Built From Scratch #2 - Sebastian Michealis is the way to rake up butler cafe sales

"At your service, whenever you wish."


Let's be honest for one second - ever got hyped up at the announcement of Maid & Butler Cafes at Anime Conventions, showed up eagerly with piles of cash and hope, ready to conquer the queue and nail a seat, only to take one glance through the windows into the cafe, and be disappointed?

Don't give me that "let's not be shallow, it's all about the experience," we all know that we're going in for the faces, and the food is secondary (although fine cuisine is crucial to the overall experience). Why else would anyone want to take on the absurdly long queue and pay for the overpriced menus, what, to play jenga with the awkward guy playing dress-up? Definitely not me. Yet year after year, I continue to get dispirited by the butlers employed, while the queue doesn't seem to stop growing and the food price continues to soar... Come on! We're paying good money for this experience, the least they can do is to be stricter in their hiring criteria...

Great, I've deviated from the main point of this post again, but seriously, go check out this year's AFA and see for yourself.

So today's star for the second Building From Scratch chapter is none other than the sexy and badass demon butler from Kuroshitsuji, the fabulous Sebastian Michaelis. Naturally, he's one of my four fantasy beau (rest to be revealed in due time), and boy, his debonair and elegance actually transcends reality, in the form of this gorgeous 1/8 scale figure by Megahouse released this April. Luckily for me, I managed to grab the last of him from my favourite online hobby store because a irresponsible buyer did not settle the full payment. How could the person! But lucky me~

The only thing I can say to all the Sebby fans who have not gotten this is, you're going to regret this. Somehow, there has been an influx in Sebastian figures this year (after so long), as though teasing the S fan club and testing our patience before finally declaring, "Here you go, this is the man you've all been salivating over, now take your pick, and pick quickly." While Kotobukiya has a way with lady figures, it's Megahouse's G.E.M. that has won me over with their yummy boys, and their devious depiction of Sebby.

Alright, let's start with the deliverables.

The anime is set in the artful Victorian era (1837 - 1901) in England, so you can expect less of your sliding/louvre windows, and more of those fuddy-duddy arched windows that screams medieval and fairy tale times. Materials wise would also be gearing towards the traditional route, like bricks, masonry, etc.

Jose Elias & Sofia Pereira, (2013). Gothic Windows of The Royal Residence in The Leiria Castle [Online]. Available at: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/gothic-windows-of-the-royal-residence-in-the-leiria-castle-lusoimages.html [Accessed: 18 August 2015].

Nothing boosts confidence and motivation than research, and this oriel happens to fit my agenda. It also helps if you could visualise the end-product before getting started.

With additional reference to some of the anime's episode scenes, I decided to change the quarrels (diamond pane glass) to the checkered muntins to match the show. Trivia: These bars cutting across the windows aren't to beef up security, but to reduce the steep cost of manufacturing huge glass panes as glass is really expensive then.

Unfortunately, the story doesn't end with a reference image. This awfully plain-looking plan took me quite a few hours to get it right. Having to decide on the specific dimensions of every single details had me pulling my hair and sighing every so often.

With the numbers in order, I grabbed my fast-thinning wallet and went to replenish my modelling materials. For this set-up, you would need (excluding tools):

• 2 black/white 30 x 45 x 0.5 cm THK corrugated foam boards
• 3 A4 wall texture
• 1 A4 transparent sheet
• Permanent marker
• 2 A4 floor & ceiling design of your choice, preferably something ornate
• 1 A4 fancy colour paper, preferably matches your wall colour
• Some miniature portraits/landscapes & wooden frames (all made from paper)
• Patience

As you can see, I'm a very lazy creator, and instead of putting effort to model something breath-taking & intricate, I invest a good portion of my brain juices to reduce the effort needed that yields equally satisfying results. In this case, the best medium readily available at my disposal is manipulating with paper.

