TETSUJIN 2020 Vallejo Mecha Color Painting Demo

I was so stoked when this was finalized and was made official by my partners in HOBBYMATE and Acrylicos Vallejo , the no.1 hobby paint in the world! 

I will be doing Basic Vallejo Painting Demos with Vallejo Mecha Colors and Vallejo Shifters for 3 days at Tetsujin 2020 at Singapore. Tetsujin is brought to us by the no.1 hobby shops and hobby stores in HOBBY ART GALLERY and HOBBYMATE. 

This competition is the biggest non-Bandai competition for modelers by modelers. Judges this year are Erix93 ( A legend of the hobby ), Kenny Lim aka Toymaker, Seth Tuna, Chocofalcon and Eday Ng ( verEday ). 

Below is a video documentary of Tetsujin 2019. 

I am sooo excited to meet my old time friends there ( Kenny Lim & Edmund Teo ) and meet the other Masters of the hobby ( Gunpla ). I will be bringing my 16 year old daughter with me, as she really wants to come and see the entries. 

My daughter plans to join GBWC this year. 

Anyways, this will happen soon! I will have a ton of coverage of the event! 

Saludos! 

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My Partners

I had a handful of inquiries the past week regarding paints, what I use, airbrush set up and where I get my tools and supplies. I am always happy to answer them.

I had a very brief time of painting with some Japanese brand paints ( I like branded paints as I like using only quality paints and tools ). I also have a few other Japanese and USA airbrushes way back ( again, I like quality tools only ) and a precious ( gift ) generic airbrush from my dear friend Kriz.

But I am now exclusively using Vallejos, Harder&Steenbeck and certain tools moving forward.

I am only painting with Vallejo Colors ( Spain ) and airbrushing with Harder&Steenbeck airbrushes from Germany ( once again, I only like quality paints and tools ).

I also get my paints locally ( and a few tools and supplies ) from Neutral Grounds. I also get my tools and supplies from HobbyMate Singapore ( the best hobby shop at Sing ).

Just wanted to make this clear.

Cheers!



DAILY BLOG POST

I am also thinking of posting "daily" blog posts like this, as I am a full time Professional Illustrator and Professional Sci Fi Modeler ( moving forward ). Most artists ( at least here in the Philippines ) are employees. Scale modeling, much more Gunpla ( Mecha / Sci Fi ) modeling is just a weekend hobby for the majority.

But, I literally draw and paint robots and monsters for a living.

Daily posts that I won't really share in other facebook groups or anything. Just some daily logs, a sort of a diary of a full time professional artist working at his home studio. How I start my day or something. I like blogging when I am about to sleep anyways.

Also, these kinds of posts could be inspiring for aspiring or even frustrated artists.

So let's talk shop!



WORK

Woke up, ate breakfast and drank coffee.

Drove my kids to school...went home and then I started work.

I did a bit of snap fitting of my commissioned MG Gunner Zaku Warrior.

Had an email meeting with one of my Gunpla partners for a few minutes, then...

I thought of suddenly recording a quick Vallejo Mecha Color weathering tutorial for my Youtube channel during the middle of my snap fitting. So I pulled out a figure to paint and started painting, errr... started weathering.



END OF WORK

I got hungry during the middle of weathering the figure. Thought of fetching the kids and get some groceries. Fetched the kids, went to the grocery and stayed there for a couple of hours. Drove back home and ... Voila!

The traffic here in the Philippines is one of the worst in the world. Specially during the Christmas season. Got home in time for dinner, ate dinner, then took a quick nap after dinner.



DC23 CLOTHING 

Our DC23 clothing will be merging ( sort of ) with another clothing brand next year. Our partners came late night and we had a nice meeting here at our Home Studio. We are excited to launch a handful of new Mecha Designs with the new collaboration.

We needed a partner that could help us deliver the demand of our clients from as simple as shirt sizes, shirt color, material and the request of potential resellers abroad.

2020 will be bigger, better and more fun!


SUPER LATE NIGHT

After the meeting, I thought of resuming my weathering session. Will reveal this quick weathering project tomorrow.

That's it! That's my day. Not too productive today as a huge chunk of my day was spent on groceries with the kids and the traffic. This was still a productive day tho.

Anyways, thanks a ton for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby!

Saludos!

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Harder&Steenbeck Evolution Silverline 2in1 Airbrush

Great stuff from Harder&Steenbeck  that was shipped through HobbyMate! Received this airbrush together with some HobbyMate stuff and my autographed copy of the Scratchbuild Revolution.

