DC Direct's Killzone Helghast Assault Infantry Action Figure

Hail fellow geeks!

Thank you for visiting this little blog and your comments on improving it have been very helpful! Please let JQ and I know in what can be done to build this community up better, and we will seriously consider each them. Updates on collections and discussion boards sound like very cool ideas to me.

Some time ago I showed some pics I took of the Helghast sniper, and this time...(and a shout out to POI and all Helghast lovers out there), here's some shots of the tireless Helghast Assault Infantry action figure!

The formidable backbone of the Helghan Army, the assault infantry is perhaps the most common enemy you face in the Killzone world and are more than ready to defend every inch of Helghan with their blood.

The Helghast assault infantry is best suited for close-quarter combat, where they can unleash streams of bullets from their full-auto StA-52 assault rifles. They are known (or "programmed" if you say) to frequently take cover and fire from cover, and even throw occasional grenades to flush enemy soldiers out.

DC Direct has a steady stream of video-game inspired action figures, and these figures are similar to MacFarlane Military figures. Good quality with fine sculpting, with the downside of limited movement and posing. These action figures are certainly designed for display and not play.

Just a casual observation, it appears that German WWII soldiers wearing gas-masks have become the staple of "bad guy sci-fi aesthetics". Some examples include Hellsing Nazi Vampires, Suckerpunch zombie Germans, Wolfenstein SS Venom Soldier, Medal of Honor: Airborne Nazi Storm Elites...and I probably haven't listed them all! There's probably something about gas masks, how they make a person look less human and more intimidating.

This particular figure is quite well made, I like how the sculpting accounts for the ruffles in the soldier's uniform. The paint job is applied well, with attention to highlighting exposed surfaces of uniform, and a gritty paint job to the rifle itself. The emblems on the helmet and right shoulder guard give the figure a very WWII German feel...not to forget the stormtrooper-like helmet and grey uniform to boot.

A piece of trivia: the 3-pronged "star" represents the Helghast triad of values: obedience, duty, and loyalty. The Helghast are essentially WWII Nazi Germany, and their fascist ideology focuses on the industrial productivity and inherent superiority of the Helghast race.

Unfortunately this figure suffers from one major flaw: the left elbow is unfinished. I have observed this from pictures other people have taken of the same figure, and it's not a single/limited design flaw. Strangely, DC Direct has neglected the left elbow a bare flat plastic surface, without any detailing...which can be quite an eyesore since it stands out from the rest of the figure.

One thing I do like about the DC Direct Heghast action figures: the way they do the eyes of the Helghast. From a distance they appear to be "glowing", which adds to the sinister/dark character of their appearance.

Another interesting feature is the StA-52 assault rifle. A hybrid on maybe a FAMAS/VHS/M203, it seems that it comes equipped with a secondary shotgun attachment. Even the figure itself has what look like shotgun shells strapped on its belt and thigh. But such a feature did not appear in the game itself...could be a slight oversight by the art and game-design team.

Killzone is one of those games that make me want to play as the "bad guys." The backstory reveals how the Helghast got screwed over by capitalism, the hardship they endured, they get invaded by the "good guys" on a whim, and they have perhaps the coolest equipment I have seen.

If you're a fan of Killzone (or just the design), I highly recommend getting the DC Direct action figures! They are well-sculpted and painted, and their fixed poses make for easy display. Currently I would lean towards the sniper figure due to the unfinished arm of the assault infantry. But if the assault infantry catches your eye, go right ahead and you won't be disappointed. Each figure right now goes for about USD 18 each.

I love being a geek, always.

Take Care!

The F-22 Raptor

Well met again, Fellow Nerds and Geeks!

I trust you are all well? This week's modern model kit feature would be the F-22 Raptor that I finally completed. (For those who may have noticed, I featured it under construction in my previous post on crazy intense model-making) It is also noted that this would be my second kit that was made using the airbrush technique.

F-22 Raptor Cruising..

In terms of 1/144 scale (My preferred choice) F-22 Raptor model kits, Trumpeter is the only maker that I know of. The kit is simple enough to fix without compromising detailing on the aircraft.

