GBWC 2014 World Champion - ANDY WONG of Malaysia

I have a very serious confession to make guys... I am also Malaysian!



Just kidding... I spent a lot of time in the old Malaysian forums ( ZeroGunz ) back in 2009 to 2011. In fact I was one of the moderators of that forums. I learned a lot of my techniques from Ryukaze, Ronnie Phoon, Jeff Ho, Rayloke ( whom I met personally back in 2008 Bakuc Finals ), Becky Law, Sammy514 among so many others.



Malaysia is producing Bandai World Champions and competing in the world stage, like they are competing in a forums group build or something. These guys most likely because of the friendly nature and the teachings of the the older modelers have not regressed at all.



The newly crowned Gunpla Builders World Cup (GBWC ) World Champion this year ( 2014 ) is

 ANDY WONG of Malaysia!

I did not ask permission and stole all these photos of Andy Wong, so be prepared to read Andy Wong's name in this post numerous times ( lol ).



I believe most if not all of the entries in this year's GBWC finals at Japan were unique and original. I love creativity the most and skills and execution is secondary for me personally and The Spider O of Andy Wong is one of the most creative builds I have ever seen! I am so humiliated to post my re-painted MG The O ( coz it is also painted yellow ) even here in my blog as this Spider The O makes my work looks like it belongs to the junior category ( albeit helped by Uncles ).

Inspiring work! I am so inspired to work on my GBWC 2015 entry as early as next month! Inspiring stuff from another talented, skillful and creative modeler from Malaysia! How I wish I live in Singapore, HongKong, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, or Malaysia ( lol ).



Hope you are as inspired as I am! Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby! :)

Presentation is Everything... Improving my Gunpla Dioramas

I love dioramas so much I always tend to focus on working on them most of the time. Although I just make complex bases ( not considered as dioramas by some if it does not convey a story ), but the bottom line is that I enjoy working on the bases sometimes a bit more than the actual kits themselves.



I am looking to improve the bases ( or frames ) of my dioramas this year... Most of my older builds have lousy made bases as you can see HERE, HERE and HERE.



I have been away from Gunpla and worked on some minis the past couple of years, thus I am so influenced by the super talented painters of the miniature world. Unlike Gunpla, where you could get away with basic skills and airbrushing... Miniature painting ( and of course sculpting ) is done by top level talented artists.



As it is obvious with my choice of medium and paints, I am greatly influenced by the miniature painting world. Thus moving forward I will be focusing on creating and presenting my dioramas the same way top level miniature artists present their work.

There are so many ways of presenting your plastic pose-able robots. Personally, I like my Gunpla to look like serious sculptures. I like my future builds to look like well made sculptures on bases ( story or NOT ). All of my bases or dioramas will be presented the same way the top level artists and diorama makers of the miniature world present theirs.Wish me luck... and I hope you find your own style as well.

Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby. :)

Local Organizer did not allow me to join GBWC 2014!!!

The local organizer here in the Philippines did not allow me to join GBWC 2014, due to technical reasons. 

I basically misinterpreted the rules. I have the original 3 year old Bandai MG The O box ( as I do not buy bootlegs anyways ) and bought a kit of the same price at the event ( MG Sazabi verKa ) to qualify to join. I thought that buying a new kit from ToysR'Us ( the event sponsor ) will sort of give me a ticket to join GBWC. 

All in all I have spent around 12k worth of items at ToysR'Us to qualify to join. The local organizer told me that I should have the receipt of the MG The O, which is impossible as that kit is too old to have kept the receipt. Besides you don't normally buy Gunpla at malls as it is 40% more expensive than buying original Bandai sellers online.

Oh well. At least my daughter joined the contest. I fully understand the rules of the local organizer now. Only Gunpla bought at ToysR'Us are eligible to join the contest. You cannot even go to Japan and buy Bandai kits as you need to buy them from malls... The sad part is that because the local organizers are too strict, the turn around of participants every year is getting lower and lower. It worries me that fewer people are joining GBWC here in the Philippines... But very strict rules in joining does not help ( the photo below shows how few the participants are ). 

Well at least I and my daughter got a photo with Master Kawaguchi. And my daughter was allowed to enter GBWC Philippines 2014! 

Until next year guys! Will focus on my commissioned works from now on instead. :)