Initially, I wanted to cut out papers for the muntins and paste it on the glass, but debated that it was too much trouble & went down the marker path. Bonus: you can see me taking picture of my half-ass windows in the reflections, just as I suddenly remember to document this.

Here, I have already finished cutting the walls and windows to the outside world. Sadly I have no idea how to create that lancet windows (as drawn in my plan), or at least cut out 2 that are identical. Instead of working with the unknown, I decided not to take the risk & used the handy compass to form these 2 not so bad arches (though still really bad close-up).

On the flip side is where the 3 A4 wall textures and patience comes into play. It is easy to say I want to cover the whole side with these artificial claddings, but another matter to ration & slice the pieces to fit it. The small strips are to cover the 0.5 cm thickness of the cardboard for a consistent surface.

We all know that mansions and huge houses are never quite complete without tons of artworks and paintings that adorned its walls. For our case, there's no need to pay big bucks to auction that masterpiece or source around painting stores, we can leave that tedious portion to the actual mansion owners. For now, just head down to Google Image and find some context portraits & landscapes. I found the photograph of Ciel holding Elizabeth's hands rather cute & heartwarming so I used it, and dug out a painting of the famous Audley End House at Essex, England, with the picturesque landscape designed by 'Capability' Brown.

Finally, another quintessential feature of centuries old buildings - baroque carpets & fancy ceiling carvings. Though in this case both are carpet designs, but no one needs to know that. Just make sure to keep the ceiling design simpler and less imposing than the already elaborate burgundy carpet.

Just to enhance the authentic experience of an English mansion, here is a lame attempt at creating the ceiling cornice that are a must have. Heck, even my living room has those cornices! Over here, I used the A4 fancy paper (that is similar in colour to my wall texture), marked & sliced out in thin strips, rolled them up, & glued them onto the top of the wall and the ceiling. It kinda gives the illusion of uneven ceiling boards, just the way I like it.

... And the tough part is done! Packing everything, I waited for the next morning and headed out to, you guessed it, Bishan Park, & found a scenic spot without any of those bothersome high-rise buildings. As usual, I overslept and barely made it before the sun completely rose out of the window's view, something I failed to realise until after I got there. 

It was 8AM, with just the right intensity of sunlight & sunset feel. Coupled with the rolling greens, I could almost deceive myself that I'm really in England, well almost.

In case you're curious about the brown & black window sashes, it was mostly an experiment to see if the brown could emulate the wood feel (which obviously didn't, but that's okay), an attempt to create a contrast from Sebastian's all black assemble, and because my black marker is running out of ink.

Top left on the wall is Ciel Phantomhive (male), our sexy butler's master, slightly below Ciel is our dear man, and below the portrait is the famous Cherhill White Horse found on the hill of Cherhill Down in Wiltshire, England. Now we know where the pose of the figure came from.

Shoutout to Hao, a dear friend of mine, who have gotten me the amazing Kuroshitsuji Artbook I for my hatachi birthday. It was also where I scanned Sebby's portrait for this setup.

Here's Sebby enticing you to come in & join him...

A closer-up of his sexiness with the beautiful flare above him, captured in a moment of serendipity.

Sebby basking in the sunlight; even he couldn't resist taking a peek out of the window...

Only to have the precious sun rays suddenly blocked out by these energetic cumulus!

I told myself to be patient, as I was hoping to capture a few more shots of him with the natural flare, and sat there waiting for about 15 minutes. It was no use, the clouds just keeps coming & blowing past the sun, in total disregard of me! How could you my fellow clouds-sama T.T

Eventually, I took that as a cue to give up. Guess I had to be satisfied with what I already have!  Taking a giant step back, this is how the set-up looks like. This is as far as my laziness can bring me, fuelled by my love for figure photography.

There you have it, Sebastian Michaelis, at your service. It was fun doing this and the motivation could not have come at a better time, with my University finally starting and all. With this, I shall humbly sign off and disappear into the depths of my computer screen...

xoxo

- Yes, my Lord.