弥子ちゃんの初めて行楽! Yako-chan's first outingu! ^^

heyhey.. smthing abit more light hearted.. im sure tako chan will give a proper introduction to her first Nendoroid! - 桂木弥子　Katsuragi Tako Yako! - the next time.. and that's when i have time to take her photos.. haha. ahems. okays.. Last sunday we took yako chan out for lunch! yes.. you see it often on danny's website too.. but we realli think its very cute and nice to have it on our food blog too.. especially in Singapore where we have many kinds of food.. =) and moreover.. Tako chan realli likes how most nendoroids looks.. Big cute head and priceless expressions. Limited stocks makes it even more desirable for ladies. XD


We had a simple lunch... ate Spaghetti and a Chicken Cutlet.. the main point is not abt the food yet. This is jus a test lunch for us to see how Yako chan will star in our food posts in the future! =DD

mmm.. here comes the spaghetti! looks not bad.. ^^

priceless. love this look the most. XD

more food??? ^^.

Yups.. this is jus our first outing with yako chan.. will be looking for a pouch tt we can carry her in.. heh.. anyone noes where to get? online/offline? =)

Do you own a Nendoroid too? haha.. feel free to share it with us (as a link below)!! =)

(^^)"   れんです！　　　じゃね！

Life vs Death.

I wonder how fine is the line between life & death? Guess it's in a matter of seconds.

I have experienced it first hand. Just few days back i mentioned about having lots of unhappy events happening, well it's because I have more than one relatives admitted into hospitals at the same time. How interesting can my life be for the past one month? Rushing and fearing with every single phone call. One moment, my heart can be jumping right out of my mouth, the other moment it may sink right to my feet.

Spending so much of my time at the intensive care unit, i have seen so much tears rolling down people's cheeks, including mine. The fear and pain of seeing your love ones suffering in pain, or using every bit of their strength to hang on, the feeling of helplessness can be overwhelming. I wonder why am i not a doctor? Wel, even if i am one, i don't think i will be of much help, my eyes will be blurred with tears.

I have seen big families, hugging together and crying their hearts out. The pain of losing someone forever, it hurts. It hurts to know that you are not able to see the smiling face anymore. It hurts to know that you cannot hear the voice anymore.

But we have to move on, we can cry but we must know when to stop and pick oneself up again and continue with life's journey. Someone told me before, if you do not have bitterness, you won't know what is sweet. So if we do not know that there's death, we won't know that we have to treasure life and spend every seconds of our life fulfilled.

Negative thoughts cloud my mind. It's tough to learn how to handle fear and pain.


Tako ('_')9

MG RX-78-2 Ver.OYW W.I.S.P Part 4

PANEL LINING.

back to give a small update on my RX-78-2... actually no. im too stressed over my panel-lining tt i decided to stop, rest and blog abt it. (X.X) notice the panel lining is THICK, which basically sums up this entry. its very very slow indeed.. i tot the worst part of building him was over.. which i tot was the painting part.. BUT. BUT. BUT. turns out tt the panel lining is giving me a HUGE wet blanket.. so much problems panel lining.. its very much UNLIKE panel lining plastic straight on.. where you can jus wipe it off with your hands or cotton bud if you make any mistakes...

Panel lining (スミいれ, say su-mi-ee-re) on painted surfaces for me is especially hard.. cos it causes alot of smudges for me.. and requires alot ALOT of cleaning up... onli to use the gundam markers in the end; which defeats the purpose of pane washing and wasnt wad i've planned in the beginning. more on that problem lata.. =(

Some tools and paint which im using now..

Some tools i'm using..

Anyone knows wad the pin is for under the cap?

1. Tamiya X-1 (black enamel paint oil based)
2. Tamiya X-20 (enamel thinner)
3. Gundam Marker (Sumi-ire marker oil based)
4. Metal trays and mixer for mixing paint
5. Wooden sticks, common cotton buds and kitchen towel for cleaning up.

As i had sprayed painted my RX-78-2.. its alr coated with lacquer based paint.. so using enamel paint for panel wash is not a problem for me.. or so i've tot. XD i even coated it with another layer of Super Clear Gloss which is oso a lacquer based.. extra protection when panel washing and putting decals. With such preparations... i tot i can breeze thru panel lining like i did on bare plastic surfaces. Boy, i was so wrong.

