Pimp My Zoids

This is the location of Toy & Hobby stores that I have visited when I was working in Japan. Hope this helps to kick-start your Zoids hunt in Japan~!

I have only listed those places with more hard to find Zoids related stuff like Vintage/Exclusive release of kits and CPs. I have not listed HMM Zoids and Zoids monthly as they can be found easily in most reputable toy stores. Note that I said Toy stores because its hard to find toys in department stores in Japan but whos complaining :D

A pictorial travelogue of Liger traveling around Asia countries consisting of Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore.

Modification: Kit-bash from several Zoids models.

Type: Centaur

Synopsis
Based on the form of the fantasy Centaur, Centaurian Avanguard was created by fusing from part moose part gorilla. It is a centaur type Zoids that obtained knighthood through its selfless pursuit of noble virtues.

• Valour: Pursuit of Courage and Knowledge
• Liberality: Pursuit of Will
• Diligence: Pursuit of Ethics
• Patience: Pursuit of Peace

Its namesake is a short form of "Advance Guard" that represent only the very best of the Centaurian clan that can hold its own against 100 times more opponents. Due to this, Avanguards are always deployed to the front of the battle (Pursuit of Will and Peace) to reconnoiter and protect the line of march (Pursuit of Courage and Knowledge).


Being a knight, Centaurian Avanguard only uses honorable hand-to-hand melee weapons.(Pursuit of Ethics). The main weapons of choice are the twin Claymores make of composite Iridium that it carried on both side of its body. As for assault charges, it has the Lance of Charity and the Shield of Faith to provide the optimal balance of offense and defense. In additional, there are a pair of Hope system blade built-in into the corner of the front waist armour for blind spot defensive maneuver.




With noble qualities supported by a range of weapons handled by a master of close quarter combat, Centaurian Avanguard is without a doubt the Zoids representation of a knight in shiny armor.

Scale: 1/72
Modification: Kit-bash from several Zoids models.
Type: Lion

Synopsis

This Leo Majestic variant of the Leo Blaze is the basic unit used specially for the Royal family during the last great war. During this great war, as most armies force are deployed to the frontline, enemy started to use a mystery assissin group called Dragon Spirit to eradicate the royal family.

A brilliant engineer come up with an idea of using the smaller zoids to hunt down the Dragon spirit, this is because smaller zoids can ambush the enemy easier and has better maneuverability. As the Leo Blaze was the most versatile amongst the smaller zoids, the engineer remodel the whole zoids to unleash its full potential. And only selected few can pilot this advanced evolution. Of course to differentiate this new unit, its improved armour is repainted in the royal color and its name aptly the Leo Majestic.
This is the basic form of Leo Majestic...
Leo Majestic Hunter
After several confrontations with Dragon spirit, the engineer realised that the firepower of LM is not enough to destroy the enemy. This is when he chanced upon a pile of armour laying in the middle of no where. After careful analyse, he found out that it was the long lost Liger Zero Panzer CAS. Its was jettison when it become over-heated. This can only happen when its host fires all weapon at the same time. Regardless, with the intelligent of the engineer, he recognise this will be a trememdous help in increasing the firepower of LM.

After repairing the CAS, he again unlease the potential within the CAS and he name it: Customise Weapon System Hunter. Unknowingly, he created the ultimate sharpshooter as the Panzer unit fused well with LM giving it a special ability "Hunt" which call target any enemy within 10Km range without missing.

And this is the Hunter Customised Weapon System (CWS)














Leo Majestic Seeker
Dragon spirit realise that with the new LM Hunter, they dont stand a chance. So they change their tactic and begin to "Hit and Run". Once again our engineer gotta remedy the situation fast. He wanted a zoids that will help the republic in a way: "Like a lion with a wing". Inspired by this old chinese saying, he added a pair of wing and a set of powerful claw.

This new zoids proved to be efficient in not only capturing the enemy, it has an additional ability call "Target Seek". This enable the LM to track the enemy without physically seeing them. It works by mentally sourcing for the enemy and it can accurately decipher the location to within 1Km

Introducing the Seeker Customised Weapon System (CWS) of Leo Majestic














Leo Majestic Chaser
After the introduction of the LM Seeker, the war is at its turning point. Republic army is winning but the Empire refused to surrender. The Empire keep sending out high speed zoids to wreak havoc at the border. This time, our engineer who is already the technical director of the Republic makes his most important contribution to the war. Utilising ion fusion booster from other alien civilization, he come up with the supreme speed zoids.

