Spring-clean

“What’s worse than cleaning the house? Dusting your figures perhaps.”

Mopping the floor was never Ram’s favorite task around the mansion. Maybe that’s why she looks annoyed. Or maybe Subaru stepped on the wet floor again, who knows?

About the figure:

This figure of Ram is the counterpart to Goodsmile‘s classic Rem and they were both originally released in 2018 and they also got a recent rerelease. Interestingly, in 2018 Goodsmile released Ram first, followed a few days later by her twin-sister and for the rerelease Rem was first and Ram followed. Regardless of order and dates, it’s always a bit strange when they do not release such thematically close figures, that are also meant to be displayed together (their bases can be interlocked) at the same time.

The rerelease on the other side I can totally get behind because both figures still look fantastic. Today they might not stand out as much but four years ago a quality release like this was quite the highlight. Needless to say, that figures were also much more affordable back in the day. Molding and coloring are booth solid like you would expect from GSC. Nothing special, but for the time it was really something. And of course, the best thing about this Ram in particular: It’s one of those rare figures that are able to stand on their own without the base or any additional support. For a figure photographer like me this is the absolute dream scenario. 

About the series:

Honestly I didn’t plan for another Re:Zero related photo so soon but after my weather house project two month ago, I once again have to write about this series. Season two of the anime concluded last spring but I guess since the novel series is still ongoing and the IP is beloved, I would be surprised if there won’t be further seasons down the road. Sorry, but if you are interested in my stance about the show, I have to redirect you to one of the other entries on this site.

Thoughts about the picture:

Originally, I planned for another project to be my first photo in 2022 but I realized that I couldn’t get the materials for the props in time and therefore I had to reschedule.  Besides, I also had one week of vacation where I sat down and started crafting.

Starting with the tall wall-cupboard I modelled the scenery after this image of the Roswaal mansion’s kitchen, that I found online. Believe it or not, it’s relatively simple to recreate a scene like this. At least I find it much easier as to come up with something original. Building small furniture is also super satisfying and I’m always get inspired by watching those DIY miniature videos on Instagram. Since all my builds are for blurry background props only, I can also be a bit sloppier, when it comes to things like gap dimensions or clean edges. As long as it looks nice when photographed I’m happy. Most of my furniture is made out of balsa wood. Therefore, they are all very light and it’s an easy material to work with but also it tends to fray on corners and it soaks paint like crazy. Also, it’s kinda expensive compared to normal plywood or cardboard.

Booth the wall and the floor are made out of real marble tiles, glued to a wooden board. I guess I could have used some lighter materials, like foam or clay but I wanted to have an authentic texture. The bright colored wall and floor were very beneficially when it came to lighting but it also made the whole set pretty heavy. In terms of side-builds the only really notable thing was the water bucket, where I took a plastic shot glass, shortened it a bit and painted it with some metallic effect acrylic paint. I think it looks convincing enough. All the other miniatures were just re-used from other projects and builds.

Taking the photo was a joy since the figure didn’t require any self-made mount and the whole set came together very lovely. In fact, it was one of those projects, where I was kinda sad when I deconstructed it afterwards. I wish I had tons of space, then I could put all those dioramas on display.

Sony Alpha 7R II, 55mm Sony lens / ISO 100 /exposure time 1/5 sec. /aperture: f/7.1

Time and effort: I was surprised how quick this whole thing came together. I would say it was one of my best sets in terms of time-spend/how-it-looks ratio. Making the wooden furniture was the most time consuming of course but they might be finding their way into other projects. 

Costs of the props: New Year, new materials. I had to buy a bit of wood, paint and also the stone tiles for the wall and the floor. But the total costs were manageable, since I could use already existing miniatures as well. 

Advertisement