As regular readers will probably know, it has been a very bad year collection wise, so many of my orders have been cancelled or delayed by what was my primary supplier (US-based). It has been the source of much anguish especially with no email or forum responses. Of the last 5 orders i have made, 2 were cancelled, 1 shipped and the last two delayed (probably to cancel point). It is a real shame as I had been shopping with them for around 2 years but the lack of reliability is a killer especially with rarity items. I have since moved to Japanese direct sellers, which although costs me more (tax/duties) I am at least 99% sure to get the item I want at a decent speed.

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DiStudios

I decided to track down this figure and buy it, according to the EMS it is currently in customs which is never a good thing; but based on the Exclusive release of this figure I don’t mind paying that little extra. Now I did get this figure on a whim and risk through ebay, from a seller I have never dealt with before…fingers crossed what gets delivered to my door is the real deal.

Also this morning arrived my Great Unclean One from Forge World, I only got a quick peek at the kit but what I saw impressed me, I feel a painting frenzy coming on!

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DiStudios

R

Continuing the Nurgle theme, I decided to get the figures below, they are meant to be for the Nurgle cultist army but for me I think they will look great milling around as random figures on the Great Unclean Ones base. It should also give a sense of how big the Greater Daemon is by having such small and insignificant creatures around it.

Today has been a little slow on the modeling front as I have spent most of the evening sorting through old stock that I need to shift over the next few months. It is amazing the types of things a person accumulates over time.

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DiStudios

Sources indicate a late July release in Japan, with the book retailing at just under 3000yen from most online vendors. This item will go very well with the latest item to arrive on my doorstep this week ^^

The second item on my Pre-Order list is Kurumi Imari from Bible Black, police inspector version. There are two versions being release but I am sticking to the regular one as the authentic outfit colours. One thing that is immediately noticeable (other than her pantsu!) is the cool chair accessory, there are shades of Shunya’s “Mirei-san” and it seems the combination of sexy work uniforms and seductive poses around a executive chair…sells.

This figure is 1/8 scale and is being released by Miyabi-ya/Arclight and is set for a late June release, around the same time as Hyakka Ryoran’s Senhime ; so those who were not tempted by the lovely Samurai girl may be seduced by Imari this summer; Imari’s initial cost seems to be around the 8,000yen mark with discounts.

So my order list this year swelled a little but also makes up for the cancellations inflicted on me by ToysLogic.com! A silly number of boxes arrived this week from overseas, including my new Dakimakura cover and Red Stone Lancer figure (yay!). With a Bank Holiday this week, I will endeavour to get some new photos up for readers to view.

読書をありがとう

DiStudios

The shot above shows the progress on yesterdays loot, only one of the Drones is fully built but all three custom bases are progressing to completion. Typhus is really starting to look the part of bringer of plagues (and pain!) now that both arms are in place. I think the positioning of the arms give a eerie nonchalant look to the figure.

I am pretty happy with the way the arms turned out, they seem in proportion to the rest of the figure and were constructed from regular terminator arms, some plastic tubing and a bit of greenstuff to bulk it out. All that is needed now to finish this figure off is the Space Marine “victim”. Of all the bits to be short of it turned out to be regular space marine legs haha!

I am still considering my options with the regular shoulder pads (which are still very visible), I am thinking of sculpting symbols or leering daemon faces. Now that the thrown victim’s head is in place, the figure is starting to become more a diorama which was one of the considerations when i started working on this project.

This time readers can see the thrown victim’s clothing, I like the way it looks like Typhon has a handful of flak jacket gripped in his glove! The back of the figure is also the place where you see the least work, it is still plain and requires lots more detail work before it is ready, I am looking to sculpt lots of nasty things like maggots and more pustules to break the smooth surface.

I stand by my decision to leave the Manreaper weapon alone, I think size wise is works fine. The only consideration is the wrappings around the lower haft, it needs re-sculpting due to the removal of the original hand component.

Probably the most challenging part of the project so far, scratch sculpting a hand to grip the Manreaper. This was my first time sculpting the whole hand and associated digits. A lot of trial and error later I came up with the above result.

Compared to the previous shots, it does not look like much,  the number of hours doing the smaller details is high, there is still lots of work to go but I am confident that by the end of next week (latest) he will be at a stage where I can prime and paint. There is still the base to consider but I will be happy just to get Typhon to a state I am happy with.

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(a very tired) DiStudios

I came across Aural Vampire by while checking out more K-Pop bands, I had never heard Asian electro goth before and my usual music tastes take me quite far away from that music spectrum, but quite frankly after hearing Aural Vampire It’s growing on me! Its eerie however how the singer looks like the perfect candidate for a Princess Ressurection live action movie haha

This track is called “Freeeze”, I would recommend people looking up “Darkwave surfer” also, it’s a great track in my opinion. Ah yes and on the plus side, I just check one of my lost packages: Mirai dakimakura cover (Danny Choo’s mascot) and it is in the warehouse awaiting charges. While getting charges is never a nice thing, the fact that it is in the country and not lost in volcanic ash is reassuring, onwards with the Anime merchandise!