Mixing the paint and thinner wasnt hard.. and letting the paint flow wasnt hard too.. the hard part was the cleaning up.. after doing hours of researching.. all i saw was simple cleaning up.. using a cotton bud with abit of thinner.. gently brush thru the parts and its done!

But for me.. i think i coated the parts with too much paint? a solid layer of surfacer.. a base coat and a final coat of colour with super clear gloss coat proves too much for my pieces. i think many no-so-deep panel lines became a shallow bare line after all tt layers. so while the wash does flow.. after cleaning up with the cotton bud, the line got erased as well.. very frustrating! a big lesson learnt. Not too much paint next time. i have to end up using gundam markers to touch up or draw straight lines. which is THICK. TT.TT  And, Gundam marker has different properties to enamel paint as well. although its oso oil based, i find it hard to erase using the enamel thinner. it takes ard X10 more effort to rub off the stains left behind. SO pls be careful using gundam markers on painted surfaces..

While cleaning up.. i've also found out something.. while rubbing over the washed parts.. i find tt the gloss coat is also coming out.. its a very slight difference.. but under light, its very obvious as light reflects differently. So, is Super Clean Coating over the parts redundant?? haiz.

anyone has the solution to my problem?? realli need your help.. =(

here i got an example of staining.

You can see the square small window that i jus lined with marker becos using wash and cleaning up would erase the whole thing!! ARGH. and the smudges left behind after cleaning. need to clean a few more times to completely remove the stain.

This is wad i've done so far.. for panel lining tt is. So far i've onli panel lined the left leg.. very stress when i start to think abt how the WHOLE RX-78 is gonna turn out..

Left leg.

That's all i have for you!! Suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading. =)

(^^)"    レンです！　　　じゃね！

Presents.

How many presents have you received in your lifetime?
What is the most memorable presents that you have received?
Do you like surprise present?

There is a story that i want to share:-

There is a young girl called Ami (for illustration purpose only) who chose a fairly expensive birthday present (which is a branded bag) for a friend's 21st birthday. This expensive present is shared amongst a big group of friends, so Ami had put in a lot of effort to find enough people to share in the present.
BUT, Ami didn't get a birthday card to list down all the names of the persons who shared in the birthday present. SO, when Birthday Girl opened the birthday present, she was unhappy, because the price of the bag was not expensive enough. IN THE END, Birthday Girl made very upsetting remarks to Ami and accused Ami that she didn't share in the present.
This created a huge misunderstanding between Ami and the rest of the group who shared in the present because they thought that Ami didn't fork out money to share in the present.
Poor Ami. 

Have people forgotten the meaning behind a present?
Is the present measured according to the price of it?

I have received a very precious persent today!
Ren's home-made bento.

Though simple setup in tubblewares and no nice elaborate cutlery or candle-light. It's simply wonderful. 完璧だ！(kan-peki da!) which means PERFECT
To me, this surpass all expensive bags and stuff. It's the thought! The time and effort!
Thank you so much, Ren!

I know Ren did up this bento is to cheer me up. Lots of unhappy events had happened to me for past weeks and had been down in the dumps. Ren wants to give me a little pat on my back and cheer me up with this though simple but simply GREAT lunch bento.
本とにありがとうね、レン君。

Tako can't really cook, so Ren is the one who can cook. So Tako gets to savour the nice bentos that Ren makes. But Tako can make onigiri!

So Ren is the Ren who knows how to paint Gundam model and cook! Tako totally appreciates it.


('O')9   タコです！　　　じゃね！

Rare sight.

hey pple.. it's Ren again. my RX-78-2 has taken alot of my time and its jus doing the same thing over and over.. so i cant realli blog much abt it.. hope you guys dun mind.. ^^. anyway.. while traveling ard singapore.. i think its my first time going causeway point in woodlands.. happened to chance upon this open sky.. which its quite rare for me to see in singapore, being such a small country and buildings everywhere.. so i took a photo.

when was the last time you looked at the sky? =)


(^^)"    レンです！　　　じゃね！

Look wad I've found!

