17 Akiyama Mio (Hobby Max/Kiking)

Another commission kit for a MFC member. I hope to have a few more up in the next months because I wasn’t lazy and spent the last half a year sanding and preparing kits. Maybe then I can also get a few done for myself :’D. This kit is an awesome sculpt from the talented Kiking and I worked with an original figure for a change (I think there are no recasts of this one so it’s pretty rare!). I love this figure so I was delighted when I was asked to paint her. Even if I can’t keep her, I have a few pretty photos for my gallery so it’s all good.

I can get kits done faster when the cast is good. It had its share of seamlines (big ones on her boots) and micro bubbles but the fitting was really really amazing. In hindsight, I would have gone crazy if the fitting wasn’t perfect. There are so many parts that cross each other at some point, expecially her hair and just imagine the horror if the guitar strap was too short! In fact, I was so nervous when attaching her guitar strap because it was a super close fit.

You’d think she isn’t that complex since you basically have to paint everything black, right? Too much black color doesn’t do her layers of hair justice of which she had just so SO many. It’s one of those things that are hard to capture in photos because it looks so flat but her hair is really impressive. So she got a dark purple shade instead of deep black. She doesn’t look like Mio in the first place so you might as well add a little artistic freedom as the painter. It was fun building an amp and seeing all those parts slip into place was exciting. I also added white to my standard skin color since she appears very pale on the prototype pictures (and the original artwork).

The only thing that worries me is getting her safely to her owner. D: She’s a fragile little thing. But nonetheless, enjoy the pictures!

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