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Three Episodes In – Sasami-san@Ganbaranai

Yes, Sasami-san!

(Note: Contains spoilers, but they are confined to a clearly marked section)

The Winter 2013 anime season did not exactly bring with it a plethora of content that I would consider appealing to me, so instead I opted for something a bit different – I picked a couple of shows that I normally wouldn’t have watched, but that caught my eye for various reasons. The first of those shows was Studio Shaft’s new project, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai, based on the light novel series by Akira. The only thing I knew about this show going in was that it was in the romantic comedy genre (according to the tags on Myanimelist) and what I read in the official synopsis, which described Sasami-san as a show about a hikikomori (compulsive shut-in) who experiences the world vicariously through her brother by using a special surveillance system. The synopsis has since been expanded, but that was the gist of it before the show aired, and that was the general idea I had about the plot. However, something about the previews for the show seemed a bit… off. There were little flashes of scenes that seemed to involve science fiction, action, and fantasy elements. Now, I am well aware that plenty of "regular" romantic comedies and school shows that have those elements incorporated as day dreams and the like (such as I am told is the case for Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! or, to a lesser extent, in Hyouka), but my Spidey sense was tingling, so I figured I would give it a shot. read more

neontasterby neontaster•
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Layman’s Gunpla Guide – Option Parts Tutorial

One of the easiest ways to add unique details to your project is through the use of option parts. Option parts are a generic term for accessories ranging from thrusters, hatches, and other details to extra and unique weapons. Kotobukiya makes the most options parts under their Modeling Support Goods (M.S.G.) line (HLJ / Hobby Search). Bandai has their own line called Builder’s Parts (HLJ / Gundam Planet).

Option kits featuring weapons or stands come with instructions and can be built like any other kit. Kotobukiya’s weapons generally come with standard attach points that allow them to be easily utilized with their original models. The fun stuff is the random patches, panels, rivets, thrusters, spikes, lenses and others armament details. These can be glued to your kit in any number of ways to really change how a kit looks. Where you add them, how many you add, it’s all up to you. Painting is generally recommended but if your kit already has a bunch of gray components you might be able to add some option parts without having to paint. read more

Falldogby Falldog••0
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The Anime I Watched Before I Watched Anime – Akira

 

In some form or another, I’ve been around anime my entire life. A bunch of the cartoons I watched as a kid were anime, and I also had a chance to watch various anime movies that crossed over into the mainstream throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s. In the early 2000’s I dipped my feet a bit deeper into that world (including watching my first proper show as an adult – Cowboy Bebop), but I quickly lost interest due mainly to lack of availability, and spent the next ten years or so watching the occasional big time movie that came to my attention as I did in the 90’s. read more

neontasterby neontaster•
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Gunpla basics by Gelgoog Guy (and others)



Hey There!

So you’ve decided you want to build Gunpla, but you have no idea what to do, what all those words and numbers mean, what tools you need, or where to buy them. Well that’s what this guide is for! Give everything a thorough read, it’s quite a bit of information but it’ll be your foundation for all future PlaMo exploits.

But First

I wasn’t sure where to put this, so I’ll just leave it at the top. dalong.net is an insanely useful (Korean) website that has pictures of pretty much everything released from 1995 to present day. If you think you want a kit, go here and check out his review of it first. read more

Gelgoog Guyby Gelgoog Guy•
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Kotobukiya’s Metal Gear REX – Review

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I’m a bit late to the party but nonetheless decided that Kotobukiya’s Metal Gear REX needed a proper review. Just released toward the end of December this 1/100 scale kit retails for $87. It’s smaller than I thought it would be for that price tag, coming in at about 7-8 inches tall. It’s also incredibly smaller than Three A’s 1/48 scale release but a much better prospect for many considering Three A REXs retailed for $470 (most on eBay are now going for $700-800). read more

Falldogby Falldog••0
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M61A5 Semovente MBT – Complete

2012 may not be over but my latest project, the 1/35 Hard Graph Semovente tank from Gundam’s Universal Century’s, has been wrapped up.

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As usual, my blabbering about the project first and the rest of the pictures are down below.

Overall she was fairly quick build, the first coat of paint went on Nov 30th/Dec 1st sometime. The tank is a huge beauty featuring sturdy construction and a ton of detail. There’s so much detail on this that it puts a lot of normal gunpla kits to shame. Welds, stippled areas, and hatch hinges and clasps galore. I understand why folks love to build model tanks. For me, however, it was bit detour from what I generally do. At first it was odd working with such large and small pieces but it’s easy to get a hand of. Unfortunately it’s a lot easier to apply too thick a coat at a one time so I had some bleeding around parts of my camo masking. I didn’t want to do anything too traditional whether it be the desert tans colour is designed in or forest greens. At first I thought of doing a dark grey theme styled after some German WWII tanks but instead went with a custom blue grey colour, imagining a tank sneaking around in a foggy British winter. I left a bunch of tools off the kit, along with the scale figures. Maybe one day I’ll have the room to build a diorama so they’ll be stashed away until then. read more

Falldogby Falldog••0
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M61A5 Semovente MBT – WIP 2 – Ready for Weathering

After about 20 days of work my Semovente is ready for weathering. For the most part things went well. The colour scheme looks okay and aside from a few areas where my paint coats were too thick the digital camo looks pretty good. Paint went well on everything else. I did lose a few pieces somehow, including a bit of handle bar that goes on the rear of the kit. I may try to recreate it if I can find some piping thin enough but I’ll likely just pretend it never existed in the first place 😉 read more

Falldogby Falldog••0