A closeup on the cockpit. (Made the Pilot all by myself using putty.)

As I am still learning about airbrushing, every hour spent on doing this kit was a learning experience. unlike the T-80B, I decided to use masking for this kit as I was required to airbrush using more than just one single uniform colour.

Looks quite plain but it was no easy task painting this fighter jet.

The difficulty in painting started due to my inability to utilize pre-shading and post-shading technique to bring out the detail in the various grooves and rivet points on the aircraft. It was terribly frustrating having to spray coats over coats and redo certain parts all over again because I was not able to come up with the proper definition and detailing.

Faceoff with the Raptor

In the end, I settled with a black wash to detail the various lines on the plane. Masking was also a big handful of a task as there were certain small areas that I could not possibly shape my masking tape to make the airbrushing effect go well. In the end, I had to contend myself with using the paintbrush for certain areas.

There were many issues I had to face with regards to this second model. While admittedly, I am still a big novice in this style of painting, I am pretty satisfied with my work. From airbrush faltering, uneven coat and sputtering paint, to the accidental spillage of thinner on my model that made me redo a big part of the raptor, there were many frustrating issues but the final product looked great and I learnt alot. I do hope to get better at this on my next few models that I intend to paint.

Side Profile

 With regards to the F-22 actual, at the cost of US$ 150 million, the F-22 is the most costliest fighter jet for its time. However, based on what I had seen in wikipedia, the F-35 per unit cost have surpassed the F22 and become higher. While I am not sure why, I opined that it is due to the length of the programme and the developmental cost that is tagged with the plane.

Underside of the F-22

The F-22 has three internal weapons bay capable of carrying an air-to-air loadout of 6 AIM-120 and 2 AIM-9X. It could also be customised to carry air-to-ground loadout of 2 AIM-120, 2 AIM-9 and 2 JDAM or 8 GBU-39 small diameter bombs.

Dashland Airforce F-22 Raptor with Insignia from the Airforce base of Danilton

Not sure if I had talked about this before but what makes the F-22 a leap over current day conventional fighters is it's super cruise ability which allows it to travel at Mach 1.5 without using afterburners. It is widely known that afterburner feature of a fighter jet consumes a lot of fuel, but it is the feature that enable most jets to travel at their top speed.

The Dashland Airforce Insignia

During the F-22's IOC or Initial Operational Capability, the F-22 was able to down its superior number adversaries.  F-16s and F-15s that went up against the F-22 on a 8:1 ratio still lost in aerial combat.

The rearview of the mighty stealth F-22 Raptor.

The Aftermath Action review from pilots who were the Red force aggressors explained that they could not detect the F-22 and during BVR combat, it was like getting attack before you could even react against it. The superiority in capabilities of the F-22 were haunting.

With such capabilities for a stealth 5th-generation fighter, I wonder what it would be like if the F-22 fought against a similar type of aircraft. Will there be the possibility of a dog-fight scenario? How would an aerial battle look like between a F-22 and a J-20 or PAK-50?

Do give your thoughts.

Till then, I hope you are please with the new regular updates and extra goodies on our Toyconstruct Page. I have also been the creating albums for the various works and photoshots from each blog posts that I post up on the Toyconstruct page too.

Aside from that, do let me or Josh know if you want any new features or improvements to our blog and FB page.

Cheers!

iGun Pro

Hey Everyone

Anyone out there who uses geeky apps on their smartphones?

It's been about a year since our close friend Qamarul passed away, and one of my most poignant memories of him was his fascination with the iPhone gun app called iGun Pro. He was fixated on the renowned PPSh-41 submachinegun, because its 71-round drum magazine has the biggest magazine capacity of the collection of guns available.

The PPSh-41 SMG of WWII fame.

iGun Pro a free app that is all about guns. It's kinda like those Japanese ready painted/assembled military toys that come in boxes, that give you a model and at the same time offer some educational stuff about the model you got. You collect guns by accumulating coins, 10 coins are given for each day you play the app. To this day, I still 'play' it (it's not strictly a game app) almost everyday, and what attracts me most to this app is simply collecting the guns, firing the guns, hearing their unique sounds, and reading wiki pages about each gun I got.