I spotted this while walking in a mall.. This is the fabled Future
that can replace all glossy topcoat at a very cheap price.. Use it
with an airbrush straight, no mixing needed. Nv tot I'll find it in a
neighbourhood mall.. Haha. Sure to buy one bottle if I ever own an
airbrush.. ^^

(^^)" レンです!〜 じゃね！

MG RX-78-2 Ver.OYW W.I.S.P Part 3

im back to post a minor update... minor in a sense tt i can cover it in one sentence.. ^^

i have painted the main bulk of armor.

THERE! DONE! haha.. but we all noe tt its very troublesome to paint all the armor.. base coat.. making sure there's no dust.. no chipping.. wait.. long wait.. and full coat on.. the lists goes on.. sooo... some photos on the update.. =)

the bits and pieces of RX.. i've placed those armor with colours in the front for a nicer photo. haha. the rest are jus white..

did some detailing on the backpack too.. quite similar to the thrusters.. and oso tried dry brushing some gunmetal on the backpack.. since its gonna be covered by a cover.. so i dun mind if anything bad happens.. =)

my happiest piece.. which is the HYPER BAZOOKA! first time masking and its goood!! looks wicked. with the smooth gloss white and matt gunship gray.. it feels nice.. tho i mite need to touch it up abit.

some accident.. i cried the whole morning. the plug on the air vent broke in the chest piece. the only way was to drill the chest piece on the other end to push the plug out.. but i din had the tools. so.. i went to a HAG (a hobby shop i recently discovered, felt like a pilgrimage. haha) to buy the tools.. but uncle sam was VERY VERY NICE to fix it for me.. he's like the head surgeon there. i could kiss him. he pushed out the plug.. and made a tiny hole in the main piece and the plug.. put a wire thru and super glued them tgt.. he mentioned tt cement is not strong enuff.. and there have it.. it still can move abit on the chest.. cant thank him enuff..

So... all is fine for the RX-78-2... He's doing well so far..

well well... the next to-do list is gonna be 'minor' too.. haha. some more detailing, glossing the armor.. panel line washing.. adding decals.. topcoat... and MAYBE weathering... cos my RX is toooo WHITE.. *nods*.. so any comments? any suggestions? do let me know ya! i hope there's no problem posting comments... i dunno how to solve blogspot problems.. so sorrie. thanks for reading my blog again! =)

(^^)"    レンです！　　　じゃね！

Gundam merchandise..

“What Gundam merchandise have you got?” asked Tako.
Ren replied with a smile, “More than 20 sets of Gundam mobile suits!?”
Tako grins, “Have you got a Gundam ring?”

What’s that??

It is a very cool ring that was given to me by my lovely sister. She saw this little “beheaded’ Gundam lying in the glass casket (display cupboard) and decided that this is THE present for me.

Ren: I having it now to take photo... wahaha. XD

Imoutou-chan, hontoni arigatou ne. Daisuki desuyo!

Psst : There are people walking into the shop thinking that it is a Transformer ring that they saw at the display cupboard. When my sister asked the shop owner about the Gundam ring, the shopowner was full of praises for my sister who pointed it out correctly! Kudos!

Ehhh, Gundam and Transformer look DIFFERENT!

What do you think?


Gundam ring の　スペシャル！

変身!　Henshin!

バイバイ！　byebye! ^^.

('O')9    タコです！　　　　じゃね！

MG RX-78-2 Ver.OYW W.I.S.P Part 2

Jus gonna update you guys wad i did in these few days.. after priming and painting my internal frame.. i decided to add some details to the frame... soooooo... the next leap for me is to paint the 'hydraulic pumps' on the legs and some minor detailing...

As you guys noe.. or dunno.. RX-78-2 Ver.OYW's LEGS uses the OLD Ver.1.5 RX-78-2's legs.. so the WHOLE leg is molded together.. with the hydraulic pumps locked to each other.. unlike the newer models now.. i.e Force Impluse.. where the rods and pump is molded seperately, making it easier to paint. So.. it has always been a problem to me.. as a new modeller painter.. on how to paint the pump without scraping the paint when its close...

My solution came to me frm Japan.. literally. hahah.. and tt's Kawaguchi Sensei.. =DD i consulted him abt the problem and he told me to thin down the rods so as when you paint.. the new layers of paint would not be scratched when you closed it..  so i followed his advice..

Painted half the pumps alr.. its molded together so i cant separate it.. i placed some blu tack behind to keep the rods frm sliding.

