Zoidspoison Side Story

Quickie Custom: Teaser

2006-07-30T23:13:00.000+08:00

I'll post the completed custom on Zoidspoison, but in the meantime I'll put up a teaser pic here :)

A quickie custom

2006-07-24T09:23:00.000+08:00

Took a second detour and worked on a quickie custom on Sunday. GTO was the first detour from the original custom that I had intended for the Zoidspoison customs contest. But I took that one too far apart ("literally") and I'm still toying with an idea on how to put "humpty dumpty" together again.

Now this 3rd one will take me away from GTO for a while. Hopefully 3 times will be a charm and I'll get it done up real fast. This one has some potential to be taken further though, but I'd like to just finish the basic for now. I probably won't paint it just yet because most likely I would want to work on it some more at a later date.

I'll post it first on Zoidspoison, so catch it there ;)

LBZ-01 G.T.O. - Progress so far

2006-07-06T21:58:00.000+08:00

Now that I have my camera back, its time to post some pictures.

I've only gotten as far as one side of the power pack/generator, well almost one side. The tube structure there took me 3 attempts before I got it right. Here I have it next to the gold pilot figure for scale.

Click on thumbnail for a bigger picture
I did a mock up of the power pack/generator mounted onto the Gojulas just to have a feel of the proportions. The unit is fixed onto one of the back fins using masking tape. It looks okay :)

Click on thumbnail for a bigger picture
Now for the other side and the undercarriage (another headache because of all the tubes that needs fusing).

G.T.O. backpack

2006-07-03T08:50:00.000+08:00

I haven't been working on the scratchbuild as often as I wanted. Between the different interests I have and my girlfriend's demand for me to spend time with her, I get on average an hour a day at most on weekdays, perhaps a little more during the weekends. What's more I have this little quirk of not liking to leave a piece half done. Who knows when I'll get to revisit it again, and perhaps by then the ideas and inspirations would've been gone. So on most occasions, if I can't finish the part, I usually put off starting it.

I saw on T.V. recently that the brain releases dopamine at the onset of a creative spark as an internal "reward" to spur us to create. Maybe thats why you get a rush when you sit down in anticipation of a build and have all the pieces and tools laid out before you. Maybe that is also why when I don't feel I have everything in place or the time to complete something, the "happy" rush is not there, and I loose the motivation to start.

Anyway, I've completed the square block of the G.T.O. backpack which I assume to be some sort of power generator or battery pack. What I don't understand, is why it has a pipe that links to the missle pod on the belly of the beast? It's not like the thing on the belly is an energy weapon that needs an extra boost of power to fire up. Well, maybe I'll make a second unit and call it an MKII and correct all the mistakes that I think are there.

Moving on from the square block, I'm building up the tube structure that is attached to it. The tube itself is fairly easy to make. Its the various attachments that connects the tube to the block that requires some effort. I'll try to post some images once my sis gets back with camera (which should be any day now).

The Making of Legends NeoBlox G.T.O.

2006-06-27T00:17:00.000+08:00

My sis is on holiday and has taken the camera with her. So I won't be able to post any pics until she gets back in about a weeks time.

Started work on the G.T.O. conversion yesterday. Basically I sketched the parts that makes up a G.T.O. from looking at the various photographs of the real thing. I'm still missing a picture of what is in between the battery/generator backpack. I think I'll just make it up as I go along.

I've completed one piece of the backpack batteries/generators. Not as tough as I anticipated, but working with such small proportions can be tiring on the eyes.

I'm not too sure if I should continue to build the other side, since I won't be able to capture the progress pics of it. Perhaps I'll just complete one whole side of G.T.O. and when the camera is back, work on the other side and take the progress pics as I go along.

Another thing. G.T.O. is Tan in color. Besides Hobby Point, I can't recall any other shop that stocks a decent range of spray cans. Think a trip down to Hobby Point is in order real soon.

