8 inch custom robot DIY QEE ver DC23

I almost finished this a few days back before being confined in the hospital. Just got back today, managed to add silver paint chipping effects around the cockpit lid and a few areas and brushed some Vallejo pigments on some corners and crevices. It is I think pretty much complete now.

Honestly I was not really sure on the direction of the build at first, I was just hoping that my weathering and painting skills would save me at the end. I hope it did. LOL. I airbrushed this with Vallejo grey primer, airbrushed with Vallejo yellow and then weathered with more Vallejo paints, pigments and washes.

As I was afraid to ruin the vinyl surface underneath, All Vallejos were thinned with water only even during airbrushing. This is now sealed with Vallejo satin finish and not my usual future. Hope my client from the US likes it, even though this is my first commission work on an 8 inch vinyl toy. ANyways, enuff talk and here are some pics...

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

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I'm done with my QEE and I'm done for the week! :(

Yeap... I'm done with my 8 inch QEE but I am also done for the week! I am a few minutes away from going back to the hospital and getting myself confined for at least 3 days. Hope to be out by Friday or Saturday as I feel stronger than a cow anyways. My doctor would not allow me not to be monitored and confined in the hospital though... house rest is not an option. I'll just bring an art knife and a couple of kits to tinker with for 3 days.

Anyways, I also just finished my vinyl toy commission work. I painted this last night with Vallejo acrylic paints. I can't really do a photo shoot now as I will be leaving soon. But hope my client likes this teaser pic so far. I might add a few more silver paint chippings on the necessary areas to give the weathering a bit more depth. But that has to wait until I return from the hospital.

Thanks as always for dropping by! Til next post! :)

EDIT: Here is now the link to the gallery...
8 inch custom robot Do It Yourself QEE ver DC23

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8inch custom robot QEE wip - ready to prime!

I apologize for the bad quality of the photos, but I just can't get my wife's camera phone to focus on the toy and not the wall! I had to resort to using her phone as I cannot find the memory card of my little old camera. Anyways, I needed to show this to my client for approval as I will paint it as soon as he approves of all the simple modifications done to the vinyl so far.

I managed to do a bit more today as I feel a little better today than the previous 4 days! No fever for the first time in so many days! Anyways, I managed to add all those zimmerit stuffs on the legs and butt area, added some sort of pigtail wires to the head, a Zaku nose, lots of weld marks and of course I was able to add a face to the pilot.

The pilot is a frog like creature I plan to color, well... green. Instead of a tongue sticking out I sculpted 5 tooth with Tamiya putty. The darker tanning weld marks are also Tamiya quick type putty as I have more freedom to work with it as it dries way longer than the lighter colored putty I used as zimmerit patterns. The lighter colored putty is Selleys aqua type.

I hope this looks steam punk enough to my client as I am excited to weather and paint this already! Now here are more lousy pics...

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

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8inch custom robot QEE wip - more mods

I was very very sick since Friday. I do not know if it is too much excitement about the MAC forums anniversary party, Toymaker going to the Philippines, Greattoys sponsoring both my blog and our event OR my no rice during dinner diet that I have been doing for 2 weeks, that caused me to become really ill.

I managed to do some small mods on this project earlier today though. I need my client's approval to continue with the project. The client wanted a steam punk look to the 8 inch DIY QEE, So I thought of actually making it have a sort of a mohawk to solidify the steam PUNK concept literally.

I just need to add lips to the 2.5 inch egg shaped QEE, weld marks all over the 8 inch QEE, a couple more cables and more screws. I think I will be painting this guy sooner than later. Anyways, here are some progress photos so far...

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

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8inch custom robot QEE wip - working with VINYL

Took a break from Gunpla after setting up my MG The O II diorama yesterday. So I started a little bit of work on my very first custom vinyl toy commission work. A client from the US basically asked me to create for him a sort of steam punk looking robot QEE and make it a ver DC23 of some sort.

I am not really aware of how an 8 inch vinyl toy could look like verDC23... should add liberal amounts of Tamiya pla plates all over the poor thing I guess. Anyways, I gave the client a concept and he liked it so far. Basically I sawed off the upper part of the 8 inch QEE and added a metal hinge at the back.

The concept is to make the whole head the cockpit of a 2.5 inch QEE. I am still thinking if the smaller 1.5 inch figure would be a better fit as the pilot. I do like the huge mis proportion of the 2.5 inch QEE over the head. Looks kinda funny but nice to see him fit exactly on the inside of the 8 inch head.

A few important things I learned while working with the toy...

1. Tamiya thin cement and Tamiya thick cement works like a charm on this vinyl toy. The cement melts the vinyl faster than it melts styrene, so be extra careful. 
2. You cannot or it is difficult to use mini modeling saws on cutting vinyl. A really sharp and new art knife blade would better suite the cutting job.
3. Screws are very difficult to drive... bore a hole first before driving a metal screw. However once driven, the screw will firmly fit on the vinyl.
4. Boring holes on the vinyl is different than boring holes on other plastics. The vinyl tends to squeeze on your drill bit, a little pressure is always needed.

Anyways, this should be a really fun non-Gunpla build. I found the concept of the opening hatch at toycutter.com. Here is the link of the inspiring work and some photos for my client...

Robot Munny with Munny Pilot @ toycutter.com

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

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