The GSC 11 Hour Figure Making Trial!

094

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!!

091

Nendoroid Super Sonico: Tiger Hoodie Ver.!

Last time we got just to the point where the initial sculpting was complete!
To get this far took five people just seven hours!

A normal Nendoroid is in production for around 2-3 months, so that gives you a good feel to just how far these guys have been pushing themselves! If you want to read the previous two reports you can find them here:

Nine Sculptors in an 11 Hour Figure Making Trial! (Sculpting – Part 1)
http://gscmikatan.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/nine-sculptors-in-an-11-hour-figure-making-trial-sculpting-part-1/

Nine Sculptors in an 11 Hour Figure Making Trial! (Sculpting – Part 2)
http://gscmikatan.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/nine-sculptors-in-an-11-hour-figure-making-trial-sculpting-part-2/

After sculpting was complete, the figure was sent to Matsudo for duplication! 

Kiyo-sanIn charge of : duplication (home-stay team!)

001
■ This machine creates a vacuum that is used to create a silicon mold!

002
The duplication cast can be seen here, together with the silicon mold! Duplication work requires a lot of care, but Kiyo-san is still able to get through it quickly and smoothly! 

Just two photos for Kiyo-san! Sorry!!

The duplication process is actually quite an involved process which I took a look at back in 2010, but that was unfortunately before the blog was translated into English. You can find the Japanese versions of the duplication process here – the images should tell a story on their own! ^^;

Day 1 : Mikatan’s Research Diary – Duplication!
Day 2 : Mikatan’s Research Diary – Duplication!
Day 3 : Mikatan’s Research Diary – Duplication!

Final Day : Mikatan’s Research Diary – Duplication!

 
The next day!!

003

The Heroes of Day 2 have arrived!

Day 2 will feature the five heroes you see above, who will be giving color to the duplicate figure made last night!

Nishibu
In charge of : Priming and the hoodie.

007
(1) The silent solider, Nishibu, begins spraying primer to prepare for painting!

014
(2) Mixing colors for the hoodie! The colors are sprayed again and again and adjusted until perfect!
022
(3) The collar area looks to be complete! (`・ω・´) 

030
(4) Starting paint work on the reverse side of the hoodie! (`・ω・´) 

034
(5) Sticking on camouflage decals to the hoodie. (`・ω・´)
 047
(6) The decal is adjusted here and there to make sure it looks just right!

That brings Nishibu’s section to an end!!
Previously the painting used to work as “Cast -> Surfacer (Gray) -> White -> Color”, but now it instead simply goes “Cast -> Primer -> Color”. The reasons for this include:

・ It’s easier to achieve transparent effects.
・It’s less likely the paint will peel from the oil of the cast, as it is sealed inside.

It’s kind of like getting all your preparations done before actually applying make-up – girls will understand just how important that is!

Kawahara
In charge of: skin painting, skirt painting and hoodie.


008
(1) Kawapon is carefully placing down some masking tape in preparation for painting. (`・ω・´) 

009
(2) Kawapon has painted Sonico’s head! Lots of changes were made before he decided on the perfect skin color! (`・ω・´)
012
(3) Starting to paint the hands! He is so fast and yet still so careful! 

019
(4) Applying masking tape to the tiniest little areas… truly an artist at work! 

024
(5) More careful masking work! The tape is carefully cut with a craft knife to ensure it is the right size! (`・ω・´) 

026
(6) The level of minute detail Kawapon goes to is outstanding!!
 029
(7) Making sure the colors are all looking right. (`・ω・´) 

031
(8) Painting the skirt! 

032
(9) The skirt has been painted, so now the masking tape is carefully removed. 

037
(10) Filling the gaps in the pattern of the hoodie with some decals. (`・ω・´) 

040
(11) It looks like the skirt and legs have been completed now! (`・ω・´) 

054
(12) Matte spray is applied to the hoodie to remove any shine or gloss. 

065
(13) A glossy effect is applied to the wire part of the headphones! (`・ω・´)

That brings the Kawapon section to an end!!

As you can see from the above, masking tape is used to carefully mask the areas that don’t need to be painted a certain color. It is all very delicate work and isn’t just a case of spraying paint all over the figure.

I think that image #5 is the easiest image to get a good feeling for the masking process. The tape needs to be cut into incredibly fine pieces and then carefully placed piece by piece around all the curves of the figure. (The fluffy part of the skirt in particular here, which has so many curves that it must have taken ages to ensure it was masked correctly!)

I know that if I were to do the exact same job, it would have taken me well over a day…

Nobu-san
in charge of : necklace decals and body adjustments.
004
(1) Nobu-san begins work on creating the decals for Sonico’s necklace!

010
(2) Nobu-san working on the decals using Illustrator!

016
(3) Placing the decals on white background needed for printing. (`・ω・´)

020
(4) The decals are complete! Lovely shiny necklaces! (`・ω・´)

028
(5) Now one of the decals has been stuck on Sonico’s body.

058
(6) The body is all coming together now! (´◉◞౪◟◉`)

062
(7) Nobu-san working on small adjustments to the body! (`・ω・´)

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

Not only is Nobu-san an unbelieveable sculptor, he also makes stunning decals in Illustrator!! Often when the decals are first stuck onto the prototypes the colors end up looking completely wrong to how they should look. For that reason, each decal printed in image #4 actually has slightly different CMYK color values, so that various different colors can be tested at once to find the ideal one.

059

But there is still much to be done!!

We still have the guitar and hair coloring done by Tasshi, and the face and package design to be done by Oda-P! I’ll be taking a look at those tomorrow!

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
Orders close on the 31st May at 21:00 JST!

You can only order her from the Good Smile Online shop and from the GSC Tetsujin Cafe, so don’t miss out!

051

Bonus!

A twin shot of Miku and Gumako!

There were all sorts of people in costumes like these all over the event! At one stage Miku, Gumako, Manbe-kun, Sgt. Frog and Frieza were all together and it was absolute chaos! But so much fun at the same time
 
 
Anyway, that’s all for today!
I hope to see you all again tomorrow!! (・∀・)ノ゛