garage kits

Garage Kits

"Garage Kits" are generally resin or vinyl based model kits, usually of (female) anime characters, although they may be of other things as well. The term apparently comes from the very limited production runs that these models are made in. They are, in a sense, made in the "garage" of the respective hobby shop they come from.

NG Knight Lamune & 40 TV series, 1/8 scale. "Hara-Hara World" costumes

Princess Milk
This was the second kit I ever assembled.

Princess Cocoa
The first kit I ever put together. I thought I did a pretty good job on it until I oversprayed the kit with a "protective" lacquer based clear coating that partially melted the acrylic paint. I had to repaint it and the finish became too thick, but it looks OK unless you very closely inspect it.

Leska
#3: I had a lot of trouble with this one, I recall. I don't think the head fit on the way it was supposed to

NG Knight Lamune & 40 TV series, 1/8 scale. "Doki-Doki Space" costumes

Princess Milk
I learned a lot from the previous three kits before I got to this set, and the quality of the work was beginning to improve

Princess Cocoa

Leska (Princess Cafe Au Lait)
This was an interesting kit. Technically by this time, Cafe Au Lait's hair had "magically" changed to dark yellow on light yellow instead of blue on yellow. However, I don't like that combination, so I kept the Leska blue streak.

NG Knight Lamune & 40 DX, 1/7 scale.

Seinaru Cacao ("Saint Cacao", Princess Cocoa in 'disguise')
This kit had a number of notable firsts. It was the first kit I painted with an airbrush. It was the first kit that I cut eyelashes out of small strips of aluminum from a soda can instead of painting them on.

It was also the first kit I ever dropped and broke. I reassembled it and its hard to tell where the damage was, except that if you look at it carefully, its a little crooked and some of the paint doesn't match.

I have her sister kit ( I got it on my Japan trip), 1/7 scale "Seinaru Milky", but I haven't assembled it yet. There is no "Seinaru Lemon" kit for some reason.

KO Seiki Beast Sanjuushi, 1/8 Scale

Mei Mah
This is a bootleg copy kit I got in Chinatown (NY). I completed this kit in about 6 hours, and it shows. Not that its bad, it just lacks the detail of some of the others. The base is made of cement, and I carved the Gaia symbol into it with a nail while the cement was drying. I recall repainting the hair twice, the first time the paint was way too dark.

Uni Charm Password
I did this kit much later than the Mei Mah above. I used aluminum can slivers for the eyelashes, and the larger parts were airbrush painted.

It's a really cute kit, isn't it?

Samurai Spirits (Samurai Shodown) {SNK video game character}

Nakoruru (1/5 Scale)

This is a monster kit I got on sale from HLJ for one hell of a deal at the time. She stands about 15 inches (38cm) tall. It wasn't particularly difficult to assemble, the large size made it easy. Although the included photograph shows her painted in the later blue and red striped outfit, I chose to paint her in the original Samurai Spirits colors. I have some pictures if you follow the links below that show the kit in various stages of assembly:

Nakoruru, large parts painted
Nakoruru, small parts painted
Preliminary Assembly
Final Assembly, Front
Final Assembly, Rear

Ranma 1/2

Akane (1/6 Scale)

I'll admit, I wasn't too keen into finishing this kit at the time. Her swimsuit is imprinted with a floral pattern, that I tried painting and couldn't. So, I filled the pattern in with modeling putty and painted the whole thing purple. Hey, at least I finished it!

I have two more unbuilt Ranma 1/2 kits put away that I'll finish one of these days.

Saber Marionette J

Lime (1/8 Scale)

I really, really like this kit. Click on the image for more information about it.

This was the first kit I've built in a long time. I used to use Polly S Fantasy Colors, but when I went looking for them I found out they were long discontinued. The D&D nerd at a local hobby shop suggested Partha paints, so I gave them a try. I was skeptical, they look a lot like poster paints. They are far too thick to airbrush, but with a good brush the look is almost identical. I'm very impressed with the Partha paints and I'll continue to use them.

Back to the Anime Page

	Princess Milk This was the second kit I ever assembled.
	Princess Cocoa The first kit I ever put together. I thought I did a pretty good job on it until I oversprayed the kit with a "protective" lacquer based clear coating that partially melted the acrylic paint. I had to repaint it and the finish became too thick, but it looks OK unless you very closely inspect it.
	Leska #3: I had a lot of trouble with this one, I recall. I don't think the head fit on the way it was supposed to

	Princess Milk I learned a lot from the previous three kits before I got to this set, and the quality of the work was beginning to improve
	Princess Cocoa
	Leska (Princess Cafe Au Lait) This was an interesting kit. Technically by this time, Cafe Au Lait's hair had "magically" changed to dark yellow on light yellow instead of blue on yellow. However, I don't like that combination, so I kept the Leska blue streak.