Sunday, July 29, 2012

Belt Mod (Incomplete) - KR Faiz Newer Belt

Used 1 of the newly acquired silver colour belt (4.5cm wide) for my KR Faiz belt... Looks so much better than the old belt, except.... the new belt strap looks naked... need to make the vertical pieces soon...


Back view of belt... somehow the black colour of the back side of the belt makes it looks nice, matching to the buckle... The original belt's (silver) buckle is retained for length adjustments... Next time then do the vertical strap pieces, very tired now... 


Belt Mod - Candy Toy KR OOO Belt and Weapon Set

Yesterday collected the belts ordered from Taobao... was pleasantly happy for most of the belts and snap buckles received, but the narrower belts (to be used for the candy toy belts) are a little too thick and can't be sewn with my normal-sized needle easily...

Anyway, manage to spend the whole evening, night, early morning for making a new belt for my little nephew's candy toy KR OOO belt and weapon set... Front of the set shown in below picture...


Added a simple strap-holster for the sword using velcro-straps and a part of a snap-assembly connector... holds quite well!


Just a picture to show the other side's view...


Retained the original belt buckle for length adjustment... Initially wanted to use the fabric strap's snap connector but this belt is too thick... Later use a part of this connector for making the sword holster part...  


Inside view of holster, adjustable along the belt...


Inside view of the O Scanner holder attaching to the belt... Barely adjustable along the belt, very tight...


Inner view of the buckle mod... Attached 2 white snap-assembly clips to mimic the original belt where both sides can be detached... All parts are connected with cable ties and wrapped up with silver-chromed tape...  a bit ugly...


Hope my little nephew likes it!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

July Purchase (3) - DX Kamen Rider Decade K-Touch

Item from eBay just arrived an hour ago, and it is the DX Kamen Rider Decade K-Touch!!!! Yeap, bought it to complete my little nephew's DX KR Decade gears... Cost approx $48.15... Its the Korean version though... But don't think will make any difference... I hope...

Minor Mod - DX Kamen Rider Saga (Sagarc) - Jacorder

The DX Kamen Rider Saga (Sagarc) Belt comes with a Wake-Up Fuestle and a weapon called Jacorder. Unfortunately, the belt does not have anywhere to hold these 2 items, nor a container for storing. To make it worse, the Jacorder has a super-duper short blade that makes it ridiculous and hilarious. So I decided to mod the blade for a more show accurate version, at least in the length...

The original red "blade" is removed from the holder-piece (black) and a common extendable antenna is used instead. I have to use a small plastic pipe to join the antenna head to the holder-piece (black) with some trimming.  A screw is then screwed onto the other end of the plastic pipe as a blocker to block the blade from sliding out of the holder-piece (BLACK)... However, the plastic pipe broke at the weakness lines (yes, I should NOT have used a screw to secure the plastic pipe to the antenna head)... Finally I had to super-glued the together, reinforce using the tissue+super-glue method, and now it is finally ok.. but need to note not to pull it out completely if possible, in case break again... Touch wood...


Now it looks better.... I don't think I will colour the blade red as the sliding action might scratch off any paint/stain put over it...

July Purchase (2) - DX Kamen Rider Den-O Belt, KO KR Den-O Mask, DX Kamen Rider Saga (Sagarc) Belt

Received these items on Monday night, bought from Taobao.com... Quite happy...


DX Kamen Rider Den-O Belt
Yes, for my little nephew, to complete his Den-O DX stuff! When I wanted to give him last night, I stupidly gave him the DX Ride Booker (which I originally wanted to give during National Day holidays) instead... sigh... Cost approx $71.30...



KO KR Den-O Mask
Also bought a KO Den-O mask... The mask material is EXTREMELY flimsy plastic... The mask is stored in between 2 clear plastics which luckily, has the moulding details of the mask itself, meaning I can actually paint them to become Den-O's masks too! The figurines are made of cheapo plastics and I threw them away as soon as I de-tombed this item... Cost approx. $18...



DX Kamen Rider Saga (Sagarc) Belt
Bought this because it is cheap... hahahahaha.... yes, cheap... DX belt for only $33.70, how can I not buy??!!! hahahaha... anyway, originally intend to buy it to use the belt connector and transfer to my KR Faiz belt, but on later thought, maybe I can mod this to an older version of the Kamen Rider Ichigo belt... Or maybe leave it as it is...

