Black & White Rainbow

Transformers Prime Bumblebee (First Edition)

2012-02-02T15:01:00.004+08:00

So sad to hear that Hasbro has officially cancelled the Transformers Prime First Editions in the US. We are luckier here in the Philippines because last night, one of the big local toy stores has about 2-3 full shelves stacked with First Edition Bumblebees, Arcees (a bit scarce), Star Screams and Voyager Primes. Bulkhead and Cliffjumper is rare to non-existent, I guess. While Vehicon never made it here yet. (Glad I got one online)

Still a lot of reasons to be happy with what we got.

But this post isn't a review of TFP Bumblebee. A lot of those can already be found on the net. Instead I wanted to share photos of my TFP BB. With a little added paint details. I wanted it to be as close to the series colors as possible. Of course, it can never be 100% (or even 90%) accurate because the mold itself is not TV-accurate.

By the way, this is the first time I've detail-painted my TF. I've always had the idea swimming around in my head ever since TFA toys, but never got the guts to make the move. Now, thanks to my new Tamiya brushes and Gundam markers, I have more resolve to have a go at it.

Here you go guys - the painted Bumblebee:

"Look, Arcee! I can split my head in two!" - That's poor Bumblebee mid-paint work.

The frame of the windshield and sideview mirrors were painted black.

There was black paint added in between the seams on the grill to reduce the split of colors.

I painted silver over the lower tail light, added chrome silver to the tailpipe, and added white and black to the registration plate and the lower portion of the tail end, respectively.

Silver for the fog lamps.

That's the robot mode. Too much detailing in here to mention. Feel free to compare it to the actual toy if you have one, or from images off the net.

A close up of the head and upper body. I forgot to split the front bumper...

The biggest addition here is the yellow color around the back of the thighs.

If you want to see how it compares to the regular TF Prime BB out of the box, you may want to google for images or follow this link for a gallery: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-images/toys/Prime/Autobots/Bumblebee1/

I based the coloring off this concept design and some screencaps from the series:

I think my next candidate for painting will be either Arcee or Bulkhead...

Super Robot Chogokin Gaogaigar Review

2011-11-05T03:16:00.001+08:00

King of Braves Gaogaigar was a giant combining robot anime aired during 1997. It ran for 49 episodes and had 8 OVAs after that. I was first exposed to this title way back around 2001, and only finished watching all the episodes last month. Haha!!!

It had a very good story behind it and had the most interesting human and robot characters I have ever seen in an anime. (There are also some very eccentric ones.) I was a bit surprised with the OVA because it suddenly crammed a lot of fanservice in all its 8 episodes. Something that was missing in the TV series (not that it ever needed it anyway).

But this post isn't about the story, but rather about Bandai's newer addition to the SRC line: Gaogaigar! This version isn't a combining toy though. Which is a whole lot better in my opinion because Bandai had the opportunity to concentrate more on the articulation and accuracy of the character, rather than the transforming and combining mechanics of the figure.

I am not sure about Gaogaigar's popularity in Japan (and in other countries), but the fact that this figure immediately sold out after its release probably says a lot about it. I had to hunt this figure down and was successful enough to have purchased it from Hobby Search. I missed buying it from Amiami (which sold it cheaper) who had it restocked for a day, only to have it sold out the next. :)

Anyway, without further ado, let's take a look at what we get out of the box...

No more windows on the box. Probably to cut costs.

Some of the possible poses you can do with the figure is shown at the back. You can shout out the popular phrases yourself, of course. :)

Gaogaigar comes in a double tray. He has loads of accessories and parts!

Bottom tray holds the Dividing Driver, Stealth Gao, and some other option parts.

That's Gaogaigar without the top plastic cover.

The first edition figure also includes the Overload Effect part.

Instruction manual and the Protect Shade effect part.

Luckily, I was able to purchase the first edition version which came with the Overload Effect parts. Let's take a look at that first. It's a 4-piece effect base that can add some extra realism if you display Gaogaigar in his trademark action poses. More on that later. It imitates the swirling energy around Gaogaigar (or any other figure having the same SFX). It's really amazing to look at. It is made from soft, almost rubbery, plastic material. The tips of the Overload Effect, as in all SRC tips, is relatively sharp.

Comes in a simple monochrome box.

Instructions on how to piece the thing together.

There's the base, plus the small, medium and large pieces.

Put them together and voila!

Now, let's have a look at the main figure itself. Detail-wise, I can almost swear this is the best representation of the anime version. Bandai has got the proportions and small details almost perfectly. Having the term "gokin" means there are some die-cast material in this figure. Other than the feet, I can't say what else is gokin here. You can tell because my figure has some wobbly legs out of the box. Those feet are heavy!

If this isn't anime-accurate, I don't know what is.

You can really feel the power that Gaogaigar has in this figure. Very strong!

Side view makes him look clunky, but that may be just my poor photography skills.

Stealth Gao in all its glory. The "GGG" logo can be seen here as well.

Like in my earlier review, let's let the pictures do the talking:

That's Galeon's lion head! Those fins on his mane are sharp.

Closer look at the head detail.

If the drill knee is made of die cast, you can probably bore a hole with it. Thankfully, Bandai didn't want anyone to get hurt that way. But still, don't give this toy to your kids without supervision.

The die-cast feet has double-jointed ankles so it can be moved a bit forward and back, and side to side.

The details of the tank tread of the Drill Gao.

The side panels are moveable to allow more freedom for the positioning of the foot.

This foot has a swivel joint to bend the "toes".

Top view shows the Liner Gao that forms Gaogaigar's shoulders (and upper arms). These shoulders are double jointed and attach to a swivel on the body. So aside from being able to raise and lower, it also has some forward movement useful for the Hell and Heaven move.

The Hell arm has vents and produces the Broken Magnum in the anime. Or the equivalent of Mazinger Z's rocket punch. This is the attack arm.

The Heaven arm has these projecting lenses and produces the Protect Shade in the anime. This is the defense arm.

Galeon's mouth can be opened...

...and closed. Not that it ever did that when in this Final Fusion mode. (It wouldn't look serious if Gaogaigar body slammed his enemy and bit it at the same time.)

The neck is double jointed as well.

Gaogaigar can look up...

...and look down. Of course he won't see much though.

He can also look both ways. If you look closely, you can see the double joint system of the shoulder, as well as the swivel joint it attaches to (as mentioned earlier).

A nice thing about this Gaogaigar is that the wings of the Stealth Gao can bend at a 40-45 degree angle.

That way he can bend his arms like this and his elbow won't even touch the wing. This is useful for a lot of other poses, too. Cool!

An "upskirt" shot. (Hehe!) The hips connect to a double joint so you can pull Gaogaigar's legs down a bit or push it up. The thighs rotate at a swivel so you can rotate it outward or inward.

My figure's left front skirt keeps popping out whenever I move the legs forward. Probably a QC issue that I can forgive. A little bit of Wipe and Shine tightened the joint. I also applied the same technique to tighten the hip joints and lessen the floppiness of the legs.

"Broken Magnum!!!"

The Broken Magnum effect part is a 3-piece clear part that covers and clips to the right forearm. (You'll have to pop the hand out first.)

"Protect Shade!!!"

Made out of thin plastic that is a teensy bit thicker than the plastic tray Gaogaigar came in, the Protect Shade effect part can shield Gaogaigar from any size of popcorn you throw at him.

"Dividing Driver!!!"

"Hell... and... Heaven!!!"

The Overload Effect part works really well on Gaogaigar's ultimate attack.

Hell and Heaven works when Gaogaigar joins both hands to improve his attack and defense power at the same time.

Like so. Then he charges at his enemy...

... Oops! Gotta evade that incoming attack! He might rip out my Zonder Core.

Stealth Gao's closed vents can be swapped with these open ones to mimic the action in the anime when Gaogaigar uses the Hell and Heaven move.

The default closed vents.

Separate from the Gaogaigar figure is the Key of Victory Set 1. This set includes the Marg Hand and Goldion Hammer, some extra sets of hands for Gaogaigar, and the Heaven and Hell parts. I don't think this set has any die-cast in it, but the mere size of the Goldion Hammer and Marg Hand is enough to give it some heft.

This came in the mail a week before I got Gaogaigar.

"Hammer Connect!!!"

"Goldion Hammer!!!"

"Hammer Hell!"

(The Goldion Hammer has a telescoping neck, by the way.)

"Hammer Heaven!!!"

"Hikari ni nare!!!"

This is where Mamoru (the human protagonist) normally comes out and purifies the Zonder core in Gaogaigar's hand.

The Zonder Core is included with Gaogaigar.

This hammer is really FRICKIN' HUGE!!! I had a hard time trying to balance it along with Gaogaigar. The Marg Hand has an elbow swivel, by the way. so you can still rotate it and bend it at the elbow.

You may notice that the Stealth Gao has a foldable peg on one wing...

You can swing that out... (This is easiest to do by pushing down on the lower portion opposite the peg end with your nail. After a bit of the peg pops out, you can pull it out easily)

...and you can attach Gaogaigar's right arm.

That's exactly how it should be in the anime. At least that's where it should be after the Marg Hand connects.

And that concludes this review. Overall, Gaogaigar is a bit complicated if you compare him with the simple, yet elegant, designs of Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger. Pose-ability is still top-notch though. He can do almost anything you see in the anime. The shoulders are a bit tricky to maneuver but once you get the hang of it, the design is simply admirable. Colors are generally clean and crisp except for the fins on Galeon's mane, but you won't really notice it until you look really close.

The Key of Victory Set 1, on the other hand, is also an awesome addition to this already great figure. I got the set first before I got Gaogaigar and looking at it separately, I was really taken aback by its (Goldion Hammer) size. I would have wanted the Goldion Hammer to AT LEAST be able to transform to the Goldytank, but I guess Bandai thought it would compromise the stability of the Marg Hand. Maybe a separate, transformable SRC Goldy Marg sometime in the future? :)

I am excited to get Chouryujin this December and the Key of Victory Set 2 next year. I believe Bandai is also set to come up with the other characters from Gaogaigar (like Big Volfogg). I'm eagerly awaiting news of those figures.

Until the next post... Thanks for reading/looking!

Super Robot Chogokin Great Mazinger

2011-10-23T15:50:00.000+08:00

After reviewing Super Robot Chogokin Mazinger Z, let's take a look at his best bud, Great Mazinger!

"I am Great Mazinger and I am a few millimeters taller than Mazinger Z!"

"I also have a Scramble Dash to attach to my back out of the box. How cool is that?"

SRC Great Mazinger shares similar parts to Mazinger Z with some the obvious differences:
1.) head sculpt and design and Brain Condor
2.) "V" crest on the chest
3.) forearm spikes
4.) crotch design
5.) thigh spikes and knee design
6.) rear leg fins

Great Mazinger also boasts more accessories than Mazinger. He's got the Scramble Dash included, and effect parts for the Thunderbreak and Mazinger Blade attack. He also has both Drill Pressure Punch arms while Mazinger had only one Reinforced Rocket Punch arm. A tamashii stage adaptor is also included if you're used to using a base to display your figures.

Be careful because these spikes can really hurt!

... same goes for the thigh spikes.

There's the extra knee pad...

Rear leg fins. These can be swapped with regular leg covers that Mazinger sports.

The Scramble Dash really gives Great a sense of awesomeness.

Brain Condor. Hmmm... don't tell me Great Mazinger has a small brain. Hehe! Just kidding.

The Brain Condor attaches to Great via the double (tiny) pegs that go into those (tiny) twin holes on top of his head. Be careful how you place them as you may puncture your finger as you press down.

Movement and pose-ability-wise, both figures are equal. They both possess the same joints after all. I did find Great's extending midsection gimmick easier to manipulate than Mazinger's.

The double jointed shoulders with the free moving cover is really an amazing toy engineering idea.

The neck is double jointed, however the rear skirt of the helmet hinders Great from looking up more. Mazinger can look up better, but only by a few degrees.

Similar joint on he elbows. The extra elbow coverings really add to the realism of this figure and hide the joints quite well.

Kneeling position... perfect!

Ready to rock and roll!!!

Let's let the photos speak more about this amazing figure, its accessories, and fun stuff you can do with it...

"Thunder..."

"...Break!!!"

Take that, alien scum!

Drill Pressure Punch!!!

Now would be the best time to buy the separate Mazinger weapon and effects set... if you can still find one with a good price. Good luck!

Mazinger Blade!

The shiny blade is just chrome paint. Not diecast. But it fits perfectly in the gripping hands that are a bit rubbery and therefore have a good hold on the accessory.

Effect part for the Mazinger blade. Awesome!

Great has two pointed finger hand options for a left or right Thunderbreak. You can also make him do Travolta dance moves with it.

"Where's the action at? I'm itching to do some face rearrangements!" (Crack! Crack!)

Let's make him scratch his head...

"What poses is this guy getting me into?!"

"Get this toy review over with already!"

"Now you're posing me cross-legged on an invisible seat. Get some sleep already!"

That concludes this review of another "Great" figure from the Super Robot Chogokin line by Bandai. Like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger sports amazing articulation, has the same diecast content, more spikes to hurt your fingers, and the same overall great craftsmanship and quality that makes Bandai my favorite when it comes to poseable mecha.

You can buy these figures at good bargain prices from Amiami or HLJ (currently having a sale for some SRCs).

Now for the next review, here he is...

Ga-Ga-Ga Ga-Ga-Ga Gaogaigar!!!

Until next time... Final Fusion... approved!

Super Robot Chogokin Mazinger Z

2011-10-11T22:54:00.001+08:00

One of the newer purchases I mentioned in my earlier post. This is Super Robot Chogokin Mazinger Z. It stands around 14cm tall and is the smaller-sized and cheaper cousin of the Soul of Chogokin line of Bandai. Don't let the smaller size fool you though. This is not a toy for the younger kids. More on that later on.

Mazin Go! Mazin Go! Mazinger... Z!!!

Let's take a look at the box...

The package was has some window strips in front, showing you a peek of the awesome figure inside. The design is clean, crisp and simple. The back shows you some of the stuff you can do with the figure and advertises the weapon and effects set sold separately. I was happy to find out that this Mazinger Z is part of the first batch that contains a bonus rock-design display base. It's actually just a Styrofoam base shaped and painted like jagged rocks. Some may say that it's cheap, but I'm happy just to have it included in the box for free. No complaints here. It's just a bit disappointing to see that the actual base didn't look as good as the picture on the obi. (I thought the obi on the exterior was just a campaign reminder or something. I was very glad to see the actual base inside)

Point out the difference...

