Spray booth

 

After 8+ years of spraying out doors I finally got around to building a spray booth. The convenience of being able to spray indoors without making a mess is absolutely priceless. The spray results are also much better since the over spray gets sucked away and don't land back onto your wet paint. I've used the booth for about 3 weeks so far and the advantages are tremendous.

Production Assembly Pics

 

Random pics from the final day of production. There were a lot of last minute tweaks and improvements that had to be made. Things that you couldn't foresee from the prototype appeared during and after assembly. One of the major set backs was a faulty elbow joint where I had to revise, remold, and recast.  

Macrossworld Exclusive Complete!

 

Final product complete! Originally I was going for the standard gray and orange color scheme for the VF-11 "B". Due to time constraints I decided to stick with a more simple scheme which is off of the "C" version of the VF-11.

I hope to release the "B" version with the gray and orange pin stripes around December or January at the very latest and the Jamming Bird following that. 

Production WIP

 

Here's a few random progress shots from the "Thunderbolt" resin production.  There's only six more days til this projects due! Six days sound extremely short, but for production 6 days equal 12 days. How? You double the work load and split one "full" working day into two like so: 1st shift 8 hours, rest 2 hours (eat, piss, shit...etc.) , start 2nd shift for another 8 hours, sleep 6 hours, and do it all over again the next day. Six days become twelve. Now, if you can forgo eating, pissing, shitting, and sleeping, 6 days can actually  equal 18 days :)

Macross Con 2012 Flier

 

Here's some nerd stuff for everyone to checkout. Every year Macrossworld.com holds it's very own convention for all of it's fans. It's a fan organized event and is not actually sanctioned by any official Macross entities. The event is fairly small considering its labeled as a "Con" but has a unique underground-ish feel to it and draws a good 60-80 attendees every year (based on my past experiences). I guess it's an "Unofficial Con" to be exact.

Thunderbolt WIP continued

 

Less than 20 days til deadline and the prototype is finally finished and ready for mold making.  The damn head alone has over a dozen separate parts which sucked up a lot of valuable time. 

The fun part of the project is over and now it's time for the grind. Click below for more pics!

Gun Pod - T Minus 25 Days

 

Gun Pod for the  Thunderbolt done! Took about 4 hours from start to finish which is on the slow side but that's okay. Macross toy collectors from my experience are extremely critical when it comes to detail and craftsmanship.  

Iron Fro Fighter

 

Custom piece for Giant Robot Biennale. Ugly Doll platform wasn't my first pick but then again I didn't have a choice! I reused the Afro character from another custom I did a couple years back. I had used it on a different platform for a show @ MPH but it didn't sell! Now, I'm giving it a second attempt at finding a new home.

TAG 1yr anniversary Show

 

Here's my contribution to Toy Art Gallery's 1 year anniversary show held at their Melrose gallery today!. A bit of a remix off of an old design. I think I've made this my "default" custom as I've used this piece on quite a few occasions for group shows in the past. All of the parts are readily available for me to cast so it makes for a simple and quick custom. The only thing that needs to be done is to add different weapons/equipment to make it different from the other versions. 

Thunderbolt Update

 

Finally started up this project again after getting the "Go" on it. This piece will be released in mid October during the Macrossworld con. I'll post more info in regards to the con later. Here's what I've added to the piece since I last worked on it:

Multitasking

 

Multitasking at my personal best! The key is to find as many workable surface areas as possible and rotate from one to the next counter clockwise until the sun comes up lol.  I'll definitely post pics of final pieces when complete.

Simple Piece

 

This piece was due on the 3rd but just got started today! I think the show is on the 11th or 15th of this month for the Giant Robot "Bienalle" which will be held in Little Tokyo, LA. I'm aiming to go quick, simple, and clean and hopefully I'll finish the build by tomorrow, and paint the following day. I'll try to post more WIP pics as I go.

5am and Done!

 

Sorry for the shotty pics...I'll take some better ones after I go pass out for about 12 hours. While assembling the final pieces together I managed to crack it's mouth guard and had to do an emergency repair job. Four hours later and it's finally complete.