Previously... July's Purchase - DX KR Decade Ride Booker, Candy(less) Toy KR Decade Figurine, Candy Toy KR Birth Driver / Birth Buster / OOO Taja Spinner, Candy Toy KR Double (W) Prism Sword / Bicker Shield / Accel Trial Memory

Today's haul at OG PP and CSC... Went crazy and impulse buys... But nevermind lah, at least still worth...


DX KR Decade Ride Booker
Bought this at OG PP, because suddenly felt like completing my little nephew's KR Decade gears...  And also he has been "showing" me review clips from Youtube on this (and K Touch too)... Anyway, it is way way cheaper than getting from TaoBao.com and even eBay... and it is the Japanese version... hahahaha... To add to the impulse, I also ordered a K-Touch (the Korean version) from eBay... hahahaha... From the Youtube reviews, this Ride Booker can only store 5 cards on 1 of the side, has a simplest transformation into gun mode, and a little teeny weeny blade in sword mode.... hahaha... Cost approx. $56 after 20% discount.



Candy(less) Toy KR Decade Figurine
Also bought this in OG PP, cost $5.90... There is a sticker that says no candy is inside... wow, "special" edition... Picture below shows the front, side and back of the box...



Candy Toy KR Birth Driver / Birth Buster / OOO Taja Spinner
Went back to CSC after purchasing the above 2 items, and bought more Candy Toys... must be crazy... Saw this set selling at about $10 more in the shop where I got the next Candy Toy set (Candy Toy KR Double (W) Prism Sword / Bicker Shield / Accel Trial Memory), and probably that's why  bought this set... Not open up yet, but think will keeo the KR Birth Belt and Buster first, unless little nephew wants... but will be giving him the Taja Spinner (hmmm.. can put his mini medals?)... Cost is $25.



Candy Toy KR Double (W) Prism Sword / Bicker Shield / Accel Trial Memory
Coincidentally, the shop, which I bought the previous Candy Toy set (Candy Toy KR Birth Driver / Birth Buster / OOO Taja Spinner), is also selling this set but for about $10 more... Yeap, although I have the mini KR Double(W) belt, this Prism Bicker candy toy is for my little nephew... Though I think I will take the Accel Trial Memory to keep first... Cost is $25.

Previously... June's Purchase (IV) - DX Kamen Rider Kiva Belt

Oh, btw, forget to take a pic of the DX Kiva Belt bought off eBay earlier... Do so now... This will be the Christmas present for my little nephew...

Minor Mod - Kamen Rider Faiz (555) Belt

I added straps with snap-in buckle fitting (recycle from an old waist-pouch) to fit the belt to my fat belly. Took some time to sew the straps securely, ensuring the plastic belts are not damaged. In the end, achieved the quick snap-in function, as well as adjustable length feature (in case I get slimmer/fatter in future, hahahahaha...)...


Picture below shows the female-connector of the snap-in buckle. The grey strap is looped over the small "belt-tidier" piece and strap sewn closed.


Picture below shows the male-connector of the snap-in buckle. The grey strap is looped through the 3rd hole of the belt and strap sewn closed. I even sewn the straps together at the 1st hole position to prevent belt from moving off position too much.




Sigh... my DX KR Faiz belt strap cracked and tore... due to my carelessness when trying to keep it inside the gearbox/briefcase... And after many attempts, manage to glue it back, though it looks very ugly now... Don't know why but it just seem to hate going back to its original place when gluing, so now the crack lines are VERY visible... sigh... anyway, have ordered some silver belts and such in TaoBao.com, so will mod the belts again when they arrive... Yeap, also gotten some for my nephew's mini KR OOO belt and micro KR Fourze belt...

Previously... June's Purchase (III) - Kamen Rider Faiz (555) DX Basic Gear Set

1 item from eBay arrived! And it has to be my most expensive order from eBay to date... Presenting the Kamen Rider Faiz (555) Basic Gear Set! "As you can see", this basic set consists of (from top-left, clockwise): Faiz Phone and Driver, Faiz Pointer, Faiz Shot, and Faiz Gearbox. Cost me USD 220 (approximately SGD 288.75)... Super expensive, in fact, I have consider many many many times to delete this item off my Watch List, but in the end... Anyway, quite fun...