As you can see.. i used Gundam markers as its easier for my first try. Wanted to get the Metallic Silver Chrome Gundam marker, but apparently its sold out in my country since last year. =( so i could onli settle for a lesser silver. better den nth for me. ^^.

Closer look.. a painted and a primed.

 

After finishing the pump.. i looked for some details that i can paint.. ^^. near the upper things and the foot thrusters.. very happy with the results!

This is how it looks like after i assemble it on to the main body.. maybe i'll do some dry brushing after that.. some silvering on the internal frame.. woooo..

That's all i've done! would be starting to spray paint the armor and such.. its gonna be a slow process... so pls wait patiently for my next post! haha... hope you like wad you see... any questions or comments pls let me noe k!

(^^)"   レンです！　　　　じゃね！

changing life, changing money ('O')9

Change is the only thing constant in life.

I, Tako, has really experienced it first hand.

Exchange Rates!

Have any one of you tried checking the exchange rate everyday, so that you are able to get the best out of it and make our SGD worth every single cent?

I had been religiously checking out the JPY rates everyday (like once every morning, noon and evening?), three times a day. [sounds like taking medication??] JPY never fails to induce a heart attack in my fragile heart, it goes up and never comes down. (Who said what goes up will come down?)

Where's my JPY1,000 = SGD12 days? it's hitting JPY1,000 = SGD16 soon! at the rate that it's increasing with each passing weeks.

Wel am not really complaining about the SUPER SKY HIGH JPY. but can it just come down a little? please?
i need the JPY, am travelling to Japan next month. Am i going to munch on Japan's grass and drink rainwater?

U remember the song which goes like this:-
Rain Rain go away, come again another day.

i feel like singing this:-
Yen Yen please come down, appreciate another day.

Have any one of you got such an experience before?

MG RX-78-2 Ver.OYW W.I.S.P Part 1

My first post about my own gunpla..

RX-78-2 Ver. One Year War 0079

I bought this model after my MG Exia IM (it's still hiding in the box...) becos.. im trying to learn to paint my models.. so i figured to get a simple model.. easy to build and paint.. with kick-ass details and i ended up with.. the Father of ALL GUNDAMS... RX-78-2 Ver. One Year War; or at least on of its variations.. =) After much researching (*very impt for any modellers*).. i decided on this... with the help of Z, you can see his blog on the right..

Simple build, simple colours (for spray cans) and very nice details.. the best i feel out of all MG RX-78-2s.. Ver.2.0 lacks alot of panel details but its very articulate. good for many pose-ability and true to its original anime. But if you wanna scare a kid with a RX-78-2, this will be the model to choose.


Okays.. when i started this blog.. i'm alr halfway thru the making of it.. i've sanded and prime all parts... so i continue frm this onwards... with some minor updates here and there if i have the time..

Parts have be sanded and primed.. and also seperated into their respective areas..

i.e: head, chest, left hand, right leg, weapons etc... sometimes colour too.

Today.. i'm starting to spray paint my parts... so bought some spray cans. Mr. Hobby or Tamiya alike.. and tested them on the runner parts to make sure the colours turn out right. The runner parts are given a coat of primer on one side.. cos i wanted to see the colour difference between primer-coated and non-coated parts..

Some basic colours of any main Gundams.. Blue, Red, Yellow and White. See the two yellow parts on the left? i got a camel yellow spray can after the plain yellow turned out REALLY PLAIN and pure yellow. Dun suit the yellow on Gundam.. So before you get a spray can.. the lesson is.. make sure you noe wad colour it brings out..

See the colour? it does not match the cap.. was quite pissed cos a can isn't cheap. But Tamiya spray cans din realli give me any problem with colour..

Painted my internal frame today.. the colour is Gunship grey. Really glad on how it turned out.. Alittle darker den normal ABS and with abit of shine cos it's matt. Gonna give its hydraulics a gold and silver combi.. ^^ Becos its a 1.5 RX-79-2 frame.. its gonna be quite troublesome to do it.. as the whole leg frame is molded as a whole. maybe i'll show you guys the next time i update.. =)

Start Masking the Hyper Bazooka too.. not easy... X.X

So that's all for today! will slowly update you guys on how my first painted Gundam turns out..

