Category: Crafts

Labo Miku

Time for another model kit post, this time another Miku. Are you keeping count how many figures of this character I have made?

I bought the above in Tokyo in January 2019. I was stopping in to the Yodobashi Camera near my hotel every evening and one day I was surprised to see pallets of the above set out with a strict limit of one per person. Naturally, I hastily picked one up!

It’s a plastic model kit that makes a posed figure with no articulation. This allows for fewer pieces and a bit more style in the pose and finish. The kit includes the gimmick of layered injection:

It’s remarkable to see how sophisticated the injection molding has become. Only a decade or so ago I was astonished at two-colour molded pieces, now we have four or more and pieces that have multiple layers including transparencies!

The kit also included dry-rub decals, which in my opinion are a big upgrade from wet decals and were both easy to attach and added a lot to the detail of the finished product.

Even Loppi was amazed!

The finished kit looks great, and hardly looks like something I assembled (rather than a premade figure). It’s quite voluminous with her hair, but fits nicely on this Miku shelf:

I’m not a fanatical fan Hatsune Miku by any means, it’s just that she’s so popular that manufacturers know kits of her will sell better than most other characters. And if they continue to be as high quality as these, I daresay this won’t be the last time I assemble a Miku plastic model.

Candlemaking

Kls got this for her birthday:

It’s a candle making kit! Here’s what was inside:

Enough supplies to make nine soy candles, including colours and scents. Of course we’ve already made several.

Start by preparing the tin by adding the wick:

Melt the wax and colour block by floating the metal jug in boiling water (which takes about 10 minutes):

Add the scent, carefully pour the liquid wax into the candle and then let it ‘cure’ for 48 hours:

Then trim the wick, affix the stickers and it’s ready to light:

Soy candles are good because they don’t smoke, and these home-made ones are easy and come out very nice indeed. Why not get a kit and make some yourself?

Bonsai!

I got this as a gift:

It’s a candy kit to make an edible bonsai! Start by kneading the chocolate caramel to make it soft:

Gently fill the molds with the candy:

After a half hour in the freezer it had solidified:

While I was trimming the flash Kristin was cooking a green sponge cake. It was as easy as powder and water mixed together and microwaved. It looked… unusual:

But stone the crows it looked convincing when broken apart and placed onto the branches:

And here’s the finished product (which was about 2 inches tall):

Looks good enough to eat doesn’t it?

And we did! It wasn’t bad at all; basically chocolate caramel mixed with cake. Easily one of the best candy food kits I’ve ever made – or eaten 🙂