Ok I made my pre-order for her today but I have been waiting for her for what seems ages! Queen’s Blade Risty by Excellent model easily the most anticipated figure since the release of the Queen’s Blade Anime. From  the outlook of the concept pictures, the wait has been worth it with the release date set for December I expect pre-orders to go fast not only because its Queen’s Blade by Excellent Model but also purely because Risty is such a cool character design.

Compared to the existing Queen’s Blade figures, this particualr design moves away from the pouty sexually charged figures such as Echidna and Melona. Risty is depicted in a very serious and fierce stoic pose (very unlike the depiction from the Anime) which makes this figure more credible then the previously mentioned.

I have yet to see any box art but I would expect something similar to what we have already seen, but who knows since the figure design is so very different to whats been produced already. Below is the Art from which this sculpt is based on.

This year was looking quite bland for me in terms of figure pre-orders especially compared to last years Elfen Lied pre-orders, but the release of Risty for end of year has brightened things up. All I need to do now is buy a few more cabinets solely for my Queen’s Blade collection! On a random note it would be cool if they gave copies of the original art work with the box release much like they did with Asagi Igawa.

Risty should be available from all Anime pre-order sites now but I do orders to fill up quite fast, if you have a Playasia coupon now might be a good time to use it, just pop to the usual sellers via the side bar and see whats available.

Till next time

DiStudios

Hi guys…a relatively small haul for the end of July and with so much “extra” time on my hands you would expect more photos of my existing figure collection right? (whoops!). July saw the arrival finally of two anticipated figures that had constantly been pushed back in release by my supplier. But with this shipment out of the way my eyes are focusing towards what is looking like a very saturated September release schedule (hope my Credit Card can cope!).

Also as a result of the fairly light July of deliveries I have started a new Blog for the miniature wargame “Warmachine” I used to be a very big fan of the game and have only just gotten back into it after escaping the World of Warcraft (3 weeks and clean!). So now that I have gone cold turkey from my digital crack, I can finally can re-addicted to copious amounts of metal and plastic lol. For my readers who are interested in Warmachine, please visit my new Blog “Red Metal Panic”

Right with out further delay here are the figures

Ok I fully admit to not knowing anything about Villetta Nu, I think she is a character from Code Geass but I know nothing about the series. I bought this figure completely based on the sculpt and also due to the lack of releases for me in Summer. The other two however I am very familiar with.

Choun Shiryu Armoured version from Happinet: I have the Toy’s Works version of Kanu Un chou which has this very fantasy looking armour style and that was the main lure of this figure. The design takes a very obvious Japanese style with Samurai esque Shoulder armour but the weapon is a pole arm as opposed to her Samurai Sword which I find strange. The concept photos showed her armour as being grey but in reality its a strange Olive drab type colour, I suspect that the colour contrasts got messed up by too much light or something as I know that photographing greens can be tricky under certain conditions.

The final figure of this months haul is the infamous Asagi Igawa from Taimanin Asagi, sculpted by Liquid Stone, released by Liquid F. This figure is amazing, the sculpt is very true to the Hentai and there are lots of details despite the plain design of her costume. This figure was pushed back by quite a few months due to popularity in the East and as a result I got mine (US supplier) almost 4 months later then everyone else (No cancel policy). Either ways it is here now and I am happy, as a bonus and possibly part of the delay? the box comes with some posters of Asagi.

So that wraps up July releases, I also got the single “Falco” by Hitomi Shimatani, its a oldish track (2-3 years?) which I really like and if people want I can link the video in my Vodpod (righ hand side column) just pop a comment and I will do it.

August is also looking relatively bare for incoming stuff, but I have received word that one very anticipated figure is being packed for shipping now, Rosario + Vampire’s Moka is a beautiful figure and should be shipping around now. I am looking looking forward to this particular arrival and doing a photo shoot of the 3 figures I currently have.

Thanks for reading all and as always please feel free to leave comments etc

Happy collecting

DiStudios

A whole load of random things today which have brightened up this gloomy Thursday. 3 figures, 1 CD and a something random in the form of Elfen Lied which in my (biased) opinion is never a bad thing.

The figures to arrive are Good smiles Yami the Golden Darkness (To Love ru), Excellent Models Aludra regular version (Queen’s Blade) and my one figure I have been anxious to open up, Shueisha’s Mizore Shirayuki (Rosario + Vampire). The Cd is Beatmania’s latest album Empress XVI a fusion of hard house and J-Pop tunes, not my usual brand but enjoyable non the less. The nice random thing is a canvas print of Lucy from Elfen Lied which I simply could not resist, the only thing now is finding our where to place it.

Not a bad haul for the week but not the last, I have received word that 3 more figures are being prepared for shipping this week! So I expect another big box of goodies soon. In the mean time I have more photos from last months shoot that I need to edit and add to the existing galleries, so until next time!

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

From the eróge role playing game Sengoku Rance, FREEing’s 1/5 pvc pre painted Uesugi Kenshin. This is one very large figure with lots of detail. I have not seen or encountered the game, but had seen many figures of Uesugi Kenshin the combination of Samurai detail and anime cuteness was too much for me to resist. This is a castable figure with a host of extras including sword, armour plate, helmet and a giant size rice bun!

