Howdy, folks![:)]
I’ve been scanning some old pix like crazy lately, and thought I’d share a figure kit I did back in 1995:
It’s Max Factory’s vinyl 1/6 Bio-Booster Armored Guyver, from the manga and anime. Anybody familiar with this cool character and story? (MMF, I know YOU are!) What were his adversaries called…Zoanoids? I haven’t read or seen any Guyver stories in years! Great stuff, though.
The kit was painted with Pactra polycarbonate spray paint (the kind for RC cars), which sticks to vinyl like crazy and is virtually indestructible. I can’t recall the name of the color. Some kind of blue, obviously.
I didn’t have an airbrush way back then, so I shaded and graded as best I could with washes and brushes. I really liked the blue as it was, so I didn’t try to do too much on top of it. Truth be told, it’s a much darker, deeper blue than in the manga or anime, but I like it.
Anybody see the two Guyver movies?
The first one was so-so, but the second, Guyver, Dark Hero, was excellent in my opinion. The action and Steve Wang’s creature suits were great!
Anyhoo, I’d love to hear your opinions of this old build![:D]
Looks mighty good to me. That is a nice shade of blue, I woudn’t have messed with it much either. I’ve seen the first movie and hated it, though I liked the suit and the idea, I just felt like the movie was very poorly done. After that, there was no chance I’d watch the second [:)] I’ve seen the manga, but never really read it like I have some others.
How was it to work on vinyl? I have a vinyl Emperor Palpatine that I want to build, but have been holding off on as I have no vinyl experience.
Madda, the second Guyver film is WAAAAAAY better than that crappy Mark Hamil deal. Can’t even compare the two. The story, acting, and of course the suits and action, far surpass the first feeble attempt. If you can find it, I really recommend it.
Vinyl kits are a breeze! Just heat 'em up with a hair dryer, trim 'em up with your X-Acto, and glue or just pop 'em together. Paint with acrylics (or anything, over a primer), and there ya go. Some folks fill the bottom fourth or third with plaster to weight down the bottom and give it some stability, but I’ve never found that necessary with all the Kaiyodo, Billiken, Paradise, Max Factory, Wave, or other manufacturer’s vinyl monsters and other characters I’ve built.
Some modelers look down on vinyl and prefer resin kits (sharper detail), but I find the vinyl kits offer all the detail I need, particularly for creatures and monsters. Resin might be better for mecha, I suppose.
Resin’s just so dang expensive…
Thanks, fellas!
MMF: Ah, Zoanids. I was close with Zoanoids! The memory, how it starts to go after forty…
I’d like to see your Steve Wang Guyver with the pearl paint.
Wasn’t there a Max Factory kit of the Zoanid Guyver from “Dark Hero?” I’d love to build that one, too!
MMF: Sorry old bean, but the Guyver adversaries were called Zoanoids after all! (Not Zoanids)
Quite a trivial difference, but I’m glad to find out that I could remember something![:)]
True, true!
With my shaky memory, I was just excited I actually remembered something!
Lufbery, “Guyver” is just the name of the “bio-booster armored” unit in the story that combines with the individual. It looks like a flat round kinda disk thing before it combines. So, no, it’s not a real word.
Well, it’s a real SF word!
Hey nice! i love the Guyver armour. Theer is also an anime but it’s been too long since i seen it. But I’m sure it was good any way. Yes i like both movies even though the first was rather “cheesy”!LOL But the effects were great! I fill the legs of most of my vinyl kits with plaster. What primer works best? I’vew had to experiment a lot in the past and it’s been awhile since tha last one!
