Nine Sculptors in an 11 Hour Figure Making Trial! (Sculpting – Part 2)

The GSC 11 Hour Figure Making Trial!

NicoNico Super Kaigi held at the Makuhari Messe on 28th & 29th of April!
In a showy corner of the Good Smile booth there were nine sculptors hard at work sculpting and painting a prototype Nendoroid in just 11 hours!

This is the diary of their challenge!!

The heroes of day one!

In part one we had a look at Oda-P and Nobu-san’s contributions, and today we’ll be looking at Katou-kun, Takanon and Hiro-san!

You can see part one here: http://gscmikatan.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/nine-sculptors-in-an-11-hour-figure-making-trial-sculpting-part-1/

The challenge is to create a prototype of this cute illustration!

Nendoroid Super Sonico: Tiger Hoodie Ver.!

Let’s take a look at what parts were made by the other three!

Katou-san -> In charge of the headphones and back of the hair! (1) Katou-san carving headphones with a Leutor. (2) Fixing up the headphones with putty. (`･ω･´) (3) Katou-san still working on the headphones! (`･ω･´) (4) Removing air bubbles from the surface! (`･ω･´) (5) Adjusting the shape of the headphones! Looks difficult…. (6) Creating a perfectly flat surface. This is harder than it looks… (7) Working on the wires of the headphones! (8) The headphones are looking very detailed! Great work Katou-san! (9) Careful adjustments to the surface of the headphones. (`・ω・´) (10) Making the connecting part for the headphones! (11) Here we have a part of the wires of the headphones! (12) Bending the wire parts. (`･ω･´) (13) Uh-oh! The headphone parts don’t fit on the head parts Oda-P made!! Luckily they are made from brass and can be adjusted! (14) Reworking the headphones parts! (`･ω･´) (15) The hair parts are handed over to Katou-san! They should be finished soon! (16) The hair parts are looking very nice now! (`･ω･´) (17) Working on the finer details of the back hair! Oda-P requested him to make it flow nicely! (18) The wires are still too big, but this is how the headphones will attach! (19) The fringe and headphones are pretty much complete! Great work guys! (20) Balancing out the headphones and the back of the head. (21) The surface of the back hair is also looking close to completion now! (22) One of the tips on the hair broke off!! (ﾟoﾟ;;

That brings Katou-san’s section to an end!

Normally the headphones would have been made using 3D data, so doing them by hand took quite a few hours to complete – but they still come out great! Normally they headphones would be made together with the head part to get the right size, but that wasn’t an option in such a short amount of time, so the headphones ended up way too big at one stage as well!! Luckily our heroes were able to recover from the problem!

The broken piece in section 22 had a piece of putty stuck on which was then fixed up with a belt sander!

Hiro-san -> In charge of the guitar and leg parts! (1) Hiro-san working hard on the guitar. (2) About to start work on the boots! (3) Hiro-san does such delicate work with a craft knife! (`･ω･´) (4) Smoothing out the guitar! Very quick for from Hiro-san! (5) Making the fluffy top part of the boots! (`･ω･´) (6) Boots! What minute detail! (7) Carefully carving on the surface of the guitar. (`･ω･´) (8) Starting work on the tiny hand that will hold the guitar! (9) A bit hard to see on this photo, but Hiro-san is carving out the fluffy top texture onto the boots! (`･ω･´) (10) More adjustments to the fluffy boots! Hiro-san is incredible to watch! (11) The guitar shape is starting to come out nicely! (12) Hiro-san still working on the fluffy top part of the boots! (13) The boots are finally starting to look complete! They’re so cute! (14) Small adjustments are made to the guitar shape. (`･ω･´) (15) A bit out of focus, but here is Hiro-san’s base guitar! (16) Now we move onto the finer details of the guitar! (17) The guitar is really starting to look incredible!! (18) Hiro-san’s guitar is absolutely outstanding!! (19) Spraying surfacer onto the arm! (20) Each of the parts is covered with surfacer!

That brings Hiro-san’s section to an end!!

Just like the headphones, the guitar would normally have been sculpted with 3D data, so having it done with such minute detail by hand is absolutely incredible to see!

By the way, Hiro-san is normally not a part of the Nendoroid team at all and normally only works on scale figures! He was really amazing and quick with the work, even under the time pressure!!

Takanon -> In charge of the skirt and helping out with other areas! (1) Takanon is hardening the lower body parts! (2) Making the skirt, carefully checking for symmetry! (`･ω･´) (3) Looks symmetrical now! Now to work on the skirt! (4) Carefully watching the symmetry, Takanon starts carving out the skirt! (5) Takanon making progress with the skirt! (6) Carefully carving the curves of the skirt! (7) The skirt is starting to look good! (8) Cleaning and smoothing out the skirt! (9) The skirt is nearly finished! Takanon is also super fast with a craft knife! (10) Adding creases to the skirt! (11) Marking some part of the skirt… parts of a pocket?(`･ω･´) (12) Working on the fluffy part of the skirt! (13) The skirt is getting some more detail! (14) Cleaning up the surface of the skirt. (`･ω･´)

That brings Takanon’s section to an end!!

Doi-san from Nitroplus actually sent through all the details about the skirt just before Takanon started work so that it could be exactly to the correct specifications!!

Under great pressure Takanon did great, powered by the smiles of everyone who came by to take a look at the booth! Just looking at him so relaxed under the circumstances even made me feel more relaxed!

But what happens when we put the parts together…?

15:30: 5 hours and 30min have past!

17:00: 7 hours have past!

And finally…!

The Sonico Prototype!!
 
Excellent work to everyone who worked on it!!

Oono from the Web team who was commentating on the challenge literally burst into tears when the final product was revealed! I was quite close myself! :P

Until the very end the nervous question of how it was going to come out was constantly in the air, but watching everyone work on the sculpting so diligently was truly inspiring! I realized just what incredible individuals each and every one of them are! Just look how incredible the figure came out in just a few hours!!

However!

This isn’t the end of the challenge! After the broadcast the figure had to go back to Matsudo for adjustments to ensure that the final product adheres to the standard quality that our customers have come to expect. After that the figure will then return the next day for painting!

We’ll take a look at that next time!!

Nendoroid Super Sonico : Tiger Hoodie Ver. is currently up for order on the Good Smile Online Shop!

Nendoroid Super Sonico : Tiger Hoodie Ver.:
http://goodsmile-global.ecq.sc/top/gcp202.html

The GSC Online Shop is the only place that you will be able to get hold of her, so don’t miss out!
 

Today from 20:00 (JST) we’ll take a look at them on a live broadcast!
http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv92393114

If you’re interested in the figure but not sure if you want it just yet, be sure to tune in and perhaps we can convince you! I’m actually not sure what optional parts she’ll come with myself!
 
Anyway, that’s all for today!
I hope to see you all again tomorrow!! (・∀・)ノ゛
 
 
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