Of Micronauts and Men

Of Micronauts and Men

Machine Force on Spartak battle terrain set


My good friend Tim Walsh helped me out by adding the backgrounds with photoshop to the terrain set that I made last week. Personally, I realize I have a long way to go with the photography aspect of the hobby, but I am really happy with the results.

The idea came from the Promaxis kit, which I had translated (thanks, Yuka) What do you guys think?

Armored Core recon team 

Black Hole Sun 

Acro Command and escort 

They have arrived! 

Basically all you need for this terrain set is a bit of styrofoam, paint, sandpaper, a wide, flat brush and a saw, which you use to cut out the rocks. After cutting, be sure to sand any edges so that it looks a bit round, which is more natural looking.

I got the styrofoam at an art supply store. It wasn't that expensive, but you can get cheaper styrofoam just about anywhere...check any packaging.

The paint scheme, all hand painted, was:
1) Prime white(All acryllic paints)
2) base coat Nickel Azo Yellow
3) seal with matt finish spray
4) wash with Mars yellow
5) dry-brush with Yellow Oxide

Not a difficult project and it only took a couple of days. If anyone wants to know more, let me know.

Superfest, Oct 2 2004 Poster Girl 

Wow, what a week...First, Machine Force arrives (and is awesome-that is if you dig the new series), then I figure out what to do with the styrofoam I have laying around (trust me on this one), and then another toy festival!

Not so many pictures as it was mostly dealers in what looked like a kind of flea market.

but anyway, enjoy!

mo

Superfest was held down the road a bit from the Budo kan in Kudanshitta. While Wonderfest is more of a forum for kitbuilders, Superfest is more of a dealer's market. I saw some cool Microman toys, including some of the original Manga, a MIB Italian Megas and horse-I didn't even ask the price on that one, many loose figures, many small dealers who will cut you a deal pretty easily.

By the way, thanks to Koji for telling me about this one. Yoroshuku!

We were given stickers with our tickets. I rescued a second one that someone had dropped.

Takara had a table, as I was fortunate enough to meet them and catch a glimpse of the next wave, which I was told would be in December. I couldn't take a picture, but they are a bit more like the Master Force in that they don't have any ports on their bodies and there is little if any sculpting. They have some wild-looking heads and all seem to have a kind of lion emblem on their chests. I think there were about 5 of them.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, the poster says Military Force on Nov 4!

There was some kind of Alien verses Predator model contest going on. I don't know, but it looks like there is some kind of movie coming out? Not my thing, but Geiger does sometimes liven the place up, don't you think?

I talked to one of the dealers and it turns out he has a shop in Kichijioji, which I hit on the way home. No pictures of the inside, but he does have a comprehensive collection of Microman in there. Vintage, Palisades, Zero One mags, Interchangeables-a grey BC, C.I.E.L., many Megos, Micronauti, you name it. He knows his stuff, which is sometimes not so good, as the prices do reflect that. You're not likely to find an awesome deal here as you might be at Mandarake, but if there is something that you just have to own, then this is the place.

The owner speaks pretty good English and is also a very nice gentleman. His flier says he's working on toycats.net, but I don't think that's up, yet.

The jgirl running this table wouldn't let me take a picture of the actual model, of which no kits were for sale, so I just snapped this to give you a little idea...

The figurine stands about 8 inches tall and will be sold painted for about $200. I'd definately like to track one down. If you're interested, check out their website at http://artstorm.co.jp/
I haven't checked it out yet, but maybe it's cool...

It wasn't very big, but I felt like I was trapped in a maze at points 

Koji said it was a lot quieter than usual. 

Normally very expensive, this was a score at 200 yen. Yes, the leg is broken, but I plan on using the head for something. 

Getting one of these loose for 1.000 yen was pretty good, I thought. You don't see the black ones much at all on ebay.