Saturday, January 26, 2013
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Figure Photography - Mixing Nendoroids & Chibi-Arts
When my Chibi-Arts C.C. (my first Chibi-Arts figure) arrived last month, I was very excited to discover that Bandai's Chibi-Arts uses the same neck joint as Good Smile Company's Nendoroids. They are also very close in size and general design. Once I made this discovery, it sparked ideas about mixing Chibi-Arts parts with Nendoroid parts but only now have I had the chance to experiment. And this is the results. It's not a particularly adventurous example, but here we have Chibi-Arts C.C.'s head and accessories combined with Nendoroid Takatsuki Ichika's body. I felt that Ichika's uniform colours are similar to that of the Ashford Academy uniform from Code Geass. I haven't actually watched Ano Natsu de Matteru so I know nothing about that anime, I simply got Ichika's body in a Nendoroid split on MyFigureCollection.net. Leave a comment to let me know what you think!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Nendoroid Playsets
I was lucky enough to score the B set of the Japanese Life Nendoroid playset sealed from Mandarake and it arrived in the mail today so I immediately had to snap a few photographs. These playsets have become somewhat rare these days, they only pop up on Mandarake or AmiAmi's pre-owned section from time to time so I feel quite lucky to have picked this up. I also have the Culture Festival A set on the way. Hopefully I'll be able to complete both sets at some point in the future.
The Nendoroid playlets are the perfect companions for your happy little Nendoroids and they seem to come to life when placed into the tiny diorama-like scene. Each set comes with a bunch of accessories and extra hands for your Nendoroids to be able to hold onto said accessories. The Nendoroid playset boxes are the same size as a normal Nendoroid box which means the sets need to be assembled. The walls are held together with small plastic connectors and are very easy to assemble. The Japanese Life B is styled after a traditional Japanese room, the set comes with tatami flooring, a wall with a wall scroll and shelving and the final wall is almost completely taken up by a sliding door. The accessories include a metal basin, pot, katana with a display stand, floor pillow, teapot, teacup with saucer and a plate of dango. The set is sturdy, well designed and highly detailed. It photographs very well, which is exactly what I wanted it for.
Despite the fact that I haven't got a full set yet, I think it's safe to say that these sets are awesome and well worth hunting for. If you can find one for a decent price, then I think you should definitely go for it. They are a lot of fun and look great displayed as well. Everything is scaled perfectly for Nendoroids and every little detail is just right. The height of the room looks like it might even work well for Figmas as well.
The Nendoroid playlets are the perfect companions for your happy little Nendoroids and they seem to come to life when placed into the tiny diorama-like scene. Each set comes with a bunch of accessories and extra hands for your Nendoroids to be able to hold onto said accessories. The Nendoroid playset boxes are the same size as a normal Nendoroid box which means the sets need to be assembled. The walls are held together with small plastic connectors and are very easy to assemble. The Japanese Life B is styled after a traditional Japanese room, the set comes with tatami flooring, a wall with a wall scroll and shelving and the final wall is almost completely taken up by a sliding door. The accessories include a metal basin, pot, katana with a display stand, floor pillow, teapot, teacup with saucer and a plate of dango. The set is sturdy, well designed and highly detailed. It photographs very well, which is exactly what I wanted it for.
Despite the fact that I haven't got a full set yet, I think it's safe to say that these sets are awesome and well worth hunting for. If you can find one for a decent price, then I think you should definitely go for it. They are a lot of fun and look great displayed as well. Everything is scaled perfectly for Nendoroids and every little detail is just right. The height of the room looks like it might even work well for Figmas as well.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Creativity: Making Your Own Miniatures.
Many figure collectors are also cosplayers, the hobbies easily go hand in hand. I cosplayed for the very first time last month and I had a blast doing so. To complete my cosplay, I bought contact lenses online. They arrived in tiny plastic containers that looked somewhat like tiny jars. After transferring my contact lenses to the appropriate containers for storage, I decided to keep the original containers. At the time I had no idea why, but I often keep little bits and pieces like that in the hopes of doing something creative with them. And that's exactly what I ended up doing.