What DO you get inside?
You get the 14cm Mazinger figure, some optional hand parts, right reinforced rocket punch arm with an open hand and closed fist option hand parts, Mazinger sword, hover pilder, and a Tamashii stage attachment. What I also liked about the inner tray packaging is that it doesn't have any ties and tape. So just open it up and you have easy access to everything you need pronto.

*There's an optional Mazinger weapon set available as a separate set. I am now regretting not getting that set when I had the chance. It contained rocket punch effects, jet scrander and his left reinforced rocket punch arm. :(

Woohoo! I got a styro base!

No twist ties, no clear tape to leave behind some gum on your accessories. Just a covered tray securing everything in place.

Instruction manual... check!

An advertisement for the OVA Mazinger SKL (Skull). Also a limited edition exclusive SRC figure.

The Figure:
I have to hand it to Bandai - they know how to make your mecha figures poseable! Mazinger has the same double jointed shoulders found in SH Figuarts that add a certain degree of rotation on the shoulders. It also has an extension gimmick for the waist: you just pop up the upper torso (which is a bit too tight on my figure) and pull down the crotch area to extend Mazinger's waist movement. It also sports some auto-collapsible panels behind the knee to make extreme leg bends. (I think that gimmick is present on the SOC line. I can't tell since I don't own any SOC figs) The figure is also HEAVY because of the die-cast content. You can use it as a hand weight.

So... whatcha gonna do to a figure that looks and moves this good?

Mazinger is slightly shorter than Figma Hitagi Senjougahara.

Double jointed neck is good for extreme head positions.

The SH Figuarts-type shoulder construction allows you to place the shoulders a bit behind or in front. It also helps to raise the arms further up or down.

I forgot to give him a kame-hame pose like in DBZ.

"Rocket..."

"...PUNCH!!!" (This is where the effect parts would have been useful...)

If Bandai made that sword die-cast, you could probably use it to slice your bread. It's just chrome-colored plastic though.

Bonus-Rock-base pose!!!

Detail and Paint:
It's unbelievable how such a small figure can boast such crisp details. The hover pilder is smaller than an eraser tip on my pencil, yet it even has headlights painted on. I also admire how Bandai has taken such a simplistic design as Mazinger's and turned it into something that can easily compete with today's more modern mecha. I did had a paint chip near Mazinger's ankles and some under the shoulders, but I'll let it pass. The figure is just too awesome! A bit of warning - the sharp edges and spikes can really poke a hole on your fingers or scratch you if you're not careful. This is the reason why this can never be considered a kid's toy.

That is one small Hover Pilder. Be careful not to lose it!

Some of the screws have been covered by panels. Who bothers with those nowadays? Now that's what you call a quality figure!

Elbow joints are partially covered by some elbow covers (I think it's die-cast).

No sloppy paint job here!

Tamashii Stage adaptor. I don't have any of those, so this one is a bit useless. I haven't tried it with my Bandai display base. Maybe in the next review I'll see if I can plug it in.

The display adaptor plugs into Mazinger's butt. "Please, doctor, don't hurt me!..." LOL

Lastly, the pictures you see here and probably on other sites on the internet cannot justify the true value of this toy unless you hold it in your hands. I didn't believe it at first myself. I said, "It's just another super robot line in a smaller scale. What's new?" Now, I can't stop posing the figure and it's almost always beside my workstation every day. Damn! Bandai has made me a believer, and I think I will be buying more of these in the coming months.

When my fingers hurt from drawing with the tablet, I need to relax by playing with action figures.

In fact, I already did buy some more figures from the line, and pre-ordered some future releases... (Gaogaigar and Dai-Guard... please arrive soon!)

Now my SRC wishlist will have to be (in random order): Voltes V, Daimos, Gaiking, Jeeg, Grendizer, Godannar, Daitarn, Raijin-O, Getter Robo and Voltron. Of course, if they can include some Macross valks in there (non-transformable is fine with me), then Bandai will be my new favorite. Hehe!

My first experience with customs tax

2011-10-04T18:58:00.000+08:00

First of all, tax is legal. Here in the Philippines, when I eat something, I pay tax. When I buy something, I pay tax. When I work for a living, I pay my dues. :(

The bigger question, in my opinion, is whether the taxes I pay are put to good use. Sadly, I don't see any improvements in the Philippine setting. Where does it go? A good portion of it most likely goes to the pockets of some people who have better things to contribute to society.

But I am not here to lecture about the evil side of politics. This post is for fellow Filipinos who like to buy stuff online. (Maybe even for those who live in another country who also impose taxes on imported goods?) Those who are wary of customs tax, but are not sure how much extra cash they are going to shell out.

I have been buying stuff online for probably a year or so already. I started out with ebay. But rather than buying from people from outside the country, I stuck with local sellers. (Actually, I stuck with only one seller who has a local toy shop that I am very familiar with.) Than I ventured to buy some stuff straight from Japanese online shops. To make sure I won't regret anything, I always start buying cheap stuff. Just in case I don't get the item, I won't have to shed a lot of tears.

Fast forward a year later... I've been buying stuff from different online stores. I've also tried both SAL and EMS deliveries. SAL takes about 2-3 weeks for me, while EMS gets to me within a week (3-4 days fastest, minus weekends). All the time not being bugged by customs duties. The only extra amount I pay is the post office handling fee. A mere P40.

That was the case until last September 30... :(

Let's start with the GOOD:
I got my ordered items without any damage. Customs never opened the package for inspection. Nothing was lost. You can't help but become paranoid after watching the recent news of customs/postal people opening packages and stealing stuff. The package got to me in good condition and I am happy with the purchased items.

The untampered box is roughly the size of a large shoebox. (Whew!) According to customs, the weight is 1.1kg. Very interesting... I've bought stuff in boxes twice this size and I've never been taxed for those.

There was a Philpost envelope sealed with tape on one side on top of the box. (Philpost handles EMS in the Philippines) It contains the tax breakdown from the customs people, and opened only when I picked up the box at the post.

The BAD:
I did say that I got the goods on September 30th. However, based on the EMS tracking online, the package arrived in Philippines customs since September 22nd. I am used to have EMS packages go through customs a few days, then sent to our local post, so I didn't mind the customs hold up. But after a week of waiting, I was starting to have doubts.

I got hold of the customs office numbers, so I decided to give them a call on the morning of the 29th. I have to say that it's hard to contact these people. All lines were busy. I was lucky enough to get someone on the line after a few tries. She asked for my tracking number and confirmed that the package was indeed still in their office for customs inspection. She also asked what it contained and my name and address. Naturally, I declared everything in all honesty to avoid further "complications". I asked how long it would take before it was forwarded to my address, but she couldn't give me any estimate. She only promised that she'd follow it up with the customs people and took my contact numbers. I was beginning to regret my choice of EMS over the slower SAL.

The UGLY:
I checked the EMS tracking number again the night after I called. I found out that it was on its way to our post office. Damn! The person I talked to made good with her promise. That made my thoughts about local EMS people a bit better. They can deliver. (At least in this instance, they did.)

I got a call from the local post the morning of the 30th. They said that I have a package to pick up. (I was already expecting that.) What I didn't expect was the P1,289 customs tax I had to pay!

The terrifying calculation at the bottom of the tax document. The calculations are based off the dollar equivalent of the package contents not in peso. (Why?!) I can vaguely see customs tax, VAT, maybe a storage fee and other stuff I cannot understand. Why can't we just tax the package 10%-15% of the total and call it a day?? I will never understand.

I was caught off guard. Holy crap!!!I didn't expect an amount like that. A year of buying maybe one or two items every month and I've never been expected to pay anything but the postal handling fee. I didn't have a problem shelling out the amount, but it's hard for me to justify the customs tax. (The total amount of the 2 items I bought is only P2700-2800) That's almost like buying a 3rd item!

What can you do? Tax is tax. I was really itching to get these items. That's why I chose EMS. I wanted to get it early. But what do I get? A week delayed package (almost feels like SAL) and a high amount of tax to pay.

So, to fellow online buyers out there, especially those living in the Philippines, be aware of the relatively excessive tax you may be obligated to pay. I guess it's true what they say - once local customs takes a fancy on your package, be prepared of the consequences! I thought my all purchases were safe from this excessive tax, but I was wrong.

It's a good thing that the items I bought are already 26-37% off, plus I took advantage of the shop's 10% off grand total promo. Otherwise, I would feel RIPPED OFF.
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On a different note, what did I buy anyway? I got the Super Robot Chogokin Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger. The high die-cast content of these guys probably ticked the metal detectors and the weighing scale. Sheesh!

Super Robot Chogokin! I think I'm switching to another toyline. My wallet is gonna cry...

More on these guys on a separate review. One thing I can say - these figures are worth the (unnecessary) wait and the price. I will post a review sometime soon. Time to play...

K-Zone Crazy Sports Facts

2011-10-02T15:27:00.000+08:00

I got this package alongside another EMS package I would like to discuss in a later post. Picked it up from the post last September 30th...

It's the K-Zone Crazy Sports Facts (Extreme Edition) by Tony Davis!!!

The nice folks over at K-Zone Australia and Allen & Unwin were kind enough to send me a couple of complimentary copies. I provided the black and white illustrations and the cover art for this book. It's available now in Australia for $11.99. (If you live there.)

It's really exciting to see the book in print. It's a different feeling when you see your illustrations laid out from the raw digital drawings you provide. Definitely brightened up my day when the other package I mentioned earlier was a gloomy story.

Thanks for looking! :)

Randomly Generated Posts

2011-09-30T12:20:00.000+08:00

I am a robot. Nope! Not really. It's still me, but since I don't have time to post anything relevant, I just wanted to upload various stuff. For example...

Jin-Ouga has my car keys!!!

Figma Hitagi Senjougahara posing in front of her Nendoroid friends.

Lego Ninjago artwork that has no real purpose but to impress (which it failed).

FFAC Bahamut colored tattoo commission I just made this week.

... and hopefully, the next post will have more meaningful facts behind it. Thanks for looking. I hope I haven't wasted much of your time, citizens. ^_^"

Sketches 9-2-11

2011-09-06T12:10:00.001+08:00

Done while waiting for my kids to finish Kumon classes...

Characters from "Black and White Rainbow". A story I made way back in college, and the story from which I based this blog's title on. Actually, I've been playing around with the look of the female character (Yoko). Maybe I'll post more of this in the following days...

Truthfully, I suck at colors. I really do. I like it better this way - just black and white. And greys.

Thanks for looking.

Playing around with Transformers DOTM

2011-09-01T21:40:00.000+08:00

After finishing Hero Factory issue 7 last week, I just had to take my mind away from serious work while other deadlines are still far away. Glad that I was able to finish this contribution for a DA friend of mine's Transformers-themed art jam. See below...

I am not particularly happy with DOTM. Maybe it's because Megatron was portrayed as a pathetic (has-been) Decepticon leader. I think he never needed Carly's "bitch dialogue" to wake him up from his reverie in the first place. He would have kicked Sentinel and Optimus' butts"without any prompting from the humans he thinks so lowly of.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. Aside from the weakling Megatron, the (creepy) Einstein/Dr. Emmett Brown robot (Wheeljack), and some other unbelievable action sequences (one of which involves Sam hanging from Starscream's eye via a cable and getting swung in all directions without getting hurt), DOTM is still a good movie to watch if you're a TF fan. Just don't mind the inconsistencies in the presentation.

I still like Transformers Animated, though. Or the newer Transformers: Prime.

RVF-25 more decal applications

2011-07-01T10:10:00.000+08:00

Call me OC, but I've been obsessed at applying the RVF-25's decals before I even put it all together. It is easier to apply it while parts are separate because it doesn't hinder my large hands during application. Below are the results. Can't wait to put it all together... :)

The empty cheese dip container for drying the smaller parts. Wipe and Shine has a tendency to get sticky while in mid-drying stage and could attract dust and very small particles that could ruin the finish of your plamo kit. (Covering up the pieces in a dust proof container may be advised if you have a dusty work place like mine. Hehe!)

By sheer luck, I seem to have placed these decals almost perfectly on the leg covers. Note that the design of the decal sits on the recessed portion of the piece where it was intended to be. Wipe and Shine pulled the decal downwards after drying.

The middle chest piece's black area was applied with a lacquer-based pen (that I bought from a local office supply store) instead of using the decals.

At macro-level, the paint job is a mess. (I'm not proud of that) I kind of pulled up the masking tape haphazardly and ruined the edges. :(

RVF-25 Progress: Matching colors

2011-07-01T08:56:00.000+08:00

Matching colors is a real pain. I got some free time left last week and decided to do a little paint mixing and painting on my kit.

I hate mixing paint! :( I'd rather paint straight from the bottle. Especially since I don't buy a lot of enamel paints for model kits. It's too darn expensive and some of them just dry up because I don't use it much. But since the RVF's accuracy may be compromised, I decided to make that extra step.

What did I do? I don't have the exact green color mentioned in the manual's color guide, but I do have the three primary colored enamel paints (flat red, blue and yellow, plus white and black).

I started mixing a teensy bit of blue and yellow (to make a base green) and a lot of white. It turned out yellow greenish. Not the color I'm aiming for. Took a look at the light green plastic of the kit. It's not even close even if I added more white!

I took some of the first mixture and transferred it to another mixing area. This time I added more white and a bit of blue. Still not what I am looking for but close.

I took some of the bluish concoction to another mixing area, added more white and voila! It's close to what I was aiming for. Not the exact color but passable. After jumping this hurdle, I immediately applied this paint to the (already masked) piece that needed coloring. I resigned myself to go to bed. Haha!

Mixing can be a chore. Love it or hate it. In my case, where free time is a rare commodity... it kind of borders on I don't wanna do it.

Drying plamo parts in an empty cheese dip container with a moisture absorber? Shame on me! Haha!!!

New 4D System Beyblades

2011-05-31T21:39:00.000+08:00

What? I still have time for another post? Well, better use the time I have while I'm free. :)

I picked up these babies from the local post office today and I am excited to test it out with my 2 little boys. But since we're going for a 3-day vacation starting tomorrow, test driving the new Beys will have to wait till Friday comes. Awww.... :)

It's my first time ordering from Plamoya. Let's see how it goes...

