Yesterday, we headed out to Huntington Dog Beach for one of the several beach day’s the group Corgi Nation hosts. Since we have three of the little monsters, we decided that we definitely needed to go. Terry is in Hawaii this week, so we dropped by his place and kidnapped Duke and brought him along. I forgot to bring my camera, but we have our phones.
Last weekend was IPMS OC’s annual OrangeCon event. A group of Those Gundam Guys went and pretty much ruled the Gundam category. One of the tank builders did make the 1/35 scale Hovertank from 8thMS Team, very nicely done. Angel picked up Third place with his Unicorn, I grabbed a Second for my Efreet Custom, and Mike, one of the newer guys to our build gatherings picked up 1st for his Patchwork Sazabi. Which also picked up Best Sci-fi, and with the running of Best of Show, was the one of two kits battling for that award, only getting inched out by Sean’s incredibly well built ship (not a ship guy so, I forgot the name). Not too bad for the new guy who picked up airbrushing from attending last year’s SCGMC.
Which is the perfect segue into the little video I made to help promote the event that is a little less than a month away.
Several weeks ago, it occurred to me that I had yet to build a resin figure this year. I’ve been building fewer projects over the course of a year, but so far I’ve completed the resin conversion Efreet Custom and my little Nu project. Yes, the Efreet is mostly resin, but it is definitely not a figure kit; so picking through my pile, I narrowed down a few during the August build gathering. The Dutch and Revy kit pulled to me, and looking at the quick fit of things, I decided on the Revy which looks like it’s about a 1/4 scale bust kit.
So we begin, with Step 1: Basic building and pinning. I actually quite enjoy this step, the rough excess resin tabs are cut and the kit comes together in unpainted resin pureness. One of the build guys, Manuel, lent me his jeweler’s saw, which cuts through the resin like butter, and reduces the chance of resin chipping from using clippers. However, there is a real possibility of slipping and cutting into the resin parts other than just the excess resin, so care needs to be taken – especially since these saws can take off skin and bone just as easily.
Excess resin is removed here and there while the parts are test fitted, making sure parts are snug and aligned. Once this is done, some of the parts are carefully pinned trying to keep true to the alignment. Here I can see what pieces need reshaping or realignment.
This past weekend, a few of Those Gundam Guys got together for a meeting regarding SCGMC. Interestingly enough, this was the first official meeting we’ve ever had. We’ve gotten two years experience under our belts; so this meeting was to reflect on what we learned form the previous years and how we can improve the event starting with the one coming in November. Most of the issues dealt with better organization which we definitely need. And if we are able to follow through with 90% of what we have planned from the meeting, we’ll definitely be vastly improved from the previous year.
But the one other issue that came up is a problem that I’ve seen at most model contest. Well, not so much a problem, but a pattern. At various shows in various categories, there’s usually a modeler that consecutively wins year to year. Now, this isn’t too big a deal at various shows as they’re larger and the categorical scope is much wider in terms of included model genres.