The Faiz Gearbox comes with ... nothing, as in none of the gears, it is just an empty briefcase. I immediately tear off the sticker pasted at the back of the Belt compartment, and the printed cardboard in the Gearbox that shows the details of the various Faiz gears... Don't like these, felt too "kidish"... The gears can all fit into the Gearbox... well, almost all... because of show accuracy (eg. Faiz has his Pointer holster at his leg naturally after transformed, so he need not dig into his briefcase to hunt for the holder to hold the Faiz Pointer...)... you get what I mean... Anyway, the big words "SMART BRAIN" is printed on a silver foil sticker, quite nice...



Opening the Faiz Gearbox will show you the (spaces to store) Faiz gears. "As you can see", there is an empty space for the Faiz Axel Watch, which is super expensive in eBay... Don't think I will be getting 1 in the near future, unless struck lottery... The empty space is also too small to store the Pointer holder, sad... anyway...



In the middle of the Faiz Gearbox is a divider plastic piece that can be unlatched to fold down and reveal the space for putting the Henshin belt (Faiz Driver). It is indeed a bit worrying to need to bend the belt straps so much in order to store in the Henshin belt (Faiz Driver), after connecting the belt straps to the Driver unit... But lazy to every time remove the belt straps from the Driver unit, so ...



Picture below shows the miscellaneous parts that cannot be stored in the Faiz Gearbox.

Previously... June's Purchase (II) - LRS Kamen Rider Ryuki Henshin Belt, Kamen Rider Double/W DX Superbest Henshin Belt, Candy Toy Kamen Rider Double/W Henshin Belt And Maximum Slot

LRS Kamen Rider Ryuki Henshin Belt
Bought this LRS Kamen Rider Ryuki Henshin Belt today at BHG Bugis... Read on the web that BHG is selling LRS belts but did not say which outlet, so after some research, end with 2 outlets that have children toy section. Went over to BHG Junction 8 first, and it is a complete waste of time... Going over to BHG Bugis, and luckily, manage to find then belts!  Was so tempted to get another LRS Blade belt for making the belt extensions, but decided not to due to the too high price despite having a 20% discount offer... And Agito's one is too un-interesting... so in the end, got this for my little nephew... and saw in the review, the main buckle is essentially the same as the DX version, which means the DX card-cartridge (or whatever the name is) can be used here, or vice versa... (of course I can't really confirm this; I don't own a DX version)... Anyway, will be giving him as his birthday presento instead of the denkamen sword instead...  Oh, price is $42.36 (after discount)...



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gotten these 2 gems from CSC today... Very happy as I had been hunting for the KR Double/W belt for long time (yes, 1 of the many "favorite" belt of my little nephew, hahaha...), and couldn't find a suitable price in TaoBao.com, and though found 1 in eBay to be quite ok in price, I still got to consider in the additional travel fee... Anyway, seems that a Hong Kong re-issue of the normal DX version will happen in July (seen in TaoBao sellers pre-order), and Japan will release the 2nd wave of the Superbest version in August (read from HLJ, if I remember correctly)... Anyway, bought this at (my) reasonable price...

Kamen Rider Double/W DX Superbest Henshin Belt
Bought this brand new piece from a stall with a nice lady and a gentleman called Vincent (Thanks for the discount! =)  ) My little nephew used to make me say "Cyclone!" and he will say "Jok~a~r", and "force" me to faint off like the Philip character... Hahaha... Have not open up yet, intend to give my little nephew next time, not so soon... Cost me $115...



Candy Toy Kamen Rider Double/W Henshin Belt And Maximum Slot
Bought this set simply because I need a belt to transform together with my little nephew (in future) !!!!! Hahahahaha... Have open up the boxes, and as expected, the belt strap is too short for my humongous tummy, ahahahahahaha..... Anyway, a total 6 Gaia Memories are included in these 2 boxes, ie. similar to that in the Superbest DX version! Sweet... However, they are only pure hollow plastic pieces with no electronics (whihc I don't really care, since the sounds can be provided by the DX one while playing).  The belt has lights that can switch on though, quite a nice touch... The Maximum Slot can only play the "Joker" 's words and sound effects, so does not matter which Gaia Memory is inserted... Cost $30 for the 2 boxes...



Minor Mod - LRS Kamen Rider Blade => Garren Belt

Belt Mod
For LRS Blade belt, I removed the belt piece with male-connector as my nephew is too skinny, and 1 piece of the belt will suffice... Picture (view as if you are looking down the belt worn on waist) below shows the belt after modifications, with a snap-in buckle fitting for easier putting on and off.