This one's via EMS, by the way. I will try their SAL shipping next time.

Nothing special about the box. Just the usual tagged box with the "fragile" and "recycle" icon.

The typical crumpled paper to keep your toys safe inside. :)

Items receipt.

Do my eyes deceive me? Individually bubble-packed Beys inside the box? This is the first time I've had multiple items packed individually. Usually, multiple items just go in a single bubble package in my experience. This is plus points for Plamoya. :)

They even get individual bar-codes and tagged by the item's name (in Japanese). Talk about organized. I think I'll be buying more stuff from these guys.

What's 4D? Well, it's the latest system for Metal Fight Beyblades. It stands for:
-Different Material - We'll see just how different on Friday. :)

-Divided Wheel - After searching for stuff on the net, it turns out that the metal wheel on these new Beys come in at least 2 layers, as compared to the older ones that come with a single piece metal wheel.

-Dynamic Drive - I think this pertains to the dual-design of the Bey's bottom. Big Bang Pegasis' bottom, for example, has both a sharp bottom and a defense bottom that automatically changes depending on the Bey's rotation speed. More on that after the test drive. :)

-Deep Custom - Not sure how much more customizable these new Beys are. More on that after the experiment.

So far, there are only 3 4D system Beys available - Big Bang Pegasis, Destroy L Drago and Fang Leone. There will be more to come in the future I'm sure. Me and my kids will be waiting for that. For now, I am happy to have these 3 and looking forward to the Extreme Stadium test drive on Friday and over the weekend.

Go Shoot!!!

After our 3-day vacation, a good tournament is needed. Now, I can beat my eldest's Galaxy Pegasis! Mwahahahahaha!!! World Domination! Errr... yes, well...

RVF-25 partially finished legs

2011-05-31T21:01:00.000+08:00

More progress report for the RVF-25:
-Finished building the both legs (partial for the external armor pieces)
-Finished adding the final decals to the cockpit assembly.
-Finished painting the armor piece on the shoulder swivel.

(Above) We have the partially finished legs and arms. I will assemble the rest after painting some areas, panel lining and applying some decals.

Let me share some of my cheap tricks. Yes, it is very cheap! I use a regular oil based pen and eraser to do panel lining. I buy the pens from the local school supplies/bookstore nearest me. (The trick will be if the sales clerk knows what you're looking for... Hehe!) Fill the recessed panel lines with ink and use the eraser to remove the excess. (I'm not sure, but the eraser with the "ink eraser side" works best for me.

The armor piece on the left is the cleaned up version, while the one on the right is the "untouched by the eraser" version.

Those are my dirty fingers holding the armor pad for the shoulder swivel. Painted the bottom portion with Tamiya German Grey (XF-63) and used the same pen mentioned above for the holes. (no erasing needed)

Next in my agenda:
-Paint the back leg armor with light green to match the actual color of the unit.
-Add the decals to the legs.
-Wipe and Shine the parts I've finished so far to protect the decals and add a thin protective layer.

Speaking of Wipe and Shine, below is a picture of the said product. Yes, it's actually a no-buff floor polish. I think it's called by different names depending on where you are. It's called Future floor polish or something in the US, I think. I had the thought of using it on my kits after reading about it on the net.

Above is the household product I've been talking about in this post and in past ones. Of course, after using it on your kits, you can use the excess (and I'm sure you won't be using much on your kits) to make your floor shine! No need to buff! There. I said it. ^_^"

What it does (based on my experience... and I am no expert in kit building):
-It acts as top coat. I read that you can even use it on an airbrush, but I haven't tried that. I use a brush.
-It acts as a decal softener (somehow) and a binder. It has a self-leveling property that somehow pushes the decals even in thin recesses of the plastic.
-Apply it on clear plastic and the plastic becomes even clearer. Be careful to apply it evenly or you may regret it more than admire it.
-Be careful as it dries a bit quickly! When adjusting decals, just wet the area again with it so you can correct its position.

That's about it! Use the product at your own risk. I use it mainly because it's cheap, available at the nearest supermarket, and it does its (multiple) job(s) well. (By the way, I am not an employee of Johnson & Johnson trying to promote this product. Hehe!)

----------------------------------------

Post Script:
Just got this figure from HLJ via EMS last week. I will make a review of her maybe in a future post. Just thought that since Klan is part of Macross Frontier, I'd give her a bit of exposure here. Did I say "exposure"? No, she's not a cast-off figure! Whew! But the figure is from the same people giving us fantastic Queen's Blade figs (which IS cast-offable) - Megahouse Excellent Model line. I've been waiting for the longest time to get my hands on this amazing figure. The long wait has paid off...

Enjoy the sneak peek!

Michel would have been proud to see his love wear the same Super Pack his Messiah Valkyrie used!

More RVF-25 progress

2011-05-29T13:29:00.000+08:00

I've been slipping some build time every time I get the chance, so I have progressed some more with this kit...
Now I have both arms built plus some feet parts. :)

A few of the spots I decided to panel-line is the base of the foot.

The nice thing about Wipe and Shine is that it somehow acts as decal softener. Notice how the decals kind of wrap around corners? Some decals have to be nicked at the corners for a better fit though.

The hexagonal decal on the shoulder fit a lot better after the nicked corners.

Hope to post more progress shots next time!

Going back to building my RVF-25

2011-05-27T22:37:00.000+08:00

... and it is still taking forever to finish!

Anyway, I've decided to cut corners after being overly OC with my VF-25F Alto Custom kit. What did I choose to avoid this time?
-I will ultimately cut out the sanding process. It is bad for my allergies. The trade-off is ugly excess plastic showing in the completed kit.
-I will reduce the coloring and panel lining. Only apply it to important areas that really need it.
-Instead of using paint, I will try to make more use of the decals. The water slide ones this time instead of the stickers. Wipe and Shine really helps keeping these decals on the plastic and at the same time adding extra protection to the whole kit. It will make my RVF a bit shiny though.
-This time, I will also use Tamiya cement for some parts. It will help make it more sturdy (I hope).

Shamefully, here's what I have so far...

Notice that I didn't bother to paint Lucca's green costume parts. Just the white ones to make the pilot look like a pilot instead of a statue. Haha! Did a sloppy paint job on the cockpit canopy, too. The head is detailed by the decals only. No paint there.

Bleach Sketches

2011-02-16T18:50:00.000+08:00

Been watching Bleach over at AXN and somehow got inspired by the anime again.

More of my artworks at: www.iq40.deviantart.com or www.iq40.daportfolio.com.

Some of the Best Stuff I Bought Last Year (2010)

2011-02-09T21:19:00.000+08:00

Okay, so I really haven't been blogging for a VERY LONG time. Work eats up all my time and I'd rather spend the last few minutes of the day with my family and the kids. The New Year (and Chinese New Year) have passed and it is only tonight that I decided to put something... anything... to update this blog.

What to put as my first entry of the year? Let's kick off with some of the best stuff I acquired last year:

Here they are in random order:

ASSORTED ANIME ART BOOKS
During the time when I thought my drawing style is already becoming outdated because I don't buy contemporary comics and books a lot anymore, I decided to buy these books to study the more modern approach to anime art. Some of my favorite books will have to be Jun Ikeda's CG Techniques and Kazuaki Artworks. The former because his digital coloring style has opened some new techniques for me, and the latter because her artworks are so full of detail and so dynamic my jaws dropped from the time I looked at the first artwork up to the last. (Also, Kazuaki's 250+-page artbook is a steal for Ұ2800)

QUEEN'S BLADE LIMITED EDITION HUIT AND VANTE COMBAT BOOK+HUIT FIGURE
My earlier post revealed that I was a Queen's Blade fan. Getting this book + figure combo from Amiami for a mere Ұ2000 is a good bargain. It is also my first Megahouse Excellent Model figure. If the whole figure line is this good, I think I can say with confidence that the Megahouse EM line is a very impressive set. The amount of detail they put on the Huit figure is simply mind-boggling. (It also features a cast-off gimmick that will leave Huit topless, but I won't post any of those pics)

The Queen's Blade combat book is also a good art reference for me since some of my clients that ask me for character concepts often request for "oppai". What is that term, you say? Google can help you with that. Hehe!

EMOTION STYLE RANKA LEE AND SHERYL NOME
I was probably surfing the web at the right place and at the right time. These figures caught my eye as they were being sold on sale at HW Japan. Ұ1360 for each figure?? That's more than half its original price off! I didn't make a second thought (After I missed that Tetsujin+Black Ox combo also put on sale from the same online shop due to some misgivings) , I placed an order immediately.

I still haven't taken them out of the box because I'm missing some proper shelves to display it on. As a big Macross fan, getting these figures for a bargain still sends shivers down my spine. It surprised me to see that they are bigger than the size I've expected. But very satisfied to know that the details are spot on and beautiful. A real treasure for me as a collector.

QUEEN'S BLADE EXCELLENT MODEL ALDRA
Again, bought for a bargain price from HLJ. This is my second Excellent Model figure from the Queen's Blade line and it doesn't disappoint. Like Huit, Aldra is just screaming high quality workmanship. Like every QB figure, it has a cast-off feature. What kinda bugs me I guess is the blade on her crotch. Looks like I'll be placing this on a high display area so the kids won't pay much attention to it. ^_^"

METAL FIGHT BEYBLADE
Me and my 2 boys pretty much have everything that came out last year - the Beys, Beystadium, accessories, etc. A perfect way to spend the time with the kids who like the same stuff they see on TV. (We regularly watch Cartoon Network, btw)

I used to buy the earlier Beyblades, but didn't have the friends who share the same interest. It's really amusing how my wife always jokes that my playtime pals came around 29 years too late. We still enjoy playing the game every once in a while. It never gets old. :)

BLACK ROCK SHOOTER LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY+DVD
You get: Black Rock Shooter Blu-Ray and DVD versions, a pair of Nendoroid Petits of Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master with a unique base, a mini art book, and the animation storyboard in one exquisite looking collector's box for Ұ4000! If that doesn't make your day, you should have your head checked. Just kidding. Hehe! You have to admit though that for that price, you don't often get a lot of stuff packed in a neat package such as this.

I guess most of the stuff listed here were bought online with the exception of Beyblades. At the last quarter of the year I kinda experimented with online shopping. At first I was skeptical because of all the horror stories of packages not reaching their destinations or local customs charging unreasonably high taxes - stuff like that. But now I'm happy with the whole experience as I've never realized before that you can also get the best bargains on the net.

This year I'm sure I'll still be buying and collecting stuff, but I'll try to control my purchases. (Hunting for the best bargains off sales promotions... Haha!)

Oh yeah, I'll probably review some of these stuff individually someday. If that day ever comes. Back to the slave pits...

Queen's Blade Rebellion Eirin and Yumil Visual Combat Book

2010-11-27T11:14:00.000+08:00

As mentioned in an older post, I bought this book online from HW Japan. It's a Queen's Blade Visual Combat Book featuring Eirin and Yumil. Why did I buy this book? First and foremost, I wanted to try out the online services of the aforementioned online store. I wanted to try out SAL shipping... I am a FAN of Queen's Blade. Hehe! I haven't finished watching the first season though due to a truckload of work.

Above is the full book jacket design minus the banner ad wrapped at the bottom.

Beneath the cover jacket is the "2-player color" version. Cool! The book is hardcover, btw.

If you want to know about Queen's Blade, try searching for it over the net. Be warned though that most pics you will find is NSFW.

So what is the book all about? I will not make any claims that I understand what it is all about. I can read katakana and hiragana just fine, but my Japanese is rusty and I probably understand only 10-20% of what I read. From what I've researched though, this is a combat book based off the Lost Worlds game system. You'll need another book and an opponent of course. As of this writing, I have not read the english rules of Lost Worlds yet (but I've found one on the net).

What you get with the book is a character sheet, too. At the back is a short list of combat moves you can try out for the game.

Some of the combat moves listed are: Eirin and Yumil Double Attack, Eirin Downswing, Eirin Sideswing, Eirin Ironball, etc. - stuff like that.

But I did not buy this for the game so I don't need to understand the rules. I bought it for the pretty pictures. I haven't been reading any manga or anime-related mags for quite a long time. I used to buy Newtype almost religiously when I was in college. After some careful thought, I decided to start buying visual references, because that is the bulk of my work and I fear that I am stuck with an art style that's beginning to look rusty.

Anyway, below are some of the pages from the book (in random order). If you're a minor, better stay away! :) Enjoy!!!

The first page. To the left is the combat rules.

It gets ecchi as you move along...

Suddenly, Yumil has grown more womanly bossoms. A special move most likely.

In true Queen's Blade fashion, that mushroom they're licking gives you some other ideas...

If you are interested to buy one yourself, you can get it from HW Japan for a discounted price of ¥1,343 (shipping price not included). It is also available from HLJ, Hobby Search and probably other online shops. Take your pick.

Soda Pop Miniatures' Super Dungeon Explore

2010-11-20T22:10:00.000+08:00

Some of the stuff I've been working on for Soda Pop Mini's new game:

All artworks done by me and copyright © Soda Pop Miniatures. Please do not use without permission.

For more pictures of the actual miniature models (in color!) go to the Soda Pop Miniatures site or here (look for the pics under the heading "Gen Con Announcements". There are more monsters and heroes I've designed and I'm working on the newer waves of monsters and heroes right now, but I can't show it just yet. Stay tuned as the production progresses.

Queen's Blade Rebellion Eirin and Yumil Visual Book unboxing

2010-11-19T22:52:00.000+08:00

Okay, so this one came in the mail a few days ago. The 16th November, to be exact; and it was the postal service notice that came to our house, not the actual parcel. A quick run to the post office and voila! - My very first Queen's Blade Visual Combat Book!

This time, I ordered from HW Japan. I wanted to try out their online services and delivery as well. Processing the request was quick. Order confirmation and payment request came 2 days after I placed the order. Shipment notice came a day after that. Delivery method was SAL.

Delivery time to our local Post tool around 2 weeks (counting the weekends). I think that's the usual time it takes when shipping from Japan to our local post office. Unfortunately, the delivery notice took almost 2 weeks to get to me. (Bad! Bad post office! Hehe!) In total, I had to wait almost a month. I will not blame HW Japan, though, because they came through on their end.

On to the parcel.. It is neatly boxed just like the other shipment I got from Hobby Search. I noticed that the customs declaration form didn't include the shipping cost this time.