Money money money.

There are some fascinating things you can learn about guns from Wikipedia...such as the M2 machinegun actually held the record for longest ranged kill for a long time, as soldiers have attached scopes to the MG to use it as a 'sniper'. Also learned that the WWI anti-tank rifles (like the Boys) formed the basis of anti-materiel rifles of today, such as the American Barrett and the French PGM Hecate. Big caliber = big mess.

Guns of all types are available to collect!

Guns do kill people...or do people kill people? I admit that I have some fascination with guns, such as their looks, historical importance, the security they give, and the technical expertise that goes into designing them. Maybe it's just being a military geek, but I won't deny that a world with peace and no need of guns would be a worthy ideal to aim for.

Top Tens: Close Quarter Combat

Recently, I watched the Military Channel's Top Tens episode on Close Quarter Combat guns, and I found the list rather interesting. It has a lot of new guns listed, and it appears that the future of gun warfare would be in bullets totally designed by computers. Could the halcyon days of the venerable 5.56x45mm NATO be over?

Without further ado, here are the guns listed in descending order of rank:

10) IMI Uzi

A simple Israeli SMG produced in the 1950s, it was named after its creator, Major Uziel Gal, and it has spawned successful "spin-offs" (micro and mini) and continues to see action to this day.

9) FERFRANS SOAR (Special Operations Assault Rifle)

A Philippine designed rifle that limits recoil climb with a patented rate reduction system, which does away with the need of a 3-round burst system.

8) H&K G36C

The G36C brings a rifle round to a pistol fight. The G36C uses a 3-round burst to limit heat build up in its barrel.

7) LWRC M6 PSD

Sharing 80% of the parts with the M4 Carbine, it has special design features such as a self-regulating gas piston system, and advanced bolt carrier/carrier key design. Known to be a reliable and easy to maintain, and still pack quite some punch.

6) Knight's PDW

Guns are usually designed around a bullet, but this gun uses a bullet specially designed for the gun. It uses a 6x35mm proprietary round, to give it a lethal punch and yet has 50% less recoil than the M4 carbine.

5) FN P90

A gun that looks like it came from the future, the bullpup P90 is chock full of design features. Its casings drop downwards to allow it to be used in both left and right hand styles, which provides much needed flexibility in close quarters fights.

4) Cornershot

The brainchild of Lt. Col. Amos Golan of Israel, the Cornershot allows its user to fire around corners without exposing him/herself to deadly fire. I have heard that some troops use a cat soft toy cover for its barrel, and it's humorous to see bullets flying out a cat! Side note: the Germans in WWII had experimented with this idea using a curved barrel for the StG 44 Krummlauf.

3) Magpul FMG9

The FMG9 represents a revolution in SMG design, as its folding design allows it to be easily concealed (like a spare radio battery) and quickly deployed under fire. It was specially designed for protection details, who need to remain discreet and provide firepower when needed.

2) MP7

The MP7 is uses the propriety H&K 4.6x30mm cartridge, which provides stopping power that penetrates body armor. Easy to control and capable of pistol and shoulder firing positions, the MP7 looks to a true successor of the fabled MP5.

1) Kriss Super V

A weapon of unconventional design, the Kriss Super V uses an asymmetrical recoil system that diverts the recoil off-axis, behind the magazine. This dramatically reduces recoil climb, and it uses the .45ACP cartridge, giving it a lot of stopping power. Also, this deadly gun is designed to be easily maintained and owes some "gun-DNA" to the solid AK series of Russia.

What do you think of this list? I do feel that the MP5 should receive some mention, since it's been the staple SMG for a long time...and even shined during famous gun battles, most notably in Operation Nimrod (1980 Iranian Embassy Siege by SAS).

Crazy Intense Model Making

Good day to all!

