Update April, 2007

I'm back again, and still at it with this Microman thing. This time around, I'm featuring the photography of my friend Oscar, as he came over my house one day with his sweet camera...most of these pictures were taken with minimal lighting. He's responsible for all of the photos up to and including 'Air Defense Unit' and you can see more of his stuff (non-micro) at www.flickr.com/photos/oscarchabebe

Once again, thanks for looking!
mot

Master Spy

My buddy Jeff says she looks like a bumble bee, so I think I'm going to do her up like one at some point...
Oscar "Hands in the pants? I can do that!"lol!!

Titan Commander

I finally found this pirate chick at Mandarake and liked her so much I built this stand for her from a Galactic Cruiser and put her in charge of the West Colony (That is, the westernmost portion of my room). I've renamed her 'Titan Commander' as I figure she has some kind of special bonus when it comes to commanding large robots...

Untitled

I still haven't figured out this guy's role, but I have taken him out of storage and sent him to the colony...

Assault Lifter

I think I may have mentioned this before, but this is basically a Han Solo jet-pack thing with two Armored Core arms and a Lego-joint for a missle launcher-type thing. Oscar helped with the development by giving some ideas that otherwise might not have occured to me...

Seargent Major

This quirky little kitbash is in charge of the outpost's air defense...

More Acro Circut Ranger

Those who have been following this blog will remember this one probably. Oscar and I were just running out of stuff and still wanted to take a few more pictures...

Air Defense Unit

This is just a Star Wars gun painted nice...

Alpha Centurian

As of this moment, that's this guy's official name. He serves as the Field Marshall for the colonists...

More Titan Commander

Here's a few more shots of what I consider to be my coolest custom yet(which is only the stand)...

Gyro Coptor

I think that is what I'm calling it. It didn't come out as well as I hoped and so I gave up in the middle. Maybe one day I'll work on it again, but as it is, it's done for me.

More Mandarake Kitbashing

I've been making trips to Mandarake to try to find cheap kits to bash into my Microman collection. None of these kits cost more than a couple of bucks and they all have something cool. I figure it's more fun if it can be done on the cheap.

Mech Park-to-be

This area is currently under development. It will be used as a base for a group of larger robots I am now building, which will be placed under Titan Command.

test

Ground Control to Major Tom...

WONDERFEST WINTER 2007

Overall, not the best show I've been to, unfortuneately. I wasn't able to get much stuff at all this time. I made some mistakes, as well. For one thing, I don't like Transformers, but maybe I should have skipped the main hall and stood in line for this Takara exclusive. At least I could have made some money!
Still, fun!
enjoy the pictures!

The first place I went and it was sold out. The sculpting is rough, but I like the design. I'd like to make one like this in 1/20 and I think I could maybe do it.

I have a feeling that this is actually a kitbash rather that a full sculpt somehow.

Here's a guy likes his legos...

I picked up the first set here. I have a bunch of this guys stuff now, but I never put it together. The casting is a bit rough. He's consistant, though, and improving.

Disappointment...

Enari-san is such a genius, but what the heck is this supposed to be? I asked him, but couldn't understand what he meant. He still had some bikes and those little cars (of which I will turn into a helicopter-see below).

Seems like a lot of guys build stuff up with clay. I want to try.

The clear one wasn't for sale. Nice though! It's about 20 centimeters. The resin kit costs 10.000 yen. I passed. Not in scale!

I like it. Didn't buy, though.

This custom is outstanding! I think I might make a copy...same guy does the Acroyears below. I had more pics, but as I don't use flash, they came out like crap. I hate flash, though.

Sold Out again! I really want to get like four of these things, customize with an Antron and make a Mercenary Ant Squad.

sticker art

I've been thinking about getting into this genre for a while because if you want stuff like cruisers and destroyers, you have to go smaller. Especially if you live in an apartment!

This guy always has cool stuff. I haven't bought any yet because I am intimidated by the paint jobs. Maybe one day, I'll get a little better and try!