The male connector of the snap-in buckle is secured to the belt with small cable ties. Quite secure, but a bit worried that the cable ties may damage the belt holes' edges. For the female-connector, a piece of adhesive velcro (woolly side) was used to wrap around the buckle holder and poked a hole in the velcro to allow the velcro to be attached into a small peg found inside the belt driver (originally used to secure the original Blade's red plastic belt). Sorry, forgotten to take the pictures. For this I have to unscrew the belt driver side to remove the original red belt piece. Now my little nephew can wear this belt easily.



"LRS Kamen Rider Garren" Belt Mod
Modified the LRS Blade Blay Buckle into the Garren Buckle (Belt)... because my little nephew likes KR Garren more than KR Blade... Hahahaha.... And since I am NOT prepared to  spend USD50 on a DX Garren Belt, I asked him if it is OK I "destroy" the LRS Blade Belt to become the Garren one, he agreed in 2 seconds...

So I opened up the buckle and replaced the red LED with a green one (last one I have, luckily still have). Was supposed to be an simple and easy task (for me) to remove and solder the LED, but seems my not-so-good luck still persists, always manage to screw up somehow.... anyway, manage to get the green LED soldered after some time...

Then I used a silver paint-pen and painted over the red colour on the buckle before using a green marker to paint over. Very tough as there are a lot of small little voids and hard-to-reach places, even for the fine tip of the marker. Also, the green marker ink somehow could not stay on the protruding details, so decided to paint these silver (see pictures below).

Finally, manage to cut a piece of thin polystyrene to the diamond shape and used a big piece of reflective-gold "sticker" sheet to cover the styrene. The whole thing is then glued (with super-glue) into place. Done!!!! Rare piece of Legend Rider Series KR Garren Buckle (Belt) is borned!!!! Hahahaha...


Picture below is used to show the green LED light when lit...

Previously... June's Purchase - Candy Toy Kamen Rider OOO Belt And Weapon Set, Legend Rider Series Kamen Rider Blade Belt

Candy Toy Kamen Rider OOO Belt And Weapon Set
This is an awesome set of Candy Toy!!!!!!! Whole set contains of 3 boxes:

(1) OOO Driver buckle with 3 Core Medals - Buckle can tilt. Also has a slide switch that can switch on LEDs to illuminate the inserted medals! Sweet...
(2) O Scanner with Holder and Belt-strap - O Scanner has the "swingshii" sound and best of all, the "Ta~to~ba x3" song!!! Amazing, hahaha....
(3) Medajalibur - Coins are molded in, but hey, it has motion-sensored blade clashing sounds, and a button at the side allows mimicking the sliding of the O Scanner for a power-up strike (or something like that, not familiar with KR OOO), cool...

Cost $36... Amazing candy toys, though a little small... My little nephew is now the proud owner of this belt-weapon set, hahaha... yes, he also likes the "Ta~to~ba x3" song...



Legend Rider Series Kamen Rider Blade Belt
Yeah, finally gotten the LRS Belt... Yes, I actually want to get a LRS Belt because... I just wanted a LRS belt strap(s), so that I can combine with my LRS Ichigo belt and wear it on my fat waist, hahahahahahaha...... I tried using a normal pants belt and 2 clips to clip the buckle in place, and it works well... but I tried in vain to get a good and cheap red-coloured belt... so in the end, I told myself: just go and get a decent strap extender... But it is too expensive... So next alternative - get a LRS belt and in addition, I can also get another buckle to play with! So, after some searching, I finally realised that LRS KR Blade belt is the most suitable, as it has the henshin function basic motion (yes, only basic motion, no complicated linkages for the motion) and good, identical henshin sound... and the straps are red... a bit more dark red though, but doesn't really matter... My little nephew finds it fun to play with, saying it was "cool belt", think he likes it even more than his new OOO belt, hahaha.... Thanks to bro bomber_chan for this belt!

Previously... May's Purchase (II) - Kamen Rider DX Decade Henshin Belt, DX Den-Gasher

Kamen Rider DX Decade Henshin Belt
My parcel from eBay arrived!!! Yes! The Kamen Rider DX Decade Henshin Belt that I gotten at USD45.50, free shipping... so much affordable compared to the lowest I seen at about SGD80! Hahaha... Anyway, quite ok, noting that it is the Korean version... I tried to make some Final Attack Ride cards (Decade and Kiva), as my nephew loves to hear the "De-de-de-de-cade", "Ki-ki-ki-ki-va" etc... so downloaded some picture templates for he cards and printed out... Works! But the card is a bit flimsy, despite using double-sided tape to paste 2 pieces of 80gsm paper... Need to find good paper/cards to print...



