Moon Rabbit Mina is a weird little obsession of mine. It was part of a fantastic drama series called “Densha Otoko” as a fake anime that the main characters were enamored with. The drama proved to be so popular that they decided to actually make a real anime series based on those fake characters. Problem is, they forgot in all the hubbub that you need more than great character designs and a couple well known actors to have a successful anime (well, most of the time, though it seems to be the basis of most “moe” anime success). The show was a complete flop and poor little Mina has all but been forgotten.
For a brief period there in 2005 though, Mina was hot stuff. Volks stood behind the series and made kits of all the main females and they were gorgeous, but none sold as well as the original figure based on the one from the Densha Otoko drama.
As a fan of the show, of course I had to have this figure as soon as I learned it actually existed. I was so excited to complete it that I made a few mistakes along the way. I found out later that a lot of it was due to the paint I was using being too old.
When you paint with acrylics, you have to be a bit careful as your working time is limited. When the paint dries it changes to latex, so you’re essentially painting with uncured plastic. When that paint gets old, just like a plastic drinking bottle its chemical makeup starts to change. In the case of paint, it starts gradually hardening no matter how tightly sealed you keep it.
When you use paint this has started to happen to it can cause all sorts of problems, most notably increased resistance and brush strokes. If you buy a bottle or tube of paint and it seems thicker than it should be, return it if at all possible. It’s just not worth the headache. Brush strokes are great in some art, but they’re the enemy of figure painters. That’s why some people skip handpanting together and go right for airbrushing with lacquers or specially formulated acrylics, like Tamiya.
Fortunately Mina still looks adorable, and she sits on my desk and attempts to motivate me every day! Keep at it Mina, I’ll get to work… sometime.
