adding drops of black until I reached the desired shade of purple/lavender (see above).

Master Grade Rick Dom painting progress: Mr.Color Super Metallic 2 & Mr.Weathering Color

 Another key color choice was to either maintain anime color accuracy by painting the inner frame (and other molded-in gray parts) in a flat gray or to make these parts look more realistic by airbrushing them with metallic colors (see above). It's obvious from the photo above that I had gone for the latter approach. To make the details 'pop', I panel-lined the grooves and indentations with a black wash, Mr.Weathering Color (Multi-Black). The metallic paints used comprised Mr.Color Super Metallic 2 specifically Super Iron 2 and Super Titanium 2, with pure black added to either in some cases where a darker hue was required e.g. the elbow/knee joints.  

Master Grade Rick Dom painting progress: Mr.Color & Vallejo Model Color red mixtures

 Apart from the iconic purples of the Rick Dom, one other flat color that I needed to paint was the reds. In this case, I airbrushed a custom mixture of Mr.Color red lacquer paints on the parts/sub-assemblies. If I remember correctly, the reds I used were a combination of pure Red (C3) and Shine Red (C79) in a 9:1 ratio. Meanwhile for the reds inside the bell-bottom leg armor (see top-left corner of photo above), I used Vallejo Model Color acrylic paints i.e. a rough mixture of Carmine Red and Red. I didn't use the Mr.Color lacquer red paints because to do that I had to mask the intricate purple lattice design on the insides of the bell-bottom leg armor before airbrushing the Mr.Color reds. Hand-brushing lacquer paints is a no-no in my experience unless there is absolutely no other option.

Master Grade Rick Dom painting progress: Mr.Super Smooth Clear Coat

 Finally it was the turn of stuff that didn't require painting with colored paints. These are the molded-in black and gray parts/sub-assemblies, which only needed a combination of clear top-coating and panel-lining to make them look as good as painted. Based on my experience, the best matte clear coat in the market today by a country mile is the Mr.Super Smooth Clear. Use that! Results make the plain plastic look like it has been painted albeit in a flat finish.

 A final thing to note is that all the above painted/top-coated parts and sub-assemblies have had decals applied where applicable. The types used were either sticker decals or dry transfer decals. Next for the Rick Dom is to put together all the stuff you see here into its major sub-assemblies such as the head, body, and limbs. That step should be completed soon, and results will uploaded in the next post. Until we meet again, as always dear reader, be well and happy.

MS-09R Rick Dom | Master Grade 1/100 scale Zeon Mobile Suit [Unboxing & Pre-Assembly Review]

 My Gunpla jounrey is well underway with this unboxing of my second Gundam plastic model kit project, namely a Zeon mobile suit designated as MS-09R Rick Dom. First a little bit of backstory on this Bandai Master Grade 1/100 scale mecha kit – this mobile suit made its debut in the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime series, which is also known as First Gundam or Gundam 0079. While since then there have been many other Gundam anime - most with better plot, story, and animation - the original series still holds its ground admirably, at least in terms of the mecha or mobile suit's "coolness factor". My favorite from the original series is the MS-09R Rick-Dom. It's a design that has stood the test of time, and a kit that's the focus of my unboxing blog post today.

Bandai Master Grade 1/100 scale MS-09R Rick Dom plastic scale model kit

 Released way back in 1999, this 20-over-year-old kit has something I had always loved about the older Gundam offerings i.e. a giant glossy poster of a finished/painted version of the MS-09R Rick Dom. There is a newer Rick Dom kit (version 1.5) released early this year, containing allegedly better inner frame mechanics. But like all recent Bandai kits, there was no poster included in that one. The Rick Dom (version 1.0) comes in a fairly large box measuring 39 cm by 31 cm by 11 cm. It has a total of 14 sprues of varying sizes, two sticker decals, and a dry transfer decal.

Even for a Master Grade kit, the Rick Dom comes in a fairly large box

Side box art showing the Rick Dom's weapons and its highly articulated hand

Other side box art showing the Rick Dom in front/back poses as well as its details

A glossy colored photo of a finished/painted Rick Dom is included with the kit

Inside the fairly large box lies a huge amount of sprues that make up the Rick Dom 

 One unwanted characteristic from older kits in general is a predominantly toy-like/plasticky sheen on most of the plastic parts, which is a no-no for scale modelers looking for a realistic paint-like finish. But it's nothing so major that it cannot be overcome with a combination of airbrushing with lacquer paints  and top-coating with clear paints. Of course, adding panel-lining and decal application to the work process will improve the final look considerably. And to be fair, it's still rare for a Bandai kit to look good without any extra work done apart from straight out-of-the-box assembly.

