Man oh man, those things look real!

Truly amazing.

A quickie update!  My friend made his ramen kit this past weekend.

It certainly looks more appetizing than a Cup Noodle, that's for sure!

The soup is again a stiff gelatin-like substance.  We put the finished bowl into the refrigerator to cool off the soup, and it gelled quite nicely.  The spaghetti sauce is still kind of wet, so I guess it will need protection from dust in the long term.

Real G

Greg - So a really quick dive into Chinatown produced this exquisite faux ceramic ramen bowl.

Awesome! Glad the shopping trip paid off, nice bowl!

Appreicate your keeping us updated on the drying progress, I think I'm not the only one curious how this will dry up.

Gamera - It might be 2 years before I head back to the Dai Nippon, but I WILL keep an eye out for your bowl!

Greg - So a really quick dive into Chinatown produced this exquisite faux ceramic ramen bowl.

My friend with the ramen kit wanted a plastic bowl for lower weight and higher durability.  Unfortunately, he got "wifed" at the last minute and could not make it over to the house this weekend so no photos.  

BTW, the sauce on the spaghetti is still drying. But it was horribly humid over the weekend, so I'll give it a bit more time.  Meanwhile, I have moved it into a glass display case to keep the dust off.

Real G

 

 

Gamera

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, that looks soooooooo good!!! 

Better than the Chef Boy-ah-dee stuff in the can I've been eating. 

 

Hope you have some resin meatballs to add!!! 

 

 

 

 

No meatballs Gamera, but the Ganso Sample store does sell accessory packs of grated Parmesean cheese!  Unfortunately they don't ship overseas.  

Gosh, I LOVE Chef Boyardee mini ravioli and their horrifying spaghetti with meatballs, but had to stop buying them due to health reasons.  

When I go back to Japan, I will look for a Gamera-shaped kid's bowl for you.  I think it would be nice for you to be able to eat your Chef Boyardee in it while watching Gamera movies from your boxed set!

 

Lol, a Gamera bowl and I will be a very happy turtle!!! 

I hope it doesn't shoot flames out of the leg holes to cook the contents! 

Greg

Good luck. Don't overlook the Chinese grocery stores, if it is that sort of Chinatown. They often have kitchen and dining needs at great prices. Not sure about plastic dinnerware, but who knows. I get a kick out of looking at these sorts of items when we are Chinese-grocery shopping.

Greg,

Yes, Honolulu's Chinatown is a full-fledged ethnic center with open markets, shops, and other Asian businesses.  So there has GOT to be a store in there that sells the cheap plastic stuff.  Heck, even the major local banks have Chinatown branches that are mere blocks from the ones in the central downtown business district.

So fingers crossed, and I promise to post photos of my friend's food kit!

Real G

Yeah, that "invisible hand" fork trick is SOP for the food displays in Japanese restaurants.

I'll be darned, that's interesting. Again, it's such a cool effect.

Real G

A friend who has a Chinese girlfriend goes shopping in Chinatown with her every weekend. He is taking me at lunch time today to look for a bowl for my other friend who has the ramen kit. I did stop by one of the shops the other day, but they only had ceramic bowls, not the cheap plastic (melamine) kind that my friend requested.

Good luck. Don't overlook the Chinese grocery stores, if it is that sort of Chinatown. They often have kitchen and dining needs at great prices. Not sure about plastic dinnerware, but who knows. I get a kick out of looking at these sorts of items when we are Chinese-grocery shopping.

gregbale

I hate to keep harping about the 'sauce,' but I'm curious...does the material harden up in some fashion, or does it remain wet and/or flexible? It's such an amazingly realistic effect, I'm just intrigued with the whole process.

Greg,

The sauce had the consistency of thick gravy on Wednesday night, and stiff gel yesterday afternoon.  I hope it will dry to a touchable rubbery surface.  If it does not dry, it's gonna be a real problem to dust!

Ted4321

This is terrific. I want. 

 

T e d

 

Me too!  But they don't sell overseas.  I suppose when the COVID restrictions lift and Japan Post resumes shipping to the USA, I can get my friend to send me stuff via SAL.  The Evilbay prices are highly inflated.

Real G

On a related note regarding durability, my pasta sagged while I was at work! I left it in a closet to fully dry, but it was a hot day and the noodles around and under the fork began to sag. I had to use a hair dryer to warm up the noodles enough to push them back up into position. I have to store it in a cooler closet in the house!

Interesting. I've had the occasional bit of rigging go slack with temperature changes before...but I don't think I've ever had to worry about a whole model 'wilting.' Perhaps another reason why wax isn't a more oft-seen commercial modeling medium.

I hate to keep harping about the 'sauce,' but I'm curious...does the material harden up in some fashion, or does it remain wet and/or flexible? It's such an amazingly realistic effect, I'm just intrigued with the whole process.

Greg

 

 

gregbale

That is freaking amazing! 

 

 

Stole my words. That is soooo cool.

I had no idea where you were headed with the fork stand. You should have seen the look on my face when I saw the pic with the spaghetti wrapped around it.

This was great fun, thanks!

On a side note, I wish I'd have known there is a Chinatown in Honolulu when we were there a few years back.

 

Greg,

Yeah, that "invisible hand" fork trick is SOP for the food displays in Japanese restaurants.

