I'll write a little about Lancer Raikō, sculpted by Benchmark (Patreon)

It's that time of year again, the 2023 Wonder Fest Winter.

Once again, my main focus was to greet the dealers. While I was able to talk to some of the people I had originally planned to meet, there were others I was not able to... I experienced what tends to happen only at real events each time.

I sometimes attend to help my friends, but I also have more than a little desire to be on the dealer's side with modeling myself. I often feel that real events like Wonder festival are a source of motivation that I cannot get from online events alone.

That is why I am struggling with zbrush everyday, but there are still a lot of things I don't understand. I have to be diligent every day.

Living in a rural area, it is almost impossible to meet people who are into modeling, much less garage kits, which is a very niche hobby.

I would like to participate in exhibitions, but I often have to forego them because I don't have anything to show, but I always think it would be fun to exhibit and talk about my work.

So I would like to participate in an exhibition if the timing is right after I have completed something.

Well, I have to preface this post by saying that I would like to talk a little about Benchmark's Lancer Raikō, which was exhibited and sold at the wf2023 winter.

Benchmark's twitter :

https://twitter.com/benti1983

┃Surface treatment work is minimal despite the large volume. Amazing parts precision

Garage kits are cast by making a silicon mold from a prototype and pouring two-component polyurethane resin into the mold.

In this process, parting lines (like bumps) are inevitably created at the joints of the molds. The surface treatment and sanding processes are used to clean and even out these lines.

Huh? What are you talking about? You may be thinking, well, wait a minute.

Resin casting is a craftsman's art, so if a novice like me does it, for example, I'll get air bubbles and huge bumps, and I won't be able to sell this stuff to anyone.

In such cases, we would ask a vendor who specializes in resin casting to do the job, but of course, this process is the same, so seam lines will inevitably occur (although in the case of a good vendor, it will kept to a minimum).

Knowing a little about this replication process and surface treatment, one can intuitively understand that this Raikō's kit is cast with extremely good replication techniques.

So let's have a look at this kind of parts first!

I am sure everyone thinks the same thing. "Her hands are so beautiful.

Of course, there is no objection to this, but this is a photo of the state in which no sanding has been done at all. If you have completed garage kits to some extent, I can assure you that you will be scared to death when you see the real thing.

Look at the gap between the fingers in the third and fourth pictures. This area is usually not this clean. There is usually a seam line and a little bit of thin skin. However, it is surprising that even such a thing is not there at all and is sealed as it is.

Not only that, but the clear cast used for the vajra and hair is replicated with exactly the same or even higher precision. There is no doubt that you will say "OMG, what kind of technology..." when you take a closer look at the parts.

https://twitter.com/sukimasangyo2/status/1625126393532014593

https://twitter.com/sukimasangyo2/status/1625484842166284291

I was just going to check parts, but I built them with too much vigor...

Not only the precision of the resin casting, but also the precision of the mating of the parts is so high that it can be assembled with just a little sanding and pinning.

Normally, it takes about 20 hours for sanding and temporary assembly for this volume, but in reality, I think it took only about 10 hours. Or maybe a little less than that...?

It was a type of cast I had never seen before, with a partial medium-sized hot water spout and support marks, so I am curious to know how it was done. Of course, this is a resin cast kit, not a 3D printed one.

As a single user, this lack of assembly stress is not only 100 points, but far more than 100 points for the user experience. Although it is assembled easily, the deep groove areas such as around the cleavage are not modified at all.

The valleys and other areas that get crazy deep usually have strange bulges due to distortion of the silicone.

You may need to correct such areas by yourself, but even that is not necessary. I can say that it is truly on a different level among the casts I have touched.

The delicately sculpted vajra is also free of any air bubbles, so there should be no doubt that it is a stand-alone work of art.

It is truly nothing short of fortuitous to be able to assemble such an amazing piece of work.

And I believe that we must continue to support sculptors who can realize such exquisite modeling and the vendors who have the casting technology to support them.