Ah well, yet more cd’s to track down T_T enjoy the track.

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DiStudios

A extremely quiet week on the anime front! Due to the air restrictions (I think Hobbits are behind the recent volcanic activity!) my cd’s, dvds, art books and figures are all delayed, on the bright side does this mean next week will see a huge number of packages for me to open after work? On the negative side though, my supplier cancelled Seena Kanon by Orchid Seed, a very important figure for my collection. I am very angry at this, as I was on the pre-order list and paid months in advance but despite this my supplier has no answer as to why my pre-orders/payments seem to be of less importance than national customers. They have stated that Yoko Real will be shipped to me soon but the question is why did they wait 2 months after release and multiple emails from me, before actioning my order? I have stopped placing orders with this company now and will reveal the name of them if this supposed shipment has any unfortunate problems…Anyways on with the show!

I have to admit I am feeling unwell today, I have a rotten cold which has left me a snotty mess this afternoon. How fitting that as the primary hobby topic this week has been Nurgle God of sickness and plague! Since I got back from holiday (and thanks to the parcel delays) I have been spending my evenings working on miniature projects. Now finally after much carving and cutting I have some photos to share.

Typhus Herald of Nurgle is the latest figure to go under the knife, I took elements of the original figure: Manreaper scythe and helmet and combined it with a Obliterator body. There has been extensive modification to create the pose and lots of hours spent sculpting the rot and guts of this figure. All in all it has taken shape nicely over the last two weeks and I look forward to finishing and painting it.

I think I have managed to capture this character in all his majestic gooiness, so I am happy. As I type I am waiting for the left arm to dry and should at least make a start to sculpting the right arm this evening, all in all not bad progress for me! Tomorrow is Salute: a London Wargaming event where lots of independent miniature companies will be showing off their products, I have not been to this event in around 5 years so it will be nice to see some old faces and catch up. No entry for the painting competition this year as I decided to go pretty much yesterday haha! I expect to come home with some reasonable model making loot to play with.

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DiStudios

*Oh I also found some really old photos of figure commission work I did, the photos are poor but it is always nice to have more photos in the gallery!*

It is a very amusing video and catchy Pop song with a lively backing track and easy to remember chorus. A lot more hyper than I am use to but in the end I did enjoy it. I am getting hold of more of the Wonder Girls stuff to compare how this track stands with the rest of their music.

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DiStudios

I finally swallowed my words and bought into Infinity Miniatures, Anime styled sci-fi wargame which in recent months has produced some truly beautiful miniatures. I instantly fell in love with the ALEPH which is humanities world computer that has manifested its own armed forces. The story is every bit of Masume Shirow’s Appleseed crossed with Ghost in the Shell and I for one and in favour of it.

Aleph seems to be the newest range as it is the smallest. Infinity has been going on now for some two or more years but has been overshadowed by the corporate success that is Games Workshop and the rise of independent games such as Warmachine and Malifaux. Many companies have attempted to capture the essence of Anime styled models outside of the Gundam range but in this writer’s opinion only two have truly hit the mark (Soda Pop Miniatures takes the cute road of Anime commercialism).

Infinity’s love of Anime can be seen in the other forces available we have Naruto style ninja, Akira styled motorcycle, Bubblegum Crisis battlesuits and even what can only be described as Tachikoma and Briareos mecha armies. It is truly a miniature cyber punk feast, and a new medium of talent that can be explored by existing artists.

Miniature wargames over the last two years have constantly tried to expand the borders of expectation by sculpting in new ways, anything to remove the stigma of orcs, goblins and dwarfs. But very few companies have managed to break the mould and create something which is truly unique or as eye-catching as what I have seen on the Infinity website.

Being an experienced wargames miniature painter I went ahead and ordered the full set of these figures, anyone new to the realm of miniature painting should do a little research into what it entails (or ask here!) as it will save you spending a lot on your start-up. Experienced miniature painters will enjoy the challenge of dynamically sculpted figures with excellent amounts of detail, as a painting project I highly recommend.

Game wise, I have not tried the game but will probably do so in the future. I fear it may be like with MMO;s, where graphically the product is astounding but game wise does not appeal to the majority market. I hope in this case that I am wrong, but only time will tell. I recommend checking out Infinity to learn more about their product and the world of wargaming especially if you are a fan of all things mecha and cyber punk!

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DiStudios

Also new projects ahoy! Some readers may have noticed that I have a very small collection of miniatures on this site, these are very old projects from some 2-3 years ago and the page has been some what silent since. But no longer! last night I dug out a box of bits and started feverishly working on a new project, below is a sneak preview at the them.

Figures are built and I hope to have photos up next week in the miniature gallery section. I look forward to sharing this unique form of art with everyone after so long away from the painting table, however priorities are priorities and next week looks to be a good haul of Anime related goodness!

Thanks for reading

DiStudios