Today's post would be more of a self-reflection on my ability as a modellers and painter. This post would give you my take on an intense model-making experience that I had attempted a while back. It involved a 6 hour model-making and painting session and another similar 12 hour session. During the free time span I had earlier in the year, these two particular activities were the most energy-draining and mentally-challenging thing I had ever done in terms of my hobby activities.

Initially, I always wondered how much progress would be made if I actually did a whole day affair of model-making. Aside from the usual routine of one to two hours on a very good day (in which I would have been motivated to do my hobby), I never really had such an opportunity to dedicate a huge chunk of time to painting and fixing models. While the routine made progress for the completion of my models rather slow, it did compel me to question myself about how much could I do if I dedicated more hours into it and what was the potential that I could achieve with the time and effort.

Armed with my trusty Citadel Paints and Brushes, I am rearing to go!

 6 hour Stint

The first 6 hour stint of painting went pretty well. With a light snack and a cup of tea, I set about doing the paint task on hand. Bit by bit, I was progressing with speed and quality. By the half way mark, hands and back were stiff and aching.  As such, I decided to take a sizeable long break before I continued on. The next 3 hours, my engine was rolling full steam in terms of painting. With Music to soothe my mind, I was actually enjoying the process of seeing my models come to live. The only disappointing part of the session was that when the 6 hour timeline ran its course, I was kind of surprised that I still had a long way more to go. More surprisingly, while it was only 6 hours of labour, I was pretty bummed out that the entire day had been expended.

My Messed up workstation after the day's work.

12 hour stint

Procrastination took hold of me for a period of time before I could prepare myself to take on the 12 hour model-making and painting stint. Finally, with my mind made up, I gave it my all and began the epic journey of painting.

The first 6 hours ran like clockwork. During that period, I managed to paint my primary base coat and layer with an extra secondary coat on the Bloodletter models that I was working on. By this point, the day was almost over and grinding the next few hours of the night was a difficult task. I felt much agony without the long breaks as I was hard-press for time. Furthermore, I wasn't really giving the finest of touches to my model pieces.

One of the Bloodletter parts I was doing up during the painting stints.

It was at this point that I realized it was pretty impossible for me to sit down and paint non-stop for more than 3 hour at a time. Furthermore, anything beyond 3 hours of painting or fixing anything, and my productivity level would go out the window.

Airbrushing my F-22 Model. (This was a real hassle)

In summary, painting and assembling a model kit or miniature isn't the same as rushing to revise for a final year exam. In my context, these things take time to build and be painted. This is especially so if you want to give it the best quality paintjob and assembly that you can do.

I concluded that my old way of painting bit by bit for short periods of an hour or so per day is a more efficient and fun-filled way of doing my hobby than putting myself in a predicament where I work on something and lose all motivation to do it after grinding on it for long hours. In 20 hours of painting and assembling, I had completed 5 + Bloodletters. I did expect myself to do more, but I am not too disappointed at the progress.

Now, do not get me wrong guys, this post is not to subtlely tell you that I am runnig out of models andminiatures to feature. In fact, I have so much in store, aside from the stuff I am working on.

So do stay tune because there would be lots to show you! Till then, Cheerios!
 

Studio Ghibli

Hey Everyone

Hope your summer has gotten off to a sizzling start! Unfortunately, I was mired in the Virginia blackout and suffered a few days of no power. It really played home the fact that we really depend on electricity for the majority of our waking moments, and my mind kept repeating the "no power" line from C&C haha.

I am a fan (not die hard, yet) of Japanese anime, especially feature length movies of great artistic merit and evocative storylines. Some cult favorites have struck me deeply before, and some titles that immediately come to my mind are the perennial favorite Akira (I am still wondering how they added neon effects), the bleak world of Jin-Roh (Wolf Brigade), and the technological and moral maze of Ghost in the Shell.

World-famous title-screen of Studio Ghibli, featuring their titular character, Totoro.