Sprue A: Multi-colored sprue with clear parts for the face and eye/gun lenses; semi-gloss gray parts for its fingers and vernier thrusters; glossy purple parts for the arm armors

Sprue B: Glossy black parts for the feet, body, waist, and knee armors

Sprue C: Glossy gray parts for the bazooka, inner leg frames, hands, heat sabre handle, and backpack

Sprue D: Glossy red parts for the inner shoulder, waist, legs, and head armor

Sprue E: Glossy purple parts for the body, hand, and feet

 As I mentioned above, some parts need to be painted while others need only a top coat to look good. But all would require some panel-lining to add depth and make the details more prominent. Selected application of the provided sticker/dry transfer decals would be icing on the cake. Based on preliminary inspections of the parts on the sprues, I believe I'll definitely need to paint the purple and red parts as well as the dark gray parts that are suppose to be metallic inner-frames and weapons. As for the black and light gray parts, I think I can get away from just top-coating them with a high quality clear flat/matte topcoat paint. Apart from that, there are miscellaneous clear parts that may require painting with clear color paints. That's my analysis for what needs to be done, for now.     

Sprue F: Semi-gloss gray parts for the body, waist, pelvic, shoulder, head, and vernier thrusters

Sprue H: Glossy purple parts for the bell-bottom shaped armor of both legs

Sprue I: Glossy black parts for the head, neck, shoulders, and waist armor, as well as the seated and standing pilot figurines

Sprue J: Glossy gray parts for the feet vernier thrusters, and the elbow/ankle/leg inner frames

Sprue K: Glossy purple parts for the shoulder, arm, leg, and waist armors

 Another characteristic of older kits presents itself as a double-edged sword in that while the inner-frame mechanisms isn't as highly complex as modern day kits, it is in most cases more robust and sturdy which makes it less fragile to pose. It seems likely that this is the case for Rick Dom (version 1.0), at the very least it can stand easily on its own two feet without toppling over at the slightest gust of wind. Moreover the kit's limbs/joints are also less likely to sag over time.

Sprue M: Soft gray polyethylene parts that serve as polycaps for joint connections

Sprue N: Glossy gray parts for both halves of the beam bazooka

Sprue O: Glossy gray parts for the beam bazooka components, soles of both feet, body vernier thruster components, and backpack components

Sprue PC-121: Soft gray polyethylene parts that serve as polycaps for joint connections

Jewel-like sticker seal, dry transfer decals, and sticker decals (clockwise from top)

 In case you were wondering what I would want a glossy poster of the Rick Dom for, well as you can see below, it makes for a great display piece (see below). I just wish the newer kits still included such glossy photos as part of the product offering. It's a shame that Bandai has chosen to forgo this practice. Ah well, at least Bandai still provides these glossy posters with reissues of the older kits. But if they can do that, you can understand my frustration as to why they don't do it for the newer kits.  

Glossy poster of a finished/painted version of the MS-09R Rick Dom

Displaying the glossy poster of the Rick Dom inside the hobby cabinet

 After the ease in which the Toy Story kits were completed, it's now time for a more complicated mecha project. Add to it the necessity for more parts to be painted, topcoated, decaled, and panel-lined, then the time frame involved lengthens considerably. Here's hoping my batteries have been sufficiently recharged by my Buzz and Woody projects, to tackle the more challenging Gunpla.

 To prevent burnout, I tend to intersperse quick straightforward builds in between complicated ones. This strategy has worked again for me as I can't wait to start building and painting the 1/100 scale Bandai Master Grade MS-09R Rick Dom. As one of my favorite characters Charlie from the TV series Supernatural might say ... see you later bitches! Oh, be well and happy too. That one is all me. 

Toy Story 4: Woody [Videos of the Unboxing, Assembly, and a Full 360 View]

 Although the finished Bandai Cinema Rise Standard Toy Story 4: Woody plastic model kit is quite photogenic, you should still view it either in person, or the next best thing i.e. vicariously via video, just to appreciate how cool this kit is. For that reason, I've embedded two videos about my Woody project, with descriptions about what each entails, so you can decide if they are worth watching.

 First up is the unboxing and pre-assembly video (see above) in which we take a quick look at what's inside the box before proceeding to look at each individual sprues in detail. Here you can get a better appreciation of the quality of the molded plastic parts, while excellent, still requires selected parts to be painted in order for Woody to become color accurate. Of the two, the unboxing video is naturally the more boring one. It's skippable if you don't plan to get the model kit. But if you do, then you might want to take a look at what comes with the kit to see if it's something that you want to work with.

 Secondly we have the assembly and post-assembly review video (see above) in which I put together the main sub-assemblies - head, cowboy hat, torso, pelvis, arms, hands, legs, feet, and gun holster - that was completed off-camera earlier. Because a video of the full assembly process (i.e. from sprue to completed product) would've taken too long, I had shortened the on-camera assembly process to prevent the video from becoming too boring. In this video I also provide you with a 360 degree view of the partially-painted Toy Story 4: Woody plastic model kit.