DX Den-Gasher
Den-Gasher, in its axe form... Gave to my little nephew today before he visit doctor today.. Then afternoon he vomited on it, so my mum spray water over the toy to clean it... Electronics was disrupted and sound became weird... and I spend some time trying to fix it.. Finally ok now... phew... Cost $10 only...


Minor Mod - LRS Kamen Rider Ichigo Belt

Fan Blade Mod
The Legend Rider Series Kamen Rider Shin Ichigo Henshin Belt which I received yesterday night was good, but it lacks the "blades" which is supposed to spin when Kamen Rider Ichigo transforms. Hence I decide to add something that will make it look more accurate. The end result is not what I wanted, due to some ridges at the center-plate cover that makes my "blades" piece smaller than desired. Anyway, it still looks much better than it was...

Kamen Rider : "Hey Akuna Prime, my Henshin belt doesn't look quite right... something seems to be missing... Care to help me fix?"
Akuna Prime : "..o..k... I'll try... but might not be too good..."


Paste a big piece of masking-tape on a piece of transparent material (rigid enough). Mark out as seen on picture. Use a pen-knife to cut gently the lines that form the slender triangles and remove the slender-triangles masking-tape. Remember to use fingernails to scratch down the masking-tape edges to securely tape to the material so that when painting with black paint pen later, the paint will not seep in under the masking-tape. Paint direction should be masking-tape to material.


Peel off the remaining masking tape when paint is dried. Apply a tiny drop of superglue on the tip of the metal axle that does the spinning. Turn over the "blades" piece so that the painted side is underneath and carefully place the "blades" piece on the tip of the metal axle to join. [ Edit: Position the "blades" piece so that the painted black areas will not block the 3 LEDs. The new "blades" piece should be able to spin together when the lever is pressed.


And here is the finished product. The colour patterns are not affected when spinned. Actually it looks quite good from far...



Side Boxes Touch-up
Wanted to touch up my LRS Ichigo Belt long time ago, but was put off every time due to unexpected happenings... Today finally decided to touch up, although still tired and sick... Sigh... nevermind, shall not complain here...

Initially tried with silver pint pen.. Was ugly as paint did not really came out properly out of the pen... finally completed, then suddenly lightly scratch the surface, and the paint appears to peeled off from a silky surface... yes, that easy... Only then I remember, yes, there is this type of plastic that does not allow paint to stick to it well, like the KO Kabaya kits... sigh... In my flu drowsiness, I have forgotten... anyway, finally used some silver sticker sheet and plastered all over the 2 side "boxes". Luckily the silver paint on the jewels holders are not so often in contact by hand... The black paint on the knob and slide switch are badly done though... tried to put white detailings to the knob but did not work out well, so cover everything in black... anyway, still quite like it... not too bad if look from far... hahaha...




New Belt Strap
Gotten a new cheapo fake leather belt to replace the old plastic belts, and at the same time, it also makes the belt more show accurate, as I remember the old belts are also buckled...


Used some foamed-double-sided tape to secure the belt to the driver itself...


...while the sides are secured using a binder clip on each side to prevent them from slipping off the side boxes...

Previously... May's Purchase - Legend Rider Series - Kamen Rider New Ichigo Henshin Belt

Legend Rider Series - Kamen Rider New Ichigo Henshin Belt
Just 1 word "AWESOME"!!!! This is not the DX version, but the newer (and "lousier") Legend Rider Series (LRS) version of the Kamen Rider New Ichigo's Henshin Belt... It does not have a motor to spin the center piece, using simple mechanism to turn instead. The electronic sounds of transformation is good, though you might need to spin the center piece a few times to see the light patterns clearly. The centre piece is actually missing the "fan blades", which I am going to add in myself. The side "plates" are unpainted (red plastic used), not silver. Not sure if I should paint them silver, for I fear the rubbery plastic might not be compatible with the paint... The side "plates" also seemed too big, compared to the belt strap... anyway, I need to get a red belt to slide in the main belt piece and wear it on my 35/36-inch tummy... Wow, seems that I talk too many negatives... So why did I say this belt is awesome? Simply because IT IS THE ANTIQUE DESIGN OF THE FIRST KAMEN RIDER BELT!!! Hahahaha.... That alone is good enough for me... "Henshin!" "Rider-Kick!"... Hahaha...Cost about $50.20...