These words Come from a Modeller's Wife

Immature ... Childish..... Shut-ins ..... Waste of money ... such are some of the many words that people used how on our great hobby. Many a time, our hobby has been discriminated by those hobby-less, pathetic bastards but from time to time, a voice rise up for us modellers and for today, I want to blog about such voice.

If you guys have been around in the hobby for some time, you guys will probably be familiar with Ryukaze. If not, here is his blog http://www.rkdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/ so just have a look over. These words I'm re sharing are the words of his wife and these words are really nice and the whole blog post is an eye opener. All of these words I am re sharing blongs to her and I do not take any credit for those words.
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Why I think my husband's hobby of building model kits is SEXY. By  

IRONI IRINA

( That's RyuKaze style of taking pictures, BTW )

My husband is a toy collector. He collects Marvel and DC action figures, Transformers, Gundams, GI Joe and Star Wars vehicles and a whole lot of other things. He's not just a collector, he also builds, paints and kitbashes scale models/model kits of robots, tanks and a whole lot of other stuff that I'm not even sure what they're called.

A lot of people don't seem to understand this hobby. Some say its a waste of time and money. Most people even say he's immature. Well, I'm the wife. If anyone has anything to say about it, that would be me. And I think it's SEXY, and it was one of the factors that attracted me about him. And here's why...

1) It shows he has passion.

Men with interest or hobbies are passionate about something. People who are passionate feel strongly about the things they love and care about. The love and care that my husband puts in the details when he builds and paints models are impressive. He shows attention to minute little details that make all the difference. And that also means, he is VERY GOOD with his hands.

2) He is home. With me.

He builds and paints in his studio, sometimes in the living room of our small apartment. He just needs a few tools and a small space. The tools aren't expensive either. Unlike some hobbies with expensive equipment that needs the person to be in a field or a lake or somewhere other than home. So while he does his work, I just do my own thing around the house but at ANY TIME I need him, he is there and he is able to stop his work and attend to me. Even better, he can still borak with me while putting together a Gundam at the same time.

Example, if he plays futsal, he has to be at the pitch, then he lepaks with his friends after the game and there will be days where he wants to watch the game on TV or at the mamak with friends, while the wife stays at home or the wife follows and she has to lepak with all the cigarette smoke around. Errr... sorry, but that's not my idea of fun.

3) It makes money, fame and glory. haha.

No, seriously, it does. A lot of people from around the country, no, world, yes, I said world, commissions him to paint or kitbash their toys. I can't tell you how much he makes, that's confidential, but know this, his "toys" provided him with the money to get married to me within 6 months. And you know weddings cost a lot kan?

And it gives me a sense of pride when I see his works and even more surprising when some random stranger comes up to him and says " You are Ryukaze? Man, I'm a fan of your works!". And as humble as he is, he just smiles and continues to have a conversation with that stranger about what else? Toys of course.

4) He really knows his stuff. He's not a poser.

Being a tv show host wannabe like me, I like asking questions and interviewing people. It totally pisses me when most times, the people who say they're into something can't answer simple questions about their interest. I however, equate people's ability to answer questions to their intelligence level. Articulate la basically. But believe me when I say, u can ask Ryukaze anything about the things that he likes and he can regale you with encyclopedic editions of it. I'm a nut for a good story, so I enjoy when he tells me the story behind Halo, Transformers and Gundams. And he doesn't pretend to know things he doesn't. Yes, his intelligence charms my pants off. Literally.

5) Immature? Man (or woman), you have no idea what maturity is.

Yes, he plays with TOYS. Some guys play with cars. Some guys play with fish rods. Some guys even play with women. I'd rather he play with little plastic things are not expensive yet has resale value in any given time, era even country.

All of us need something to amuse us, entertain us, to sustain our imagination and playfulness. Its what makes life interesting. I believe, to each his own.

He may not look his age, but when a situation needs him to man up, my husband does that without hesitation. It comes naturally that he protects my honor, my well being, my safety, my sanity and my happiness. And he fulfills his responsibilities.

Maturity is not about what one does as his hobby. Maturity is about taking responsibility and doing what is right. That is what being a man or "Da Man" is all about. Maturity is when you can show respect and love a wife unconditionally. Maturity is understanding the balance of both strength and weakness. Its not about being macho all the time. Control hensem is so passe.

6) The work he does is a work of art. So it gives a sense of achievement and fulfillment which feeds the soul which in return produces a very positive human being.

7) Its so easy to get him birthday or anniversary presents. Just look at his toy wishlist.

He is comfortable in his own skin being who he is and that confidence is what is charming about him. And that ultimately makes him sexy in my eyes.

His hobby makes him happy, and that makes me happy. He makes me happy.

So yeah, toy collecting and model kit building are awesome hobbies. So there.

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And here is the original blog post from Mrs. RyuKaze - http://irinairony.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/my-husband-is-toy-collector.html 

Well, there you have it. If you have girlfriends or wives or those bitches and bastards of friends that look down on our hobby, just show them this blog post. 

Happy Modelling people. Our hobby is a great one and always hold your head high with pride as modellers. 

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W.I.P Tamiya Leopard 2 A6 - Part 3

Right.. time to update this .... 