They can't decide if I am a male or female, so to be sure... (LOL)

Opening the box, you get... newspapers!!! Yay! Something to read at last. Just kidding. I can read hiragana and katakana like a snail, but it's either I don't understand what it means, or I just gather data via context I can understand.

Manga pages next time please. Hehe!

Underneath the top mass of crumpled periodical pages, is the statement of delivery and a neatly folded corrugated sheet. Taped and secured. This helps the goods from being damaged even if you shake the box. (Which is what I was doing on my way home from the post, being the excited little boy that I am. Ahem!)

More newspapers underneath. I wish they included the comics section...

Protected within the folded corrugated sheet is the merchandise. Don't start having funny thoughts now...

Oh my! What ARE they doing??

I close this post with a shot of the front cover. The review of the book itself will follow soon. Thanks for reading!

Loli? NO, I'm not into loli. Some people will have doubts though.

HW Japan, btw, has some good deals and you sometimes find hard to get items from their online shop. They sell model kits primarily, but offer other merchandise albeit in limited numbers.. In fact, I just missed the chance to buy a 2-pack SOC Tetsujin and Black Ox for Ұ2000 something. Almost bought it, had second thoughts, took the night to decide, the next day it was gone. Check out their store and you might find what you need.

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On a side note, I just picked up 2 more parcels from the post office today. One is from CD Japan and one from Hobby Search again. Happy!!! More on those next time.

Bakemongatari Nendoroid Petit Set #3

2010-11-18T09:22:00.001+08:00

I keep postponing this because of work, but I think I have a few minutes to post some quick pictures as promised. Here they are:

Here's the content of the box first:

What you get inside is a tray of goodies: Shinobu, Karen and Tsukihi figures, plus accessories: a sitting body for Shinobu, an arm with donut (her fave!), helmet, 3 extra arms for Karen plus a lower extremity in the kneeling position, 2 pairs of etra arms for Tsukihi plus a lower extremity in the kneeling position, 3 sets of base and stands.

Everything is well protected and covered by plastic. That's what I like about these figures' packaging (or Goodsmile's, in general). ^_^

OSHINO SHINOBU:

Oshino Shinobu is a vampire, so don't take her donuts.

The helmet is removable, obviously. It's made up of thin plastic. Do not chew.

ARARAGI KAREN and ARARAGI TSUKIHI:

"We're sisters! (in case you didn't notice)"

Karen's ponytail is on a peg joint so it can swivel up...

... and down.

"I heard that our owner also pre-ordered Set#2..."

"But Set #1 is already either overpriced or out of print. Too bad for him. Hehe!"

Next post: Queen's Blade Rebellion Eirin and Yumil!

Game Art, anyone?

2010-11-12T16:35:00.000+08:00

So I haven't been (digital) coloring much lately. But I'm starting to browse through anime art books and stuff and re-learn the process. So here's what I came up with...

Done via Paint Tool Sai. I'm pretty happy with it. It took my mind off work... even for a few hours.

My first experience with online shopping

2010-10-31T16:24:00.000+08:00

Actually, I've already been buying from ebay for a while, but only from a local shop that I regularly visit as well. I never tried buying online from foreign shops because I get a bit paranoid when I think about not getting items paid for, plus I hear the local customs here charge you an arm and a leg.

Then I decided to try shopping anyway and use the SAL shipping method instead of EMS. I don't mind waiting as long as I get the items I purchased. EMS, from what I heard, usually passes through the hands of the said customs people and is usually taxed big (especially bigger shipments). Plus, I hear that you had to pick it up yourself from their office/depot (which is too far away from my mountain home). I wouldn't want to gamble like that. Too much hassle with EMS.

Anyway, after careful thinking and a renewed outlook, I searched the net for legit online stores. I settled for Hobby Search, chose from a nice selection of items, and decided to go with the Nendoroid Petit Bakemonogatari Set# 3. I chose it because (1) I am currently watching the series and I like it, (2) I can use the nendos as reference for my chibi work, and (3) It was reasonably priced (discounted, in fact) and will not make me cry in case I don't get the package.

DELIVERY:

The transaction went well and after 2 weeks of waiting, I received the package via the good local postman two days ago. Pretty good estimate they got there in Japan (SAL takes 2-4 weeks they say). It may have helped that Japan is close to the Philippines. Now let's see if Hobby Search service is indeed okay...

Our regional post office got it exactly on the date I predicted. Exactly 2 weeks time. ^_^

Customs declaration form says the item is a "plastic kit". It also has the exact item and shipping price.

PACKAGING:

The SAL box is in pretty good condition when I got it. Paper tape sealing it firmly. Just a few dents and creases, but I did anticipate this as I was half-expecting the people who will handle the box will probably just throw it around even if it has the "fragile" or "handle with care" icon printed on the box.

Inside, it is cushioned on all sides , top and bottom with crumpled paper. It would have been nice if the cushions were pages from a manga eh? Something to read for me? Hehe! That's wishful thinking.

The box of the item itself is neatly covered in very thin, opaque paper for extra protection.

There's the bill of payment form right on top of everything.

Clearing up the crumpled paper on top reveals the item box neatly wrapped in very thin paper.

MAIN MERCHANDISE:

Now, here's the box of Nendo Petits itself! No damage whatsoever except for the minor crease line on the upper right corner of the display window. I don't mind though because it's near invisible and I'm not a MISB collector. I open my box of toys and play with it. ^_^ No complaints there.

That said, I think it's safe to say that Hobby Search is a trustworthy online store that really takes care of their merchandise and customer relations IMO. I will be buying the other Bakemonogatari sets from them again. I think set #2 is restocked. Only set#1 is hard to find these days as they contain the 3 main protagonists and I imagine that it will fly off shelves quickly.

I will post some pictures of the figures on my next entry. For now I keep them safely displayed on my display case along with the Nendos I bought from a recent local event.

TOP: Oshino Shinobu, Araragi Karen, Araragi Tsukihi

BOTTOM: Itasha Race car, Kagamine Rin, Hatsune Miku, Megurine Luka

Toy Review: Transformers Animated Ironhide

2010-08-25T17:20:00.001+08:00

I already gave up getting this figure after the TFA series ended and news of toy releases were getting cancelled. The last TFA figure I got was a loose Wreck-Gar (with a price tag of a new carded one).

The new TFA toys after Wreck-Gar, like Arcee, Cybertron Ratchet, etc. were either released only outside the Philippines (generally, only in the US) or being sold at insanely high prices on the net and at local hobby shops.

Then recently, I heard that the local Toys’R’Us picked up TFA Ironhide and Rodimus Minor. So when I finally got the chance to visit the nearest TRU, I immediately scoped out the TF shelves. Lucky me! There were 3 pieces of Ironhide sitting on the top shelf. The store clerk informed me that I was a few hours too late and all the Rodimus figs were already sold. Oh well, let’s see if my luck holds out the next time I leave the house.

On to the review...

THE PACKAGING

The figure is in the original TFA toy packaging – a carded, clear plastic container. In front you can see the toy in its alt mode – kinda like a futuristic van or something (just like Cybertron Ratchet’s)

There’s the usual TFA logo, the action-posed art of IH, and all the stuff that introduces the toy. It’s labeled a deluxe-class TF (the second to the smallest size of TF toys). It also touts the “Extending Iron Punch!” We’ll get to that later.

On the back of the card is a short bio of Ironhide, his abilities, and some pics of the other toys in the same wave at the bottom portion. That’s about it.

It is good to note that this time around Hasbro decided to use some stout paper strings to secure the toy on the plastic tray instead of twist wires. It’s environmentally friendlier and easier for you to remove the toy without damaging it. You can just untie it or snip it with scissors and lessen scratching your toy in the process.

Thank God for paper strings! Why didn't they think of that before?

It is also good to note that the price has been jacked up from the old P699.75 to P999.75. It is a small price to pay for a hard to find item. Try buying it from E-Bay or a collector’s shop and you’ll see!

THE TOY

Let’s start with the alt mode. It kinda reminds you of a turtle or Ghost in the Shell’s Fuchikoma. I think it is very accurately colored and very Ironhide. The treads also remind me of the classic Masters of the Universe Attack Trak’s. Remember that, classic collector’s? Don’t let the look fool you though. This mode is sturdy as a tree trunk. It won’t sag even if you put another TF on top of it (unlike TFA Shockwave’s floppy treads). The back treads lock on to positioned pegs, and the front pair is moveable but not loose.

It comes with a pair of hammer hands that clip to the back end of the roof. I kinda had trouble there at first. Here’s what happened: I was looking at the instructions and on step 1 it says (or rather, not say anything) that you have to remove something from the back part of the toy. At first, I thought it was some form of back plate that covered the internals. I went, “What the $#@%!!! Did I just buy something that was missing a part?!” I was already ready to march to TRU and demand a replacement, when it struck me that the “missing back plate” was actually the hammer hands! Glad I figured that out instead of making an ass out of myself.

The problem lies in the fact that the hammer hands were separated from the alt mode out of the box. So with Step 1 illustrating that you had to remove "something" from the back, you're first instinct is to look for something "attached" to the back of the toy.

Maybe next time Hasbro should be more specific and helpful with instructions. (Actually, the whole instruction set for IH is a bit confusing. @_@)

Okay, enough with that rant. I find IH’s alt mode to be very good. All the robot parts are cleverly hidden. The only thing giving it away are the legs folded underneath. Overall, awesome!

Don't look underneath! My crotch is undone!

TRANSFORMATION

1. From the back end, unclip the legs from the pegs. You need a bit of twisting and turning to spread out the legs.

2. You need to clip the knees securely to the legs to avoid floppy Ironhide robot mode.

3. Flip out the feet from the bottom of the treads and turn the whole leg around.

4. Extend the front hood. Push the front treads towards the center and make sure you secure the bottom portion of the treads on the silver-grey pegs found on the midsection/crotch area.

5. Fold the hood down to cover the front treads.

6. Unclip the shoulder guards from the vehicle roof. With a bit of some complicated twisting, you should be able to spread out the arms.

7. Fold down the roof and secure the shoulder pivots to the recessed area on the sides of IH’s body.

8. Flip out IH’s head and you got an almost show-accurate Ironhide!!! You can clip the Hammerhands on each hand now.

"Admit it, I make TFA look good!"

Light piping... check!

ARTICULATION

Ironhide has very good articulation for a toy of his bulk. Plus, I find that most of his joints are pretty solid. (Sometimes, I’m afraid I’ll break a joint) The head is on a ball joint that can turn 360º and look up and down a wee bit. The neck is on a swivel so he can look way up if you fold it back (like when you transform him back to alt mode). The shoulders are ball-jointed so you have in-out movement as well as turn it 360º all around. The upper arm has a swivel cut so you can twist the upper arm around. The elbows are double jointed! You can turn the wrist 360º.

Moving down, we can see that Ironhide doesn’t have a waist joint. I don’t mind because it helps make the toy sturdier. Besides, the transformation process does not allow such a joint to exist.

There is a balljoint at the hips, swivel cuts at the thighs near the knees. Swivel joint for the knees, and swivels for the feet.

As you can imagine, he can really make some cool poses with those joints. This is actually one of the things that make the TFA line very attractive to me – the pose ability of the toy.

FINAL VERDICT
If you’re a TFA fan and you see this on the store shelf, go buy it! You won’t be disappointed. Plus, it’s a very rare figure to find in the local toy shelves.

Now, I need to hunt down Rodimus and ease my worried mind…

EXTRA STUFF TO KNOW:

-TFA Ironhide’s manual has a picture of Cybertron Ratchet instead of him. This is because they share the same body mold and transformation process. The only difference is the head sculpt and the colors. This probably explains why Ironhide also has the recessed area on his left forearm for attaching Ratchet’s EMP weapon. (You can get that if you buy TFA Lockdown)

-The pair of hammer hands clips to the alt mode’s roof only one way. You can’t interchange the position.

-His "Extending Iron Punch" can extend to about a half centimeter. Talk about extra reach! Hehe!

"Just push that little button thingy over there and my hand turns into a pseudo jackhammer on command!"

-As mentioned earlier, you can fit Ratchet's EMP weapon on IH's left forearm. Locking it in place activates the "automorph" feature of the weapon.

-If you’re a good modder, you can actually buy 2 IHs and spray paint the other with silver or any metallic color you want to simulate the “indestructible” version.

Hero Factory... Animated!

2010-08-18T05:59:00.000+08:00

Nah! This isn't the official cartoon design, but Lego will come up with a 3D TV series I think. I just wanted to play around with the designs of the toy and use the "Transformers Animated" edgy-style art.

It would have been easier on my hands if the comics had less details like this, but I won't complain:

I will probably review the toys in the next post. Enjoy!

Shameless Plug: Hero Factory Comics

2010-08-15T07:04:00.001+08:00

So it's been a while since I last posted anything in here. Below is the reason why:

Hero Factory for DC/Lego! It's been released during the last San Diego Comic Con as an exclusive, I think (a few weeks back?) and so have the toys. I've been working on this miniseries for quite sometime now and still expecting one more 12-pager to come pretty soon. It's a bit of a challenge for me because of the super-techno detailing on the characters.

The first issue was done with simple product shot refs, so half the time I was drawing via guesswork. By the time I was finished with the 1st issue, the toy refs came and, boy, it made a world of difference! ^_^

Anyway, if you didn't go to the SDCC, don't fret. You can still read the full comics here (or download the PDF):
http://herofactory.lego.com/en-US/Comics/comic1/1.aspx

Below are two pages of line art I made for the comics (but I made all 12 pages, of course). I'm sure it's okay to show it now because the comics has already been released for quite some time.

*Hero Factory and the illustrations shown here is the property of DC and Lego.

My two happy boys:

Toycon 2010 + 3 days of Father's Day

2010-06-21T23:14:00.001+08:00

This will be short. yes, we have been celebrating Father's day since the 19th up to today.

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DAY 1 (June 19th)
As an advanced father's day present, my wife let me attend the Toycon 2010 event at the Megatrade Hall in Megamall. Maybe I was too excited to go to the event that I forgot to bring my digital camera. I was stuck with my phone's inferior camera instead, so I am vey lazy to snap pics (since I know I'll be getting crappy photos anyway.

Oddly enough, I bought all my toys from outside the event. (But the shops I got them from did participate in the Toycon) Mostly just picked up pre-ordered items. I was tempted to buy some stuff at the event, but I just can't find a good deal that will really make me fork over the moolah.

