Evolution.

Just a comparison between the first kamen rider-like thing I made (waaay back in 2008), and the last two I made, (2013). Glad to see there's SOME improvement. 

Shadow Moon!

Century Kings

Finished slightly earlier than expected,  albeit rushed due to my trip up north this Thursday  Still, glad it's done. photography to be done some other day. 

first kit of the year

Finished this guy last week, though I immediately packed him up and shipped him off. I'll get to see him again later in the week though since I'll be heading up to Baguio soon, then maybe take some more pics when I return home with the kit.

I'm officially calling this AGE-1 U.B.E. (Uniform Booster Enhancement)

Nova

It's highly unusual these days for me to be reviewing western superhero figures, but I really dig Nova's design. Let me start off though by saying I won't pretend to be a devoted follower of this guy's comic history,or bore you with facts that I pulled from Nova (Richard Rider)'s Wikipedia entry.

Nope.

Instead, I want to get to the bare bones of why I like this figure and things that I don't like too much.

Let's start out with the paint job. Nova sports an almost all black ensemble with some gold details thrown in,  that contrasts very well. There are some traces of highlighting with metallic blue but it's too faint to really stand out. It is visible on the abs and the back though, then there are the cloudy blue spots on the chest and gauntlet, as well as the bright red crest on the helmet which stands out even more from the black and the gold but does it well. 

With the usual "mold (almost) everything in their required color so we can save on paint money" route that Hasbro does. Which actually works in this case because there are minimal errors, though some might be glaring in extreme cases. 

There is some slight scuffing on the gold on the chest on the right side of the image, probably the only real flaw on this specimen. 

Now let's talk about the sculpt. It's common knowledge these days that companies save a lot of money by using template bodies, and Nova is no exception. With an excellent core body being used, they sculpted the armored parts and molded them in soft gold plastic/pvc which allows for some decent flexibility though the fit can be rather loose or awkward.

The chest details are excellent, with the entire armor being glued onto the pectorals and the shoulderpads being part of that chest armor they sorta float over the shoulders themselves and hardly get in the way when posing, which was a very good idea. The helmet is slightly small for the body giving the impression that Richard Rider has a really tiny noggin under there.

Then the crest of the helmet itself obscures the eyes too much, covering up the cloudy blue eyes  underneath.

The gauntlet/bracelets and belts simply loop onto the wrists and torso respectively, and freely move around, though the belt is rather loose. 

Same goes for the leg armor, which wraps around the ankles. 

aside from the chest piece almost all of the armor pieces come off of this figure, and can loosely flop around (or worse get deformed during packing) due to how they attach. 

In the articulation department he' pretty poseable, considering he's a 3 3/4" figure, though not as stellar as microman/microforce or Toybiz shs, it works, 

He has joints where it matters and thus has an amazing range of motion.

Not really surprising since this is one of the line's better bodytypes. 

Though it does fudge a lot with some loose joints here and  there or some joints getting stuck due to friction and being 80% soft pvc.

As seen in the pic above, that's what I meant about some parts of the armor being awkwardly positioned due to both how they attach or the type of plastic used. it's too soft a plastic to actually hold itself in position, though I assume this was a decision made to abide by toy safety standards (which, in my opinion assumes the consumer is a dumbass but hey, their rules, not mine.)

Do I have any complaints about the figure aside from the stuff I already talked about above? Well yes.

There's this little situation about how available this figure is. As usual stores take advantage of the perceived rarity and "collector's value"  of this figure and place really terrible prices for figures like Nova.

I paid roughly 850PHP ($20.88) for something that retails for (to my recollection) 550PHP ($13.51)

No matter how fun of a toy this figure is, I discourage you (unless you're filthy rich, or really like Nova) from getting him for the price I got him. 600 PHP($14.74), sure, 650PHP ($16) pushing it, but manageable.

But 850?

For that price I expect alternate hands, or an effect part, or even a stand, but for a barebones figure made of soft pvc, with a design mindset emphasizing cost cutting?





I paid for it but only because I had money to spend. Otherwise, save it for something better or wait for the demand to wane. 

Bug Eyes

Hi! Stumbled upon a relatively easy way of making bug eyes for my kamen riders, and I'm fairly new at it though I thought this might be of interest to I took time to document the process.

Okay first you have this head sculpt, with the eye sockets drilled in, this is mainly to center the eyes for setting later.

Next you put some epoxy putty in the sockets, just enough to fill it and to jut out slightly from the hole. Make sure you make the shapes the same.

Then, using a dental tool or a hobby knife, make a criss-cross pattern on the eyes, this serves to give the compound eye look to the final product.

When the putty sets hard, paint the eyes silver, this is so they reflect any light that hits them, and makes the finished eyes stand out more. 

You'll need some fast setting clear epoxy for the next step, mix a tiny batch up and wait for around a minute or so before using it on the eyes so it won't run.

With the dental tool or a toothpick, gently dab a drop, roughly the size of the eye socket on the criss-cross pattern use the tool/toothpick to position the drop into the right shape while it's still fairly fluid.

once you get it the way you want, simply paint it up with the clear acrylic colors of your choosing and you're done! this method also works for henshin belt orbs or monster type eyes as well, as always, practice makes perfect! 

Progress is slow, but it's taking shape rather well.

At this point I think I owe myself the weekend off on this guy, lol.

All this impatience is going to cost me in the long run so it's time for a break!