Friday, February 05, 2010

freak accident

When you play paintball, you kind of half-expect some pain and bruises. Maybe the occasional welt. It's part of the game to get the other guy before they get you.
One of those fingers is the wrong colour and... well the wrong size.

What's particularly uncool is that this didn't even happen to me during the game. I had my hand up and was walking down the edge o the field after being eliminated when a ball came out of nowhere to hit my pinky end-on.

Breaking a gelatin shell moving at 250ft/s was not unlike being hit by a hammer. And that sucked because taking my gloves off was just not fun tonight. Sheesh.

Monday, February 01, 2010

Hoihoi-san in 1:1 scale (part 2)

I decided to base coat the weapons in black even though the pieces are molded in gray plastic. Acrylic paint sticks better that way. I wish I had remembered this earlier because the orange USB port didn't turn out as smooth as I had hoped.
First I painted the black into the recessed areas. Then dry-brush the raised “USB” letters. Finally add the orange. The orange needed two coats because it's less forgiving than the recessed darker colours.

Painting multiple surfaces means you need to “hold” the pieces up to dry. An easy way is to use a clump of putty and let the pieces stick up in the air.

Sadly, I later discovered the “audio plug” to be a wasted effort. Turns out that particular piece is a tight fit and it pretty much cleaned the paint right off when I tried to insert it into the jack behind Hoihoi-san's head.
Speaking of her head, I debated a long time whether to matt-finish her face as well. But since Hoihoi-san is meant to be a doll, the plain plastic-y finish on her “skin” areas seemed to make sense.

The finished model has real tight joints. While she's poseable, Hoihoi-san is also very delicate. Some of her snap-fit parts (like her main torso) will actually fly apart in your hands if you're not careful while twisting her joints. Her bangs will also come apart every time you try removing her face to replace the “eyes-plate” underneath for looking left, right, or straight ahead.

Here she is completed (and ready for action).
Here we go!Any roaches hiding on this side?Perimeter secured! Okay... Must check bananas now...Alright - mission accomplished!