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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Toymaker versus DC23 Facebook Page!

Me and Kenny Lim aka Toymaker has been chatting about our next Face Off / Build Off for some time now. We had our first duel back in 2011 using the Bandai MG The O and had so much fun in the process. 

Next year we plan to inspire each other further by doing small and quick build offs. We also plan to use the Bandai PG Unicorn as our main kit for our build off next year!!!

We will be posting old links and photos of our MG The O build off for the meantime... and will also update you regarding our up and coming PG Unicorn  build off in both our Facebook pages and our new page! Feel free to follow us at our new page below...

https://www.facebook.com/ToymakerVSdc23

Me and Toymaker ( Kenny Lim ) has been friends for years now. We have always chatted about concepts, skills and other people's work since 2009. We do hope you would enjoy following us next year at our new page! Possibly the first of its kind! 

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

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DC23 Mecharts Gallery Updated

It has been so long since I had the time and the mood to update my gallery. Just added the links  of a couple of finished or completed builds last year ( 2013 ). 

The Ironman 12 inch statue I did for a friend which was basically a repaint of a statue last year was a fun build. I added the damages and paint chips and enhanced the overall finish of the statue / toy. A super fun quick build that ended up nicely.

I also added a link of my only painted kit last year, which was a beautiful Ma.K kit given to me by my old friend Kenny Lim aka TOYMAKER back in 2009. The kit has a bit of fitting issues but I did had so much fun hand painting the floral stuff on the kit. This kit is one of my fav display in my office desk these days. 

Anyways, do check them out in the links below...

 Gallery

 Commission Gallery

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

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LBX Elysion modeled by TOYMAKER

I have here today good close friend's most recent build. This LBX Elysion was modeled by Kenny Lim aka TOYMAKER.

I have one of these LBX models and they are so fun to build and assemble. Very straight forward and no small hassle pieces. Kenny ( Toymaker ) seems to be enjoying these Bandai LBX models and is churning them out like pancakes. Kenny's painting is very nice and vibrant as usual and the photography gives justice to his fine build.

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Optimus Prime Ultra Magnus repaint by TOYMAKER

Good friend Kenny Lim aka TOYMAKER has just shared with us a beautiful Transformers Optimus Prime Ultra Magnus repaint ( phew that was long ).

Beautiful metallics and handsome color scheme! Nothing short of what you'd expect from Kenny. I guess everyone is branching out from just doing Gunpla these days as this toy repaint from Kenny caught me by surprise. The blue flame with draker blue outline and the gradients all over the kit gave this a master's touch. Overall a very impressive build that would look great in any display cabinet.

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Toymaker versus DC23 MG The O build off!

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Once again, thanks a ton to Kenny Lim aka Toymaker for accepting my challenge early this year ( 2011 ) and making this build off possible.

Glad this was just a friendly competition / build off though as Kenny's MG The O is out of this world as expected! Anyways I have here 6 medium sized wallpapers ( for myself ) but if you like them, feel free to grab them, share them and post as your wallpapers too.

Me and Kenny has set yesterday as our deadline for our Toymaker versus DC23 build off a few days ago. I have talked about this build off a lot in my older posts as this project was supposedly both me and Kenny's year end GBWC entries. Anyways, I think I have talked enough ( lol ), so here are the links to my gallery and to Kenny's MG The O gallery...

custom MG The O modeled by TOYMAKER

versus

custom MG The O modeled by DC23

click image to enlarge to 1600 x 1000

click image to enlarge to 1600 x 1000

click image to enlarge to 1600 x 1000

click image to enlarge to 1600 x 1000

click image to enlarge to 1600 x 1000

Thanks for dropping by! Til' next build off guys! :)

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Toymaker versus DC23 revealing soon...

During the start of the year ( January 2011 ) I challenged Kenny Lim aka Toymaker to a build off. I follow Kenny's blog religiously and saw that he was planning to build a MG The O too. So I asked him if we could do a sort of build off together which will also serve as our BAKUC entries come yearend of the same year.

Kenny is one of the best and most respected modelers in this part of the world ( at the very least ), thus I am totally insane and out of my mind when I thought of the idea. Honestly I was thinking of just trying to out do myself as I desperately need motivation to improve. The best modelers here in the Philippines are semi retired already, they are only doing relax builds and are not really as competitive as they used to. So there is not much reason to compete with them anymore.