I attempted to make a little jar of jam with the first one. I can recall making homemade jam as a kid, and instead of using screw on lids, I remember using sheets of some kind of clear cellophane, held on with a rubber band. So for my mini jam jar, I used fake blood left over from a costume party (mmm, zombies!) to look like jam, then I used some clear cellophane, cut into a little square. It is held onto the jar with some thin purple ribbon, tied in a bow. I wanted to use a tiny clear hair elastics that you can buy, but I didn't have any at the time. I have two empty jars so if I attempt to make another jam jar, I think I will use something to add thickness and texture to the jam, and I will use a tiny elastic to hold the cellophane on the jar.
The other miniatures pictured below are made from polymer clay, the modeling clay that you bake in the oven. The second jar is filled with little marbled balls of polymer clay to look like candy. I used this tutorial for the mini sushi and a friend showed me how to make the little cupcakes. I then used an iridescent nail polish on the cupcake with the cherry on top for some extra sparkle and clear nail polish on the cherry, the purple cupcake and the salmon to give them some shine.
I had a lot of fun making these and with practice I should be able to create more complex minis for my Nendoroids and other figures! Making these tiny miniatures was surprisingly easy and polymer clay isn't very expensive. So if you want some minis for your figures and can't buy any re-ment miniatures or anything similar, I recommend trying to make your own. You can find polymer clay at your local craft store.
I attempted to make a little jar of jam with the first one. I can recall making homemade jam as a kid, and instead of using screw on lids, I remember using sheets of some kind of clear cellophane, held on with a rubber band. So for my mini jam jar, I used fake blood left over from a costume party (mmm, zombies!) to look like jam, then I used some clear cellophane, cut into a little square. It is held onto the jar with some thin purple ribbon, tied in a bow. I wanted to use a tiny clear hair elastics that you can buy, but I didn't have any at the time. I have two empty jars so if I attempt to make another jam jar, I think I will use something to add thickness and texture to the jam, and I will use a tiny elastic to hold the cellophane on the jar.
The other miniatures pictured below are made from polymer clay, the modeling clay that you bake in the oven. The second jar is filled with little marbled balls of polymer clay to look like candy. I used this tutorial for the mini sushi and a friend showed me how to make the little cupcakes. I then used an iridescent nail polish on the cupcake with the cherry on top for some extra sparkle and clear nail polish on the cherry, the purple cupcake and the salmon to give them some shine.
I had a lot of fun making these and with practice I should be able to create more complex minis for my Nendoroids and other figures! Making these tiny miniatures was surprisingly easy and polymer clay isn't very expensive. So if you want some minis for your figures and can't buy any re-ment miniatures or anything similar, I recommend trying to make your own. You can find polymer clay at your local craft store.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Review: Adelaide Himeji Garden
During a recent trip to Adelaide, South Australia, I took a break from shopping to visit the Adelaide Himeji Garden. Unfortunately it was a somewhat rushed visit, I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked, but I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and I look forward to exploring the garden again during the different seasons.
The Adelaide Himeji Garden is a traditional Japanese garden situated on the edge of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. In April 1982, the city of Adelaide and the ancient city of Himeji became sister cities. The Adelaide Himeji Garden was a gift from the city of Himeji to symbolise the bond of friendship between the two cities.
The garden itself may be small, but it is still a beautiful example of Japanese garden design. You enter the garden through a gatehouse, modeled on a temple. Nearby is a water bowl so visitors may purify themselves by washing their hands and face before entering the garden. The garden is split into two classic styles. Firstly, the larger section of the garden, the senzui (lake and mountain garden) which reflects images of the Japanese countryside. Hills in the garden design represent the mountains of Japan and the body of water represents the lakes and ocean. A bubbling waterfall provides the soothing sounds of running water. A shishi-odoshi (deer scarer), a bamboo device provides a rhythmic clack against a rock every few moments. The back corner of the garden shows us a beautiful example of a kare senzui (dry garden), where raked sand represents areas of water and rocks take the place of islands. By the kare senzui is a teahouse, where you can sit and enjoy the peace and quiet and look across the carefully raked sand of the kare senzui. The teahouse is designed similarly to the porch of a Zen temple. The garden is completely fenced off and full of beautiful plants, so it is easy to relax and let yourself imagine that you have escaped on journey to Japan.