WTH?

 

Just got these two pieces in the mail to customize for an upcoming show by GiantRobot.  The pink one  is a vinyl figure from "UglyDoll" and the other one is called "Big Boss Robot" from Giant Robot. I believe the show is on the 22nd of Sept so I got quite a few weeks to go.

Unicorn WIP

 

This one's taking way too long to finish. Good thing the collector's been super patient with me which is great because I never want to just rush through a custom piece to get it done. I really do appreciate the patience!

Here's some quick insight on what this piece is about:

Dental Logo Design

 

Recently got the chance to design a logo for a dental office in Texas. Logo design's definitely not my specialty but was very fun to do. In the past I've done a few logo designs but never had it turned into an actual storefront signage. Got quite a kick out of it!

Old Work Studio

My old work studio from 2006 to around 2008. This space was in the back of an old warehouse hidden behind a ghetto strip mall in Westminster, CA. The furniture pieces were all junk finds and were tossed together for that "homeless" look. It definitely looked like hell but it had everything I needed to produce a finished product.

You can't see it in the pic but on the right side would be another trashy desk and that was the resin casting area. Behind the camera is another workstation  where I would do resin cleaning and assembly.

Wish I would have taken more pics! At the time I hated my situation and figured I wouldn't want to look back at it.

Unicorn WIP

 

Here's a quick WIP shot of the Unicorn commission piece I've been working on. These pics are about a month old so its current state is almost complete. I'll be sure to post more WIP shots once it's fully complete. 

Materials used: Sculpey, plastic sheets, and modeling putty.

TF upgrade kit collaboration

Here's a collaboration project I did with Headrobots.com a while back. It's an upgrade kit for a Transformer's 'Toys R Us' exclusive toy.  The kit consists of a samurai sword, knife, cod piece, tank turret, sword holster, and upgraded head.

Headrobot is quite known in the world of Transformer's collectables. They specialize in designing 3rd party Transformers add-on kits / upgrades and even stand alone figures.

Another FlashBack!

Old random ass project about 4 years ago. Sometimes you build something out of pure humor, lol! I believe I was trying to go for some kind of cardboard box / robot creation. It wasn't a commission piece or anything like that at all.

Unicorn Gundam

A custom commission piece I've been slowely working on for a private collector. Final & WIP pics will be posted in a few days once it's 100% complete!

Self portrait

 No, not the one on the top.

DIY Thursday lol!

Sorry for the lack of updates! My grandmother past away the other day at the age of 91 so I was constantly in and out of the hospital visiting her. Anyhow, here's a quick tip on how to spin cylindrical parts. You can use a Dremel or a power screwdriver to get the job done. 

Upcoming Project

Here's some reference materials for an upcoming project. It's gonna be a grueling journey but it'll be worth it. I've always wanted to do something "VF-2SS" (Mecha from Macross II movie)  inspired but never had the opportunity until now. 

Thunderbolt

WIP shots of the "Thunderbolt" project sample. This piece was a fairly quick mock up to be used as a guide/reference for my upcoming exclusive for Macrossworld Con. I chose the VF-11 Thunderbolt from the Mac Plus series due to it's size. I believe it's one of the larger Valkyries in the Macross universe. 

Flashback Sunday lol!

Scrolling through my phone for pics and ran into this one. It was probably about 2 years back when I was living and working out of an 800 sq ft apartment in Anaheim. I used the bath tub as a dust free spray booth since I didn't have access to an outdoor area or garage at the time. 

The spray results are as good as any, if not better. Just line the inside of the tub with newspaper, turn on the fan and spray away! Once you're done spraying close the shower curtain to contain the spray dust to help minimize clean up. Everyday you take a shower it automatically washes the mess away lol!!

On a more serious note, this method is not a good idea for obvious health reasons. Short term/temporary use is fine especially when you don't have a choice. I'm just glad I don't have to do that anymore. 