So there... challenging Kenny is basically a move to motivate my self to improve my craft by challenging one of the best and one of my original inspiration when it comes to detailing and modifications.

Fast forward to today ( November 12, 2011 ), Both me and Kenny are sort of rushing our custom MG The O builds for the Singapore Gunpla Builders World Cup 2011 on November 15. He is now painting the armor parts of his kit and I am rushing a simple base after this post. We will be revealing both our custom MG The O exactly on

November 14 11:59 PM

The build off is almost over... I have posted around 13 WIP posts of my MG the O while Kenny has posted only a couple ( as I expected - lol ). But I have been in constant contact with Kenny since the start of our challenge back in June 2011.

This was a win and win situation for me as not only did I get the chance to compete with one of the best in the craft, thus pushing myself to somehow out do what my skills would allow me to. I also won a friend from across the sea. 

I got to meet Kenny back in our MAC forums anniversary party last August 2011 here in the Philippines, and since then he has been a mentor, tutor, inspiration, a rival and a close friend. This build off although not yet finished has served it's purpose already. I won a great friend.

click image to enlarge

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MG Delta Plus by TOYMAKER

Good friend and MG The O build off buddy, Kenny Lim aka TOYMAKER has just finished another masterpiece. This time though as he like the design of the kit so much, he opted to do it OOTB. Kenny rarely does ootb but is also very good at it as usual.

This MG Delta Plus was painted with silver over gloss black and the red is achieved using clear color. This is actually very difficult to do as it is very hard to maintain the consistency of your layering. You will get darker shades every layer of paint, so doing it in separate parts and consistently achieving your desired hue is topnotch airbrush skills in my opinion.

We have this beautiful build at our MAC forums but I'd rather give you the link to Kenny's blog for more photos... Here is the link guys...

MG Delta Plus modeled by TOYMAKER

Thanks as always for dropping by! Til' next featured guest modeler. :)

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Toymaker versus DC23 face-off WIP - smurfs head

The putty work on this build is kinda slowing me down a bit and I need more light source in my work station for better WIP photos. Other than that, the build is going smoothly. I will be needing around 4 packs of Tamiya Epoxy putty ( quick type ) as I will still have to scratch build the huge front skirts, a round backpack and maybe replace the shoulders.

I have extended the waist and added 4mm ( a couple of 2mm stacked together ) and did lots of putty work on the boob and the head. Thanks to my tools, internal exposure modifications are so fast and easy now! I removed sections on the armor parts and boob part and also permanently glued the wires.

Although the head looks like a smurfs hat, I feel it looks closer to how Kobayashi envisions these kinds of mecha designs. I think I would be doing less pla plating on the armor parts, but will over detail the exposed internals instead. Again thanks a ton to Kenny ( Toymaker ) for his Kobayashi book.

Not really sure if I will work on this kit, the MG Zeta or snapfit the RG Aile Strike today, but I will have project updates of any of those builds soon. Here are a few snaps of this build so far...

Thanks for dropping by! Til' next update! :)

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Toymaker versus DC23 face-off WIP - The O boobies

Just taking a break from Gunpla. I have set up a simple work area for the first time since my house got renovated last April this year. So now I could actually be a lot more productive than the past few months and besides I am too inspired these days.

I am a bit tired already as I did some HobbyMate tool reviews earlier, snap fitted my D-Style Griffon, and worked on both the the O diorama and the kit, to practice my new Hobbymate power tools I got a few days back from Hobbymate owner Edmund Teo.

I am having a blast with my new tools as work has never been faster and easier. The " Koyobayashi " book that Kenny ( Toymaker ) gave me a few days back is also helping a lot in working with my the O II build. The book has some very nice The O II sketches and kits! Thanks Kenny! You are going to lose our build off now! hehehe

Due to my primitive scratch building skills, I used the original butt connection for my scratch build butt. I will refine and test this modification later tonight. Because of my new tools, I managed to easily cut and shape a thick deodorant plastic bottle to serve as the raw shape of the the O II boob. I will detail the boob and show in my next posts. Pretty happy with my quick mod so far. Here are some pics...

EDIT: I extended the neck with Tamiya 2mm square rodsand the neck or head is now 4mm taller than before. I also detailed the internals of the boob part already, just to see if super detailing the internals without detailing the armor parts much would work. Besides you guys muct be pretty sick with my armor over detailing style that makes no sense already. However, I think I will still do so minor detailing on the armors. Nothing overboard, just some holes and a few pla plates. Now here are some photos so far...