Some of the toys I got on that day:
S.I.C. Hero Saga Den-O Special + S.I.C. Den-O Wing Form:

S.I.C. Kiwami Tamashii Ryuuki:

As always, there' a good deal of items in the event: comics (because they're also celebrating DC comics' 75th year), statues, anime goodies and merchandise, shirts, and of course... TOYS! Tons of 'em!

There's also a good show of cosplayers to make the event even more interesting. Cosplayers ranged from young kids to teens (and maybe some adults?). Costumes are either getting bigger and bigger (like mecha cosplayers) or scarce (like scantily-clad anime characters). My fellow comic book artists had their own booth at one end of the event area. I made good this opportunity that I wasn't part of the "selling side" to buy their comics that I always fail to browse.

I was actually looking for bargain KR or Macross stuff that had a good, reasonable price tag. Unfortunately, I didn't see any. The items either had bad quality or the price was too hefty for me. I think I saw more interesting deals last year.

Over all, I had a lot of fun by just walking around the event area and browsing goods from different sellers, talking to friends and viewing the different gigs happening on stage.

I also joined in the event's "Toy Clicks" Photography contest. I don't really expect to win because I suck at photography. Hehe! My entry's on the topmost row, 3rd from the left.

Here's a larger picture of my entry.

---------------------------------------------
DAY 2 (June20th, Father's Day)

This was supposed to be day 2 of the Toycon, too. There may be new stocks of toys, but I decided not to go because:
(a) We were supposed to celebrate this day with the family (my own dad included)
(b) I've had my fill of toy purchase for a while and didn't need to buy anymore, until...

We went to Toy Kingdom at the mall and I found these KR W candy toys:

Couldn't resist buying 3 of the series because of the play factor of the toys. The quality will most likely suck and proportions are a bit on the ugly side, but it has something I always wanted for a Kamen Rider W toy - body swapping to make W's different combinations! Yeah!

Maybe I'll make a detailed review of this candy toy next time. For now, just some initial pics.

----------------------------------------
DAY 3 (June 21st, post Father's Day)

Simple plan - watch Toy Story 3!!! ... simply put, we did watch the 3d version of the movie. After watching it, I had the urge to take out all my toys and play with them. Hehe! A good family movie! We had fun! It was our youngest son's first movie, too. :)

Looking back, this has got to be the best Father's Day celebration I have ever had. It's fun to just sit back and relax with your family every once in a while. A big thanks to my wife and 2 kids, my family, and all those who left greetings.

Some 2nd-hand Kamen Rider DX items I bought

2010-06-15T22:37:00.000+08:00

I got these last week from a fellow forum member at Cybertron Philippines. Couldn't resist the temptation to get 'em since the price offered was very cheap compared to new ones. Let's inspect them one by one:

DX DRAGVISOR ZWEI

From Kamen Rider Ryuki (or kamen Rider Dragon Knight in the US), this is the "card reader/weapon" Ryuki uses in his Survive mode. Gotta admit that I still have to watch KR Ryuki so I can't say much how this thing is used in the series. All I know is that the Advent Cards Ryuki takes from his "V-buckle" is inserted into the Dragvisor to summon weapons (like his sword / "Sword Vent") or contract beasts (like his giant dragon, or "Final Vent", I think).

Okay, so the thing that makes this toy fun is that it makes a different sound depending on the cards you insert in it. Also, there is such a thing as the ordinary Dragvisor that can only read Ryuki's cards. The Zwei version I have can read all cards of all riders. How cool is that! The cards have set punched holes on it so the card reader in the toy can recognize what it is. I didn't really know how fun it is to play with it untilI bought it home. ^_^

The bad thing about this item I bought is that it is the most damaged item in the lot. I also bought it loose, so that means no box or manual. Also, the cards that came with it wasn't all Ryuki's but rather random Advent Cards. (all the better though since it proved that it can read any card regardless of the Rider) I plan to sand and re-paint all the scratches on it's body and make it look better. (if not accurately painted)

So it looks like this now...

I have spray painted the horns brass instead of gold and I plan to coat the whole thing with Wipe 'N' Shine to give it an overall glossy look. Hopefully it will look a whole lot better after the "operation"

There's also a clear plastic window covering the cards when inserted that has a scratch on it:

I decided to just use my trusted oil-based fine liner to cover that ugly scratch. The bad thing about it is that if you put a light-colored card in the card holder, the black line I made becomes very visible. A problem I failed to anticipate. Anyway, most of the cards have dark colors.

One thing I noticed about the Dragvisor Zwei is that it sometimes reads the cards wrong. When I opened the thing, I noticed 7 pins inside the card reader that touch on the 7 possible card holes in every card. Don't know why it reads them wrong sometimes. Maybe the original owner didn't take care of it much. :(

Don't mind SIC Kiwami Wild Chalice. He's gonna be the topic of another toy review. ^_^

I am hoping to finish re-painting the thing soon so I can play with it some more. Hehe!

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DX KUUGA BELT

From Kamen Rider Kuuga, comes the DX Kuuga Henshin Belt. Don't know much about the original Kuuga as well. I only watched the Kuuga in the Kamen Rider Decade series. I know very little about him since the Kuuga series is even older than Ryuki.

I got this item in a box. A very sorry looking, torn and almost garbage bin-quality box. Just see for yourself:

The nice thing about it is... the belt inside is in almost perfect condition! Just a bit of small (almost unnoticeable) scratches in some select areas. The most evident is the chipped paint off the purple (Titan Form) button and the area near it. And another small paint chip on the right side of the belt near the power switch.

The belt has less gimmick than the Dragvisor Zwei. You turn it on via the power switch on the right side of the belt and choose any of the 4 colored buttons in front. Namely, the Dragon (blue), Mighty (red), Pegasus (green), and Titan (purple) Form buttons, in that order. Plus you get the Action button on the left which activates the henshin sound for each Form.

This belt is LOUD! It is the loudest one in the lot. Why? Because it has 2 speakers positioned underneath the power switch and action button. Talk about surround sound! The downside is, it will drain your batteries (2x AA) very fast.

Lastly, I can't put this thing on my waist. Too much fat prevents me from doing this. Hehe!!! But I can try removing the plastic belt strap and putting an adult belt in it. But not now. Maybe some time in the future. I want to preserve its original form for the meantime.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
DX CHALICE ROUZER BELT

This one's from Kamen Rider Blade series. Now I watched this series from start to finish, including the movies and specials. So among the three, I can appreciate this toy the most.

In Kamen Rider Blade, there are 4 main Riders representing the 4 suits in a card deck - Blade (spade), Garren (diamond), Leangle (club), and Chalice (heart). The theme of the story is that the 4 Riders try to capture monsters (or "Undead" in the series) and imprison them in cards (each of them can capture up to 13 - that's from ace to king). The Undead they capture become cards with special powers that they can use via the Rouzer weapons they have. It's sort of like Yugioh and Magic CCGs. Cards can also be used in combos yielding bigger damage of course.

The Chalice Rouzer belt's fun factor is like the Dragvisor's - you swipe different Rouze Cards (as they call it in the show) on the belt and it says different phrases for each (depending on the card's barcode). Yup! There's a barcode reader on the belt. I heard that there are some Ganbaride cards (from Kamen Rider Decade's Deacadriver - another barcode reading DX item) that even work on the belt. I tried the Ganbaride card I got from my son's Kiva Vinyl toy shown below. Unfortunately, the belt only gave me an error sound.

I also got myself a complete set of barcodes from off the net somewhere for all the Riders' cards. I tried to scale down all the Chalice codes to the actual barcode size and stuck them to my KO Yugioh cards and all worked like a charm except for the Change, Fusion, and Absorb cards that yielded errors. Maybe the print ain't too good. I will try to print it again someday and try the others, too.

The best thing about this belt is that it is in almost mint condition. The box is a bit beat in some areas but still acceptably decent overall. The toy came clean in it's plastic tray with most of the parts still in it's plastic bag. It also came with the original instruction manual. Plus, its previous owner even included his own home-made Rouze cards - basically, just the barcode prints stuck to Duel Master Cards. Haha! It didn't work though because of the poor condition of the print and the cards.

Like the Kuuga belt, this toy is a few inches short for my waist (okay, maybe several inches!). But I am waiting for the DX belt extenders recently released by Bandai to come to our shores to make this fit me (I heard it sold out quickly, so I am assuming Bandai will make more since it's popular). I won't be wearing this to work anyway. Hehe!

Overall, I am happy with my purchase. The dirt cheap price itself justifies it. Plus, my kids are happier when I let them play with it. They're Kamen Rider fans themselves!

My interview at The Blurb

2010-06-11T09:47:00.001+08:00

Just some shameless plug. Hahaha!!!

http://jonasdiego.com/theblurb/2010/06/elmer-damaso/

Have fun! :)

Some Kamen Rider artworks I made

2010-06-05T12:40:00.000+08:00

Just wanted to share these here. Enjoy!!!

Btw, I do B&W artwork commissions if anyone's interested. ^_^'

S.I.C. Limited Red Doras

2010-05-31T20:11:00.002+08:00

S.I.C. Limited Red Doras (2007)

I mentioned in my earlier review of SH Figuarts TheBee that I wanted S.I.C. Vol. 50 Kabuto to be my first S.I.C. figure. However, after buying TheBee and reserving Kabuto, I went to the neighboring hobby store and what do I find? I found out that (coincidentally) it was their first day of discount sale! I rarely go out of my mountain home so I browsed through their sale items...

Sure enough Red Doras was part of their sale! I was eyeing this particular figure for the longest time that I can remember. I passed it off several times for maybe a year or two. (Now I'm regretting that I didn't buy S.I.C. Faiz when he was on sale at the same store... oh well...) Without much hesitation, I picked it up and paid for it. Done!

So basically, Red Doras became my first ever S.I.C. figure. He beat Kabuto by a month or so. A very memorable first figure for me.

A bit about S.I.C.s first: In a nutshell, it is supposed to be a re-imagining of Kamen Rider characters as originally envisioned by Mr. Shotaro Ishinomori - the creator of the series, in the manga version. Designs for S.I.C.s are more organic-looking as opposed to the "men-in-suits" look that we see on TV and are more familiar with. Originally, I think they were meant to be display pieces only. The very early releases had limited to no articulation at all. Some had part swapping gimmicks, I think. It's the killer details that set it apart from most figure lines though.

S.I.C. stands for "Super Imaginative Chogokin". It boasts 4 points of sellability:
1.) New Material (I dunno. It smells just like my new G.I. Joes)
2.) High Quality (2 thumbs up!)
3.) Play Value (More on this later)
4.) Originality
Now on to our review proper!

DETAIL:
While I can't stop posing SH Figuarts toys, I can't stop staring at S.I.C. figures. Red Doras, for example, is just awesome to look at. The sculptor (Kenji Ando) really put a lot of time on this one. It's like there's no wasted sculpt on this figure. Muscles, veins, layered scales or armor all come together perfectly to make Red Doras as badass as can be. He's a really imposing figure. At first we even hid it from the kids because it might cause them nightmares. Hehe! Even his joints have been carefully planned, hidden and have some details on it to make it less look like a joint.

He has clear parts for his eyes and the jewel things on his belt. When you say “gokin”, you’re supposed to expect a good amount of die cast on the figure, but in Doras’ case the only “gokin” on him is the heart thingy you place inside his chest. There’s actually another “heart” made of plastic but I like the heavier die cast one though. I think SH Figuarts TheBee had more gokin on his 2 feet.

Detail gets 10 out of 10! I’d give it a 20 if it was mathematically possible.

ARTICULATION:
This is where this figure fails a bit. Doras has very limited movement on him. His neck can tilt up and down and turn around 5-10 degrees only because of the collar design. He can turn his shoulders around a full 360 degrees, but fail to make outward movements again because of the design. Although his elbow has a swivel and ball joint combo, he can only bend it 90 degrees. Wrists can turn around 360 and have some outward and inward movement.

His torso is cut between the upper and lower portion by a weird connection – something like 2 small snap pegs holding it together. This makes forward and backward bends possible, but in a wobbly kind of way. The waist turns around a full 360. Hips are limited again because of the protrusions on his hips/top of his thighs. Knees are on a double ball joint but can only bend 90 degrees. Ankles can make 90 degree turns but have limited outer/inner movement.

Oh yeah, his jaw or “Crusher” can open and close a bit to show some of his teeth. It really adds to the menace/scare factor and a very welcome addition.

Doras also has a pair of tail attachments – a short version and a full length one. The full length tail has this bendy gimmick so you can pretty much twist it around.

Articulation gets 5 out of 10.

ACCESSORIES:
Doras’ accessories include: a pair of open hands, a pair of tails (the short and full length mentioned above), and a pair of antenna that you attach to his noggin. Better super glue the tiny things, because it accidentally fell off my figure a couple or so times. I was lucky to find it every time even though it’s made out of clear plastic.

Doras doesn’t get a lot of items, but it’s not like you’d expect him to come with a machine gun and a bag full of ammo. More variations of the hands would have been appreciated though.

Accessories get 6 out of 10.

So should I be sorry for buying S.I.C. Limited Red Doras? Definitely NOT!!! He may not be as poseable as the current S.I.C. figures, but he makes up for it by utra-mind boggling detail. I am still amazed by it.

It is good to note that there is a S.I.C. Vol. 26 that carries a Green Doras and Kamen Rider ZO figure. I would love to have that set if I find it here locally.

Here's a little hint for my next review...

SH Figuarts TheBee

2010-04-16T23:00:00.001+08:00

It's been a long while since I posted anything here...

One day, I went to the hobby store to have a S.I.C. Vol. 52: Kabuto reserved. I wanted it to be my first S.I.C. figure because I watch Kamen Rider Kabuto and like it very much. I don't know why I suddenly became very fascinated with the Masked Rider figs. Maybe because there aren't any new Macross Frontier kits to buy. ^_^"

Anyway, I didn't want to go home empty handed, so I decided to buy myself an SH Figuarts figure. TheBee was my first choice as I like the character designs on him a lot. (Though I didn't like the character in the show much - TheBee zecter was passed amongst different characters and never had a good owner to keep). This figure surprised me. In fact, it caught me off guard! The articulation on this figure is more than enough to make me wet my pants with excitement. It's unbelievable. It's insane! It's awesome! It's making me run out of adjectives. I was posing it differently every 30 minutes or so. It was always in front of me even when I work.

