Trip to Japan

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I recently returned from my first trip to Japan since I left in 2008.  I had a great time and, as I was travelling alone, I was able to indulge myself and go see much of the nerdy goodness that I hadn't had the opportunity to see previously.

I stopped by a scale model shop in Osaka and checked out some of the displays on the Tamiya floor.  Cool models.  Sadly, there was a lot of reflection off the glass no matter which angle I tried to take a photo from so the pics aren't the best.

I also went to a very interesting figurine museum in a small town called Kurayoshi.  It was a 3 storey museum set up in a former elementary school.  Some really interesting displays there.  Naturally, I headed straight for the military history section. The curators have an interesting interpretation as to what falls into the history category.


TAMIYA FLOOR









FIGURINE MUSEUM

History!




The town lost its major employer shortly after I left.  Recently, one of Japan's major figure makers opened a specialist factory in town where you can get special order figures made and painted.  I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the paintjob here.




More history!




Girls und Panzer history?



I built a lot of ships in the same scale as this for a tabletop game called Cruel Seas.  I'm a pretty harsh critic of my own work but, after seeing the works on display here, I feel pretty good about my own painting abilities.








15mm scale armour for tabletop gaming.

[W8taminute]

Nice pics SDR.  I would love to go to Japan someday.  Perfect place to nerd out. 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Cool!  The company that sponsors the figure museum and has the bespoke figurine factory in town had a look at photos of my work and said, if I do relocate there, they'd be willing to interview me for a job!  Could be a nice little retirement gig.  Paint up some figurines during the week and play with my toys on the weekends.

Not sure I could paint in the style they like over there though.  I've always focused on beat up, weathered vehicles.  Bright, clean lines with smooth gradients and blended transitions is not something I've spent too much time on.

This is the kind of stuff that makes up the majority of their work.