The only reason I did't buy this one was because the guy was saying it was some kind of character from a movie or anime series or something. I prefer original stuff if I can find it.

I should have bought this. It would make a mean Battle Cruiser. It's about the same size, too. Damn.

I think maybe this was sold at the last show. They had a picture of it in the ticket, anyway...

After around 12:30, the place got pretty much taken over by cos-players. I think that whole thing is really catching on...

New Stuff

Here are a few things I'm working on...

Jeff and I had a little after hours party

UPDATE JAN 2007

Hi guys, back again. I've been busy but I still have a micro scene going on over here. I had to clean out my camera for the next festival which is next month, so here you are. Please enjoy, unitl next time

mot

New Titan Speeder

Check out this eye candy for vintage fans! I took a car model and worked it a little...

put the Beta wiings on the bug dude

Mechanized Artillery

Don't worry about the stuff not being on right. It's only temporary. I think doing it this way will help me paint with more detail when I start hitting it with the airbrush.

These pictures show progress as of a couple of weeks ago. I've been really taking my time.

I'm greebling these machines with anything I can find...WonderFest parts, model tank parts, a Tron part, etc. They are being held on with plastic pins so that they can be removed when it comes time for painting.

BC cockpit

Though intended for something else, I've decided to upgrade my battle cruiser twin-seater with these WF parts.

It's good to have a dremel 'cause then you can do stuff like cut out a nice hole for this ball joint here...

WF bike

I got this last time and did it up. It was a pretty tough kit to get together but I liked it when I was through, so here ya go...

Wonderfest stuff

from the Midget guy. This piece has a lot of potential...

Disney in Shibuya

This is where you get Dysney stuff in Shibuya. I put the picture here to remind myself of something. I had to get back to one of the Embassy guys who was asking about that clear Predator guy. Well, I went looking for it, but couldn't find the shop again. This building is nearby, hence...I'll try again in Feb.

Rarity

I don't think you'll find too many of these on ebay. I think it's called the 'Cosmo Countachi' or something like that. I was going to clean it up and had it out when my buddy Oscar noticed it and convinced me not to touch it. I put the picture here 'cause I don't think Paul has this on his site yet.

Another view

Sorry for the crap picture here, but you get the idea

Task Force Assets

I'm still considering this force to be more defensive in nature, considering the short range fighter/bomber and the heavy but slow mech...

You gotta love the detail they put into this thing. Expensive, and it cost me one girlfriend...she hated it so much she started a very public arguement...

test

Finally worked! I think this guy is going to get promoted to field com- mander...

test

text ok?

WONDERFEST SUMMER 2006

Hi again, long time, no post. I went to Wonderfest yesterday and, as usual, I'm pretty tired from uploading all of these picures. The show was pretty cool, please enjoy the pictures and have a nice day!

mot

Takara-Tomy

Let's see, they had a pretty small Micro display this time and I didn't see Abiko san. Nothing earth shattering in the display. I like the Cyborg Superman, though. Everything in there had been seen in Tomoyoshi's toy report at Microforever, so I didn't take any pictures. Once again, no exclusives. You'd think they could at least take a material force and put a sticker on him or something. Oh, well.

Story of my Life

Nice Diorama

I don't know what the subject matter is, but I like it.

This was done by the guy who made that green bike a while back. I finally picked up one of those back after talking to him for a while. Nice guy.

I initially passed this up, then later, I changed my mind and went back for it. It was gone. Nice little jet, but not in my scale. The cool thing about it was that it was sold assembled and painted. Not cheap, though! ($110)

Tac Air!

Nice little company here. If they expand this line a little, they might get me.

I was thinking maybe this could be like a pilotless Acroyear drone or something of that sort. It was pretty expensive, at something like $150 for one, unpainted and unassembled.

If I started collecting these, it would be all over. I mean, you can't just have a few attack helicopters. They need to support other units, which in turn need support and don't forget to build up reserves...

This one is just about the right scale for Micros, but I passed as I figured it would be too difficult to rebuild with joints.

Scary!

