Updates - New York 2011 Trip

Its been a while since I updated. Work's been really busy with DC's New 52 still going strong. While there's tons of first impressions out there, I'll be waiting for all the 2nd and 3rd issues to be releasesd before I do a post. It'll be interesting. Is the New 52 worth it? Are your childhood heroes the same,worse,or better? Is the "slow burn" many first impressions have mentioned bad or is it meant to later set up more robust and new stories for classic characters?? I'll be covering all that and more as soon as those issues release.

besides that, hobby work is progressing well, the "clean,clip,and bag" setup is working well. Its the painting that requires more work and focus. The TB resin kit should be shortly and then I can get started on the next project.

As for right now, I'm in New York til the 26th for a sort of working vacation. I'll be enjoying myself, but I'll also be trying to cover lots of fun places and activities for all those who couldn't make the trip and for those interested in fun things to do or go in New York. Since I don't have any of my video editing stuff with me, I won't be able to do any videos til I get back home. However, I will be doing lots and lots of photos to post along the way. Its vacation time, but there's still tons and tons to get done! I'm kinda already tired just thinking about it, but I'm definitely still pumped! This is my current Itinerary:

For some dining:

> Famous chicken and rice cart at 53rd and 6th Ave.
> Alta for Mediterranean tapas
> Smorgasburg in Williamsburg, Brooklyn Flea Food Market
> Otakfuku for Okonomiyaki and takoyaki!
> Wafel & Dinges for Waffles!
> Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles in Chinatown for...hand pulled noodles of course :)
> Ramen Setagaya for yummy ramen!
> Excellent Pork Chop House for good cheap ass food! (mostly noodles and rice plates)
> Maialino for Interesting Happy Hour bar food and drinks (cheap too!)
> Chikalicious for desserts...because I'm man enough to walk into a joint with that name
> Meatball Shop...all sorts of meatballs cuz you like balls in your mouth
> The Dessert Truck - it's dessert on a truck
> Bao Haus - Taiwanese street food
> Tuck Shop for Meat Pie - paying home to them Australians
> Clinton Street Baking Company - Southern food...you be the judge on its goodness

> Just to list a few...also some sushi here, some pizza there...you get the gist.

After all the dining, here's some wining:

> Burp's Castle (Beer)
> Brooklyn Winery in Williamsburg(Wine)
> Biergarten in Williamsburg (Beer!)
> Boss Tweed Saloon
> PDT - speakeasy
> Milk and Honey - speakeasy
> Cha-An - Sake or Beer and we get free appetizers
> Skinny Bar - $3.50 for Red Stripe Who-hoo!!!
> Johnny Utah's - friend's b-day so we're stopping by for a couple of hours....lots of women, hot servers, mechanical bull, that whole deal.
> Northeast Kingdom - One of the only decent place in my hood, opened til 2 AM. We can drink and walk home...but lets not get too drunk....I don't want to get mugged.


> We'll bar hop in the Village and LES. Alcohol is alcohol...you can get it anywhere.

Some knarly and fun activities:

> Brooklyn Boulders for rock climbing
> Nightmare for house haunting
> The Laugh Lounge for comedy
> The Upright Citizen's Brigade - improv skits and comedy for $5!
> Body Exhibit...you wanna go?
> Bar 55 - Jazz and drinks
> Brooklyn Winery on Sunday - The Walking Dead ep. 2 is screening
> The Drunken Smartass Olympics at Dempsey's - We'll stay if it's good
> MOMA - Friday night 4:8:30 PM, it's FREE!
> Coney Island - if it's not too cold
>
>
Filler places:
>Gray's Papaya- worth it for the papaya drinks alone.( I don't even like papayas!...I think)
> Asia Dog - hot dogs...Asianified. korean bbq on a hot dog? yes, please.
> Lam Zhou - $3 for a dozen dumplings
> Mark - $2 bucks for a slider, $2.75 for slider with bacon. best deal and one of the best burger joints in NYC
> Cafe Zaiya - Small, but well known Japanese cafe. they have....KARE PAN!
> Food Gallery 32 - Korean food court
> Jamaican Duchy Cart....for Jamaican mon
> Check out Occupy Wall Street for the action
> Museum of Sex
> The High Line - urban park...it used to be an abandoned rail road track, now it's a park
> Staten Island Ferry - It's free, and you get a great view of the statue of Liberty without having to go there
> Chase down one of these trucks - http://nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2010/67139/index1.html


Places to check out, splurge, support, store tours,interviews,etc:

Anime Castle
Image Anime
Forbidden Planet
Midtown Comics
Chinatown, mostly some really cool shops on mott st.
Gotham City Lounge- Comic themed bar

Possibly more to add later so we'll see what happens!

More Tekkaman awesomeness!!! and WIP updates.

So its about 2am and I'm still alittle wired so can't sleep just yet,so.... I'll update like I've been meaning to do lately. Unfortunately, I don't have access to my WIP pics. Not home, so we'll have to make do with a quick written lay down. til next time. Finally got around to working on the tekkaman resin kit again. Its starting to really come together. I got around to painting a few areas black, not that its needed. Its namely for all those places that aren't really too noticeable like the inside of shoulder armor, the inside of the collar,etc. I've also got around to adding the ghost gray to help break up the white and also hopefully, accentuate the details so it won't be just panel lining.

With that being said, since I can't post pics this time-I'll post pics of something related. All this time while working on the resin kit( and with no reference or readable instructions), I've also been looking online every once in a while for more pics of the kit I've been working on. Maybe one that someone else has finished working on, anything. Eventually, I found a few blogs here and there. But, I also stumbled on the next kits I'd like to get and work on after this one. First up is a Tekkaman Blastor kit. Its also a full action kit and looking at some of the design styles, it may be from the same sculptor or design team as the kit I"m working on. If so, then- AWESOME. Aside from my own mistakes, I'm really enjoying the build and the model itself of Tekkaman blade. Of course, I plan to put in revoltech joints of course,heh. You can find the model kit sold HERE.

I like the original base design of blade and blastor, but I totally love the style given to the design with these kits!

And it totally looks great next to blade and it also looks in scale as well.AWESOME.

I bet the color separation on this kit will be amazing as well.

Look at that awesomeness. The only thing that could make this more epic is if Toshiyuki Morikawa's voice played when you put it in this pose. VOL-TEKKA!!!!!

This.will.be.MINE.

The next kit is also a tekkaman blade resin kit, but with a twist. Its not like these full action kits where the design is just more stylized. Its practically re-visualized. Pretty cool stuff. The aesthetics is less on the anime-esque super robot proportions and more on the hyper detailed and "real armor" style. That said, lets take a look at it...

Whoa. Definitely gonna need lots of paint work. Not a lot of color separation. This is gonna need lots and lots of layers and taping.

That said, I can't complain about the intended final product and effect. Its pretty impressive. It reminds me of the Casshern Sins live action and makes me wonder what would a live action Tekkaman blade film look life? Very cool indeed.

I really dig the look of this kit, but I'll still be getting tekkaman blastor before this. But, right after- getting this. You can find this kit HERE.

That's it for now. I'll post WIP pics along with more progress in a couple of days.Til things, see you guys then.

P.S.- If you have google +, you should add me to your circle HERE. If you don't have one yet, check it out. Its pretty cool and isn't as bogged down by ads or spam as facebook is these days. And you can organize your contacts in circles( friends, acquaintances, family,etc.)Pretty useful and cool stuff.