First off, this is a pretty solid figure. It has a pair of diecast feet that makes it pretty stable in almost any pose. Shoulders, neck, elbows, hips, and knees are all double jointed. The ankles almost have the same movement capability of a real human ankle. I can't describe how well this figure can pose itself, but maybe the pics below can give you an idea of how poseable it really is. With regards to the looks, it is almost dead-on show-accurate. I think that's where the SH Figuarts action figure line really shines - incredible articulation and accurate detailing.

Accessories include an extra pair of open hands, thebee zecters in masked mode and cast-off mode... and that's about it. Unless you include the manual stuck to the card back.

Things to watch out for: my figure's left knee cap keep falling off so I had to glue it on. The die cast feet will wear over time after several poses and playtime as it always scrapes itself on the floor or wherever you leave your figure. I coated my figure's feet and the shiny parts with Pledge Wipe 'N' Shine. It is a tough acrylic based coating originally for floors, but modelers use it also as a super glossy clear coat sometimes. I use it also to attach decals to my new kits and it works like a charm. More on that in another post though.

Without further ado, enjoy the action pics of SH Figuarts TheBee below! (Honestly, I think this toy line rocks! If only it were as ultra-detailed as SICs)

I've never seen an action figure cross both arms and legs with style.

Ka... Me... Ha...ME...

...Wave!!! (...and, yes, SH Figuarts also have DBZ figures)

"I ... can't reach... my shoes..."

A "short" review of the 1/72 Super VF-25F + more pics

2010-01-12T18:17:00.001+08:00

Okay, so I decided to go ahead and transform it and bask in its wondrous glory even before I got done with the coloring of the fists (which happens to be uncolored until now, hence, no pictures of the battroid mode gripping the rifle). Also, I did not color and assemble the landing gears (like in my 25G) because I wasn't going to use it anyway. I always use the display stand instead.

FIGHTER MODE:
Good look overall. Been looking at it in this mode for the longest time. EVER. Took me the whole latter half of 2009 to get this kit done. Whew! But don't get the wrong impression. It's not a difficult kit to build as long as you follow the instructions carefully and be mindful of the orientation of the parts. It's just that I was swamped with work left and right until the holidays. It's decently sturdy for display purposes only. The only problem is that the legs don't lock on to anything so they tend to sag when placed on top of the display base. (A problem addressed in the Armored VF-25s and VF-27 kits, I hear. Haven't checked out my Armored Ozma yet, so I can't verify myself.) Thankfully, the layers of flat clear paint on the hip joints helped a little, but it also made the legs a bit TOO sturdy. Attaching the wing boosters on and off is also a bit difficult at first, but I got used to the technique after a few tries. (You will be doing it a lot during the transformation process)

Compared to the 25G, the shield on the 25F locks on to the fighter mode better. It won't fall off even if you shake it. It might be attributed to the layers of clear paint I sprayed on the whole kit.

Things to look out for:
- The hip piece that locks on to the side of the intakes still doesn't do anything other than cover the exposed interior mechanism on the sides of the fighter. I guess it was supposed to be a covering AND a means to lock the legs up in fighter mode, but it does a bad job of both. I hope the newer kits don't have this problem.
- The fuselage portion where the large boosters attach is very fragile and you should take care in working the boosters in.

GERWALK MODE:
There are 2 modes to this: the one with the arms tucked in, and the one with the arms stretched out. Let's tackle both.

First, with the arms tucked in, the gerwalk mode is sturdier (you can also have the rifle sticking out in the underbelly - cool!) The legs have a good range of motion except you can't get a wide stance in this mode. Transformation is easy - just pull down the legs in the chicken stance and stretch out the ankle portion to open up the feet. Done.

Now, with the arms outstretched, you need to take out the boosters (see? told ya) and the 2 missile racks sitting on top of the main body. You also pull out the shield at the back and the locking hands keeping the 2 arms together and the shield in place. You also "unlock" the hips (like it was locked in the first place?) and pull out the hips and legs outwards (giving it slightly more wider stances). Now you swing out the arms out to the side and in front. place the shield on to the arm and give it the hands that you want (you can choose between open hands or closed fists, or a combination of both... no, there is no nose-picking hand! haha!). Put back the boosters and the missile racks in its respective places. Voila! Done!

In this mode, it loses some of its sturdiness and it really feels relatively fragile. DX fans probably don't have this sinking feeling of breaking their gerwalk mode VF-25s. Many have complained that the Super packs' weight tend to pull down the wing and rear portion of the gerwalk. I don't have this problem. Again, the clear coats saved me a lot of tears and the swivel of the main body and wings is rock-solid.

Regardless of the slightly less "stability" on the gerwalk, I still like to see this kit in this mode. It has made the Macross mecha unique IMHO.

Things to look out for:
-although the wing and back portion is solid in my kit, the front fuselage and cockpit tend to slide down and open up a bit
-attaching the missile racks in its place is a bit difficult since the legs are outstretched and the underbelly has opened up a bit, hence, you have less places to press on. Take extra care. On the other hand, if you don't attach them properly, they will fall out of place a lot.

BATTROID MODE:
This is my favorite mode!... but not without problems.

First, I screwed up the groin portion. The front plate is supposed to "pop" out once transformed in this mode. But too much clear coat layers kinda stuck it in the "non-popped" out form. It didn't help that I super glued the whole groin assembly because the front plate kept coming off while transforming the kit. Now I can't remedy the problem. I haven't tried pulling it out with a precision tool yet. Maybe soon.

My next gripe would have to be knee articulation. A 15 to 20-degree knee movement just isn't a lot, yes? The lower leg lost its range of motion thanks to the additional leg booster behind it. The plain vanilla VF-25 doesn't have this problem. I'm glad I didn't buy separate super packs for all my kits. Whew!

I won't go into detail with the transformation process because it's a bit complex. To say simply, it is like a fish fillet in mid transformation, and just as fragile. I can't wait to finish the gripping hands and pose it with the rifle. Overall, this is how I plan to display it. (Now, if only our house was bigger and I can buy that display case...)

Things to look out for:
-transformation needs very careful hands and a lot of patience. Tip in transforming the cockpit area and front fuselage: when tucking it behind the chest plate, it is better to just remove the chest piece first, then secure it again after the cockpit and fuselage is securely tucked in.
-the knees! the knees! I'm kinda anxious how the Armored VF-25s work the knees.
-the bent wing assembly with the boosters don't lock its position, so it tends to swing a bit while moving the battroid
-don't forget to open the landing gear doors before flipping down the nosecone. Confident in my memory of its transformation scheme, I decided not to pay close attention to the transformation instructions and I forgot about the said doors. I tried in frustration to tuck in the fuselage behind the chest piece to no avail. That's when I decided to look at the manual again and saw my folly.

I end this entry with notes to myself (and to others who wish to buy and build the kit):
- Clear coat is good for tightening some joints, but be careful where you spray it. Don't spray too much on the ball joints of the neck (spinning my battroid's head was like working a revoltech joint. haha!), the swivel joint that turns the arms around, the hip joints, and the mechanism that pulls or tucks in the ankles. Do spray a good amount on the swivel that holds the wing assembly though. But not too much. ^_-
- I don't use Tamiya clear coats because it costs an arm and a leg. I only use Bosny Flat Clear Acrylic Epoxy on this kit. (I used the shiny clear version on my 25G) Make sure the paint is completely dry between coats. It makes for a tougher protective layer. Flat clear coat (mentioned above) helps hide some minor discoloration caused by sanding and cutting.
- Next time I paint the clear portion of the cockpit canopy, I will paint underneath it and do the panel lining of the canopy on the outer portion. I ruined the canopy of this kit because the black on the panel lines ran on the clear colored portions.
- transformation really wears down some of the decals especially around the edges, but I shall call this... weathering effects. hahaha!!!
- I will duplicate the process of painting the missiles I used on this kit on the Armored VF-25S that I have. It works!!! :)

My next project: The 1/72 RVF-25 and the Ghosts. YAY!

*For more pics, just browse my photobucket account with the Finished Super VF-25F album. Thanks for reading.

Super VF-25F Finished

2009-12-31T14:14:00.000+08:00

Actually, I am still working on the hands and some of the accessories, so I'll be keeping this kit in Fighter mode until I'm 100% done. :)

For anyone wondering how I colored the missiles, I only used a nice toothpick and Elmer's glue (or any white glue that doesn't run much). Squeezed some glue on a mixing dish, dipped the flat/butt end of the toothpick and applied the glue on the missile tips. Let the glue dry completely, then spray paint it with white (in my case, a light grey plastic primer). When the paint has dried, remove the glue off the tips with a craft knife (like removing a liquid mask). Trim excess/unwanted paint with the knife as well. It's not perfect, but it works! My gamble paid off. Hehe!

When I'm done with the hands and stuff, I'll make better pictures with better backgrounds. Haha!!! Enjoy the pics below. Happy New Year!!!

Now, back to more WORK...

Super VF-25F Almost Done! YAY!

2009-12-23T12:54:00.000+08:00

Only stuff left unbuilt are the pair of missile pods, hands, and miscellaneous items for the display stand/base. I've coated everything with flat clear acrylic epoxy (good for tightening the joints at the right amounts). Only the interior gun barrel is coated with gloss (actually used Pledge Wipe & Shine - perfect even for clear polystyrene).

Pics below:

1/72 Macross Frontier Super VF-25F build update

2009-11-30T09:09:00.000+08:00

1/72 SUPER VF-25F MESSIAH UPDATE:
I've been working on this kit for months and I'm still not done. Anyway, I am pretty happy with the results of my turtle-pace building progress and the results. Hehe! I'm also pretty sure that Brera's unit - the VF-27 Lucifer kit is just around the corner. I'll probably be purchasing it before the year is done. (To think that two of my MF kits are still untouched - the RVF-25 and the Armored VF-25S!) I will be very busy kit building 'till next year... If I find time to work on it, that is.

Anyway, pictures below of my (still) unfinished kit:

Sheryl Nome Speed Sketch

2009-10-29T04:24:00.000+08:00

So it's already 4:15am and I've just finished an all-nighter for K-Zone Australia. Still have some energy left before retiring, so I made this speed sketch of Galactic Songstress, Sheryl Nome of Macross Frontier. Finished it around 10 minutes, I think, while switching between Manga Studio and the photo ref I found over the net. She's wearing her final concert dress here.

Maybe I'll clean this up sometime... and color it... ?

Also found this picture of a cosplayer named Saya. I think she's the most decent-looking Sheryl Nome cosplayer I found over the net. In fact, I think she fits the bill perfectly. If only she can sing as great as May'n (Sheryl's seiyuu)...

Banpresto Klan Klang DX figure

2009-10-23T16:10:00.003+08:00

Picked up a few checks 2 days ago and took a side trip to Greattoys in Greenhills to pick this up...

... it's Macross Frontier's micronized Klan Klang... in a one piece bikini!!! YAY!!!

Now before you start thinking dirty thoughts about me, let me explain. First, I can't afford the bigger anime statues/statuettes. This Klan figure is part of a Banpresto prize item that can only be won in Japanese convenience stores, I think. There are bigger figures of full-height Klan Klang (which I really adore!), also a full figure Ranka Lee and Sheryl Nome. All of them can be had at 800yen (assuming you win it).

How I wish I was in Japan or I had a friend who lives there!!! I'd probably be trying my luck everyday.

Anyway, this is all I can afford. I know the price on the box says "P1000", but I got it for only P880 (Thank you Sir Malvin of GT!) It should have been priced only at around P400 (the direct monetary equivalent), but given that it saved me the trip to Japan, I'd say it was a steal!

Originally, I had the Ranka Lee DX figure pre-ordered from GT and had Sir Malvin hunt this Klan fig. Turns out Klan Klang came out first. Had it reserved immediately. I just had to. This is my first Macross Frontier character figure. If anyone's been reading my blog, you'll know that I am a solid Macross fan. (especially Frontier and the original 80's series and movie, "Do You Remember Love?") I've collected all 4 of the VF-25 kits and I'm eagerly awaiting the VF-27 Lucifer kit. (coming November)

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Ranka Lee figure this month. And I will be looking forward to the Sheryl Nome DX figure coming next year. (Sheryl's the sexiest in the DX figure line). I also pre-ordered the Half-Age Macross figure set coming January. Can't wait for that, too.

Am I mentioning Macross too much? I grew up with it and I love it so much! I started drawing anime in the style of Haruhiko Mikimoto after all. I still love his dreamy style of artwork. I miss drawing that way.

Anyway, I end with more pics of my (soon to be favorite) figure, Klan Klang! Enjoy!!!

You open the box and this is what you get: The klan figure sans the legs, a pair of legs (of course), and the display base (which I would've prefered if they stuck an "SMS" logo there somewhere with Klang's name)

She really looks cute!!! I have her placed on my bookshelf above my PC and workplace. The details on the figure isn't too sharp, but it's okay with me. There's also an almost invisible seam line running from under her armpits down to the sides of her bikini. I'll let that slide as well. ^_^

The paint job is good overall. No smudges or smears anywhere in my figure. The bikini area has this light flesh tone in certain places. This is probably to mimic a "wet look" (?) or it's supposed to be made of dangerously thin material. Haha! Anyway, I like the effect a lot. Not in a lecherous way... I assure you! The eyes seem to be stamped on and not painted. It is probably done that way to ensure quality and uniformity. Nice!

I hope Banpresto does a full Zentraedi Klan Klang DX figure someday. She's the only figure missing from the main cast. The sculptors will more or less give her a bikini 2-3 sizes smaller. "^_^" I hope my wife will not kill me if I buy one someday. Ahaha!!! The Sheryl Nome DX fig is risque enough.

Eagerly awaiting Ranka Lee DX figure...

Cat's Trail new blog!!!

2009-10-22T22:00:00.001+08:00

Since we've already launched CT last Sunday at the Komikon '09, I've decided to give it it's own site. This is to separate it from the rest of the craziness of my life. Of course, everyone is still welcome to go here and check out what else is happening with me. (This is probably gonna be filled with my toys, kits, thoughts, and my other works... or non-work illustrations)

Also, when you head on to the site, please feel free to join the mailing list. It's my first time to use one, so please bear with me for a while. The purpose of the mailing list is to be able to inform the CT fans of new posts/news on the CT site or if we have exclusive info to be fed only through the mailing list. Mailing list members won't miss anything CT-related. So join now!

