Links to custom painting?

[gol]

Does anyone have links to online people or services that do custom kit built & painting? Anywhere or more preferably europe? Thanks.

[Zurbaran1]

Aaron who's forum name is Hamming it up is in Europe, the UK, I believe. He's very good and does articles for AFM. If you're looking for someone over there drop him a line.

[Zurbaran1]

gol, I don't know how often Aaron checks in here so if you're interested in contacting him and can't find his e-mail let me know and I'll get it for you.

[gol]

I did find a post of him in a forum here. But before bothering him: how expensive? :)

Example of something I'm looking for is the Sorayama Cat statue (but it's just an example - I can't find the kit anyway), the prepaint version around has her dress fully opaque, while on Sorayama's painting the front is translucent.

It's a 1:4 scale statue, and I don't really know what kind of price to expect (for built & paint).
I more like plain, flat animé-like paintings with good flesh tones & faces.

[Zurbaran1]

You'll have to get in touch with him for any info on how much he charges. I can tell you that whatever these paintmasters charge for their work, it is well, well worth it. These guys are all artists and will leave you with something that is in many ways a one of a kind piece.

Now for the Sorayama kits, I actually do know a bit about these. The original Sorayama kits were released quite a few years ago by a Japanese company called Volks. 1/4 scale, these were huge and beautiful. Unless they have rereleased them or have started releasing new ones (and I don't think so on either count) these are long sold out. I purchased almost all the Sorayama kits (Commando, Amazon, Blind Beauty, Cutey Honey) directly from them many years ago. I sold all except the Cutey which I am having built up right now. The kits do show up from time to time on eBay but be prepared to pay dearly for them. But they are worth it. You should also be very careful. If you run into one of these and it is a bargain then you are almost 100% being sold a recast. The recasts are clearly inferior and should be avoided. They are crap and they suck. I know that there are now some pre-paints of these kits as well. They are nice but don't compare to an original built up kit. An original Sorayama kit built up and painted could easily run you $500+

There are quite a few anime kits out there from companies like Fewture, Kotobokiya and Volks to name a few. If you look around you should find them. Again though, watch out that you don't get snookered into a recast. I don't care how good they tell you they are, they don't compare to the originals. I had some really nice anime style Cutey Honey kits and they were quite affordable.

[gol]

these are long sold out

Commando is still available at hobbyfan:

http://www.hobbyfan.com/product_info.php?bcAdult=yes&products_id=1101

but no cat :(

They are nice but don't compare to an original built up kit. An original Sorayama kit built up and painted could easily run you $500+

I'm about to (maybe) get a prepainted Commando for around $300. It sucks since they have been around for $80 (how?), and I almost bought it for $150 but hesitated too long. I've hunted to find it at a low price but it's sold out everywhere :(, and they all reached way over $300 on ebay..

I don't know what the Commando prepainted is worth, but on the pics it looks quite nice.

[RickDTM]

gol - Unfortunately, the one at Hobbyfan is a recast. No way an original Volks Commando kit would sell for $120.

[Zurbaran1]

gol, like I was saying, you have to be really careful when looking for Sorayama kits. As Rick has pointed out, that one is definitely a recast. The original kit sold for between $200-$300, closer to $300 if I remember correctly. No way you'll find one for $140. The original is a masterpiece. This one won't even come close.

[gol]

Ok thanks.. btw how do you recognize a recast? I mean, this is not some obscure seller but a well known one. Also, if it's just by the price - we all made good deals here, we all found stuff at half-price, no?

Also do you know if the prepainted Commando is worth anything?

[Zurbaran1]

Recasts are generally quite easy to identify, especially if they are in front of you. The castings are clearly inferior. They will not come with the manufacturers packaging. I bet this one comes in a plain white box with maybe a xeroxed xopy of the piece taped on it. They will generally be missing some or all of the accessories that came with the original. They will be a lot cheaper (as you just saw).