WIP

I've been tinkering with this guy for a while now.

Another view. I'm not sure if I've put this up. The head is from the last WF,

Samurai Diorama

The figures are built on Material Force figures. I think I should have taken more pictures of this scene.

The guy who made this says that he is going to sell the armor kits at the next WF. Hopefully, yes!

Er...those guys should not be standing on the tatami with those boots...

Here are some custom parts by the guy that does those vintage-style material force updgrades if you remember.

Here's a Lego spaceship. There were quite a few Lego pieces at this show.

Cool!

I almost bought this and am now almost regretting the fact that I didn't as I already have a little infantry squad that would go perfect with it. But, looking at the amount of time I'd need to assemble it, and then paint...I had to pass. Bad ass, though, ne?

Something

I've seen these at Mandarake (or something like them). I wouldn't buy them, but they look kind of interesting.

The thing that caught my eye about this series was the fine detail of the equipment.

HEN!!!

Like I said, I don't collect 'em, I just respect the artistry!

Sorry if I ramble...

It still amazes me to see so many parents with young children at these shows, all smiley and happily looking around. It reminds of a recent IHT front page that went something like 'Bush Puzzled by Anit-U.S Sentiment in Middle East'. If you don't see the connection, don't worry. I've been called 'esoteric', 'weird' and even once 'sophisticated'. Take your pick.

Aki would say this is sleazy

You know, the white cotton panties, the garters...pretty imaginative, though, don't you think?

I like the 'Galactic Warrior' chick to the right.

This one is a little too dark.

Now, please keep in mind...

I do not collect these kinds of figures. I sometimes admire the workmanship and enjoy presenting photos of what goes at the show so as to give a more complete feel of what actually goes on there. That said, I like the pose!

I like the hair on this one

I told a friend about this

and he wanted me to take a picture. I told him I would, but when it came time, I felt pretty shady. Maybe it's just me, but if the lady is going to let me take her picture, with her little costume, pouting...I mean, come on, I'll take your picture! So I couldn't do that. I took a picture of the scene, though.

I don't know...

I didn't take a picture, but there was a little girl (like, 8 years old) with her mom dressed up like some kind of goth character striking poses for some 40-year old guy with mom looking on approvingly. I can't be one to judge, but what would you think if some kind wanted to take pictures of your child all dressed up and posing? And don't give me any of that about how Japan is a 'safety' country. If you read any news about Japan, you'll know about the alarming levels of violent crime against children over here.

Sugoi!

This Acroyear stands about as tall as a Baron Karza. He wasn't for sale and I didn't get any information about him. There was another one, a blue one and they didn't look like garage kits. Sweet.

With Flash?

Sometimes it's hard to get a decent picture with my camera when I am inside a building. Usually, I hate flash, but sometimes it seems ok, like maybe here.

Or Without?

In this case, I can't decide which I like better.

It looks like these guys are from Gatcha man? Or Space Battleship Yamato maybe? I'm not sure as I can't actually see the picture I am writing about. I did see at the show that Takara was making one of the characters from Yamato, though. It was the guy with the gray captain's hat.

Goji san

I'm not into it Godzilla, but there always seems to be one or two cool dioramas at the show. This one features a Mecha version that stands about four feet tall.

SUMMER 2006 UPDATE

Well, I haven't been posting or doing much at all with the Microman since I came back from Thailand. Reasons being lack of money, time and imagination, I think. Recently, though, I have been working on a couple of small customs, as well as anticipating Wonderfest, so I figured I'd go and clean out my camera. Here's some junk I've been meaning to get to...

Here's one I came up with a while back. It's a torso from a Nuts n Bolts wonderfest kit attached to a Zoid Mantis thing with Palisades Acroyear arms. I was feeling lazy so rather than airbrush it, I hand painted it, which kind of ruined it for me but...

Update March, 2006

I just got back from Thailand and need to clear out my camera, so here are some pics of Enari san's bike for your perusal.

enjoy!
mot

The kit is molded with high-quality resin and very little flash, which was easy to remove with the dremel.