Feel free to leave messages on the tag board, too! You might just catch me online. ^_^

So head on to: ctrewind.blogspot.com now!!!

Post Komikon 2009

2009-10-20T16:04:00.005+08:00

First thing's first...

MARAMING SALAMAT PO SA INYONG LAHAT!!! :)

I usually post in english here in my blog, pero tatagalugin ko na lang po this time. First time po namin mag-self publish ng aking asawang si Cornelia (or Mei sa komiks). Aaminin ko pong sobra ang aming kaba at excitement sa event nung Linggo. Meron pa nga bang tatangkilik ng isang lumang obrang matagal nang wala sa sirkulasyon? Nagbibiruan pa nga kami ilang araw bago yung event - sabi ko meron nang mga 30 tao ang nagkumpirmang bibili. Hahaha! Kinakatakot ko lang kasi na baka hindi namin maabot ang iba pang taong interesado sa aming gawa. Post sa Facebook, post sa Friendster, post sa blog at sa DeviantArt. Hindi na ito Culture Crash. Ito'y isang indibidwal na pagkilos na lang ng dating dibuhista sa nasabing publikasyon. Isang desisyon upang mabigyan ng katapusan ang nasimulang kuwento.

Hindi din ito C3Con. Wala kaming higanteng booth na puno ng mga banners at posters na nakaposisyon sa gitna ng venue. Ang aming mesa ay balot lang ng kaparehong table cloth sa ibang mesa. Dinamitan lang namin ng manila paper para matakpan ang ilalalim, at nilagyan ng kung anu-ano'ng printout na hindi nagamit. Nilagyan din namin ng doodle area sa table top mismo na suhestiyon na din ng aking asawa upang mapasaya ang lugar namin. Laban sa naglalakihang tables na may mga higanteng tarps at streamers, parang pulubi lang kami doon. :(

10:00 AM. Simula ng event. Nung mga unang minuto ay parang konti pa lang ang mga tao. Wala pa ngang pumupunta sa table namin until after mga 10 o 15 minutes. Mabagal ang simula, pero mga bandang tanghali ay nagsimula nang dumami ang mga tao.

Nakakatuwang makita at makausap ang mga dating mambabasa ng Culture Crash na pumunta sa table namin. Yung iba ay nag-stay upang makipagkuwentuhan. Hindi ko na iisa-isahin ang mga pangalan niyo. Ikinagagalak po namin kayong makilala at makausap.

MARAMING SALAMAT PO SA INYONG LAHAT!!! :)

Kay David(o4), napakabait mong tao. Bumalik ka pa sa table namin para iabot ang iyong bayad kahit nakalabas ka na sa event area. Maraming salamat! Na-senior moment kami doon, and we appreciate your honesty.

To the people who are planning the CT cosplay, sorry 'di ko nakuha mga names niyo. Let me know kung kelan at saan yung plan niyong event ha? :)

Sa mga taong nag-iwan ng kanilang mga doodles, messages at iba pang bagay sa aming doodle area, hintayin niyo lang at pag natapos kong i-scan ang buong papel e iu-upload ko din dito. Mahirap mas-scan ng manila paper. Whew! ^_^"

We are happy to inform everyone na mahigit sa kalahati ng CTR at mga 38% ng CTS ang nabenta namin sa Komikon 2009. Masaya na din kami sa figures na yun dahil ibig sabihin ay madami pa din ang interesadong bumili at magbasa ng CT. Ibig sabihin ay:

-madami pang CTR at CTS para sa Mangaholix event sa November. Sa mga hindi pa nakakabili, sa November 21-22 ay magkita tayo sa nasabing event at may pagkakataon pa din kayong makabili.

-masaya naming ipagpapatuloy ang CT hanggang kaya namin magpalimbag ng mga kopya. Sana'y patuloy niyo kaming suportahan.

Bilang huling mensahe, ikatutuwa namin kung makapagbigay kayo ng inyong mga feedbacks tungkol sa 2 libro (CTR at CTS). Importante sa amin ito upang patuloy naming mapaganda ang CT. Ipadala na lamang ang inyong emails sa: ctrewind@gmail.com

MARAMING SALAMAT PO SA INYONG LAHAT!!! :)

Mei at Memer

p.s. Pinagsisihan na po ni Memer ang maliliit na fonts. Sa kanyang pagmamadali sa paggawa ng 2 libro ay hindi niya ito napag-isipang mabuti. Huhu... Kung pwede lang kami mamigay ng magnifying glass na libre sa bawat bumili...

Next time po ay magpo-post ako ng mga kaunting pics na nakunan mula sa event. Paalam!

Cat's Trail Books have arrived!!!

2009-10-14T20:26:00.003+08:00

Picked it up from the printers this afternoon, regardless of the sudden downpour of rain. (I really hope the rain stops and we get sunny weather for about 3 months) A very big thank you goes to my dad for helping me pick it up today.

Anyway, the pictures below is proof enough that everyone who have expressed interest to buy the CT books will get their wish.

That's the GOOD NEWS! Now on to the bad...

Unfortunately, we are planning to bring only 400 copies of each book (CTR and CTS). Why? Because I do not have a car. We will be assisted by my dad (he has a car) during ingress, but me and my wife will be left at the event area and he will be going straight home afterwards. We would like to bring in the whole set (or 480 copies each, as I initially said here), but the sheer weight of the whole thing will probably kill us before we get to the trade hall. Also, I will be left alone at the table around afternoon (since my wife will be going home earlier to tend to our two boys). There is that fear of mine that there may be a lot of issues left unsold by the end of the event, meaning I will have to lug back whatever is left... ALONE! :( You definitely DON'T want to get a cab from Megamall all the way to Rizal. ^_^" Trust me.

Anyway, I will be reserving the 80 copies of CTR and CTS (+whatever is left unsold at the Komikon) for the Mangaholix event on November. So people who failed to get their copies at the Komikon can get another chance the following month. Also, if there will be a lot of copies left, I will consider the possibility of selling it through bank deposit with shipping (by courier of the buyer's choice, or postal service if they so chose to risk it). So there you go!

On another note: I will have to apologize in advance to the fans... It was a miscalculation in my part that the font size of CTR is a bit small, that some visually-impaired readers may need to squint a bit to read the dialogue. I PROMISE to correct that in future issues. I guess the darker color of the newsprint paper also contributes to this problem. There is also that thing they say about "dot gain", but that is too technical to be discussed. Again, my (advanced) apologies.

Let's get back to happier news: Below is the floor plan of the Komikon 2009 event. Some changes may happen, but I don't think it will affect us much. Please study the map thoroughly so you won't get lost. It will also help if you want to look for other merchandise that may be available at the venue.

Once you see this table standee and an elderly couple behind it (hehe! just kidding)...

You are at the right place! Don't be shy and ask for your copy right away. ^_-

Some last minute guidelines:
-Please fall in line when buying and be patient. The elderly couple at the table may have senior moments. ^_^'
-Autographs, portfolio reviews and sketches will be entertained ONLY when there are no buyers at that time. Please bear with us since no one else will be assisting, and me and my wife will be doing all the selling stuff, too.
-Speaking of senior moments, please feel free to introduce yourself if we have met somewhere or online. We can't keep track of everyone in our FB, FS and DA accounts. ^_^'
-Taking and having pics with us is okay. Email us a copy, too, yes?

Thank you very much!!! See you all at the Komikon 2009!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like... Armored...

2009-10-12T22:36:00.003+08:00

I've been having a lot of time building my model kits. Yay! So the Super VF25F's front fuselage is almost done... Take a look!

I will also be posting the floor plan of Komikon this week so all you folks eager to buy my books will know where to go. Keep coming back for updates! The Komikon is on Sunday 18th!!! It's almost here!

More Komikon 2009 Stuff

2009-10-08T16:46:00.004+08:00

For those who are curious, the Komikon 2009 poster can be seen here: http://komikon.deviantart.com/art/October-KOMIKON-2009-poster-138702699

Also, let us help the Filipino artists who were affected by typhoon Ondoy. There will be an auction during the event and the proceeds will be given to the said artists. They will also accept cash donations. For details, you may read the journal entry here: http://komikon.deviantart.com/journal/27514784/#comments

Thank you!

Super VF-25F half finished

2009-10-07T11:28:00.003+08:00

Okay, so after working on Cat's Trail Rewind and Spotlight, and with the absence of any major work, I have gone back to kit building. I just finished the legs of my Super VF-25F and all is looking good. I'll be working on the main body soon. Yay!

Still waiting for my printed comics from the printer. Can't wait to get my hands on those, too! ^_^

Final details for CTR and CTS

2009-10-01T11:52:00.009+08:00

I know I haven't been updating Cat's Trail since Typhoon Ondoy hit our country, but here's the news you've all been waiting for:

I just delivered all the digital files of both books to the printer yesterday morning. (The typhoon has re-scheduled my visit to the printer a number of times) I am hoping that I will get the actual (500) copies of both books by the second week of October. Below are the final details of both books, so read it carefully, keep these in mind and plan your purchases at the convention to avoid any and all confusion, frustration and misinformation.

CAT'S TRAIL REWIND
-5.5" x 8.5" (half letter sized)
-24 pages of comics + a few pages extras (white newsprint paper)
-B&W screen-toned cover and back cover
-B&W non-toned interior pages
-P50 SRP

-Cat's Trail Rewind is a "modern" re-telling of the original Cat's Trail serialized in Culture Crash comics. It will have both similarities and differences to the original. (Please do not ask why "X" is different from the ones you used to read, treat it as something new) Characters have been upgraded, some details have been changed, but it is essentially the same story.

-CTR is NOT a compilation of the old CC series.

CAT'S TRAIL SPOTLIGHT
-4.1" X 6.75" perfect bind book format
-138 pages total (white newsprint paper)
-64+ original illustrations inside
-B&W screen-toned cover and back cover
-P80 SRP

-Cat's Trail Spotlight is a short novel with illustrations. It is NOT a comicbook. It is NOT a compilation of stories in comicbook format. The illustrations are all 100% new and have never been presented before in any format.

-The stories in CTS are supplements to the main storyline happening in CTR. In the first book, "Batang Airee at Polaris", you get to read about the roots of the 2 main protagonists of Cat's Trail.

-The stories presented in CTS will not be tackled in detail in CTR (but will most likely be referring to it in the main storyline), so it's best to read CTS in tandem with CTR. Unless, of course, you are content with the main storyline and you're not concerned about other details. Or vice-versa.

-CTS will not be released in tandem with every CTR issue. The reason? If we do this, CTS will spoil most of the story of CTR. It will probably be released very 4 issues of CTR or more depending on where we decide to to think it appropriate.

Concerning both CTR and CTS:
-When will these books be released?
The printer has informed me that, hopefully, both books (500 copies each total, around 480 copies of each book will be for sale) will be finished on or before the 16th of October. Maybe on the 12th or 13th. If this is true, both books will be available at the upcoming Komikon 2009 to be held at the Megatrade 1, Megamall on October 18. First come, first served. See you there.

-Why are the pages of CTR missing screentones?
Time constraints. I have recently been granted the free time to work on both books (Thank God!) and yet I am afraid that work may start pouring in anytime. Because of that, I have decided to use a high-contrast approach to CTR instead. This has cut my CTR production time in half and has given me enough time to work on CTS as well. The next issues of CTR may have tones if I get more free time.

-Why is it in B&W, even the covers?
For financial and marketing reasons, we decided with the all B&W theme. These books are self-published. Meaning it is without the financial strength that was once Culture Crash. Once we prove the marketability of both books, we may decide to add a colored cover in the future. It will mean a slightly higher price tag, of course. But not much.

-Why do you have to release a new book (CTS)? Isn't it enough to just put everything in CTR?
This is not to force readers to buy 2 books (meaning extra income for us, although that is also a fact). We decided it for 2 reasons: (1) To minimize all the flashbacks and sidestories that may just lengthen the main storyline (CTR) unnecessarily, and (2) To give these isolated stories all the rich detail that it deserves. Readers still have the option of choosing which they like to buy, of course.

-Will CTS be in comicbook format someday?
Maybe. We have considered this, but it is just a thought at the moment. Again, it will depend on the success of the books and the demand of the readers.

I guess that will cover most of the questions for the moment. If you have any further questions or clarifications I have not covered, please send your emails to: ctrewind@gmail.com, and we will be more than glad to accommodate your queries.

Thank you for reading! :)

Cat's Trail Rewind and Cat's Trail Spotlight is copyright © 2009 Elmer Damaso / Maria Cornelia Damaso.

Bagyong Ondoy and Stuff

2009-09-28T14:15:00.008+08:00

What happened? Well, our house had a steady stream of water coming out of the base of one of our walls (it was behind a flooded area, so water was coming in through cracks or small pores). It coated around 90% of our floor area with about an inch of flood water. We tried to mop it, divert it to the bathroom, sponge it out, but in the end we just had to stop and let it flow inside the house. We didn't have electricity and water for the rest of the afternoon till around early the next morning. I thought we had it bad...

When we finally had the chance to turn on the TV and scope out the news, that's when it finally hit me - we were lucky. Very lucky. People in certain parts of Metro Manila, Marikina and Cainta (I also live in Rizal), as well as several other provinces were submerge in water or demolished by landslides. Helicopter vids showed cars and houses were floating in what looked like a gigantic mud pool. It was a very sad thing to see.

In truth, I never expected this type of damage to be caused by Ondoy. Milenyo was more terrifying when it came to the strong winds that whipped out in all directions, whistling and ripping sounds of house roofs (it ripped out our awning and felled a Mango tree in our compound). Ondoy was a steady pouring of rain with hardly any strong winds. I am still in shock and disbelief at the moment. (But they say in the news that the amount of rain that day is comparable to the regular rainfall in a month!)

Obviously this is going to be a very big problem for the local governments of the heavily affected areas , and for the Philippine government as a whole. I am sure that many businesses suffered heavy losses, too.

On the brighter side of things, I am happy to see a lot of volunteers, individuals and big companies trying to help out and sharing what they can. We hope to give our share, too. I offer my prayers to the families who have been devastated by Ondoy. I hope we can all get through this soon. Keep safe everyone!

Just a little update on CTS...