I found this weird oriental styled box in the attic and decided to stick both the box and Uesugi on a sushi mat to represent a small tatami mat, since the weather was bright I opted to try a outdoor shoot. For my first outdoor shoot I am quite happy and if the weather improves for July and August I hope to take a few more outdoor shots for my galleries. One issue I had was I had used someone else’s camera for this shoot. It did originally leave date stamps so I had fun learning the clone tool on my editor to try and remove the random (and incorrect mind you!) date stamps from these photos.

Pre-orders are up for Shining Wind’s Celestia by Kotobukiya (pics below) and Queen’s Blade Echidna by Griffon. Celestia is a very nice 1/8 scale pre paint pvc figure which is due to ship October this year. Echidna is a 1/7 pre paint pvc figure (castable) and also from Queen’s Blade Allean by Excellent Model, 1/8 scale pre paint pvc figure (castable). Both are set for a September 2009 release and like most of the Queen’s Blade figures before them, I expect pre orders to fill up very fast.

Needless to say my order has gone through already, adding to the growing number of figures for the later half of the year. Roll on Autumn 2009! To see the rest of my Shining Wind figures click here.

To get yours order with:

Here is the first of 3 Space Marine Rhino APC’s, a transport vehicle for Space Marine infantry. I have opted to paint the interiors for these vehicles and time permitting for the support tanks I intend to add as the project progresses. I had a lot of fun painting this vehicle after sculpting the legs on 30 infantry, it was very therapeutic dry brushing the large areas of the tanks hull and then powdering it off with Tamiya weathering pastels. I am pleased with finished article and look forward to painting the remaining 2 transports.

Welcome to the first post and pictures for my Warhammer Dark Angels army. Though I have been working on this project for a while I have only now decided to share it while I get more of those Anime photos edited!

Here are some Wip shots of the Space Marine infantry that I am working on. They are based on the Doghouse Gothic design (a model maker) based on enlarging the Space Marines to more realistic proportions compared to the rest of the figure range (Space Marines are depicted as being 7ft tall).

Here is Dark Angel Squad 1, I will add finished shots of the squad once I have completed all the little details. All figures were painted with Vallejo paints and detailed with Tamiya weathering systems.

The army is based on the 7th Chapter of the Dark Angels,  1st Legion of the Emperor’s armies. It has a high proportion of Terran Veterans who have stylised hair (braided). All details are from the books “Descent of Angels” and “Fallen Angels”.

Hi everyone! Lots of random bits from the month of June. The UK heatwave was a joy and bane at the same time, while I was able to take advantage of the sunshine and get lots of photos done at the same time I was knocked out by the heat after work! Although I have loads of photos that should be posted, the problem I have had is date stamps. I used a digi camera I was unfamiliar with as my own was on loan. Luckily for me my old laptop with the full Adobe package has been fixed so I can go ahead and learn how to clone over offending yellow numbers.4  New figures are due for the first half of July including the much anticipated Asagi Taimanin figure by Liquid (which had been pushed back almost 3-4 months) and Mizore from Rosario Vampire!

Also added today are pictures from my Pre-Heresy model making project, I have a few photos of Warhammer 40k Space Marines from the Dark Angels chapter and some tanks. For those who don’t know, DiStudios used to be my old painting commissions site before I moved to WordPress and although I don’t paint to sell anymore I do dabble in a bit of painting here and there to help me relax.

Thanks for taking the time to look and until next time

DiStudios

In typical fashion I have been M.I.A with updates. On the plus side though I have a whole load of new photos which I will be editing after this post. The last month saw a huge arrival of random figures including quite a few Queen’s Blade figures from Excellent model and a beautiful figure of Uesugi Kenshin. Fingers crossed I can take full advantage of today’s awesome weather and get the huge back log of photo shoots done over the remains of this weekend.

With all these new figures I have run out of Detolf space, meaning I have had to use the old bok shelves for figure storage again. With this in mind I am planning a new Detolf purchase (around 2-3 cabinets at the same time) and should be installing the light system which I mentioned last month.

So many toys too little time.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the weather :-3

DiStudios

What a busy couple of weeks! Lots of work issues, a touch of flu (normal) and a host of random purchases all thrown into the mix has made the early portion of May busier then it should really be. Lots of goodies are expected this week including Airi from Queen’s Blade, Demonbane Metatron and a lovely figure from the Sengoku Lance line.

As regular readers know, I only started collecting figures in 2008, starting (like most) with the huge release schedule of Ikki Tousen. Before this however, I was heavily involved in Games Workshop’s game Warhammer 40,000. In fact I was more then heavily involved, I had been a collector for 20 + years with 6 years working for the company! Anyway, my interest shifted to my lovely Anime collection, but recently (like last week!) my old gaming buddy and a group of his friends convinced me to pick up the paintbrush and crafting knife. I am deciding to ease into it slowly as I already have a hard enough time getting through my Anime backlog and more importantly the photography of my ever expanding figure collection.

Astute readers will notice a very barren sub page on this site called “sculpting”. The pictures of my forth coming model making work will be posted in there and hopefully it will be easy for readers to cycle through the site and get to their desired pages. I really don’t have time to write another blog just for the Wargames stuff and who knows, it may get me enthusiastic enough to put together the remaining Gun Pla and Armoured Core boxes that are gathering dust on the shelves in the corner of my room!

To wrap up, I have the Revoltech Red Spectacles figure now and pictures will be going up soon (I keep saying this, time for action!) as I play about with some of his action poses, but next week should see a mini flood of figures and dare I say it, some detail shots of the new Games-Workshop figures I am sculpting.

Thanks for reading all

DiStudios