I don't know alot about the pre-paints. A few years back Volks released a pre-paint of the Sorayama Cutey Honey. I think it retailed for $250. It was a nice piece with a decent paintjob. But, a buildup of the original done by a pro will blow it away, as you will see shortly :) They seem to have recently reissued these or sold off remaining stock at a much more affordable price of around $100. I'm not sure how they are doing that.

I imagine the Commando may be the same deal. I don't think the Commando pre-paint can compare to the kit. This was an elaborate, highly detailed kit with mainly small pieces. The pre-paint may not be able to capture all this. But I'm sure it is quite nice and since it's almost impossible to find a kit, it may be the only way to own this. Again, you have to be careful. Make sure you are getting the pre-paint and not a recast that was built and painted. The packaging should be the tip off.

When I sold off all my original kits I made sure to include pictures of not only the kit but the acessories included and the packaging. This allows the purchasers to immediately identify the kits as the real deal.

[Zurbaran1]

By the way there are several well know dealers who are selling Sorayama recasts, so you can't go by that. The price is a huge tipoff because you will never find an original kit at bargain prices unless you get lucky and the seller doesn't know what he has.

[gol]

Make sure you are getting the pre-paint and not a recast that was built and painted. The packaging should be the tip off.

Well it's from the web so I won't see much before.. getting it :(


The quality of the painting is always a surprise to me - for ex, the kaiyodo 12inch Rei & Asuka statues from 2003, amazing paint job, and recently the dark horse statue based on one of luis royo's painting (royo.. I had to get one), pretty poor painting.


So you think a prepainted commando would be worth $300?

[Danno]

I believe the Volks Sorayama Commando statue came out in 2000 and retailed for something like $290.00 US. If you can find one for $300.00 you should be in pretty good shape (not too sure how many were made, but knowing Volks....I'm sure the numbers were low). The big thing is to confirm that is is actually a Volks statue rather than a cheap knock-off (lots of cheap knock offs were made with very poor castings and extremely poor paint work).

[Hamming it up]

HI Zurbaran1, Gol,

Thanks Zurbaran for remembering and recommending me. I am indeed located in the UK. I am avalible for commissions and at a very resonable rate. Check out AFM issue's 32 & 33 for examples of my work.

For prices just drop me a email or PM me.

Aaron

[gol]

Hi.
I'm not familiar with AFM (I'm a noob here - but ok I found the web site of the mag), but I saw your work in this forum - quite cool.
Do you have a fav style of statue or do you do everything? These days I'm into japanese statues, and a lot is only available as kits - especially hentai ones.

[Hamming it up]

Hi Gol,

I can paint pretty much anything if given the reference material. My fav is classic horror but I am happy to paint anything.

Aaron

[gol]

Thanks, I'll see for the next time I find something. Apparently I'm told that sorayama volks kits are too hard to find.
But now there's this little asuka I'm interested in:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ASUKA-BLACK-WHITE-DRESS-WF2004-1-6-RESIN-KIT_W0QQitemZ5993606005QQcategoryZ49210QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Hamming it up]

Just drop me a PM or mail if you need anything.

Aaron

[Strontium Dog]

Hey Aaron, don't you dare take on any more work. I've got waaay too much stuff that needs painting! LOL!


Seriously though gol I cannot recommend Aaron highly enough. Top painter and a top bloke to go with it.

[Zurbaran1]

HI Zurbaran1, Gol,

Thanks Zurbaran for remembering and recommending me. I am indeed located in the UK. I am avalible for commissions and at a very resonable rate. Check out AFM issue's 32 & 33 for examples of my work.

For prices just drop me a email or PM me.

Aaron

No problem Aaron. I'm wondering, I sent a fellow in Scotland a Spiderman Wall plaque and unfortunately it didn't make it in one piece. I told him to contact you about repairing it. Did he ever get in touch?

[Hamming it up]

SD, Don't worry mate I have just sent you some pics of your Batman I just finished you. Thanks for the kind words about the paint up's, it means a lot to me.

Zurb, he never got in touch.

Regards,

Aaron