Making Unkei Buddha [Episode 11] The Battle with Gyokugan Continues: Part 2
Choosing the right material for the Gyokugan
Thanks to the protection of the Bishamonten I visited at Ganjo-juin Temple in Izu, I had the idea to make the Gyokugan for the Kaiyodo "Four Heavenly Kings: Jikokuten" statue using decals, and as I wrote last time, I bought up every decal I thought might be useful.
Let me briefly explain the materials and tools I collected.
1. Decals for Hasegawa 1/48 "Messerschmitt Bf109E-7"
I won only the decals at an auction. There was no particular necessity for these specific decals, but I happened to find them while looking for red and black decals to make the pupils and irises. The idea is to punch out the Iron Cross and the Hinomaru (Japanese flag) respectively.
The reason a German fighter plane has a Hinomaru is that it was an aircraft imported from Germany by the Imperial Japanese Army for technical research. I think I'll use the leftover unit marks and caution marks when I build the Nichimo 1/48 "Messerschmitt Me109E" that I have in my backlog.
2. HiQParts "Circular Metallic Seal Gold S"
They are more accurately called stickers than decals. Since the circular stickers from Φ1.0 to 2.8 were already cut out, I thought they would result in a cleaner circle than punching them out myself. The mirror finish and the way they sparkle are also key points.
According to the instructions, they are meant for "upgrading sensors and eye parts of mecha models." They are also perfect for "upgrading the Gyokugan of Buddha statue models."
Note that while the photo only shows "Metallic Gold," I later obtained "Metallic Red" as well.
3. Drawing with PowerPoint on HiQParts "Inkjet Printer Decal Paper for Home Use, White Base"
Since PowerPoint can draw circles down to Φ0.1mm, I thought of making my own decals. I figured that creating a triple-circle decal from the start would be more accurate and less time-consuming than punching out three individual circles.
When I actually printed them, perhaps due to the performance of the inkjet printer, it was difficult to print concentric circles around Φ1mm cleanly. The centers were slightly off, and the smaller circles were starting to collapse.
I realized later that if I had just drawn and printed large red or black rectangles and punched them out, I wouldn't have needed to obtain the decals in (1).
4. GSI Creos "Gundam Marker for Panel Lining <Black>"
Not pictured.
Since my punch can only go down to Φ0.8mm, I bought this to draw circles smaller than that. The tip of this pen is 0.3mm thick, so it seems like I can draw clean small circles (which are basically dots by now) that would be difficult to draw with a brush.
I combined these materials in various ways, changing the size (two types: Φ1.5x1.2x1.0mm and Φ1.2x1.0x0.8mm) and color (two types: red/gold for the middle circle) to create several patterns. However, since decals are difficult to handle, I ultimately decided to go with the following combination:
■ Outer circle: Φ1.2mm, black, punched out from painted plastic paper.
■ Middle circle: Φ1.0mm, red, metallic seal.
■ Inner circle: Black circle (dot) of about Φ0.5–0.8mm drawn with a Gundam Marker.
When applying them to the Jikokuten model, I was afraid of troubles like the adhesive clouding white or the paint bleeding, so I applied and adhered them using Acrysion clear coat.
The result looks like this.
The left side is with the light off, and the right side is with the light on.
This time, I tried hard to make the expression look natural even when the light is off, but it's hard to get it right, and it feels like the wide eyes stand out too much when the light is on.
With this, I'll consider it complete for now, a true achievement of the Gyokugan (though I'm sure I'll want to tinker with it again).
From next time, it's finally time for the restoration coloring.
[Episode 12] The East Pagoda is nice, but I still prefer the West Pagoda continues to
[Episode 10] The Battle with Gyokugan Continues: Part 1 back to
[Episode 1] First, let's restore the "Jikokuten Ancient Coloring" back to