Kamado Tanjiro | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (鬼滅の刃) - Plastic Model Kit Figure Completed

 Finally photos of a fully-assembled Bandai Namco Kamado Tanjiro plastic model kit figure, which I had retouched to enhance color accuracy, have been successfully uploaded to my blog. I hope you will enjoy perusing through the photos below, and at the same time get a sense of whether you would like to have this model kit figure in your own anime figurine collection.

 One of my key complaints for this particular figurine is that his feet does not attach to the legs in an exact manner. Let me explain. After attaching the feet onto the legs, I noticed there is a little bit of give on the connection point between each foot and leg. This gives rise to a problems whereby if either foot is oriented wrongly relative to the leg, there is a possibility the figurine may fall face down due to the resulting instability. My guess is this may in turn cause the blade to break in half if you're unlucky.

 Apart from this minor complaint about Tanjiro's stability, everything else about this figurine makes it one of the best budget ones of the Demon Slayer protagonist. It's on par if not better than most pre-painted figurines of Tanjiro. But this claim comes with a caveat: be prepared to do some retouching for color accuracy whether it be in the form of sticker decals (which I don't recommend) or through painting. This is to ensure the final form of the figurine you have on display is the best that it can be.

 Actually there is one other thing that isn't ideal for this figure. I didn't think to mention in at first because most of the time you would normally be looking at the figure from a slightly top down view, which means you wouldn't then notice the runner/sprue markings on the back of Tajiro's cloak. However in the photos here (see above), the camera lens was located slightly lower than the actual figure itself. Moreover you would most likely pose Tanjiro so that you're viewing him from the front, in which case the back of his shirt becomes hidden from view anyway.

 If you would like to know in detail what I had done in the retouching process for the Tanjiro figurine, please refer to the previous post as I won't be repeating them here.

  Below is the YouTube videos of the Kamado Tanjiro plastic model kit figure from Bandai Namco, chronicling its progress from start to finish. If you like the videos, and would like to see more of the same kind of content, please subscribe to my YouTube Channel i.e. FourEyedMonster Miniatures.

 Although Tanjiro is now completed, my project to work on Demon Slayer plastic model kits hasn't ended yet. Not only does Bandai have more model kit figure releases planned for characters from this anime series, there is actually one existing one that I have yet to work on, namely Rengoku Kyojuro from the Mugen Train story arc. In fact I already have him in my collection, and plan to work on the model kit figure of Kyojuro eventually. However, he will not be my next project as I'll be taking a break from my Demon Slayer projects to instead work on my first ever model kit! Stay tuned if you want to find out what that is. Anyway, that's it for now. Until we meet again, be well and be happy.   

Kamado Tanjiro | Demon Slayer (鬼滅の刃) - Retouching to Enhance Color Accuracy of Model Kit Figure

 As expected the retouch work needed for Tanjiro wasn't as extensive as that experienced for his sister Nezuko. Despite my adversity to sticker decals in general, there were some really good ones provided with this Tanjiro model kit figure. So much so that I didn't hesitate to use some of them, for example the earrings, the kanji on the back of the shirt, and the handle/hilt of the katana. These sticker decals were a good complement to the enamel and acrylic paints as well as dry pastels I had used to enhance color accuracy on this Bandai Namco Kamado Tanjiro plastic model kit figure.

Kamado Tanjiro plastic model kit figure work-in-progress: parts & sub-assemblies retouched

 One of the best things you can do right of the bat to improve color accuracy on a model kit figure is to apply shadows/highlights to the figurine's facial features. This I had done using Tamiya Weathering Pastels (i.e. a chestnnut hue) on either side of Tanjiro's nose. In addition I also used a fine permanent ink pen to draw out the design on his hanafuda earrings, which is the image of the rising sun over a mountain. This design has drawn criticism for its close resemblance to the rising sun symbol synonymous with the Japanese Imperial Army during WW2. In reality the hanafuda earring design is actually symbolizes the Sun Breathing Style fighters as told in the lore of the Demon Slayer story.