2009-09-25T02:58:00.003+08:00

I have just finished the layouts for the book, and it seems that the final page count is 138 pages (excluding covers). I will be emailing the printers to get a new quotation and, hopefully, announce the final price next week. Be patient guys.

There are lots of encouraging responses at my DA and FB page regarding CTR and CTS. Thanks a bunch everyone. It really means a lot.

Cat's Trail Spotlight Cover Preview

2009-09-24T18:18:00.003+08:00

Surprise! Surprise! Here's another treat for CT fans - the cover of CTS! Unfortunately, there is no price yet for this book. It is in pocketbook/novel format and will probably be around 150-170 pages long and boasts of 64+ original artworks in it (already 100% done as of today). It might cost twice the amount of CTR. What do you think? Is it going to be worth it? Will you buy it for its price? Did it catch your attention? Let us know.

Send your emails to: ctrewind@gmail.com

Cat's Trail is copyright © 2009 Elmer Damaso / Maria Cornelia Damaso

Cat's Trail Rewind #1 Cover Preview

2009-09-22T15:12:00.005+08:00

You've waited for it, so here it is! :) The price is there, too.

Again, CTR #1 will be available at the 2009 Komikon. It will be held on the 18th October at the Megatrade Hall 1, Megamall. See you guys there!

Cat's Trail Spotlight is almost finished as well. It seems that the book will be around 150-something pages long because of the bulk of artworks jammed in there.(originally, we envisioned it to be around 90 pages only). ^_^' Price for CTS is still undetermined because we need to have a new quote for it from the printers. I will update you guys as soon as we're ready.

Interested parties better start saving starting today.

Cat's Trail is copyright © 2009 Elmer Damaso / Maria Cornelia Damaso

What will I miss if I don't see CTS?

2009-09-18T08:40:00.003+08:00

The image on this post for example, and the story behind it. ^_- Hehe! No, wait! You've already seen this image here. The other images maybe.

Cat's Trail Rewind updates 9-17-2009

2009-09-17T18:42:00.007+08:00

Yesterday, Cat's Trail Rewind is already 100% finished cover to cover. It's been prepared for print using Adobe Indesign. Still awaiting if our solicitations for ads will become a reality, so I can finalize the page count including misc. pages.

Already starting the artworks for Cat's Trail Spotlight. Hopefully, I get everything done early next week.

Unfortunately, Tagailog's Pasig will not appear back-to-back with CTR. I just got word from him. It seems that he won't finish in time before the scheduled trip to the printing press. The good news is there will still be a new issue of Pasig on Komikon day.

The artwork on the left is one of my first-time trial artworks using Manga Studio. I leave it without a watermark for fans who would like to try their hand at coloring it.

That will be all for now. Thanks for reading.

Cat's Trail and Airee Collette is copyright © 2009 Elmer Damaso / Maria Cornelia Damaso.

Time to let the cat out of the bag!

2009-09-16T01:48:00.005+08:00

Some news updates first... I've just finished toning and finalizing the cover of CTR #1. All that's missing are the sound effects within the book. After that, I will try to solicit some ads for CTR. An indie with an ad?! Why not? We solicit for high school annuals, right? Dunno if I will get any at all, but me and my better half are crossing our fingers. I'm not sure if CTR will go back-to-back with Pasig. Still awaiting Ilog's news. Therefore, pricing is still undetermined as of now (although the printers already gave their quotation).

Now, let's move on to the "cat". I've announced before that CTR #1 will be sold alongside another CT-related media. Well, it's going to be a (pocket) book. It will have illustrations in it of course, and we are tentatively calling it a "manga/komiks-novela". Hahahahaha! Is that term taken?

It will be called Cat's Trail Spotlight and the first issue will be about "Batang Airee and Polaris" . Ever wondered how these two are connected and what happened before the events that lead to Cat's Trail (komiks)? The CTS books will be a supplement to CTR and will contain extended stories that you probably won't get to read in the komiks version because it will be a lengthy discussion. By the way, CTS was written by my better half, Maria Cornelia. She enjoys writing and has always helped me with the potholes in CT's story, so I let her do her stuff with just a little bit of supervision from me.

So I hope that piece of news made you gasp at least. More about it, pricing and stuff as soon as I confirm everything on the business side. 'Till next update!

Oh yeah, if you have any questions or anything about CTR or CTS, please feel free to email us at: ctrewind@gmail.com

Cat's Trail Rewind sample 2

2009-09-11T16:10:00.002+08:00

An excerpt from page 8 of Cat's Trail Rewind where Airee enters the Iron Maiden (go ahead and compare it with the original. Hehe!)

So more good news today: Cat's Trail Rewind #1 interior art is officially 100% finished. YAY!!! Only the cover, misc. art, text and SFX are missing and will be under construction very soon.

Some facts about CTR #1 (what I know right now):
-it is 24 pages long (minus extra pages and cover)
-it is in plain B&W (devoid of tones, hopefully the contrast will do its job)
-dimensions will be 8.5 x 5.5" or half a letter-sized paper
-it will be PRINTED and not photocopied or riso
-cover will be in B&W also, but toned
-price is still pending until I get a proper quotation
-it will be sold in tandem with another CT printed media (so interested peeps might want to save a bit)

So that's about all of it. :) IF you have any further questions or want to say something about CTR, please feel free to email us at: ctrewind@gmail.com

Feel free to spread the word. Thank you!

Cat's Trail and all its characters is copyright © 2009 Elmer Damaso / Maria Cornelia Damaso. Please do not post anywhere else without permission. Thank you.

Cat's Trail Rewind sample page

2009-09-09T16:45:00.004+08:00

As promised, here is a sample page from my soon to be released Cat's Trail Rewind #1. I am now working on pages 19 and 20, so it won't be long before this issue is done. This image is free to share, but if you plan to post it on your site, please inform me first. Thanks!

Aside from issue 1 of CTR, there will be something else to be released alongside it and is still CT-related. More news on that soon. Enjoy!

For Cat's Trail-related feedback or questions, please feel free to email us at: ctrewind@gmail.com

Cat's Trail and all its characters is copyright © 2009 Elmer Damaso / Maria Cornelia Damaso. Please do not post anywhere else without permission. Thank you.

Digmaang Salinlahi vs. Bayan Knights art

2009-09-07T16:13:00.005+08:00

I've contributed this art for Digmaang Salinlahi + Bayan Knights crossover. Please visit the Digmaang Salinlahi blog for more details and for another crossover art by Enjoykeso. Tones by Mr. Jon Zamar.

Wow! Can't wait for this to happen. Support Filipino komiks!!!

Cat's Trail Rewind Wallpapers here!

2009-09-06T16:02:00.006+08:00

I haven't been updating for a while so I thought I'd leave the fans something to download and use... Cat's Trail Rewind wallpapers! It's a first, unless you've been using my random CTR art as your wallpaper already. (Just right-click and save as...)

It comes in 3 haphazardly-decided colors: juicy orange, "windows standard" blue, and girlie-bright pink. Choose your poison.

Btw, for Cat's Trail related emails, you can use our new e-mail address: ctrewind@gmail.com. Feel free to pass it on. Thank you.

Airee for Komikon 2009

2009-09-04T00:58:00.004+08:00

My contribution to the Komikon 2009 poster. I'm not sure if it will be there at all. But this is my way of helping out. The original sketch of Airee can be found 2 posts before this. Check it out.

Airee Collette and Cat's Trail is copyright © 2009 Elmer Damaso / Maria Cornelia Damaso. Please do not use without permission. Thank you.

Interview yesterday + my new Armored Messiah

2009-09-03T07:55:00.006+08:00

I had the opportunity to be invited for an interview yesterday by FEU students, Rosen and Grace. It was conducted at Starbucks at the 4F Megamall. The interview was basically a requirement for their thesis class and contained the usual questions regarding local comicbook artists, their work and the local comicbook industry/community.

I had fun chatting with them - fans of our old work, Culture Crash. I kinda missed discussions like that. Anime and manga fans nowadays have better opportunities. They can easily sell indies at conventions, they can buy merchandise in almost every mall (even in banketas), and conventions happen almost every other month, so keeping in touch with their fellow fans and collectors is a snap. I also gave them some tips on comicbook layout and art. I thought it might prove useful for their thesis. It's nice to hear other colleges offer comicbooks as thesis subjects. Back when I was in college, they only offered either editorial or advertising subjects.

Some of you guys may envy this, but Rosen and Grace got the first peek at a few of the pages of Cat's Trail Rewind (sans text and SFX) since I brought my portfolio and showed it to them. They didn't see all anyway. Just the first 3 pages out of 15, I think. ^_^' I will post some sample pages here next time to level the playing field for the other fans looking for more scoop. It's also safe to say that I'm targeting the upcoming October Komikon 2009 to re-launch Cat's Trail. More news and details about that as I progress with my work.

What else? We got free shots of Caramel Frapuccino at the store. That was nice. The interview and off-topic discussions lasted for about 2 hours or so. Hopefully, I've imparted enough accurate info for their thesis study. After that, I escorted them to their destination, and it was time to make my groceries. Hehe!

Thanks for Moccha Frapuccino, guys!!! :)

On to the other news: The Macross Frontier Armored Messiah has landed... in my hands!!! Hehe!!!

Been waiting to get this kit since last month. Haven't been able to go down from my mountain home for quite some time due to work (or in search of it). But yesterday, just before the interview above, I decided to go to Wasabitoys in Greenhills. First, they told me that the kit was reserved to another person and was to be picked up on Saturday (I went, "aaawwww, maaaannn!!!..."), but they called up Sir Pats and asked if there was still another kit in stock. Lucky me! They still got one in the storage and they gave me the one at the store. Good Sir Pats gave it to me for a lower price, too. To compare it with my other kits, the Armored Messiah's box is almost twice the height of my Super VF-25F and packed to the brim. It also comes with the SMS display base (priced at around P400-P500 locally). So price-wise, it's like I bought the Armored Messiah for the price of my Super F. Nice!

I estimate that I'll probably be working on this around Christmas time or next year. Still got a long way to go with my Super F, and my untouched RVF-25 is waiting in line, too. Now that I've bought all 4 of the main Macross Frontier birds, my wallet (and my mind) can rest. That is, until the VF-27 Lucifer, Queadluun-Rea, and the Famina special YF25 Prophecy comes out. I hope they don't come out all at the same time. ^_^'

Deculture!!!

CT Sketch for 9-1-2009

2009-09-01T22:07:00.005+08:00

Sketches, actually. A great way to start the month. I've been busy with other stuff lately, so I wanted to get back to CT as soon as possible.

I leave these sketches to the CT fans who are still around to support it. :)

I think I will be using this Airee artwork as my contribution to the Komikon 2009 poster. They are soliciting for contributions after all...

Cat's Trail and all characters shown here is copyright ©2009 Elmer Damaso / Maria Cornelia Damaso. Please do not post anywhere else or use for other purposes without permission. Thank you.

CT Sketch for 8-19-2009

2009-08-19T01:39:00.002+08:00

Yukiko in one of her "calmer" moments. Sketched with a 2B pencil while watching over my 2 boys. :)

Komiks ba?

2009-08-16T15:44:00.001+08:00

Ahhh... wala lang akong malagay... Ano ba 'to?

Matte Painted Super VF-25F

2009-08-16T15:22:00.005+08:00

I haven't been updating this kit build for a very long time due to work on... (see my previous posts)...

Anyway, I decided to use matte paint on this kit this time. I used semi-gloss on the 25G before and wasn't too happy with it. Like I said before, this is a learning experience for me and every kit seems to be teaching me a different thing.

I liked the matte paint better for the following reasons:
-it hides the heavily-sanded areas quite well because of the dulling effect. (sanding wipes off the gloss on the plastic, dulling evens it out.
-it looks less toy-like and more pro looking (like everything looks airbrushed with flat colors)
-it seems like it has good effects on the kit even in thin coats, unlike the semi-gloss where I have to re-coat it again when the finish looks uneven

I think I will be working on this kit very, very slowly because of my limited amount of time and the slow process I chose to stick with - cut, trim, sand, paint, coat, paint, coat again, etc.

I also noticed that the stickers on the 25S is worse than the 25G's. It is not cut to the best fit size. So I have to trim it first before application. It adds to my work, but I seem to like it that way since I've been trimming stickers on my Zoids before.

I leave with 2 pics taken from a cheap digital camera (ack!) comparing the glossy G and the matte F...

Notice the red piece on a stick above? I decided to paint the black and red stripes on the battroid's shoulders since I failed with the stickers. It looked awful! Better take time on this kit rather than spoil the look.

Cat's Trail Bits 6

2009-08-11T14:56:00.004+08:00

It's back! Buti may time ako today. Enjoy!

CT Sketch for 8-8-2009

2009-08-08T10:32:00.004+08:00

Some extras I wanted to speed sketch. Too bad they won't be getting a lot of exposure in the story, so might as well give them the spotlight here.

To those looking for more CT stuff please search for older posts, use the "What are you looking for?" search on the right, or find my blog archive on the right hand side and search for CT-related stuff like character sheets, CT bits, etc.

Thanks!

CT Sketch for 8-7-2009

2009-08-07T16:49:00.003+08:00

Airee Collette in typical ragged cloak. Rough sketch on paper and speed digital color sketch . Enjoy CT fans!

CT Sketch for today: Airee

2009-08-06T09:30:00.004+08:00

Made this while me and my wife were discussing CT plans and story last week. It was drawn in my CT notebook so there are those messy lines in there that I lazily tried to erase. Oh well...

Clan Clang WIP 3

2009-08-06T01:55:00.003+08:00

Cleaned up some of the colors, added the ears and ribbon, made some more preliminary shading and stuff:

CT Sketch for today

2009-08-06T01:47:00.004+08:00

Made this while at the DAC office for an artists' meeting last Monday. Enjoy!

Airee+Butler Chibi Love

2009-08-01T11:04:00.006+08:00

A quick sketch on my CT notebook. Made this while me and my wife (now officially co-writing Cat's Trail) were discussing story plans last Thursday, July 30. We were having drinks and snacks at Bubble Tea Megamall.

There. I said it. To the remaining CT fans out there, that's your cue to tell all your friends. I think I said a lot already. I will post further developments here in my blog (and ONLY HERE). Keep coming back. :)

Please do not post this anywhere else without prior consent from me. Thank you very much.

"Aaaawww... aren't they a cute couple?"