I have yet to use this Harder&Steenbeck Evolution 2in1 Silverline Airbrush as I am so busy at work these days. I should be able to try this beauty this coming weekend on some minis. I must say without hesitation that this is the most beautiful airbrush I have laid my hands on! The craftsmanship, the finish and the overall feel of the trigger and the whole gun is awesome.

Best value high end German made airbrush, as you practically get 2 airbrushes in 1. The set comes with 2 nozzles, 2 needles ( .2 and .4 ) and 2 cups ( 2ml and 5ml ). Again, I cannot thank Harder&Steenbeck enough for my first high end airbrush! Cannot wait to put this baby in action very soon!

BTW, I am now accepting orders for this airbrush for anyone in the Philippines who is interested. We are selling these beautiful babies at a promo price of...

7,699 php inclusive of shipping cost

Email me at donc0023@yahoo.com or PM me at Facebook for inquiries or orders of other Harder&Steenbeck airbrush models. Orders will be shipped via DHL or via airmail depending on your address ( price does not include postal charges ).

We are also selling the Harder&Steenbeck ULTRA 2in1 airbrush at a promo price of...

4,499 php inclusive of shipping cost

Below are more photos of the Harder&Steenbeck EVOLUTION Silverline 2in1...

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DC23 Pilot Painting Contest Finalists and Winner

The first Pilot Painting Contest was pretty successful I think. We got a total of 82 entries during the competition. The Contest was most active at Instagram as I have 7,000 followers at Instagram during the contest. It was so cool judging and screening entries during that time. We hope to bring you a quick exciting competition in the near future soon.

This fun contest was sponsored handsomely by GreatToysOnline.com and Hobbymate, links below..

HOBBYMATE

GreatToysOnline.com

Both HobbyMate and GTO ships worldwide. Fittingly so as I have more following internationally than locally ( Philippines ). HobbyMate will be shipping a handsome HM Airbrush and GTO will be shipping a set of Gundam Metal Nano Puzzles ( Both shops has shipped the prizes to our winner as I write this post ). and so our winner ( as posted both at Instagram and Facebook ) was 

Mark Carlisle of Australia 

( two time Australia GBWC Champion )

Also a ton of thanks to all the 82 entries and a warm congratulations to the other 9 finalists below! Again, I cannot thank you enough for joining our fun and humble competition! Hope to come up with more competitions soon! As always thanks a ton for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby!

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Scratchbuild Revolution Modeling Guide Book - Pre-Order Now

Yours truly ( Don Suratos aka DC23 ) is taking up Pre-Orders for the Philippine market of this Scratch Built Revolution Modeling Guide Book produced by HobbyMate.

Pre-Order sale at 2,099 PHP until May 30, 2015. Email me at donc0023@yahoo.com or message me at Facebook for inquiries. I prefer payments thru my BDO bank account but I could also accept payments thru LBC, Palawan Express and other such methods of money transfer. Again, just message me at Facebook or email me for my bank account or other inquiries.

Modelers from other countries could purchase directly from the HobbyMate website as HobbyMate ships worlwide. You could pay thru paypal ( or bank transfers ).

This book will be shipping by June 2015 and the price will be 2,299 PHP after May 30. Buyers also get 5pcs of Sanding blocks from HobbyMate.

Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby! :)

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DC23 Pilot Painting Contest

Greattoysonline.com and myhmshop.com ( Hobbymate ) has agreed to sponsor our first "Pilot Painting Contest "( PPC )! Greattoysonline.com and myhmshop.com ( Hobbymate ) ships world wide so everyone in this planet is eligible to join! GreatToysOnline.com will be shipping a couple of Gundam Metallic Nano Puzzles, myhmshop.com will be shipping a HM135 .3 nozzle airbrush and yours truly will be shipping a set of Vallejo Acrylic Paints. 😊

I am most active at Instagram ( @dc23_mecharts ) and also active at My Facebook fan page and group page, but I will be requiring all participants to email me their entries during the contest. Using my hashtag #DC23mecharts at Facebook and Instagram is also a basic requirement. So here are the rules guys...

PPC RULES & MECHANICS

1. Paint any 1/144, 1/100 or 1/60 pilot figure from any of your Bandai kits.

2. Each participant is allowed to enter 5 painted pilot figures.

3. Good photography is an advantage as we will be judging based on your photos alone.

4. Email your entries at donc0023@yahoo.com

5. Label or title your email with PPC ENTRY. One email per entry ( each participant can submit 3 entries ). Include your name ( real name and hobby name ) and the scale of the pilot figure in your emails.

6. Each email should include 3 photos. Front, Back and most importantly a photo of the figure on top of any unpainted / painted Gundam head. The last photo requirement will ensure that the photo and entry is yours.

