Reviving the Old — Sakuya Izayoi by T's Systems [GK ver.]

Hi, everyone!

I'd like to share not so much the result as the process of building one old kit.

One fine day I got the urge to find out what original kits were actually like. For some reason, in defiance of reality, I thought they would be better quality. So I found several on Mandarake—besides this Sakuya, I also have Tsukiko and Taiga lying around, terrifying me with their yellowness and slightly greasy sheen. Both Tsu and Sakuya are fairly simple and fit together well, so when I started Sakuya on February 12 of this year, I thought I could do her "in passing," since I wasn't expecting any particular problems. This is what it looked like:

The kit itself.

Why are the seams like this? Why is it so terribly, terribly greasy? Why is it so hard to sand?

In short, preparing the kit took a good deal of time, far more than I had expected.

The fit between the parts really is excellent, though; I didn't even have to adjust anything!

For the first time I used gray 500 primer and 1500 as a finishing primer—it feels so wonderful to the touch And to choose a skin tone, I ran experiments on spoons, which is quite an entertaining pastime!

The uniform color came from the spoons too.

Why the apron couldn't have been split into parts that were more convenient to paint, history does not record, but it gave me a lot of grief and, honestly, didn't turn out particularly well in the end.

On the bright side, I found a better masking solution from Gaia than the one I'd used before! E2046's masking tape, on the other hand, is complete rubbish, sorry—it either doesn't stick well or peels off and leaves its adhesive behind on the part >_< Tamiya do it better.

The original's watch and chain looked very strange, so I decided to replace them with something more delicate. That meant rummaging through Google, which led me to the Livemaster marketplace, where I found the perfect little watch from a woman who makes doll accessories. It cost just 20 rubles—my God, is that even legal?)) I bought the flat, coin-like pieces from her too while I was at it, and later used them in the base, just because.

The chain came out of my hoarder's bag

Liquid Chrome turned out to be marvelous *_* Absolutely worth the money! If only I could learn to apply it evenly, it would be perfect :')

Next, the hair! For that I decided to try transparent red and a pearlescent color, for the sake of experimentation.

While I was wondering whether I wanted a red-eyed or blue-eyed Sakuya, I came across this artwork and decided to make her eyes two-colored. It didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted, but the process was tremendously entertaining! Enamels over gloss varnish and countless attempts included.

Time to assemble her! And I was so sorry to hide such beautiful legs under the apron :(

The idea for the base came suddenly. After admiring Dina's perfect Rei, I decided I wanted to pour something into something too Of course, I should have painted the little watch-coins somehow, but that didn't occur to me, so what I got is what I got... and the resin leaked overnight, so I had to level the edge, which didn't go especially well. In short, another field of improvement appeared. And I should have driven the pin in after the pour, not before.

I trimmed the edge of the base with a power sander and sprayed it with transparent black.

...and then killed all the shading with Mr. Color matte clear To settle that question once and for all, I ordered four jars of GX114—yes, the one that doesn't frost colors. Perfect timing, hehehe.

And here is the final result—under lamplight and in daylight...

...and posing for the camera :)

In the end, I can say that the work was very interesting, even if the kit itself wasn't especially good. I have a feeling I won't touch any more old yellow kits for a while :) The kit was painted entirely with solvent-based Gaianotes and Mr. Color paints. Having tried them once, I can hardly imagine returning to water-based acrylics for painting kits: these paints are simply that good in both color and durability (although I've written about this before, I can't help saying it again).

Thank you all for your attention, and have a lovely day!