Presenting the Chaser Customised Weapon System (CWS) of Leo Majestic














Named LM Chaser. After a few test run, a strange phenomenon happend. The alien technology begin to evolve! It thus gain a new ability call "Enemy Pursue". This was the ultimate ability whereby it allows the LM recognise enemy heat signature and it will automatically go in pursuit till the enemy is taken down. It outrun each and every zoids that the Empire send out.

Extras
Diorama pictures:

Here's the man~! He's proud to be himself~

He builts his own product...wait amin... isnt that the joystick of Kaiten??!?!? Where do you think you are going with those?

He promotes his own product~....hmmm, this design looks familiar....He models his creation~ is that drool on his chin... oh man...hes a sleep...
Just for a laugh....This is what I did to keep myself awake thru the night while making Kaiten...

Immediately after MCON08 exhibition was over, I laid out my tools and roll up my sleeve again :) This time I'm hell bent on working on the interior and what I started out to achieve: The human interface.

Then.....After trying for days, I finally give up to try to access the interior through the opened hatch and the detachable left side armaments. I even tried to cast the interior and succeeded in making the replicate of the side wall... but to create what I had in mind is still too difficult.

So in order to improve the situation... I have to dissect Kaiten into two....after so much had been done....Seen here is the back half undergoing masking for some putty work.

Next comes the exciting part :)
I wanted to create a padded environment like the Ma.k suit to safely cocoon the pilot. So I used blue tac to doll up the side wall.

Originally, all I wanted was just padded side wall but then I started to enjoy myself and moved on to putting panel pieces into the idea. After finalizing the cockpit side panel design, its back to the tappy tray to engrave and accessorize.

After fixing up both side:
































Here's after pre shading the padded side panel :)

Now come the moment of truth.... can this fit my idea of a cockpit... The Head-Up Display spanning 180 degree~! I finally found a part that can do this. And its a plastic soda bottle...Final touch with a little glow in the dark paint to make the screen comes alive :)

For the flooring, I cut a capsule egg into the desired shape and use the remaing bolts to seal up the holes.

Phew, I still remembered I gotta take leaves just to make it and rush to the exhibition on the last day... When I reached the place, the hair on my neck was standing.... Its amazing how many entries there were. The registration, the entry label, the display area, etc... everything was well planned and executed. So this is how official exhibition is... And to see people from all manners of life together in the hall, discussing about models and techniques. All my hard work was worth it just to be able to be in the hall.

In order not to conflict with ZPCC, I chose another name for Kaiten.... Its Hades SDV. Well...there is a 1/24 Neptune so another greek god will make sense :) SDV means Seal Delivery Vehicle. Hee, I wanted to be more military to miggle into the crowd.
























Pretty Kaiten or I meant Hades....

























Some Bling Power~! Hee, this is what I meant by "Dark but Shinny~"

























Some of my personal favourite:














More MCON08 pic here

The Paint - I wanted something dark but yet shinny...
Well, I finally put my pearl paint brought during my Japan trip into good use.

First, I primed the model with Mr Hobby's 1200 Gray primer-in-a-can. Then I coat it with Gaia's Semi-gloss black.





Finally I poured my unnamed pearly goodness into a dispenser and dilute it with Mr Color Thinner till "milk" fluidity and spread away~. Shown here is the picture of the part after one coat of the diluted pearl paint(Left).

Note: This is just my way of spraying pearl paint as I did not understand the Japanese instruction to get the proper ratio of colored paint vs pearl paint....

Next, I wanted a secondary color to be having the same characteristic as the primary color. Dark and Shinny. So I have to use some clear color to overlay onto the primary color. So I chose clear purple. As Purple is a deep but still vibrant color.

Unfortunately, there is no clear purple on stock... So I improvised and used clear blue + clear red. Yes, that's a bird nest bottle that I recycled to store the mixture. And to make it more air tight, I taped around the cap and the brim of the bottle :)
Tips: Don't throw away your used masking tape! Use them to cover your paint during breaks to prevent dust from settling in.