Before: Tanjiro's head prior to pastel dry-brushing, but earrings' design had been marked

After: Pastels with darker flesh hues were dry-brushed on both sides of Tanjiro's nose

 Unfortunately what I envisioned for Tanjiro's hair didn't quite pan out as well as I wanted. The original plastic molded colors for the hair was in reddish brown. To spice things up, I added enamel-based violet filters to brighten up the colors of his hair. To the naked eye, there is a subtle difference in how the hair looks overall. However this doesn't translate as well to the digital images you see below.

Before: Tanjiro's hair in its original plastic molded color of reddish brown

After: Violet filters were applied to some parts of Tanjiro's hair, especially ends of the strands

 Other flesh colored parts like the hands were given a combination of panel-lining with enamel paints and painting of the fingernails with acrylic paints (see below). Because the surface area on Tanjiro's hands were fairly limited, I didn't do any dry-brushing with pastels to add highlights/shadows.

Before: Tanjiro's hands in their original plastic molded flesh hues

Before: Fingers were panel-lined with enamel while his fingernails were painted with acrylics

 Meanwhile for Tanjiro's shirt and pants, I did a number of things. Admittedly results aren't obvious in the photos because again, the subtle changes didn't translate well into digital images. But to the naked eye, the differences are apparent. At the very least, the application of a lighter brown enamel paint hue onto the raised areas of the shirts and pants made it look less monotone to the naked eye.

Before: Front of Tanjiro's shirt in its original plastic molded color of dark brown

After: Front of shirt, with lighter brown enamel paint applied for highlights and white acrylic paint applied to from stripes around the collar as well as on the left breast area 

Before: Back of Tanjiro's shirt in its original plastic molded color of dark brown, but with the sticker decals of the kanji 滅 (metsu, meaning extermination) already applied

After: Back of shirt, with a lighter brown enamel paint applied for highlights

 As for the bottom half of Tanjiro's clothing, work done on his trousers was similar to his shirt, with some extra effort needed. In addition to the lighter brown enamel highlights, I had also panel-lined the belt with gray enamel paint as well as painted the belt buckle in metallic silver acrylic paint. The ankle wrappings were also panel-lined with gray enamel paint, and the buttons on it painted in metallic silver acrylic paint. Lastly, the straps of the sandals were painted in the red acrylic paint.

Before: Front of Tanjiro's trousers, belt, ankle wrappings, socks and sandals in their original plastic molded color of dark brown and white

After: Front view with the trousers/socks highlighted with a light brown enamel paint; the belt panel-lined in gray with buckle painted with metallic acrylic paint; the ankle wrappings panel-lined in gray; and the sandal straps painted in red acrylic paint

Before: Back of Tanjiro's trousers, belt, ankle wrappings, socks and sandals in their original plastic molded color of dark brown and white

After: Back of the trousers/socks highlighted with a light brown enamel paint; the belt panel-lined in gray; the ankle wrappings panel-lined in gray with its buttons are painted in metallic acrylic paint; and the sandal straps painted in red acrylic paint

 Now I could've used acrylics to paint the katana's hilt, but in the interests of time management I had used the sticker decals provided with the kit (see below). This was one of the few times I didn't regret using sticker decals because the end result looked great to me. On the other hand, both ends of the scabbard were painted with acrylic paint in a silver metallic color because the stickers looked lame.  

Before: Katana and scabbard, both in their original plastic molded colors

After: Katana with metallic pastel layered along its cutting edge and sticker decals applied to its hilt, while the scabbard has both ends painted in metallic acrylic paint

 Below is a teaser photo of the completed Kamado Tanjiro model kit figure. More photos will be uploaded in the next blog post, which will showcase Tanjiro from different angles.

A teaser shot of a completed Kamado Tanjiro model kit figure; more photos to follow in the next post

 So by my next post, I should be posting the final photos of a fully-assembled Kamado Tanjiro plastic model kit figure that has been retouched for color accuracy. I'll also be embedding YouTube videos on my second Demon Slayer model kit figure project then. Because I usually upload the YouTube videos before the blog posts, you should probably be able to watch them by now already if you want to (please click on the middle banner below to get to my YouTube Channel). And with that, as is now customary, I'll end my post with my usual wish for you dear reader to be well and happy. またあとで!