Well, I might be slow to catch up on this, but I have come to love the works of Studio Ghibli. They are particularly renowned for their compelling movies that appeal to young and old alike (kinda like Pixar I guess). The studio was founded by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata as directors, and Toshio Suzuki as producer in 1985 following the success of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and continues to produce anime masterpieces to date.

Hayao Miyazaki, still keeping it classy.

Isao Takahata, renowned director who amazingly did not start off as an animator.

Toshio Suzuki, known to have encouraged Miyazaki into putting Nausicaä, which led to the founding of the famous studio.

Studio Ghibli was named after the Italian word for desert wind (or Sirocco)...Miyazaki thought of the name due to his love for propeller-driven airplanes (crystalized in the movie, Porco Rosso). He had picked Ghibli, which was the name of a WWII Italian transport plane and symbolized his desire to bring fresh, hot inspiration into anime. Trivia fact: the way Ghibli is pronounced in reference to the studio is actually a mispronunciation/Japanese transliteration, a mistake Miyazaki has heartily admitted to.

The Ca.309 Bergamachi (Ghibli), the namesake of Studio Ghibli.

So far, I've only watched a few of their works in full, namely Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Sprited Away, and The Secret World of Arriety. One thing that has consistently impressed me was that each film has ended with me gasping for more, and left me feeling like a child inside all over again. Moreover, it reminded me of why it is important to enjoy movies - to appreciate what it means to be human.

The release of the Giant Warrior, which symbolized the futility of retribution.

It is my guess that many themes and lessons can be pulled out from Studio Ghibli's classics. In particular, Nausicaä for me examined the prevalence of dualism in human thought and questioned the natural antagonism ("knee jerk response") in human reactions against "the other" (which was nature in the film). In addition, the film brilliantly explored the healing effect of coming into terms with one's surroundings, be it the environment or even other people.

Princess Nausicaä, the selfless heroine of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

For one, Studio Ghibli is probably best known for creating true heroines (Miyazaki is an unabashed feminist, even the restrooms in the studio are better for the women than the men). Ghibli's heroines are almost always believable characters who hold firmly onto their moral compasses in the face of uncertainty, overwhelming odds, or even disbelief from their peers...and arrive at noble choices that have called for vast sacrifices on their part.

This is in stark contrast to the hyper-sexualized/violent archetype so prevalent in today's entertainment industry...such as Suckerpunch and the recent Commander & Conquer titles. If I would have children one day (especially a daughter), I would watch Studio Ghibli's works with them and hopefully explore with them the complicated nature of humanity (and also enjoy amazing effects and animation!).

To date, I have yet to watch Studio Ghibli's other masterpieces, such as Porco Rosso, Grave of the Fireflies, and Kiki's Delivery Service...which I guess is a good problem to have :)

Are you familiar with Studio Ghibli? Do you have other movies you'd like to recommend? Feel free to share your thoughts.

PS: Another trivia fact - Studio Ghibli is famous for allowing no cuts to their movies. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was subjected to horrific edits in the US, which completely altered the story and changed it to an action movie about destroying nature. Apparently, Studio Ghibli got so pissed that they sent a katana sword by mail, with a note that said "no cuts".

The Transformer Cybertron Con 2011

Back again with Interesting stuff!! I must apologize for my longest absence from the blog.

Sometimes, Life does hit you with a brick wall of things that leave you comatose for a long period. I really do hope this does not happe to often but kudos to my fellow bro, Josh, for holding the fort for
me.

About a good 4 months ago, Singapore held the second ever Transformer convention in the Resort World sentosa. I had the opportunity to attend and see what it was all about and I must say that it was pretty cool.

This convention pretty much showcased collectibles of Transformers and gave a brief overview on the various Transformer cartoon and toyline. For those who are living in a shell, Transformer is  a japanese creation of robots that shapeshift or 'transform' to vehicles. These robots were made popular by Hasbro and it became a big hit cartoon in Japan and the US. Eventually, It grew to be a global toy icon that captured the hearts of kids and young adults.

Huge Optimus Prime Statue in the Convention

While I was not able to catch to catch the lead designer Yoke Hideaki in the panel session. Here are some of the awesome collectibles featured in the convention.

