Quick Update

Happy 2015 my fellow readers!

I have so much updating to do but I can hardly take new photos or spray paint because of constant rain and humidity the past months. I hope the rainy season passes soon so I can update my blog more :(

Meanwhile, I finally got my hands on my very first Nendoroid (Pokemon Trainer Red)! It was so frustrating trying to get it to stand and pose because of it's extremely large and heavy head so I only managed to get 1 good picture:

I really wish I had my own backyard to take photos in! I love using natural settings as backgrounds but I dread shooting outdoors. Whenever I take my toys outside, I feel that I always have to rush to avoid attracting attention from passer-bys. I'm just not comfortable with people stopping to stare or make comments about what I'm doing ;(

Question: Do you take photos of your figures outside? What are some of the challenges you face when shooting outdoors?

It's Christmas!

I recently received a package from my Christmas Swap with Courtney and wanted to share with you guys what she sent me ^^

It was a random figure swap so neither of us knew which critter we would be getting! To be honest, I had totally forgotten about having entered for the figure swap until I received an her package just last week! Thankfully Courtney is very understanding :'(

Anyway, the figure that I got from Courtney was little Bud Timbertop! Courtney was also ultra sweet to include some extra gifts: a red wagon, a roasted marshmallow on a stick and a Christmas wreath!

Thank yous o much Courtney! I love everything you sent me! They go very well together and fit perfectly into the Christmas theme – hence I decided to take a photo of everything she sent me along with my Father Christmas & Tree Set:

Have a blessed X'mas everyone!

Christmas Giveaway Winner!

Apologies for not announcing the winner as I'd intended to on 1st December. I was too tired after work and fell asleep as soon as I got back.

So, the winner of my Christmas Giveaway is.............

Aranera!

I've also decided to give an additional surprise gift to another lucky reader and that is.............

Somnium!

Congratulations Aranera and Somnium!

Do drop me an email at dh7_xie@hotmail.com to claim your prizes ^^

For those who did not win; thank you for participating. I hope I'll be able to do another giveaway again sometime.

Christmas Giveaway!

I chanced upon this really cute retired Sylvanian Families set going at a good price and thought I'd do a Christmas Giveaway to thank all my readers for their constant support!

To participate in my Christmas Giveaway, all you have to do is follow my blog and leave a comment stating why you'd like to win this set and how you intend to use it in your collection! This giveaway is open to everyone and I'll cover the cost of shipping plus tracking to you.

The winner will be announced on 1st December. Good luck everyone ^^

K-ON Figma: Mio Akiyama (#58)

Taking a break from spray painting because the weather has been extremely humid as of late. It's been raining almost every day here, sometimes even twice or thrice a day. Anyway, I managed to capture a few shots of my Mio Figma before the weather started to turn dark again, so here she is!

Mio's bass bag is missing a strap. There's also this strap adjuster piece that my Yui Figma didn't come with. They're probably missing parts since I didn't purchase them sealed :(

Oh well. I do intend to get another Yui Figma set so I can re-enact scenes whereby Ui pretends to be her sister so I guess I could snag those missing parts from there. 

Meanwhile, just slinging the only strap of her bass bag on one arm and taking a shot from this angle works for me :3

Like Yui, Mio also comes with a pair of indoor shoes, 2 additional faceplates and 5 extra pairs of hands. Personally, I'm would have preferred an angry or scared face. But these ones are pretty fun as well!

Think I mistook her shy face for a crying expression ;_;

I usually take boring straight-up shots so I tried taking pictures from dynamic angles this time. Hope you enjoyed the photos :)

Creating a Sylvanian Home (Part 3)

Managed to spray the roof of my SF house as well as prime the door and some of the windows:

I used Tamiya's Linoleum Deck Brown Spray Paint for this. Their spray paint is specifically for plastic so I had no problems with flaking. The paint goes on really well and dries pretty quick. I could apply a second coat after about 30 minutes. It also has a very nice matt finish, unlike other spray paints which often give this semi-glossy look.

Sadly, I got alot of paint on the walls this time :(

I tried using Mr Color Thinner to remove the excess paint but it could only remove some parts of it. One of the walls is badly stained because I didn't fully cover that area with some paper / tape. Silly me. I thought the paint wouldn't be able to get on there but I was wrong:

I had plan to leave the walls in it's original color because I couldn't find a nice shade of yellow to match the roof. But that's alright, I guess I'll just have to pick a color for the walls now :)

Creating a Sylvanian Home (Part 2)

Work has been crazy the past few weeks with lesser days off than usual so I haven't been able to start on my custom SF house until now :(

The first step is to spray a layer of primer over the surface I wish to paint. Some people don't see the need for primer as long as you're using spray paint meant for plastics. But I read priming helps to prevent the original colour of the surface you are painting from showing through.

Preparing to prime:

I used Mr Hobby Surfacer 1500 Gray spray to prime the roof. I taped the areas I didn't want sprayed with masking tape first. I also used a huge piece of plastic to seal the windows so paint wouldn't get inside.

Remember to shake the can well before you start and always use a dust mask. It's also best to do this outside where it's well ventilated. Paint fumes are toxic and can make you ill.

Result:

Pretty proud of how even it looks considering this is the first time I'm spraying something that isn't for practice. Spray cans are really easy to use once you get the hang of it, though I did make a couple of small mistakes:

Got some primer on the inside of the house because I was lazy and didn't tape the inside.

I've yet to decide if I want to paint the ceiling a different colour. If I do, I'll have to prime the whole ceiling anyway. But if I decide to keep the ceiling as it is, I think some rubbing alcohol should remove it. Be careful not to use nail polish remover with acetone in it as it might melt away the plastic. 

I also had these bubbles / bumps on one part of the roof:

This happens when you spray too close and the paint gets too thick; making it hard to dry evenly. But this can easily be fixed with some sanding when the layer has completely dried. It's important to fix bumps before adding more layers of paint because spraying on an uneven surface will only make it look worst.

That's it for now. Can't wait for my next day off to start painting the roof brown!