Previous works : The material of choice (gunpla sheet)

In my last post I talked about my earliest works made from epoxy putty. It was fun but unsuitable for me, I have to find something else to work with. I considered various kinds of materials such as wood, acrylic and plastic. It is purely by chance that I happened upon this certain kind of plastic known commonly in model kit circles as "gunpla sheet".

Gunpla sheet
Gunpla sheet, in the simplest words, is a portmanteau of "Gundam plastic". The very material that the popular Gundam model kits are made from, available in single sheets of various thickness starting from 0.3mm all the way up to 3mm. At least those are the thickness my regular hobby shop stocks.

Here we have my very first project made from gunpla sheet, a pair of twin blades. It is through this pair that I finally started on my journey towards serious prop making. My mentor, Sam, is an accomplished master of gunpla kits and his guidance is very much welcomed, however harsh it may be sometimes. It is also due to his influence that I constantly strive towards creating an ever better prop.

Not very long after, the buster sword project was born.

Previous works : Foray into the world of prop making (epoxy putty)

For the past few posts, I have been putting up pictures of my better works but let me assure you this did not happened overnight. In fact, it took me no less than a year and a half to achieve what I have now. It is most fortunate that I have met with a good mentor and having friends who are also into the same hobby of prop making.

Epoxy Putty
My earliest days of prop making started with epoxy putty. Both mori.m and CX, another of my prop making friend, are very good with it. So I decided to start off with that since I can seek advice from them. Turns out that it wasn't very suitable for me as I'm pretty clumsy with my fingers. I can barely make out something presentable that can be called a sword, if anything at all.

The very first prop ever made

I need to mention at the time where I made the sword, my first doll, Shia, is not here yet. Although I have taken reference of a real doll, it is actually pretty hard to craft something when you don't own or have it yet. I have no idea why but the sense is not there. Maybe it's just me but something is just missing during the crafting process.

Here is the next and final weapon project I did with epoxy putty. It was meant to be a sort of heavy spear but I guess it turned out into something else, haha. I did moved on to creating other items with epoxy putty but as far as weapons go, this is possibly the last piece I would have made.

For I found my material of choice, the gunpla sheet.