Dangerous Cop — Goro Majima, Junsa ver. [GK]

Greetings to everyone who stopped by!

If Twitter and the newly active Midoro haven't misled me, Tuesday was the birthday of Majima the Magnificent. That means it's time to stop dragging my feet and write the report, so I can continue my self-proclaimed tradition of tracking my own progress in building and painting garage kits. So: Goro Majima, a character from the Yakuza game series. I'm not a fan of the games, but while watching my husband play Yakuza from the very first—or rather, the zeroth—game, I caught myself sitting beside him, unable to look away from what was happening, so I'm counting myself among those involved. Finding figures proved difficult, but by a stroke of luck E2046 came up with a decent kit, which is what this post will be about.

Here is what E2046 offered: the sculptor's photo and the parts exactly as they arrived.

Incidentally, I never did find a use for part number 8. And not a single photo from the beginning of the build survived, because the phone they were on departed this world before its time, heh.

White, pretty parts, hardly any seams—just pick them up and paint. In practice, though, things weren't quite that simple. This kit marked my transition from painting with Vallejo water-based acrylics to Mr. Color and Gaianotes solvent paints, which arrived while I was working on it. During my struggles with Flamie, I had started looking at solvent paints that would stand up better to minor damage. Many thanks to Dina—ponnie392—who gave me very detailed and patient advice and helped me put together a basic shopping basket :) and continues helping me to this day! <3 Words of love and gratitude to my senpai, if she's reading this :)

The uniform is painted Vallejo Grey Blue; the boots, Vallejo Charred Brown; the skin, flesh-tone Mr. Color shades; the gloves, Tamiya black enamel; the shirt, Tamiya white enamel; the bat, Gaianotes Pure Black + Gaianotes Gloss Clear; the accessories, Gaia black without the gloss; and the buttons and buckles, a mixture of Vallejo gold and bronze. This is the first time I've used such a hodgepodge of paints on one kit :) Gaia gloss is a delight all its own—the bat gleams like the bodywork on a brand-new car

Well then, I'll praise myself—someone who doesn't make genuinely good decisions very often—for being a little clever and putting pins not only in the arms and legs, but in every item hanging from Majima. It made life much easier at the final stage and didn't scratch the paint anywhere.

It took several attempts to paint the eyes. First the skin was painted with water-based acrylic, then coated with Mr. Color matte clear, followed by Tamiya enamels—fail. Gaia solvent paints, Gaia gloss, Tamiya enamels—win! Not an absolute win, perhaps, but I'm still happy with it.

A few random process photos:

I painted the buttons and insignia under an illuminated magnifier with Tamiya HG series brushes. Quite convenient—either I'm gradually getting the hang of it, or the brushes really are good, but they're a pleasure to paint with.

Reference :3

I decided to replace the included spring, a.k.a. telephone cord, with something better. And that something turned out to be... a wire from a broken pair of earphones! See, there is a reason I save all sorts of junk in a secret drawer

The idea for the base evolved from asphalt with road markings and a traffic sign into simply an imitation of asphalt with one strip of road marking. Thanks to my senpai wazuzu for the idea of painting a piece of coarse sandpaper to look like asphalt—it worked extremely well!

And now the result in 360:

A closer look.

And that is how Majima turned out.

Alongside him, I did a quick custom and a quick solvent-paint job on a kit I'd planned to cannibalize for parts because it wasn't fit for its original purpose. I was pleased with the result, so from that point onward I switched completely to Gaianotes and Mr. Color paints.

Thank you for your attention!