I just used spray paint for the parts. I had to use a bit of masking tape, which is a bit of a pain, but worth the effort.

I was planning to dry-brush the black parts and add some stickers, but for now, I think I'll leave it like this.

Here's a pic of the rear part. It very snuggly fits a Beta Midget. I was just going to put a Microman in the bike, but he's too short. It must be a BM. Or Astro Midget, whatever they are called. Why two names? Anyone?

A small table vise is needed for projects like this that require drilling.

I botched the first hole, drilling slightly off-center, so the second hole had to be in the same position. I got it within >1mm, so it was ok. If I were to do this kit again, I'd drill first, but once I started painting, it just took off. Fun kit, easy build.

I painted it 'orange tactical recognition marker' (that's the name of the color on the paint can) so that it would fit in with these vintage Takara vehicles.

Can anyone help with this?

It was asked over at the embassy whether or not the people who made these kits were 'pros' or not. I had said that it depended, and here is an example of what happens when you get a kit that wasn't so well-molded. Bubbles. Does anyone out there have any idea how I can seal or otherwise deal with them? Please post if you do.

Here's the thing assembled and primed. I'd like to cut half of the chair back off to make it more 'open'. I think this piece was done by the same guy who did those cockpits, if you remember which ones I mean.

Wonderfest, Winter, 2006

What a day. I'm so tired. I didn't go to the show until around noon as I didn't really want to shop all that much and I'm not really into the crowds. I get pretty grumpy when people are pushing me around. Anyway, here are some pics of the show. Please enjoy until next time.

Mot

I hate having these things flying around the house.

This metal head piece goes for about 4 grand. Nice stuff.

This is just awesome. The guy wants $15,000 for it and if I had that kind of money, I'd pay. I don't know his name, but he is a genious. I've got some of his other stuff buried somewhere in this blog if you care to look.

Another view

Spiders from Mars

One day, I'll win the lottery and be able to buy some of this stuff. Awesome.

Wow!

This kind of stuff is way out of my income range.

Pretty radical stuff. I wish Takara would make Acroyears like this.

fish

who would do this?

yeah.

Sweet micro bike! 3000 yen.

bike kit review

I haven't put it together yet, but I have checked it out. What a great kit! Simple, elegant, no flash (that's the leftover crap you have to trim/sand down), pre-drilled, ready to go. You only have to paint it. The bike itself is held together by a Beta Midget figure. I'm pretty psyched that I could buy one so late in the day.

yeah.

I almost picked this one up, but he was expensive and I figured that I would not be able to add joints due to the way he is posed. Too bad. Nice paint job, though, don't you think?

nice to see different takes on micros.

yeah.

You know, if anyone ever goes and writes some kind of book about Japanese popular culture, they really shouldn't overlook this 'kos-pray' thing.

Votom diorama

You know, next time I go, I'm going to this dudes' table first and getting four of these so I can have a cool　Antron squad. He always sells out before I find him!!

These were sold out when I got there. I'd love to have a few of them. In their scale, they would look like little Acroyear faeries.

Good news

Tenra War has new maids in the pipeline! They were sold out when I got there, but I know I will see them again. The guy selling them told me that the new warrior figures were still available, but I said 'no thank you'. I love the maids.

Before I forget!!

At Blister, I saw a clear Micro Predator today and I can't remember ever hearing about that. Do any of you out there know about this?


mot

Here was a guy selling metal weapons for Micros. Not very interesting to me, but some people seemed to like crowding around this table taking shot after shot, so I figured I'd share it with you after all.

For 2000 yen, this isn't something that I would stand in line for 12 hours for. That said, it is an awesome little kit and I am bummed that I couldn't get one.

Nifty!

Nice to see artist bringing their stuff to the toy shows. The guy who made this was pretty chatty and so I obliged him with some kind words. This work of his apparantly represents Satan.

I'm posting this picture here for educational purposes only. It's for those of you who may want to come to this festival one day with your kids. This kind of thing is pretty common, so bear it in mind.