Transforming LBZ-01

2006-06-21T23:43:00.000+08:00

I've been putting off updating the blog because I wanted to get some decent photos before I start. But getting the right setup for that is taking a little longer than I anticipated, so I'm going to work with what I have right now.

First up, making bore holes in the Cannons and Guns. Most small to medium Zoids typically come with guns that do not have bore holes, and I've always wanted to add that in. Here is a comparison of the cannon with and without the bore holes.

This is how its done. First I needed to find the center of the cannon. By using a circle template, I can mark out roughly where the center should be.

Then with a scribing pick, I made a notch at the center of the crosshair. The notch will help the drill bit stay on the center without drifting away while I'm actually doing the drilling.

For the drill bits, I'm using a 1 mm for the pilot hole, and a 3 mm for the actual boring of the bore holes. I didn't have to drill deep to achieve the desired look, about a depth 10 mm or so.

There, both done. I think it looks better with the bore hole than without.

And here are the cannons mounted on LBZ-01.

Another crazy idea...

2006-06-09T09:50:00.000+08:00

Was browsing through DHM and HJM and I chance upon this item. It retails for Y1,500 or S$21. Bet I can make one for much less.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge image

What does it look like to you?

It sure does look like an electrical toothbrush to me. And I just happen to have one that I'm no longer using lying around somewhere. I'll have to trim off all the bristles from the brush head. Trim a small piece of fine grit sanding paper round to fit the brush head. And to mount it, I'll use a piece of double sided mounting tape (the type with some spongy material in the middle) also trimmed to the appropriate size.

I need a Photo Studio...

2006-06-09T09:24:00.000+08:00

Managed to start on my LBZ-01 LB Gojulas. Wanted to take some progress pictures only to realize I haven't really any setup to take decent photos. No backdrop, no lighting, no nothing. I only had my camera.

Then I remembered I saw something like a photo booth in either DHM or HJM. Ploughed through the stack of magazines I had and managed to locate the item. It's Mr. Photo Studio by G Tools.

Click on thumbnail to enlarge image

This setup actually sells for Y30,000 on a popular online store. I think I can replicate the same for much, much less. The 2 clip lights for instance, I can get one in at a neighbourhood thrift shop for under S$10. The ones in the pictures have diffusers to reduce the glare on the subjecy. For that effect, I can simply attach a plain copier paper screen, or even use tissue paper. It all depends on the amount of light I need, so no biggie. The backdrop used in Mr. Photo Studio is similar to a retractable blind. I know there are similar blinds use for car windows, so a look around in a Car Assessories shop should turn up something.

The only thing that I need to source is the cage. It should be big enough for me to put in a range of kit sizes without running out of space. This one might be tricky to find. I'll see if there is anything similar in the flee markets at Sungei Rd, failing which I'll shop around some hardware stores. If anyone knows where I can get something similar, please drop me a comment.

A blog for for Zoids customs

2006-06-06T10:35:00.000+08:00

I'm pretty new to blogging so things will be moving very slowly while I find my blogging legs. Right now I'm trying to design a nice header/banner for this blog. Hopefully I can get it loaded sometime tonight.

Well this is a blog on customizing Zoids, so I've been thinking about what would be a good candidate for the first custom to be featured here. I don't think I want to start off with anything complicated. I'm leaning towards using the LBZ-01 LB Gojulas that I got recently. Off the top of my head, I might want to do the following:

Core out the gun barrels and maybe add some bore theads if its manageable
Upsize the pair of Gojulas Cannons because right now they are looking kind of puny
Articulate the tail
Probably increase the range of motion to the head piece

If I have time, I might pull all stops and do a conversion into a LB Gojulas the Ogre. Heheheh... that'll be sweet if I can manage it.

Since I am still new to customization, painting has been something which I have been putting off for a while now. This might turn out to be the first time I paint, so fingers crossed and hope that I don't ruin it in the end.