Last time, I stopped after I put up the turret. Now, I start by putting some of those I need to put on top of the turret roof - 

Followed up some kind of a box inside the spacing between the turret and applique armour  ( I really have no idea what that is ) -

And two more boxes that goes on inside the Aplique armour itself -Right - 

Left - 

After that, I put on all the applique armour ( front and sides ). The side armours swivel open like so -

Next, I put on the Commander's sight -

And I moved onto the back of the turret. I had to removed some of the moulded on buckles and put on PE ones 

Followed up by what seems to be a fold-able rack -

Which goes on to front wall of the turret bustle like so along with some more stuffs on the floor -

Ok, the cable winder is quite crooked but I can't be bothered to fix it.... LOL
The same kind of rack was built for a second time and put on the outside of the turret bustle - 

And the entire rear turret wall was attached - 

Two side baskets for the rear turret was made from kit supplied parts and PE -

Which goes on the turret like so -

And I have to spend 2 pain-staking, eye-aching hours of putting those tiny chains on the smoke launchers caps -

Left side -

Right Side - 

After that comes the wheels -

And now, this kitty is about this complete -

Until next time and many thanks for all the supports as always. 

Oh, and I just remembered, one of a reader said that my old background was making things hard to read and that fonts are small so, I changed the background and will start typing in this bigger font. Hope that's ok with you guys. 

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WIP - 1/35 ZTD-05 AAAV - Part 5

Right guys.. Time for an final update before I launch this - 

I applied a not-too-thin-not-too-thick filter of tan all over the it and spray another coat of Gloss varnish. 
After that, I put on another coat of filters, this time I used brown and put on a matt varnish. ( I'm sorry. I forgot to take pictures of that steps involved with the filters )

I painted the on board tools - 




And the tow cable -




Per the suggestion of my teacher, I might have to go back again, paint it black and dry brush the steel
And I put sands on wet effects all around the vehicles -








I managed to put on water flowing down the front flap when it was folded back up and I also applied sands on the edges on the assumption that when the vehicle reach the shorelines and just before it fold back the flap, some sands would get stuck on the edges. Maybe I should put more sand on the front flap as well. 




Same procedure with the back flaps -

I might put in more sand on there. 

Well, this is the last update. I still have to do some small retouch with the sands and maybe add some more smaller water streaks. After that it's finally done. Thank you for being with me all the way. Much appreciated. Please look forward for the launch. 

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W.I.P Tamiya Leopard 2 A6 - Part 2

Right .. I have an update for you guys. I decided to finish everything on the rear deck.



I first I started off by putting on the photo etch grilles for the two cooling unit -




I deviated a bit and decided to put on the photo etch around the two little domes, which are the air intakes grilles for the engine. I also on the little box ( what it is, I have no idea ) that is sitting on a what is supposedly a tripod stand. I also put on some PE on the little thing which is the third leg of the stand I mentioned. I also made the storage area and attachment for the pick axe.




I cut off the saw from the kit and replace it with a P.E part. Also made a storage box for the saw and made sure the saw sit nice and tight in the storage box -




Followed immediately by a crow bar next to that saw and another two ( which I do not know what ) on top of the saw storage box 




The left side of the engine deck is occupied by two Shovels -




And here is the most rear of the deck, where a long round spanner ( I belive it is a spanner ) sits. You can also see other small PE brackets along the raise line.




Here is how the entire engine deck looks with all those PE.

 


Happy with the entire and having completed assembly on the entire hull, I moved on to the turret. First, I put on a ring of PE on the orginal mantlet -




Made the entire mantlet along with the barrel -




Followd by gluing two little parts for the commander and loader figures to stand on -




And the Upper turret glued on - 




There you have it. That's it for now. Stay Tuned. 

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WIP - 1/35 ZTD-05 AAAV - Part 4

Alright now that the Lowe has finished ( in case you haven't noticed - http://modeller-innovation.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/amusing-hobby-135-panzerkampfwagen-vii.html ) ... Time to update on this thing 


Last time, I left off with the first colour applied. 
I masked that and put on the second colour and then masked it again -

After 2 day of rest and masking, I managed to put on the third colour -

And finally masked the third colour before I can apply the main base -

After taking off all the masking tape , this is what I get -

I painted the wheels like so -

Don't worry about the messy white colour on the hubs. They will be closed off with these little things -

And Voila -

Here is the all around views I took with the wheels attached and one of the track assembled -Front -left three-quarter view 

Front - right three-quarter view 

Back- right three quarter view -

Back - peft three quarter view -

Lower front hull - 

The rear hull -

By now, you must be curious what happened to the complicated flaps I was working on. I still have them rest assure, I just wanted to apply them last without hindrance -Here is the back flap glued on. The back flap went on without any problems and is still workable.

Now this is when all hell broke loose. The time I spent trying to be so carful to make the front flap workable was for naught. For reason unknown,the flap is not folding up on top of the hull properly. There was a substantial gap and when when I tried to exert some force trying to fold it down properly, one of the support braces for the hydraulic rod broke off. Curses flew around in the air and had to spend an entire evening trying to fix it. I was already running on empty that day so I took a good night sleep and proceeded further the next morning. The same thing happen. Another morning spent fixing it. By afternoon, when it broke again for the third time ( and many other mishaps as well ), I just lost it. So much so that I was having difficulty breathing and I was seeing red and wanted to just smash the model. So trying to save myself and the model I spent so long on, I just glued everything on. 

Without gluing, the top flap was way up in the air. At least, like this, I can keep going on without being angry. Having glued that on and satisfied with that and finally calmed down, I decided to cool down with some small detail paintings. I painted the driver scopes -

And the Commander's sight -

And painted the inner cup of the lamp with silver and traced the rim of the glass with green

- 

Another lamp and what appears to be a gunner scope -

After that, I spent a quick evening and night finishing the camo pattern on the side skirts and finally put them on - 
Right side -

Left Side -

Well, that's that. It's almost finished. I'm hanging in there... The worst is over.
Coming up would be filters and weathering...... 

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