In Adventures in Shapeways Part 3 I discussed the 1/60 scale Bounce Tortoise print. Today we’re going to discuss the larger, more Deluxe Bounce Tortoise in 1/35 scale, again shown next to a 1/35 scale Scopedog, and a 1/35 scale Maschinen Krieger suit.
In Adventures in Shapeways Part 2 I showed off the very first test print of the Bounce Tortoise power armor. A new shipment came earlier this week with much more exciting prints.
I know I’ve been quiet for the summer, but I finally have new things to show, but I think you guys are going to like them. In my last Adventures in Shapeways post, I showed off some basic modeling and print tests that were just a way for me to get a handle on making something on screen and having it show up at my doorstep. Now we’re into real designs, starting with the PBT-0XX Bounce Tortoise prototype. Power armor in the Starship Troopers, Dorvack, and Machinen Krieger tradition is one of my favorite things. With the infinite possibilities afforded by CAD, I decided to start with a power suit.
B-Club is the specialty item arm of Bandai. B-Club makes PVC character figures, model detail parts, soft vinyl toys and kits, and more. They’ve released numerous reissue Bullmark kaiju vinyl toys, but have also released soft vinyl model kits over the years. At some point, B-Club released a line of 1/75 scale kits of mecha from Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. I don’t really care for the miniseries, but I like the machines in it quite a bit. When I learned about the line, I knew I needed to start tracking them down. Soft vinyl robot kits are a strange breed, but I love them. I wrote along, indulgent thoughtpiece about vinyl robot kit in a review over on CollectionDX. Go there to read lots of words, and scroll down for more and bigger pictures of the finished Zaku.
This guy was a commissioned I finished up a few weeks back. The customer sent me a swatch of camo in the style he wanted, and I think I did a pretty good job of matching it. We settled on a flat finish and very technical ‘tight’ camo rather than the loosey-goosey airbrushed camo some other kaiju guys have coined.
I picked up a pair of blank grey-green Marusan Ganimes from GrumbleToy a while back for my brother and myself. Ganime is the crab monster from the classic Space Amoeba film. I wanted to do something funky to get back in the airbrushing groove, so I painted the pair with blue shells like lobsters and crayfish sometimes have.
The Microman Bio Mechanic suits were model kits released at the tail end of the original Microman line and reissued by Romando in the 90’s. You can read a thorough history of them at Microforever, but the sparknotes version is that they are chunky, rugged snap-fit battle armor kits for Microman figures. This one started out life as the tan and brown Desert Filtered type, but I was on a blue kick when I airbrushed it a while back. Microman is a pretty veteran toy franchise, so I went heavy with the weathering as if this unit had been there since the beginning.
When Armored Trooper VOTOMS was released, there were toys in a number of different sizes and formats, including the 1/60 scale AT Collection Series diecast minis, which were similar in vein to the 1/144 Dougram figures and the Takatoku 1/144 Macross Destroids. These little guys are sharply molded, nicely detailed, and had a good heft due to the diecast parts. They stand around 3″ tall. Unlike the Dougram and Macross minis, the VOTOMS figures did not feature painted much detail, since the idea was that you would paint them up and apply the stickers yourself, in that classic 80s Dual Model style. I made a few mods to this guy and painted him up. You can see an unpainted out of the box version in Veef’s review on CollectionDX.
FOE Gallery is hosting an awesome themed show in February. Mike Nordstrom is undoubtedly the world’s leading Garamon expert and aficionado, and has curated a show that is going to knock socks off. I was thrilled to get asked to participate alongside guys like Mark Nagata, Bob Conge, and Koji Harmon. I went for a realistic finish rather than Monster Kolor craziness, going full ‘model kit’ style on this super detailed sculpt. Show opens February 10th in Northampton!
Reorganized some shelves while waiting for new arrivals. Here’s my 1/60 scale mecha lineup, featuring Macross, Dougram, Dorvack, Patlabor, Votoms, Gundam, and Mospeada. Basically, all of my favorite things. Click the top image for a bigger panorama.
Prometheus Rising Studios 