A friend who has a Chinese girlfriend goes shopping in Chinatown with her every weekend.  He is taking me at lunch time today to look for a bowl for my other friend who has the ramen kit.  I did stop by one of the shops the other day, but they only had ceramic bowls, not the cheap plastic (melamine) kind that my friend requested.  

Gamera

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, that looks soooooooo good!!! 

Better than the Chef Boy-ah-dee stuff in the can I've been eating. 

 

Hope you have some resin meatballs to add!!! 

 

No meatballs Gamera, but the Ganso Sample store does sell accessory packs of grated Parmesean cheese!  Unfortunately they don't ship overseas.  

Gosh, I LOVE Chef Boyardee mini ravioli and their horrifying spaghetti with meatballs, but had to stop buying them due to health reasons.  

When I go back to Japan, I will look for a Gamera-shaped kid's bowl for you.  I think it would be nice for you to be able to eat your Chef Boyardee in it while watching Gamera movies from your boxed set!

Tanker-Builder

Hi Guys:

      I think the majority of Faux Food is now Vinyls etc. The wax is used also. That is more for mainstream advertisers to use in Lite photoshoots. Notice, I said Lite! Wax does NOT hold up well to studio lights anymore than Styrene.

BTW TB you are absolutely right.  Modern resin and vinyl are much more durable than wax, and modern finishing techniques make them just as realistic as their wax counterparts.

On a related note regarding durability, my pasta sagged while I was at work!  I left it in a closet to fully dry, but it was a hot day and the noodles around and under the fork began to sag.  I had to use a hair dryer to warm up the noodles enough to push them back up into position.  I have to store it in a cooler closet in the house!

This is terrific. I want. 

T e d

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, that looks soooooooo good!!! 

Better than the Chef Boy-ah-dee stuff in the can I've been eating. 

Hope you have some resin meatballs to add!!! 

Keavdog,

Actually, the kit is more like a cross between flower arrangement and Lego rather than a proper model kit.  Now, if one were to scratchbuild everything from polymer clay, that would be another story.

Fantastic!   That turned out great.  Making me hungry.   I wonder what IPMS category these would fall under lol.  We need a food forum 

BrandonK

That's crazy how good that looks. I'm amazed at this stuff. I haven'e seen it all, but I'm getting closer.

BK

 

From “Team America - World Police”:

Gary:  Now I’ve seen it all!

Spotwood:  Oh?  Have you ever seen a man swallow his own head?

Gary:  Ummm... No.

Spotwood:  Then you HAVEN’T seen everything... and neither have we.

That's crazy how good that looks. I'm amazed at this stuff. I haven'e seen it all, but I'm getting closer.

BK

gregbale

That is freaking amazing! 

Stole my words. That is soooo cool.

I had no idea where you were headed with the fork stand. You should have seen the look on my face when I saw the pic with the spaghetti wrapped around it.

This was great fun, thanks!

On a side note, I wish I'd have known there is a Chinatown in Honolulu when we were there a few years back.

Greg,

I have no idea what the “secret sauce” is.  It might be gelatin/wax based.

That is freaking amazing!

What sort of stuff is the 'sauce,' pray tell? It looks perfect.

Some friends are coming over this weekend (less than 5 people so kosher under current Hawaii COVID rules), so hopefully they will bring and make their kits.  I'll post photos if they do.

Shogun Sekigawa-Sama sez:

Minna, yoi shite imasu ka?  Yosh~  Sassoku hajimari masu!

Pasta ready for the hot water bath in an authentic Japanese semenki:

Pasta ON!!!

The water temperature was more critical than I thought, as it was initially too hot, so the noodles began to stick.  Then the water began to cool off and the pasta became too stiff to easily drape.  I had to change out the water once when it got too cool.

Okay here is where the in-progress photos died off, because I had to concentrate on applying the sauce and toppings:

I was getting sauce all over the place like a 5-year old, and it was getting messy.  At least my old, grizzled Testors nylon brush got an outing to apply the sauce.  I didn't want to risk a good brush!

And some final shots:

Thanks for following along!

John: I am so tempted to pick up one of those for our Christmas gift exchange. Or even enter one myself in our show whenever we get to have it. If the FSM guys show up to photograph us I'd offer it to Aaron.. 

Real G: Ohhhhh, looking forward to the photos!!! 

Waiting-Ba-na-na!

I did it.  It’s not perfect, but it is done.  Things didn’t go as smoothly as in the Youtube video, but that’s the learning curve.

Dang, it’s almost 11:00 pm - better clean up and head for bed!  Pictures tomorrow.  Stay tuned.  

Keavdog, I don't mind in the least! 

So... will we be seeing this in FSM's "Workbench Reviews"?

Pros:  Pre-colored plastic, snap fit, clever engineering

Cons:  Cannot eat the finished product (Or - Taste of final product is not an improvement over the actual item)

Yeah, Cup Noodle is actually pretty awful IMHO.  I wonder if anything else is coming down the line.  A Big Mac?  Makku-Donaldo Biggu Makku.  

keavdog

Hope you don't mind me posting here, but this arrived today 

I know it's been mentioned before, but I love the message on the box:

"Plastic model kit - DO NOT EAT.

Please be careful not to accidentally swallow or eat it."

(I suppose the consistency of some dried noodle products is identical to styrene? )

Looks like a rockin' little kit, though....