White Balance

Camera Used: Nikon D3100

Above are the White Balance set to Auto

Here is another with set to Flourescent 6 Daylight

Another below are the 1 with custom preset

Best Shot so far, Custom preset white balance, F/7.1, 1/6sec, ISO100

DIY Light Tent

Light tent aka (Light box/Soft Box) is a mini studio that is ideal when shooting photography for products or small objects.
The idea is to get box to diffuse the external light source and softening the shadows.

A typical light tent such as above can be easily purchased from camera shop.
However the price is definitely expensive RM80-RM100
With the additional 2 Studio Lights it cost another additional RM300-RM500


My below project consist of cheap materials you can find anywhere.
1 x Card box (Preferable square type)
1 x Mahjong paper (RM0.30)
1 x White colour manila card (RM0.60)
1 x Top Light (Philips Energy Saving Light Stick or Spiral. 23W (125W) E27 Cool Daylight. E27 is ideal here as it provides maximum wattage)
2 x Side Light (optional for better lighting)

The above materials can be easily sourced with the most important and expensive one which is lighting.
IKEA also provides numerous of flexible table lamp that can be adjust on the lighting.
The cheapest table lamp i can found from IKEA is cost around RM11.90 plus a light bulb around RM17. Your total cost for this project is way cheaper than the 1 selling outside.

However bear in mind that this Larga lamp only takes E14 light bulb and certain design only as the reflector restricting bigger E14 bulbs.

With all the materials on hand you can cut 4 sides "window panel".
I am not going through details tutorial here as there are many you can find from the internet.
Here is how the light tent looks like.

And here are the outcomes from the light tent.
There is still lots of room for improvement here as i am using 1 down light from room only.

Introduction of Gunpla

This is my 1st blog of Gundam Modelling (Gunpla aka Gundam Plastic Model).
The model below is the latest Gundam AGE-1 Normal which i bought at pasar malam.
Since i have not been doing modeling for more than 10 years, i guess i should just settle with the china brand version.

Gundam was officially licensed by Bandai and all are made from Japan.
However in the market we often find immitation from China brand such as TT HongLi, Gao Gao, etc.
The version i bought is from Dragon Momoko which is surprisingly not bad for the price :)

Manufacturer: Dragon Momoko (DM)
Scale: 1/144 (12 inches tall)
Grade: Replica of High Grade
Origin: Gundam AGE-1
Price: RM22

Here are the tools that i have been using for the entire building Gundam process.
My main weapon is the cutter which aged probably older than me.
My entire cost for this new hobbies consists of below with the remaining can be found at home.
Gundam Pen Marker: RM11
China Brand :Gundam Age-1 :RM22
Eraser: RM0.50

As you can see the quality of china products are not bad which is quite close to the original Bandai (view from pictures). But it does feels like cheapo plastic and not smooth with the color a bit washed out. Also you can find here are the assembled parts without any cosmetics. I applied the lining later and you are able to see the picture comparison from below.
As you can see it does help in getting a bit more detail especially on the leg parts.

Here's a comparison of Bandai vs DM.
As you can see one is more detailed. Can you guess which 1 is Bandai?

Final Verdict: Exact replica of original but overall plastic quality was not up to par which is way below Bandai but i guess what you pay is what you get.
My next post will be The Making of RX-78-2 which is based on original Bandai :)