Screw types

[Caterwaul]

Juvisy has some wierd gear. Personally I like her, but I can see why she's not popular.
Though even she's a veritable idol next to poor, unloved Grapprap and Benio.

[MrHolister]

I see... Well, at the very least, nabbing her from what I hear lets me practice on removing non-essential rivets, and hey, another Shinki to boot. More Shinkis is always better *shot*. Considering what I've seen other people do on this forum, I think I could manage to 'redeem' her so to speak.

I ended up liking her after I picked her up. (except the rather phallic mace looking thing? Creeeeppppyyy. My wife laughed at it when we unpacked her. BTW, the saw blade comes off of the watering can and will stick on a peg.) I am working on custom armor on her right now, and in the meantime I have vinyl stained the white bits of armor a nice dark matte charcoal.. You can see pics in my show and tell thread..

As for material, resin just seems so brittle. It seems a cheap decently resilient option that takes detail well, but there are a lot of actual plastic molding kits out there now as well that use a much more accurate recreation of what we already have.. I have yet to use alumite products, but I'm tempted, since they have dyes in which to color the plastic so less need for painting. Might be able to make some custom body sculpts. I have a nice small drill press, and all kinds of little precision bits and such, I might have to try some stuff out. I would really like to make some custom bodies...just to mix up the shapes a little...and with the color dye, maybe i can match some of the common skin colors as well. Pipe dreams I'm sure, but it's always fun to try.

[Mobius]

Pipe dreams I'm sure, but it's always fun to try.

This so much. I don't know if any of the more durable plastics that people (i.e. a joe schmoe) can make require a lot of investment - yes I know resin does, but with Aluminite at least, it seems not as painful for my wallet. Though I know that the biggest pain for me would be painting the eyes on. Yeesh.

I'm seeing some good deals on Juvisy, I'll probably try to pick her up this weekend. The only thing I don't care for on her besides her odder equipment is her hair. That two-tone pink/red just doesn't do it for me. I'll probably paint it all red or reverse it.

Edit: Since it feels like my question's been answered and we're straying away from the subject matter, I've opened up my own thread in the Creativty Corner - come visit! viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1898

[Sonja]

You can also get some factory reject shinkis (bodies + heads) off taobao for cheap. You don't get any extra parts to work with but you're looking at about $25 a pop (that's including proxy fees) plus shipping from China.

[Mobius]

You can also get some factory reject shinkis (bodies + heads) off taobao for cheap. You don't get any extra parts to work with but you're looking at about $25 a pop (that's including proxy fees) plus shipping from China.

If you could show me how to get there, I'd look into that.

[Sonja]

Here's the relevant search query. All you'll need is google translate and a good proxy (I used taobao focus, you can look around and see who you want to go with).

Expect factory rejects to have paint flaws or other small flaws, but if you just need spare bodies it's a good start. Also gives you some spare heads to work with too.

Be careful to check descriptions on lots that are just shinki parts to make sure they're not advertising recasts of those parts - that happens as well.

[rantinan]

MY walelt hates you Sonja. Thanks

[bang04]

I have to warn you about taobao, my friend is a merchant who order from taobao for 2-3year . He said that Taobao have some cheating merchant, and it has risk if you buy from low rank merchant. The rank is heart, diamond and crown, heart is low and crown is high. For lower risk the merchant with 4 diamond is acceptable, if lower than this you will have risk. But it is not mean that heart merchant will always cheat, because rank come from how much they have sold item and get praise.

I don't know that any one ever buy from 梦星卡通, but I have already order arnval and strarf (both no armor) from 1 diamond merchant, I will get them in January 2013. My friend said that I have high risk, but If I get 2 of them, it mean this 1 diamond merchant is ok.

Sonja, have you ever order from this merchant, if yes, i won't worry about cheating anymore.

Ps. In taobao have some merchant that sell cheap 1/12 furniture such as sofa set, bedroom set, kitchen set , and many of them is 4 diamond or greater. you can find it with these word " 1/12 " or "1:12" or "1/12 doll house"

[Sonja]

Just like any online site you just have to be careful - check reviews, check how many successful transactions they have recorded.

The sellers I bought from were
freeknight119
qq514041118
江晓君

and all their items arrived to my proxy just fine. Just waiting on the slow, slow international shipping >>;

It's also a bonus to be using a proxy as they've bought from lots of sellers before and should be able to warn of really shady people.

Out of all of them, freeknight119 shipped fastest although when looking at their listings you have to look carefully as they do list some recasted armor parts - great if you want them though as they have valk armor parts and some other odds and ends.

[bang04]

thank you Sonja. If I get my order from this merchant, I will start another project.