Crafts « Robot Claw

Archive for the ‘Crafts’ Category

Gun Sniper Leena Special

Sunday, April 15th, 2018

I got it into my head that there were too many ‘model assembly’ posts here so cut back on them intentionally. But here I break my own rule because:

1) It’s been a while since I’ve made a ZOID.
2) This kit was a gift from JF.

The kit I refer to is this:

And here are all the pieces before I started assembly:

As usual with these kits, it seemed a bit over engineered, with 3 or 4 pieces going together to form what could have been one. But the quality control was fantastic and although more difficult than your average Gundam everything went together nicely:

Those are the legs and arms, just before I attached them to the rest of the body. It’s ridiculously articulated and I was amazed how well balanced it was:

Here’s the cockpit, complete with tiny pilot:

Yes the orange ‘glass’ canopy opens.

Now I’m no Z.O.I.D. fan (says the guy with 6 pricey kits…) so I can’t give many details about this robot but I can reveal that Gun Snipers are (apparently) semi-autonomous ‘Helic’ ZOIDs created using the ‘Organoid’ system. I’ve no idea who Leena is, but I’m guessing the ‘special’ thing about her ZOID is the ludicrous amount of weaponry it carries.

You see the above shot was only half way through. It took me at least as long again (several hours) to assemble all of the weapons:

Attaching them all to the ZOID itself was no easy task but I managed after a little bit of cursing…

It’s pretty great isn’t it! Here’s an overly-treated scale shot with a LEGO minifig:

Overall a fun build and a spectacular looking kit once complete! Thanks JF!

Posted in Blog, Crafts, Models, Otaku | Comments Closed

Masters Of Magnetism

Thursday, February 22nd, 2018

That’s our fridge, or rather a portion of it. Every available inch (and more! is covered in magnets. Eventually we ran out of space and am now covering the insides of our metal front doors. Is there no end to this magnet-buying madness? Not in sight, surely…

This post is a somewhat random showcase of some of this sprawling collection. Sometimes they have a story, sometimes not. But it shows the variety amidst the madness 🙂

This weird alien magnet was one of the very first we got. It was purchased about 25 years ago from an unusual discount store in Utica, where we lived at the time. This guy has therefore graced five fridges in his life, and still has pride-of-place.

Incidentally this type of magnet – rectangular plastic printed front with magnetic back – is very common now and ubiquitous in stores everywhere. But back when I got him the shape and size was novel, and coupled with the art one of the reasons he caught my eye.

Two of the many examples of (often free) advertising magnets. The first was given to me at a bookstore in mid 2000, and the second we probably got when we bought subs at the now defunct restaurant. In addition to these, we have everything from rental car agencies to lawyers offices to pet grooming services to even meat sellers magnets on our fridge!

A lovely magnetic memento crafted for us on the spot at a work event my wife’s work put on a few years back. A star of our collection 🙂

This is an example of a ‘kept gift’. I bought this for someone whose name rhymes with ‘Learned’ and never gave it. If he finds out he’ll curse me forever until he remembers the bird magnet I just gave him for his birthday, which he will then tweet a picture of along with the message: “Best gift I’ve ever been given!”

Tacky 3D tourist magnets are rarely bad and often – as in these examples – fantastic. There’s quite an assortment of these on display, each as garish as the next. This is a category that grows with every trip!

Speaking of trips, this is a cross-stitched Stonehenge magnet KLS made from a little kit purchased right at the Stonehenge visitors center! It’s a lovely thing, only about an inch square, and another prized magnet.

This is a weird one. I purchased this in NM when I visited Florence years back and it’s to date the only magnet I have featuring Satan. Although I do have a Cthulhu… ?

Last but not least one of my very own creations, an invader made of Perler beads. I made several of these and gave some away. In fact I’ve been thinking of making more. Want one?

That’s it for now, but there’s many others, including in categories not shown here (such as lenticular, otaku, ‘naughty’ and wrestling). Want to see more? Let me know!

Posted in Collecting, Crafts, Home, Miscellaneous | Comments Closed

The Tiny Arcade

Sunday, February 11th, 2018

Bernard gave me this for Christmas:

It’s a tiny arcade machine. Better yet it’s a kit that needs to be assembled! Here’s what it looked like out of the box:

The critical components are indeed tiny, and fit easily into the palm of my hand:

Here’s the screen being tested:

Assembly of the case was tricky but not difficult, and I actually had more trouble affixing the super-adhesive ‘cabinet art’. Once finished, it’s tiny (about 8 cm tall) and very impressive:

The back is open to access the electronics, which include on/off switches, a plug to charge the battery and a micro SD card port:

The unit runs off an arduino-derived chip (I believe), and supports a tiny OLED screen that is very sharp and bright. There’s several basic games included but to be honest most are little more than tech demos. Amongst clones of Flappy Bird, Tetris, Space Invaders and even R-Type there is however a charming little roguelike by a Japanese dev:

Bernard has one too and wanted to compete on some games. Like a cur he hasn’t submitted scores yet so here’s some for him to aim at:

(To be honest these were just my scores for one game of each)

Anyway I’m very impressed with this thing. It’s completely open so I could in theory write my own game for it. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Posted in Crafts, Games, Models, Otaku, Retro, Tech | 1 Comment »

The Miracle Melt

Tuesday, January 30th, 2018

WARNING: Miracle Melters may cause an allergic reaction in hypersensitive persons.

WARNING: Do not eat!

WARNING: Keep out of reach of pets and small children.

WARNING: Avoid contact with face, eyes and hair.

WARNING: In case of accidental contact, immediately wash are with warm water to dissolve Miracle Melters.

WARNING: Prolonged contact with fabrics, including clothing and carpeting, may result in staining.

Posted in Crafts | 1 Comment »

Let’s Make A Jigsaw!

Thursday, October 19th, 2017

Kls received this for her birthday:

What’s this? A ‘gyutto size series’ puzzle? Here’s what was inside the box:

The pieces are small and plastic! They’re also transparent:

It’s a stained-glass puzzle! She waited no time before making it, starting (as everyone does) with the border:

Hmmm, a transparent puzzle in poor light against a black background? That made it more difficult! But she soldiered on:

And on…

Until a few hours later (over two days) it was done:

Well… nearly finished! Can you spot the missing piece?

Anyway we found the one that had got away and put it in place. It’s a pretty image, and here it is backlit:

If we were going to display it I suppose we’d want to do so with a light behind it. But for now, back into the box it goes, to be assembled again some day in the future 🙂

Posted in Art, Crafts, Puzzles | Comments Closed

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