Semi SD Thunderbolt

Macrossworld.com is holding a small convention later this year and it just so happened to be Macross's 30th anniversary. I'm going to help produce a couple of low-run exclusives for the con. The first piece is going to be on the lower end in terms of pricing so it's going to be small and non-transformable. This way the parts count will be lower and pricing will also be lower. 

Acrylic panels complete!

12 x 12 inch acrylic panels for Concept Cube lobby. Each panel was painted on the underside to create a glossy front surface. The spacing between the wall and panels are different from panel to panel to create a inconsistent feel. 

Winter SEAL

Commission piece finished! This piece was exceptionally fun to do since it's somewhat different from what I would normally do. There's no robotic/mecha pieces to it and real clothes? Well, the hat anyways. This piece includes a submachine gun, auto pistol with detachable flashlight, revolver hand gun, and 2 smoke grenades! 

Recovered and repaired!

A few months back a good collector of mine voluntarily recovered my "Mechanical Powers" custom piece. This piece was done for a show around 2 years ago. Once the show ended I completely lost track of where the piece went. I was told it would go overseas somewhere in Asia for some sort of charity type of show. 

Long story short...the piece was recovered in NYC with a few minor scratches and a couple of broken pistons that was easily fixed. Now, its off to it's new owner!

Minmei Guard - Blast from the past

An older (2008) custom I did resurfaced yesterday in the MacrossWorld "for sale" forums. The seller placed a $1,000 price tag for the piece and sold it within the same day! Here's a little info in regards to the piece that many pple probably do not know:

Click below for more...

Concept Cube Collection

Here's an incredible collection of goods you might enjoy! No, this isn't mine! They belong to a friend of mine, "Tony Yao" of Concept Cube Design in Arcadia, CA. This is probably only a small percentage of his personal collection. The top pic is of his "Macross" vintage collection. If you're familiar with it, you'll see some very rare and expensive pieces in there!

Click below for more....

Repro Jumbos

Save the Jumbos! I had no idea so many pple would need these missiles for their Jumbo Machinders. Been repro-ing these pieces on the side with a friend of mine for the Jumbo collectors. Yeah I know, "repro-ing" is not a word.

Commission piece in progress

Wow, two posts in one day! 

I normally don't like posting pics of progress shots until after the piece is finished. I really do believe in the whole, "first impression" thing. But this piece at the time I took the pic was sooo far from being done that you can't possibly envision the final outcome. So here it is! It's completely different from what I normally do. It has nothing to do with Mechas but will hold a shit load of weaponry! 

Anyhow, the piece is currently 75% complete and I'll have pics of the final product once it's fully complete. The pic you see was about 10% at the time.

Participating in the "Bellicosity" show.

I think I have around 15 days to complete this piece for the show. I've been stalling and putting customized  type projects on "low" priority at the moment to give higher priority to larger projects. 

Group shows are great and give good promotion to every artist involved. It is especially great for those that are just starting out. A lot of the larger projects are great for my "pockets" but it's opposite of group shows as it gives little to "NO" promotion for myself as a designer/artist.

Unfortunately for now I gotta keep my pockets full and I'm gonna say this is probably going to be my last "Group" style show for the rest of the year as I have to focus and complete a great deal of larger projects. 

Things I've been up to recently!

Jumped into the new year with a super busy schedule! Helping a friend design and build a display wall unit as well as two benches. I'm going for the "reclaimed" look here. It's not easy since "true" reclaimed wood costs  more than brand new lumber. So get this...I go to Home Depot and scour the lumber section in search for the worse pieces of wood possible. After 3 different Home Depots I finally got enough wood for the project.

Happy New Years!!

Finished result of mini munny custom, GundamHEAD! Just in time for the new year lol! Anyhow, I tried my best to keep it clean and simple by adding only key details. Here's a link to the actual Gundam I used as reference/inspiration...etc: http://bandai-hobby.net/gunpla/mastergrade/RIKUSEN-gm/index.html

The idea behind this piece is a boy dressed up in his favorite Gundam costume. I'll be taking some higher-res pics tomorrow and should have them up on my flickr shortly.