7. Use my hashtag #DC23mecharts and #DC23PPC whenever you post your entries at both Instagram and Facebook.

8. Deadline for submission is on March 31, 2015. You can submit on or before the deadline. 

PRIZES

ALL entries will be featured at DC23-mecharts Blogsite, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook page and group page. Winners will be notified and will be asked for their shipping address for the prizes. All prizes will be shipped by Greattoysonline.com and myhmshop.com ( Hobbymate ) directly to the winners.

Hope to see those awesome pilot figures soon! Thanks for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby! 

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HobbyMate's 2012 Mecha Contest pick award

Aside from the random prizes sponsored by HobbyMate, which are 8 sets of tools that will be randomly drawn from all the participants. Edmund Teo the owner of HobbyMate will be selecting his very own pick amongst all the participants of our 2012 Mecha contest.

The HOBBYMATE's pick award might not be necessarily be amongst the top winner's of the contest. It could be anyone with a very nice entry that Edmund really likes OR a very nice entry with lots of HM upgrade parts. :)

The pick will get the top of the line airbrush from HobbyMate which is the HM ACE airbrush! The HM ACE airbrush will be shipped to the winner wherever he is in the world for free. The ACE is a dual action airbrush with a lightweight aluminum body in black matte finish. Handsome piece of gun for painting those precious masterpieces to be.

I will keep it a secret for now as to what is with the 8 sets of tools packaged for the random draw winners. Random draw means that anyone participating gets an instant chance to get awesome HobbyMate tools and supplies for FREE!

So as we always say... gear up and put your A game on, for our 2012 Mecha Contest coming very soon! Thanks as always for dropping by! Til' next 2012 Mecha Contest update guys! :b

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HobbyMate co-sponsors 2012 Mecha Contest!

I will be posting capsules of posts in the following weeks about our Kamm and Sneeper's 2012 Mecha Contest. We figured that posting all the details of the competition in one post during the launch will be information overload. The amount of prizes and the rules and categories will be insane. So let me introduce our first co-sponsor...

HobbyMate owner Edmund Teo is the most generous person I have ever met in this lifetime. For those people who attended our MAC anniversary party back in August 2011, you personally experienced that generosity in the amount of raffle prizes HobbyMate gave away in the party! The MAC party was arguably the biggest Mecha / Gunpla party of any forums or club to date, mainly due to the support of two sponsors including HobbyMate.

This time HobbyMate co-sponsors our huge 2012 Mecha Contest. HobbyMate plans to give an airbrush to a winner and also plans to give other loads of tools and supplies for the contest. HobbyMate will also give a special HobbyMate's special pick winner!

To keep the surprises coming, I will not disclose to you the details of the prizes from HobbyMate. But HobbyMate basically will sponsor $600 worth of HM tools and supplies!

So do not get left behind guys! Drop that project for that small local contest and register at MAC forums today! Join in the fun in our huge competition soon! Thanks for dropping by! Til' next post guys! :)

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TOOL review: HobbyMate Micro2s Ultimate Set

I have here another review of a tool from Hobbymate. This time it's the Micro2s Ultimate Set. Unlike the photo in the HobbyMate website, the Micro2s Ultimate set actually comes inside a very nice " lunch box " type clear casing. Which looks really great and nice to display ( hehehe ). However if you plan to actually use the tool, the box could be a great box for other small tools or any scale modeling scraps.

Once you order the set, the package comes with the Micro2s PRO which is another nifty nice tool and a great addition to your tool collection. The Micro2s ultimate set comes with a drilling stand, a 230volt power supply adaptor, a couple of orange attachments, a couple of chuck sizes and a couple of drill bits. A simple and straight forward manual comes with the set as there is a bit of need for assembly of the drilling stand. The set even has a small screwdriver for assembling the whole thing. You won't need anything other than a wall outlet once you order the tool.

The black drilling stand is made of heavy plastic and is surprisingly steady enough for any Gunpla drilling jobs. I am thinking of screwing a thin wooden block at the bottom as I just love the heavy feeling when using tools like this. But there is actually no need to add them. The stand can be adjusted in 3 different heights depending on your job requirement. This set is very versatile for a drilling tool.

What is the tool good for?

Well I have been using it for my usual " exposing MG internals technique " on my the O II project. It is ten times faster to use this tool on the said technique than manually boring all those holes with a pinvise. Manually boring those holes is a bit painful to your hands after some time. This tool is simply making my work 10 times faster than before. Now here are the photos of the whole set.

Thanks for dropping by! Til' next tool review! :)

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