Deviant Feature return here atthe Garage and what better to have on our hot seat this time than the incredible Bang-Doll-SSI. His interests in mecha is broad: his works include a number of gunpla, Maschinen Kreiger, Warhammer 40,000 and historical models (warplanes, battleships, armor etc.). Read all about him and take heed on his golden pieces of plamo advice! Carry on!
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| Masterclassed HG 1/144 Gundam 00 Qan[T] |
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| All out! |
Bang-Doll-SSI: Dade W. Bell. I’m also usually called Karybdis everywhere else, but DA (Karybdis was already taken).
Rai's Garage:Tell us something about yourself: age, occupation, country of origin, other hobbies/interests beyond DA etc.
Bang-Doll-SSI: I’m 38. My occupation is ostensibly a professional commission model builder, but I’m also a kind of assistant to my fiancée, who is an author. So, yeah, kinda weird… I’m from the United States and I can’t really think of any hobbies I have that aren’t already reflected in my work on DA. Models, history, sci-fi, anime, and video games pretty much sums me up completely.
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| B-D-S's Maschinen Krieger Polar BEar 1 |
Bang-Doll-SSI: Gunpla models with the occasional historic model thrown in (planes, ships, tanks).
Rai's Garage: How did you know of DA?
Bang-Doll-SSI: Years ago when DA first started and all my friends got on, I was really wrapped up in a bunch of other stuff. Then I forgot about it for a few years and suddenly I remembered one day, so I immediately jumped on and haven’t looked back. Those friends who first got on are now gone, but my new friends on DA are just as great!
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| Excellent Inner Frame work on his PG Red Frame |
Bang-Doll-SSI: I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis when I was 12. Now, 26 years later, both of my wrists are surgically fused and I only have the use of five fingers with limited movement. So model building is not only a fun hobby, but is a kind of therapy that keeps my fingers going and allows me to be artistic. It’s also a way of thinking about what I could accomplish if I ever lose the use of all my fingers. Wow, that’s depressing… lol
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| Pretty tall for a Tau Broadside huh? :D |
Bang-Doll-SSI: I’m never quite sure what will suddenly motivate me to try something. It can be something so bizarre as playing a certain MS in Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, that despite seeing that MS for years prior, the game suddenly has me wanting to build a model kit of it. Or it might be a certain painting technique I’ll spot somewhere and decide I have to try that myself. Also, if someone enjoys or is inspired by any of my work, that’s a big inspirational high to me that tells me I’m doing something right.
Rai's Garage: Craziest thing you did for a piece of work/deviation?
Bang-Doll-SSI: The ongoing saga of my 1/250 scale model of the IJN Musashi battleship (sister of the Yamato). I decided that I wanted to update and detail this 40” long monster and reshaped the bow, added a bunch of plating on the smooth hull, weld lines, and rivets. Also, a bunch of internal detail in the bridge including scratch built binoculars and other stuff. And of course, all the photot etch, the wood deck and on and on. Needless to say I started on this thing 3 years ago and am still working on it. Yikes!
Rai's Garage: What is your favorite piece of work?
Bang-Doll-SSI: It’s a toss up between my G-System Qubeley Mk II Ple Custom and the 1/350 IJN Kongo (Japanese battleship).
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| Might as well put two of his fave here |
Rai's Garage: Aside from DA, where can we watch you?
Bang-Doll-SSI: My website has some of my older stuff as well as links to model ship reviews I’ve written (I used to be heavily involved in model ships): http://www.historywithdade.com/
Also, my Youtube channel, which has little history shorts I’ve made and anime con opening videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/Hetzer
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| He also dabbles on Zoids |
Bang-Doll-SSI: This will get long-winded, but I’ll try not to get boring. ;) I’ll talk about scale effect, since it doesn’t get much coverage in Gunpla. When you paint something smaller, try to lighten your color palate a little bit, so that your detail work can be better seen. The smaller the scale, the lighter the color. This is an idea used to great effect in historic models, and some of the best Gunpla builds in the Japanese press do this too.
Adding on to that, never use metal flake paint from spray cans from automotive shops or similar (Krylon, etc.), for the same reason. Those metal flakes are made to go on objects in real life at full size So when you spray a 1/100 (or worse, 1/144) model with them, think about how huge those flakes would be on the real thing scaled up to 1/1 scale! If you must go the metal flake route (instead of the much better clear colors over bright silver), don’t skimp-- get actual scale-appropriate paint from Gunze, etc.
Finally, in a similar vein, I’ll pass on something Mr. Katsumi Kawaguchi told me: if you put your model in a scene, try to include something that gives the impression of scale… a person, car, etc. It helps to establish that the little 4” 1/144 model is depicting a 60’ tall mecha! I don’t build many dioramas, so it’s something I have yet to do.
I’ll add that conversely, for photos, don’t pose your MS kits in the real world with plants that are way out of scale with your model. Nothing makes a model look fake and tiny like posing it next to the plants in your mom’s garden or the lawn! Gigantic super plants may be the thing in a movie like James Cameron’s Avatar, but for most real robot mecha shows, it doesn’t work. There are some plants that look good and in scale (small brush plants and lichens), so try to find those.
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| Lastly, we have his Green MG Musha Gundam |
Rai's Garage: Thank you very much!
Bang-Doll-SSI: Thanks!
Watch Bang-Doll-SS on his Deviantart account here.
All works and pictures are owned and copyright by the artist and is used with proper permission.
2 comments:
Waaaah that battleship!!!
my sentiments exactly D.A.R.
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