Megatron from Transformer Animated

Classic G1 Optimus Prime!

Rodimus Prime from the Transformer Animated Movie

Another version of Optimus Prime

You can see more on the Toyconstruct's facebook page as I have uploaded the Transformer Cybertron Con 2012 album there.

Won't be describing much about the Transformers today as I am preoccupied with work and  Diablo 3 but admittedly, I have been catching the whole Robot craze recently. Furthermore, Transformer gives me a good nostalgic feeling since I use to collect several classic transformer figures.

There will be much more regular posts from me very soon... Thanks for the support!

See you all soon!

E3 2012 Demos

Hey Everyone

Hope you all are doing well and have plans for the summer ahead of all of us! Planning to paint more miniatures? Looking forward to summer movie releases? Or gallivanting through Sanctuary in farming/leveling exploits? We'd love to hear from you!!!

The E3 Expo (June 5-7) has just ended and there have been mounds of news and videos about video games! I've tried my best to keep up with them, and I have to say that there are a few videos that have caught my eye. For some reason, trailers and demos leave me wishing the games were already made, and yet at the same time...the overwhelming hype coupled with a disappointing release has killed many a title.

Tech Demos:

Computer technology has consistently progressed, and I feel that we're already at the stage where 360/PS3 graphics are generally considered obsolete. Only a few years ago were the 360/PS3 considered close to top-of-the-line graphics. While PC gamers may already be enjoying the current generation of graphics (eg. DirectX 11), the next generation of gaming consoles is almost around the corner.

Square Enix and Unreal have shown demos of their engines in E3, both depicting fantasy-ish settings with not much to go for storylines. Granted, these are tech demos which are only meant to showcase engine capabilities (eg. dynamic lighting and particle physics), and not full-feature movies or trailers to capture one's attention. Obviously, graphics-wise the engines deliver, and I wonder what kind of graphics will we be enjoying in 2/3 years?

These videos are best viewed full screen with HD quality.





A Couple of Games:

Also, a couple of games (from the plethora on display) captured my attention, primarily for their interesting settings and backstories. I'd love to hear from you other games that you are following!

Naughty Dog, famed for their Uncharted series, is currently developing The Last of Us, a  post-apocalyptic game that is like none other. It features a very unconventional duo: 40 year old black market smuggler (Joel) who smuggles 14 year old Ellie out of the quarantine zone as a promise to a dying friend. The story is rather intriguing as they are fleeing from the US military while facing the horrors of the wasteland (hostile survivors, infected humans). You can read more about the back story here.


(the song in the trailer is Hank Williams's "Alone and Forsaken", a song with rather gloomy lyrics about a girl who spurned a man)



From what I've seen so far, Naughty Dog has seriously delivered on the game atmosphere and it seems that game mechanics might prove interesting too...having a girl help you in innovative ways. Knowing the quality of the games that Naughty Dog is renowned for, do keep an eye out for The Last of Us, it may prove to be a great hit.

The other game that caught my eye is Ubisoft's Watch Dogs, which is set in the near future where a lot of human life has become digitized. I am generally not a big fan of Ubisoft's releases, but Watch Dogs looks set to be awesome.

Something akin to the awesome Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Watch Dogs is a cyberpunk game that sees you play as  Aiden Pearce, an anti-hero hacker extraordinaire of grey morality who uses both wits and hacking to get the better of his enemies. Not to rain on the parade, the supposed 2003 Blackout presented in the trailer contains both truth and fiction (more on the fiction side).





The eerie thing about Watch Dogs is that what is happening in that game...is already happening today. London is already slated to test out a city operating system, while cyberwarfare may become the next super weapon of the near-future. I feel that technology itself is neutral and its progress cannot be stopped...and the best we have is how we respond to such advances and how we use it as individuals.

I might be stating the obvious, but privacy is (or has already) becoming a thing of the past, and who knows how our lives will be changed by future information technology?

To quote from Albert Einstein from Red Alert...perhaps time will tell, sooner or later, time will tell.