(^^)"   　レンです。　　　　じゃね！

Gundam Fiesta Singapore 2009! 第三回

Today, Ren and Tako went Gundam Fiesta to see Kawaguchi Meijin!!!! For those who don't know who Mr Kawaguchi Meijin is.. He is DA MAN who created Master Grade Gundam for BANDAI. That's RIGHT, everyone of your MG Gundams has gone thru him before it hits the shelf at your local hobby shop. wooo.. Ren is very excited.. (i registered myself for the consultation session) to be able to talk and consult him abt his model.. and learnt alot frm him... 嬉しがった!

Before i start.. jus some photos i took while in the activity caravan a few days back.. i was attending the Gundam model tutorial where they let us make our models... Models provided of cos! =)

This time i got a Dynames Gundam.. Cool.. Gonna paint it so i have not applied the stickers.. He's oso gonna be a test bed for a few of my new techniques i've learn.. wahhaha

okays.. let's start.. Some of the things Kawaguchi sensei done today..

When i first arrived, caught Meijin signing some autographs..

Meijin's giving a walkabout and helping some kids in the activity caravan today.. He's like my Japanese Santa.. hahah. oh.. the lady is turquoise is the translator.

Before my consultation.. Meijin give an hour long tutorial abt assembling Gundam.. its more targeted towards younger audiences as the Gundam used was frm SD Sangouku..

Meijin setting up his 'weapons'.. boxes and boxes of tools. ^^

Meijin did some demonstration on how to apply stickers on SD figures.. especially

Sangoku series.. where there's a lot of uneven areas.. He also taught us how to remove the white nubs on plastic after cutting it of the runners... and some other basic techniques like painting with gundam markers..

During my consultation.. i asked a few questions when he came ard to visit me.. i brought the internal frames of RX-78-2 Ver.OYW with some armor in questions.. i think out of my questions.. the only one that would be helpful to the general gunpla modellers is how to fix the issue of loose joints.. 

*IMPORTANT!!* How to fix loose joints.

The example i gave was MG Gundam Exia.. pointing to the guy across me. haha. and Kawaguchi sensei told me.. becos polycap is a made of soft material.. so overtime it would definitely become loose.. one way to solve this problem is, at the 'mouth' of the polycap, the concave area where the ball will be inserted, cut a small piece of any normal plastic bag in a round shape (more if needed), and place it at the mouth, den insert the ball into the polycap. Thus the plastic sheet would be effectively between the polycap and ball-bearing. This sheet of plastic will become a grip between the ball and the socket.. COOL.. wad do you guys think?? i have not tried it out yet.. cos i haven got this problem... maybe you guys can try it and let me noe!! =) sorrie for the lack of illustration...

Kawaguchi sensei giving some tip abt scribing panel lines on MG Exia.. you can use many layers of masking tape (for painting) overlapping it and use it as a guide. He also mentioned something noteworthy.. that is when scribing lines.. move the PART instead of the knife so as to ensure a firm grip on the knife.. cool tips.

While i was with Kawaguchi Meijin.. i got him to sign my RX-78-2 Ver.OYW manual!! wahaha.. very momentous as it was my first painted Gundam and consulted by him!! ^^"

After the consultation.. Mr Kawaguchi sensei had a VS speed building competition with the audience.. VS Mr Kawaguchi??? haha.. the winner would receive a Limited Edition Not-for-sale 1/144 HG RX-77 Guncannon Crystal version.. 4 members were selected and up the stage they go.. The piece used is the FG Gundam Kyrios.. same as mine the last time..

Mr Kawaguchi started with pasting the sticker first.. that's when the winner had been decided. hahaha..

In the end.. Kawaguchi sensei DID finished first.. of cos.. but the prize is given to someone who finished first other den Mr Kawaguchi sensei.. I went shopping with Tako while they were fixing..

Our LOOTS of the day..

Tako bought the HG 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundame Ver.G30th.. She liked something realli classic. We were pondering whether to get the 1/144 HG Raiser 00 Crystal Ver. Event Exclusive too but we decided on this instead.. This Ver.G30th is based on the the BIG G at Odaiba which is being deconstructed as we speak.. TT.TT very very sad.. din get to see it personally.

So.. that is all i have frm the Gundam Fiesta Singapore 2009! Hope you enjoyed everything here.. love to hear for you guys! cheers.

(^^)"   レンです！　　　　じゃね！！