Meijin Modeler - Anazasi Custom

I've featured lots of spectacular work and awesome builders on this blog, but most of them are from overseas. Today I am proud to share an interview with a truly talented countryman, who has been in the hobby since I first heard the word "Gundam". A well renowned commission modeler with hundreds of projects under his belt, he has made his mark in the plamo community as one of the top builders to come from the Philippines. Ladies and gents, let's all welcome Vanz Hilario - more popularly known as Anazasi Custom.

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It's A Gundaaaaaam!!!!!! Annual Competition 2015

Greetings fellow plamo nerds! It's been an uneventful past couple of months for me in the hobby, what with everything going on in my life that warrants a separate post altogether - but I've been keeping tabs on the plamo scene, and I'm very pleased to see that everyone I've met through the hobby has been continuously upping their skills, putting out one great build after another.  I haven't found the time to work on any projects myself since January, and I've already missed a couple of events I wanted to enter -  one of which was the recently concluded annual competition over at  It's A Gundaaaaaaam!!!!!!. The competition was fierce this year, and some mighty mechas righteously claimed the top spots. As a previous winner of the event, I was invited to help with the judging - and I've gained a whole new appreciation of the tough work that goes into scoring for an event like this. Let's get on with the results...here's how it played out!

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Respect My Authoritah!

"Please respect my post" - a phrase we've all seen at least once, in one form or another, often found in buy and sell pages, or online hobby communities. It also appears on posts intended to voice out one's opinion. It is the digital equivalent of a no-trespassing sign that reads "Bashers/Haters, KEEP OUT!", and is just as ineffective. The thing is, the more you demand respect, the less likely you'll genuinely receive it. If you want your post to be respected, write a post that deserves respect.

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Meijin Modeler - Ogami

Plastic modeling as a hobby is a lot like music. There's a long list of different genres to get into: mecha, tanks, aircraft, cars, figures, and so on. A hobbyist can be into more than one of these at the same time, just as one can enjoy listening to rock, jazz and hip hop, and maybe the occasional Taylor Swift record. 

Diverse as these genres may be, the same basic tools are used to produce them - drums, guitars and keyboards for music : sandpaper, cement, and paint for plamo. The great thing about this is that a hobbyist can bring his mastery of skills from one genre to the next. Today I'll be sharing an interview with a modeler who does just that, and does it well. While modding isn't his thing, his top-notch prep and paint work is enough to net him the title of Meijin Modeler. Without further ado, I give you Ogami.

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Reverse Wash Technique

Many Zeon MS designs incorporate some form of Zeonic insignia on the collar, chest, or wrist area. The kits usually have these embossed on the plastic, with matching stickers to give them the contrasting color they need. These insignia are a major pain to paint if you're doing it the traditional way (i.e. hand painting, masking), but luckily there is an alternative method to do justice to these excellent details. It's called the Reverse Wash technique. I'm not sure who invented it, but it works wonders for raised details in need of a contrasting color. Here's what you'll need:

1. Insignia color (Acrylic).
2. Base part color (Enamel)
3. Enamel thinner or lighter fluid
4. Cotton swabs




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Daban MG The O - Review

Happy holidays plamo nerds! Today I'm sharing another review for a kit many of you are eager to know more about - Daban's MG The O!

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Commission Finished - MG Zaku Cannon

Good day fellow otakus! The holidays are upon us, and I'm sure you're all busy with your last minute shopping. I've been extra busy myself, preparing for my new job and working on my remaining commission projects for the year. Here's how the Zaku Cannon turned out.

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Otaku On A (Tighter) Budget

I'm resigning from my current job by the end of the year. It's been great working there, and I'm truly thankful for the opportunities I was given during my tenure. My new job will be in Manila, which means my family and I will probably have to relocate. It entails bigger responsibilities and longer work hours, which translates to less time spent with the family and for myself. Blog posts may become farther apart for the first couple of months, but I'm sure everything will normalize eventually. I'll be giving up a lot of plamo time to take on this new challenge. On the other hand, I can start making some serious plans towards buying/building my own house, and start saving up for my son's education - you know, real-life stuff. To do that, I'll be tightening the already tight budget I have for the hobby.

I wrote about time management a few months ago - how a family guy should only work on his plamo projects beyond his established SFH. This time, I'd like to go into the financial side of things.

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Commission Finished - SD Neo Zeong

I finally finished this monster of an SD! This was one of the more challenging builds I've done because of the number of techniques that were employed - seam fixing, shading, reverse wash, panel wash, hand painting and so on - just for a basic paint job.

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Commission WIP - MG Zaku Cannon

A pleasant day to you all my fellow plamo otakus! Here's a quick update on one of my ongoing builds.

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DIY Pipe Sander

Greetings and salutations fellow otakus! I'm currently working on an MG Zaku Cannon. It's a great kit to build and I'm about 95% done with the snap-fit, with only one thing left to do before paint: Build the pipes. Everyone who's ever built a Zaku variant has had to deal with these things - Tiny fiddly little tubes from hell that are cursed with two nubs each and extra mold lines if you're unlucky. Try to sand them off by hand and you're likely to end up erasing your fingerprints in the process. Good thing I caught an episode of Plamo Tsukurou where the featured kit was a pipe laden MG Gouf. The builder demonstrated an ingenious way of getting at those nubs, and I'll be sharing my own adaptation of the technique.


Here's what you'll need:

1. A motorized eraser (purchased from Daiso at Php88.00)
2. Hobby knife
3. Sand paper in increasing grits
4. Double sided foam tape

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Experimenting With Adhering Liquid

Hello plamo otakus! I found something interesting at a local bookstore called Adhering Liquid. The label says its a "Premium Grade Lacquer Thinner" intended for Silk Screen printing. The stuff smells a lot like Mr. Color thinner, and is about the same consistency and clarity. My brain was telling me that if this stuff was mild enough for textile, then it may not be as harsh as industrial lacquer thinner, so it might be a viable alternative for hobby grade lacquer thinner. At less than a dollar for the 120ml bottle, I just had to give it a try.

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