Now this may seem rude, but I couldn't ask her if I could take her picture. I mean, how weird is that? 'You are dressed like a Microman!'

Here's the one I didn't buy but should have. I was thinking that it was expensive (about $100 US for the kit) and so detailed that it would be a bitch to paint. You can't have everything, though, right? Nice figure.

Here's another by the same guy.

I think the guy who did this tshirt is the same guy who did those Robotman posters a while back. I would have picked one up if they had had my size. I'm going to Thailand next week. It would have been perfect!

I liked this display. About as big as the old Shogun Warriors, if you remember them.

Every time I go to one of these shows, I see something that just makes me laugh. Good sculpting by this guy.

Blister

After the toy show, I went to Shibuya for some ribs. There, I met a guy who played for the Denver Broncos. We started talking about comics and he told me to go this place next door called 'Blister'. I walked in and saw this really cool M Falcon display. If you have ever wondered what a 1/20 scale version would look like, here it is. The girl at the shop would only let me take one picture and only after much charm offensive/begging. If you get to Shibuya, check this place out.

Got myself a little Star Wars base here. Pretty cool, and it was cheap. I don't usually like getting things that are too recognizable, but this worked for me.

Just some random fun. I'd love to get a shot that conveys what this piece really says. It's a Star Wars flight pack with a base made from a Soul of Chogokin figure. Nice little diorama piece, I think. Not finished yet!

New Toy!(er...Tool!)

Inspired by something that Bry had linked to (some Star Wars customs), I decided that I had to get a dremel. Finally. I looked and looked and finally got a pretty nice one for cheap. You guys out there who like to do this stuff and don't have one NEED one!

It would have taken me forever to do this little job if I didn't have my new tool.

There ya go! Nice thing about being over is that you can find junk like this for free sometimes.

Here's a cool GI Joe torso I dremelled (is that how you spell that?). I don't have a plan for it. It just goes to the parts box.

tip

When I have to sand something that consists of two parts that go together but need to be assembled later, I just use some thin glue to bind them temporarily. This way, I can make sure the sanding is accurate.

WIP

Can't seem to get a good shot of this guy. I've put a lot of work into him so far. Stormtrooper chest and left shoulder, GI Joe knife and knee-pads, a thorough paint job, stickers, blah, blah, blah I'll finish him someday.

I got sick of weapons falling out or not being held properly so I just started superglueing the suckers in there right from the get go. Not like you're going to run out, right?

yeah.

I'm not sure why I even took this picture, but I don't mind spending the time here at the manga kissa uploading and talking about it due to the fact that I don't really want to go home tonight. Oh, yeah, it's just a guy being primed.

Here's what it looks like when you have to clean your airbrush, in case you were wondering.

Grail!

For me, anyway. I never could seem to win a Mego version red on ebay for some reason. Then I figured that the reason was that I should probably get a Takara version, but they are expensive! I didn't end up trading my gold Karza for this, but it didn't come that cheap. It was just one of those days when I didn't care.

Work in Progress-Starfighter

I've been working on this for a while, just tooling around when the feeling hits me, that kind of thing. It's going to be a while at the rate I'm going, but that's ok. That's why it's a hobby.

I took a Zoid cockpit, cut it up a bit, stuck on some other bits with putty and there you have it. It took about an hour, once I figured out what to do.

I want to add some more detail, but here is the cockpit basically finished.

When putting the panels on the underside, I had to compensate for the fact that the bottom is not flat. I just used some epoxy putty!

Here, the base coat has been applied. It's super light sky blue with flat blue for the forward panels.

I got pretty faded the other night and took a few random shots. Nothing special, but I liked them.

Work in progress. Just playing around, basically. Cool thing is that the Acroyear arm just snaps on, no modifications needed. I plan to sand down the organic looking bits and add some micro armor, but I don't really know where this guy is going.

Upgrade!

The chrome mat figs don't seem to be selling so well, and some people didn't really like the copper dude, but it helped me bring this guy back to life.