Saber & Saber Motored Cuirassier!
Is now available for preorder!
I’ve been giving her a thorough review over the past few days… I hope I manged to show at least partially what an incredible figure it is! I think this is one of those figures that really looks so much more impressive when you see it in person rather than looking at photos… you have to see its wonders for yourself!! (`･ω･´)ゞ
Today I’ll be interviewing both the sculptor of the figure, Kawapon and the head of planning for the figure, Oda-P!
Hopefully they’ll be able to convey even more of its beauty to us!
| Saber & Saber Motored Cuirassier Sculptor: Takayuki Kawahara (Kawapon) |
This is the same sculptor who created the lovely Saber Lily ~Distant Avalon~ that is going on resale in January! Kawapon is known for his incredible sculpting quality, but I want to know what parts of this figure gave him the most trouble!
| Expression and Hair Sculpting The expression was made trying to incorporate the gallant personality of Fate/Zero’s Saber. The hair gave me a lot of trouble, as it needed to be blowing about in the wind, but still flow in such a way that looked good. It was also quite difficult to incorporate all the tiny details of the motorbike without certain parts looking a little off – it took a lot of fine tuning. |
The face of a figure really is the most important part in the end, isn’t it! A lot of work was put into her head as a whole – and just look how beautifully the final product came out! That hair looks absolutely perfect!
| Body It was very important to keep the body positioned right in her bike-riding pose – because it’s an uncommon pose it would be easy to have something looking unnatural. Because she is wearing a male suit, she often looks a little too much like a guy, so I wanted to pull out some of her female charm – I made the blouse and vest beneath the suits look a little like a corset to add a little more of a feminine side. The pants and leg line also came out very well. The detail on the wrinkles and creases in her suits were also very carefully sculpted around her pose on the bike. |
A careful combination of the V-MAX bike and the Saber from the anime! Before the figure they didn’t really have any connection, so it was important to balance the two together – which meant a lot of hard work for the sculptor! Plus those creases in the clothes! I can’t believe that such wonderful sculpting can be done by human hands!
| Saber & Saber Motored Cuirassier Head Planner : Tsuyoshi Oda (Oda-P) |
Next up let’s get some thoughts from the head planner for the figure – Oda-P! He is a craftsman himself, so when it comes to directing sculpting work he is super strict! By the way, Saber Lily was also sculpted as a combined effort between Kawapon and Oda-P!
| Engine Area Overall the design here was very similar to the YAMAHA V-MAX it was based off. The 3DCG made for it really was almost an identical copy of the real thing – and the output came out almost just as close. There were also some parts which were a bit different on the illustration to how a real bike would look, but the motorbike loving staff at GSC were able to point out some changes to make the design as realistic as possible. |
The bike part of the figure was made using 3DCG, and then altered by hand afterwards. It’s a great example of a cross between the 2D and 3D worlds! The details of the engine area are incredible!! I really hope the mass production is able to recreate this level of detail – but I have faith in them! You can do it guys!
| Cowling When we started production on the figure, the only illustrations we had of the bike were the three illustrations in the Fate/Zero material art book. We tried our very best to capture everything possible from those illustrations. We also wanted to make the bike have smooth curves and have a kind of ‘heavy’ feeling to it. |
I think the curves came out wonderfully! As I wrote in my review yesterday – this is a figure that looks great from absolutely angle. The ‘heavy’ feeling is also definitely there, and along with the glossy appearance just makes you want to reach out and feel if it’s not in fact really metal! It’s absolutely beautiful!
| – Summary: Kawapon – All in all, it was a load of work! :P From the offset creating a figure of Saber in a suit while riding a bike put a lot of pressure on me. Also… a 1/8th scale figure is pretty standard…. but motorbikes are big, even if they’re at 1/8th scale! It was a great experience to combine something like the bike from the real world with a character from an anime series all in one figure. |
| – Summary: Oda-P – A big thanks to Aniplex, TYPE-MOON, ufotable for all their help in making a product that our customers will love! |
Saber & Saber Motored Cuirassier
／ ＼ ”The bike is about as long as an A4 page!”
／ ─ ─＼
／ （●） （●） ＼
| （__人__） | ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿_
＼ |r┬-| ,／ | | |
ノ `ー’´ ＼ | | |
／´ | | |
| ｌ | | |
ヽ -一ー_~､⌒)^),-､ | |_＿＿＿＿＿＿__|
ヽ ＿＿＿＿,ノγ⌒ヽ)ニニ-￣ | | |
She is up for preorder from today!
For sales or preorder info, be sure to contact our partner shops!
Don’t forget the love broadcast from 22:00 (JST) today!
Aki, Oda and myself will be introducing Saber & Saber Motored Cuirassier to everyone live! There might also be some interesting guests! Be sure to check it out!
Saber & Saber Motored Cuirassier Live Broadcast!
http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv74723343
The life-size Cuirassier is now in Akihabara!
| ■ 12/22 (Thurs) from 13:00 to 19:00 12/23 (Fri) ~ 12/25 (Sun) from 11:00 to 19:00 Volks Akihabara Showroom Tokyo, Chiyoda, Sotokanda 1-18-20 http://www.volks.co.jp/jp/volks/sr/sr_akiba/index_sr_akiba.aspx (Note that display times may differ slightly due to various matters) ■ 12/26 ~ Undecided Date Goodsmile x Karaoke no Tetsujin Cafe |
We’ve spoken to Volks, and you will be able to sit on the bike at the Volks Showroom as well! (If it gets too busy, those who preorder the figure will get preference.)
However, the Goodsmile x Tetsujin Cafe will only allow those who preorder to get on to bike. The store is just too big for a staff member to be watching it all the time! Sorry!
Photos are always welcome!
If you come by Akibahara, be sure to check it out!
Anyway, that’s all for today!
I hope to see you all again next week!! (・∀・)ノ゛
(C)Nitroplus／TYPE-MOON・ufotable・FZPC