Thanks for dropping by! Til' next post! :)

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the MAC FORUMS first anniversary party 2011

I just had a great day hanging out with our friends from Singapore today. Yesterday ( actually August 27, 2011 ) we had our much awaited Mech Arts Community forums first anniversary party! It was an experience of a lifetime, specially for me ( deserves a separate post ).

However, the weather was really bad thus a few people was not able to come and we were not able to actually set up a grill party outdoors. We had to pack at least 60 to 70 people inside the house due to the heavy rains and had to smell each other from 5pm to 10pm!

Anyways, We all met at Trinoma at around 2pm and we had to wait for a few people up to 3pm. We then convoyed ( sort of ) to my house which was an adventure to some, as the bulk of the convoy passed through the uglier rough road short cut.

The guys then had some " dinuguan ", some rice cakes, a roasted turkey, tons of grilled pork steak and some " lechon manok "or roasted chicken. I hope the people enjoyed the food as I have no idea if the food was good. I was not able to eat coz I was too excited and happy to see all the people that was able to come even in the bad weather.

Hitting the SMILE HAMMER since 2010!

It has been one year and one month since we formed the mech arts community forums. It was sort of born from negative stuffs that produced really good results. The forums with the help of our friends from all over in Kriz, Kamm, hummingbird, decay, Matt Mrozek, Matt Tomczek, Tember Gundam, chubbybots, Janus Lu and all the original foreigner members has helped us so much in forming the forums as it is today.

Thank you to my co creator MatanglawinX who always does the dirty and ugly stuffs of trying to organize the forums through rules and regulations. Thank you to my best friend in the world and fellow admin in Kriz who always makes it a point to inspire new and younger modelers.

Thank you to our local ( Filipino ) moderators in Jmac, Vanz Hilario, krescenhaze and rzero1 who has kept the forums organize yet friendly and welcoming. Thank you to our international moderators in Kamm ( UK ) and hummingbird ( London ) for being the hard working ambassadors of MAC in their region and for keeping the forums safe in the wee hours of our timezone.

THANK YOU to all the local and international members who has made the forums to what it is right now. It is the members who makes up the forums and not the founders or the moderators. Like I always say, a forums should just be an organize version of Facebook, friendly and inspiring.

Aside from the obvious fact that our forums has now been the most visited and active forums in the Philippines today... I am proud to brag that after one year, everyone in the forums specially the members has successfully produced...

a Hobby forums that is a genuine community

and not a hierarchy of some sort. A true forums is a friendly forums where the community constantly inspires each other and treat each other with respect and true camaraderie. The community is getting bigger every week... our community has lived up to it's name as a true community.

GreattoysOnline RAFFLE PRIZES

Our local sponsor was GreattoysOnline.com. Malvin Lim the owner of Greattoys ( GT ) was generous enough to give our forum members some impossible to get and rare Gundam items and model kits. Unfortunately Malvin was not able to come to the party but the people who won in the GreattoysOnline raffle had a blast with their prizes. 

HOBBYMATE raffle prizes

Edmund Teo our friend from Singapore and owner of HOBBYMATE was there at the event and he gave some great raffle prizes worth thousands of pesos ( do the math if you like :)! There are a ton of metal option parts like pistons and cables, micro LED upgrades, some brushes, some cutting boards, loads of rare earth magnets, some plastic cutters, and some small hobby tools. Those are just the minor prizes from Hobbymate.

Hobbymate also gave away a Bandai Master Grade kit, a couple of Micro2S PROs, a couple of Micro2S, a couple of Hobbymate airbrush kits, and a huge rotary tool set. Needless to say our MAC forums members went home with some really cool and expensive stuffs that night!

Yours truly also gave away 3 Bandai Master Grade kits and 11 free MAC forums shirts. Raymond Celeste ( rzero1 ) gave some wooden MAC forums memorabilia, Fil Dimaano ( filmechs ) gave away some MAC forums shirts too and some MAC forums pins.

The MAC forums party!!!

THANK YOU once again to everyone who came even with the bad weather. Thanks a ton to our friends from Singapore Kenny ( Toyamker ), Ben ( Izakku81 ), Yi Hui ( Waylander ) and Edmund Teo of Hobbymate or making the MAC forums people really really happy!!! 

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