Hello world, I’ve recently graduated from a full-time university student to an underemployed employee, desperate to contribute to society. And I’ve ran out of excuses for procrastinating on updating my blog, so here I am to start 2019 with my #2 bae of the 2D universe...

This is by far my most costly project, where I dropped over $30 purchasing basswood strips alone. However, it is also far easier to cut compared to styrofoam and it already came in a variety of pre-cut widths that suit my needs, so...

Before I got him I’ve already knew I wanted him to be in a “traditional” setting, but I’m unwilling to take the Edo streets route seeing it’ll take 1000 years to replicate those tiled roofs... I needed something authentic, fast (I try la hor), and shouts samurai, and shoji panel was the natural answer. I was initially reluctant to do it, seeing I already made it once for my most recent project, but I was hard pressed to get this rolling and went ahead.

After gathering some feedbacks from friends and reflecting on ways to differentiate this panel, I’ve decided to:

1. Add some design to the shoji panel
2. Paint it a darker shade of brown
3. Vary the shoji panel’s designs

Based on the figure's width & scale  I've quickly came up with the dimensions of the shoji panel:

 I've also decided to create a corridor backdrop, and for that I figured 2 pairs of panels on both sides would suffice

I’ve made the upgrade from my leftover roll of butter paper to some fancy A3 translucent craft paper, and even downloaded a bird print from the wrong era by Ohara Koson (1877-1945) just because I loved it and refused to change. Building the panels this time was actually easier with thicker widths and bigger scale, and combined with rigorous sanding the panels were soon ready.

To create the desirable burgundy shade I’ve mixed red, brown, and black poster colours with some water for applicability. The downside is that colours transfer happen should your hand or the wood gets wet. That said, the colours went on easily, dries quickly, and when dried still retains the vivid colour.

Various designs of shoji panels for visual interest

Building the shoji panel

Here R Hajime's specs for reference:

Series: Hakuouki: Shinsengumi Kitan

Manufacturer: Kotobukiya

Product Line: ARTFX J

Scale: 1/8

Material: ABS, PVC

Sculptor: Matsumoto Kouei

Release Date: August 2018 (can't believe I took this long to start this...)

This shoot took place on my doorstep, hope you like it.

*

*

*

Loving that intensity \o/

Come on, if there's samurai you GOT to have these cascading petals... I swear 8 out of 10 CGIs of this series features some form of sakura petals

Don't be caught dead in his path

This almost feels like a scene from its non-existent 3D adaptation  o//

*

*

*

For the longest second I’ve dreamt of turning day to night, but with photoshop skills as deep as my empty wallet and a silly aversion to failure, I’ve mostly stuck to daytime lighting and the same few conservative effects... My goal in in figure photography, whenever possible, is to give a contextual appreciation and understanding of the character, and hopefully also to become someone’s desktop/mobile wallpaper. It would have been ideal to set up those fancy light boxes and do it in the comfort of ma woman’s cave, but I’m unwilling to invest in lighting equipment (nothing beats free daylight!)

With some research I’ve found the trick is to colour correct the original to a slightly yellow wash and mask it under a blue temperature copy of the image. Next, unmask the parts where the light hits, and the result is an alluring mix of warm interior lights and a dark blue moon light. I’ll continue to experiment with nighttime shots and refine this tedious process. Don’t think I have done this much colour adjustments., but alas I still did it!

I don't usually like to show the unedited photo, but since this is a journal of sorts, and the difference is (literally) from day to night...

Before 

After 

(Please don't tell me you prefer it unedited)

Love you for staying till the end, and as always, till next time, and here’s the BTS:

Don’t mind the fish rug


xoxo

A rugged male figure without the delicacy and slender silhouette of my usual trope of bishies, an outlier in my collection. Who's this dude with that evil smile?

The first that I've heard of the anime GANGSTA. was during one of my daily religious visits to Amiami's webpage, where I chanced upon Worick Arcangelo's hot 1/8 scale by Kotobukiya. I have a soft spot for long hair males, and wanting to get him, I immediately checked out the show... Only to be drawn to this katana wielding, drug abuser, and deaf man in suit (who doesn't appreciate a smart attire?). I've since abandoned all thoughts of Worick and pre-ordered his deadly silent partner instead.

This is the star of the last day of 2016, Nicolas Brown.

Figure information:

Series: Gangsta.

Manufacturer: Kotobukiya

Product Line: ARTFX J

Scale: 1/8

Material: PVC

Sculptor: Hattori Tatsuya

Release Date: Oct. 2016

As my first and only Kotobukiya male figure (to-date), I did not realise, or perhaps chose not to, how Megahouse has distorted their male's body proportions. To proof my point, I captured a side-by-side comparison of Megahouse's Sebastian Michaelis to Nic:

Despite their glaring difference in thickness (pardon my crude wording), both proportions served their characters well, which I believe only good figure sculptors can pull off.