 If you are interested in viewing videos of other projects, please subscribe to my YouTube Channel FourEyedMonster Miniatures by either clicking on (a) the banner above or (b) the following link: => https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFKjSgN9sR4U2Lg5_wSFZhg  Soon I'll be working on more complicated projects, like Gundam mecha model kits. Until next time, be well, and be happy.

Woody [Completed: Out-of-the-box build of the Bandai Toy Story plastic model kit with selected parts painted]

 It's not often I get to say this, but one whole project series is now complete! While my Toy Story project comprises only a measly pair of plastic model kits, I'll still gladly take the win, however small. That Woody turned out better than I expected is the cherry on top. Maybe its because I like Buzz Lightyear better as a character. Or maybe I didn't truly believe Woody would make a good kit (he's actually a soft toy after all). Whatever the reason was, I ended up loving the shelf-presence that the Bandai Cinema Rise Standard - Toy Story 4: Woody kit had, more than Buzz. Way more.

Toy Story 4: Woody; a Bandai Cinema Rise Standard plastic model kit [completed, front view]

Toy Story 4: Woody; a Bandai Cinema Rise Standard plastic model kit [completed, back view]

 Putting Woody together was a much simpler and more straightforward process compared with what I experienced with Buzz Lightyear. Reason for this was an absence of gimmicks in Woody, versus the one found in Buzz's spring activated jet-pack wings. This in turn translates into uncomplicated parts sans somewhat fiddly spring mechanisms. However more work is needed for Woody in the form of painting of selected parts in order to make him color accurate. So the overall effort needed to get to the end result (of a fully-build, partially painted kit) is still roughly the same.

Major sub-assemblies of Toy Story Woody prior to the final assembly process

 Individual sub-assemblies such as Woody's face and hand options, his arms, torso, pelvis/groin, legs, and hat were first put together prior to the final assembly process. Below are images of the various sub-assemblies, with the corresponding captions describing the work done on them. By looking at the individual sub-assemblies in detail before putting them together to make up the final kit, I feel that we can better appreciate the myriad of little details that may get lost in the overall picture.   

Cowboy hat in its original molded-in brown color, but with the band painted in umber

Face options:: the middle one is painted (cheeks and lips) while the ones on the left/right are not

Both arms (checkered grooves panel lined with orange rust) and all the hand options

Torso plus neck (front view) with the neckerchief, shirt (panel-lined with orange rust) & buttons (painted with gunmetal and black), vest (panel-lined with black), and sheriff's badge (given a dark brown wash)

Torso plus neck (back view) with the neckerchief, shirt, and vest with pull-string ring

 One thing that kind of disappointed me about this kit was the lack of a gimmick for Woody. But to be fair, the only gimmick suitable for Woody would've been an actual working pull-string that activates a recording of his voice like in the movies. That's impossible for a relatively cheap plastic model kit. Meanwhile I love how Bandai has got the articulation spot on for Woody. For example Woody's knee can bend forward like a marionette, similar to what you would see with a ragdoll toy, which is what I believe Woody to be. So essentially this is still a fantastic model kit representation of Woody.

Pelvis/groin (front view) comprising the jeans panel-lined with orange rust; the belt loops painted in blue; and the belt buckle given a dark brown wash

Pelvis/groin (back view) comprising jeans panel-lined with orange rust, and belt loops painted in blue

Gun holster in molded-in brown with the ribbon painted a combination of red, gold, and dark brown

Legs with jeans and boots in their original molded-in colors (i.e. blue and brown respectively) while the molded-in gold boot spurs were given a dark brown wash

Hexagonal clear display base, together with a peg attaches Woody securely to the base

 Earlier I mentioned that Woody seemed to have greater shelf presence than Buzz Lightyear, Perhaps it's due to Buzz's relative lack of vivid colors in comparison with Woody, or it's because Buzz is shorter than Woody, or maybe it's the fact that Woody has a gigantic face versus Buzz's significantly smaller facial profile. Or perhaps I'm just making something out of nothing. Anyway, one thing is for sure. They both look great together. They are best buddies after all. So if do you get one of the Bandai Toy Story kits, you can't afford to ignore the other. In other words, I recommend getting both.    

Buzz Lightyear and Woody on separate display bases that have been linked together (front view)

Woody and Buzz Lightyear on separate display bases that have been linked together (back view)

 Following the completion of Woody and Buzz, I'll be headng towards what are technically more difficult and time consuming projects, namely Gunpla or mecha kits. Those require more planning and painting, and a lengthier project time from start to finish. Or I might even continue with some shelved armored fighting vehicle projects, although I'll likely work on the former rather than the latter for now. In any case, this brief relaxing hobby period is over for now, at least until I'm mentally worn down again by the complexities of the more difficult mecha builds. Regardless, I'm just thankful the hobby train shows no sign of derailing yet. For that I'm grateful. Until my next post, be well and happy!