I took my Banpresto C.C. SQ prize figure with me to visit the garden for photographic reasons. Her outfit is the most suitable out of all the figures in my collection so it seemed fitting to photograph her there. I plan to visit the garden again in January and I will take the rerelease of Alter's Momohime figure (due for rerelease this month) with me then.
Please enjoy my photographs of C.C and my photographs of the garden itself. If you're ever in Adelaide, I highly recommend the Adelaide Himeji Garden as a must see spot to visit.
The Adelaide Himeji Garden is a traditional Japanese garden situated on the edge of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. In April 1982, the city of Adelaide and the ancient city of Himeji became sister cities. The Adelaide Himeji Garden was a gift from the city of Himeji to symbolise the bond of friendship between the two cities.
The garden itself may be small, but it is still a beautiful example of Japanese garden design. You enter the garden through a gatehouse, modeled on a temple. Nearby is a water bowl so visitors may purify themselves by washing their hands and face before entering the garden. The garden is split into two classic styles. Firstly, the larger section of the garden, the senzui (lake and mountain garden) which reflects images of the Japanese countryside. Hills in the garden design represent the mountains of Japan and the body of water represents the lakes and ocean. A bubbling waterfall provides the soothing sounds of running water. A shishi-odoshi (deer scarer), a bamboo device provides a rhythmic clack against a rock every few moments. The back corner of the garden shows us a beautiful example of a kare senzui (dry garden), where raked sand represents areas of water and rocks take the place of islands. By the kare senzui is a teahouse, where you can sit and enjoy the peace and quiet and look across the carefully raked sand of the kare senzui. The teahouse is designed similarly to the porch of a Zen temple. The garden is completely fenced off and full of beautiful plants, so it is easy to relax and let yourself imagine that you have escaped on journey to Japan.
I took my Banpresto C.C. SQ prize figure with me to visit the garden for photographic reasons. Her outfit is the most suitable out of all the figures in my collection so it seemed fitting to photograph her there. I plan to visit the garden again in January and I will take the rerelease of Alter's Momohime figure (due for rerelease this month) with me then.
Please enjoy my photographs of C.C and my photographs of the garden itself. If you're ever in Adelaide, I highly recommend the Adelaide Himeji Garden as a must see spot to visit.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Figure Photography - Kamui Gakupo
I shot these photographs of Nendoroid Kamui Gakupo in my garden over the weekend. I found a corner of my garden that I've never explored for photographic purposes before. I found a log just begging to be photographed. So I settled Gakupo there, looking very handsome. I found myself a spot and began setting up my shots. I got startled when something ran into the viewfinder, generally when you're photographing figures you don't expect any movement. I looked closely and discovered that a tiny lizard of some sort had settled itself by Gakupo. I shoot all my figure photographs in manual (both for exposure and focus) so I couldn't just start snapping away, but I quickly checked the light meter, adjusted the shutter speed, adjusted the focus and started snapping to capture the little lizard friend. You can see him in the very last photograph, click the thumbnail to view it larger. The framing isn't the best but I'm still happy that I managed to get at least one good shot of Gakupo with his new friend.
Sadly, during this little photo session with Gakupo, he suffered a fall. He didn't break (surprisingly, because he tumbled down a good 4 feet) but his little ahoge got scratched. So AmiAmi made more money from me yet again, because I came straight inside and ordered a replacement. At least I will have twins now! That should open up some curious photo opportunities....
Thanks for reading!
Figure: Nendoroid Kamui Gakupo
Manufacturer: Good Smile Company
Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Sigma 70-300mm f/3.5-5 Macro lens