Alright I've delayed this shoot long enough, time to get down to business ---> 

Having swiftly decided on 'Classy' as the theme, I spent a day building the backdrop from my stocks of black styrofoam boards - I used 1 board for the top 2 'mould walls' & 1/2 board for the mirror wall.

Dimensions for construction:

Left wall (Mirror): 216 x 300 x 5 mm THK

Back wall: 225 x 300 x 5 mm THK

Right wall: 200 x 300 x 5 mm THK

Frames (rolled up strips of fancy paper, similar to background) are 15-17.5 mm width

Being a drug abuser who enjoys slaying his preys, the current backdrop looked too tame and clean for my liking, so I've to spice things up with some poster colour blood. Careful not to mix in too much black or you'll have a hard time getting out of the Brown zone.

Testing out the blood splattered wall next to a mirror that I blu-tacked on

.

.

.

Nic's now ready to go rampage

So glad the blood fell neatly where I wanted it to be

Here's the highlight of the day - a leftover mirror from my Design & Technology Days in Secondary School, finally utilised for what it's worth, reflecting Nic's coolness

That's a hella of a strategic opening by his tummy~

I tried adding Motion Blur, but didn't really like the results... I was gearing for the comic strip dash effects and what is this geez

Your biggest enemy is you

Behind the scene: because the only floor I have didn't match with Nic's base I've deliberately avoided shots that captured that difference... I was too lazy to go and photocopy another floor >.>

Many thanks to Paul for offering timely advice on the blood splatters

xoxo

Upcoming shoots: Tsume Xtra's Uchiha Itachi

Movic's Saito Hajime

.

.

Hopefully

"Sorry home of sexuals. Only straight men can handle this." -Uma Kompton

Before you say anything Paul, no this is not inspired by Uma or Ricegum. Sorry, that was just a disclaimer to a fellow consultant buddy who can get agitated real easily.

As much as I would love to spam this blog with hot bishies, it seems just to occasionally spice up the site with scantily dressed bishoujo, eh? For closet perverts like me, I promise Poison would not disappoint ;]

Arguably the hottest woman in the Street Fighter gang, besides knowing how to work the wrestling ring, she knows how to flaunt her package, precariously tipping into the sweet NSFW zone with those pieces of cloth barely there clothes.

Series: Street Fighter (Capcom Arcade Game)

Manufacturer: Kotobukiya

Product Line: Street Fighter Bishoujo Statue

Scale: 1/7

Material: PVC

Sculptor: Takamaki Busujima (Sculptor), Shunya Yamashita (Illustrator)

Release Date: Dec. 2015

Being terribly late into the promo shots of this figure (she's been sitting on my desk since Jan), I was suddenly struck with a set idea yesterday (27/07) and quickly got down to work.

Luckily this time, there is no need for sunrise, so no rushing to the park. Also, no thousand roses to fold :]

To amplify her dangerous woman vibe, I created these 'Keep Out' tapes on Photoshop. Incidentally, her outfit is that of a Policewoman (Relaxed ver.), so this also works to my favour.

Now this is a huge ass textured paper that I have bought eons ago specifically for her, and instead of the original intention of this as a warehouse shuttle gate, I'm simply using this as the wall (glued to corrugated foam board). Again the colour was chosen to complement her outfit.

Left wall: 240 x 300 x 5 mm THK

Back wall: 200 x 300 x 5 mm THK

Right wall: 200 x 300 x 5 mm THK  -Adjusted to just-nice dimensions

Finally, it's showtime!

*****

Somehow her weapon always reminds me of that kitchen utensil (its name slipped my mind zz) for scooping up veg

To create the fierce ambience, I increased the photo's contrast and clarity to make the dark colours stand out and rid the soft edges.

Does this look like she's holding on to a selfie pod? It better does.

Due to her fixed head that's also tilted upwards, I was restricted to taking from a top-down angle, as I make it a point for her eyes to be pointed towards the lens.

About those handcuffs: the hand is removable after her wristband, and her index finger has a hole to inert the peg to fix the handcuffs... Complete BS, the peg jumps out of the hole right after you pushed it in

This was the first shot I did, and after seeing how sexy this B&W shot turned out, I was super tempted to turn this post into those artsy black and white collage. However, doing that would mean letting down the past me for going through the trouble of choosing the textured background, and printing those high quality tapes at the blood sucker Xerox printing store. When you have to pay $1.50 for 2 sheets of A4 coloured paper, you know you're getting ripped off.

****

Amidst tackling a serious case of Youtube addiction, it was miracle that I could post so soon right after Lancer! Boy must I say I'm actually quite pleased with the final photographs. Once again, you're the best for reading till the end, and till the next shoot!

xoxo

Behind the scene:

P.S.: Can't believe I'm using the previous shoot's wall as the floor *face palm*