Kamado Tanjiro | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (鬼滅の刃) - Unboxing & Pre-Assembly Review

 While the plastic figure of Kamado Tanjiro is actually Bandai Namco's first model kit from the Demon Slayers: Kimetsu no Yaiba (鬼滅の刃) anime series, he is the second kit from this line that I'll be working on. Before I start though, here is my customary unboxing and pre-assembly review of the model kit figure of Nezuko's younger brother and main protagonist, namely Tanjiro.   

Bandai Namco plastic model kit figurine of Kamado Tanjiro from the Demon Slayer anime

Side Box Art shows Tanjiro in varios poses & indicates stickers will be needed for color accuracy

Other Side Box Art showcases the pre-painted parts namely Tanjiro's eyes and checkered cloak

Stated clearly in red letterings is the fact that this is a plastic model kit, not a completed figurine

 Box art (see above) for this Tanjiro figure follows the standard pattern seen in the previous Demon Slayer model kit that I had worked on (i.e. Nezuko). This time though, the box art highlights the unique feature of this kit which is the extreme detail of Tanjiro's eyes. It also points out that color accuracy is obtained via color-molded parts as well as sticker decals. Apart from that you can see some dynamic poses from a completed Tanjiro figure. Meanwhile, a quick glance at the instructions (see below) tell me that this build should be fairly straightforward and easy to complete for beginners. 

Inside the box are lots of plastic bags with parts/runners/sprues

First few pages of the pamphlet guide are in color, showing the parts/runners/sprues included as well as some basic assembly instructions for beginners ...

... continuing with more colored pages showing the assembly Tanjiro's head, shirt, and cloak ...

... followed by black and white pages with instructions for the assembly of ...

... arms, hands, legs, feet, trousers, sword/scabbard, and the rest of his cloak.

 It shows that this is Bandai Namco's first Demon Slayer model kit figure. You only have to look at the effort put in to mold Tanjiro's facial features, especially his eyes, which were molded using three colors: clear red, black, and white. The glossiness imbued into Tanjiro's eyes give it a lifelike quality that was absent from the later Demon Slayer model kit figures, and their flat pre-painted eyes .    

Runner/Sprue A: Tanjiro's face with pre-painted scar; Runner/Sprue B: Tanjiro's eyes molded in three colors

Runner/Sprue C: Multi-colored parts for Tanjiro's head, hands, clothes, belt, scabbard, etc.

Runner/Sprue D1: Multi-colored parts for Tanjiro's clothes, slippers, scabbard, sword hilt, and mouth

 Meanwhile, the rest of the runners/sprues were of good quality but largely unexceptional except for the parts making up Tanjiro's cloak. Now these were excellent both in their semi-gloss green finish to their pre-painted checkered pattern. Another part that was above average in quality was the black katana blade which sported a fine glossy finish, which came in its own runner/sprue.    

Runner/Sprue D2: Black part for Tanjiro's katana (i.e. sword)

Runner/Sprues E1, E2, E3: Pre-painted parts that make up Tanjiro's checkered cloak

Runner/Sprues E6, E7, E8, E9: More pre-painted parts that make up Tanjiro's checkered cloak

 Similar to Nezuko, sticker decals (see below) were also provided with the Tanjiro model kit figure in order to enable color accuracy for hobbyists who do not want to paint their kits. Unlike Nezuko, I can see myself using some of the stickers decals that have been provided, specifically the ones for Tanjiro's earrings, for the kanji on the back of his shirt, and for the hilt of the katana as well as scabbard. Other sticker decals like the shirt stripes/collar and buttons as well as slipper straps will likely get ignored. I would rather paint these white, silver, and red respectively.      

Sticker decals for the earrings, shirt collar, shirt buttons, kanji on the back of the shirt, sandal straps, sword handle, and sword scabbard ... to ensure color accuracy

 At first glance it seems there are a lot more things to paint for Tanjiro compared to Nezuko because there are a lot more sticker decals in the former model kit figure. But because I'll actually be using a fair amount of the sticker decals provided, coupled with good color accuracy of the molded plastic parts, there is an expectation less work will be involved leading to a quicker turnover of the project. Long story short, I look forward to completing my second Demon Slayer character faster. Until that goal is realized however, it's time to bid you goodbye for now. And as always, be well and happy!