E2046 1/6 Calne Ca Prisoner and Paper Plane Version

 Truth be told, I had no idea about the background of this character. Usually I browse E2046 and just latch on to kits that catch my eye, usually for its style or pose. So it was with Calne Ca Prisoner and Paper Plane version. Very odd name, that. Oh well, I thought it looked really neat so I ordered one. It was only after completing the kit and writing up this review that I stumbled upon her quite strange backstory .. and I'm still not sure I understand it!

Calne Ca is essentially a robotic female skeleton named Calcium cosplaying Hatsune Miku or sometimes other Vocaloid or Utauloid characters. She has interchangeable parts and her “skin” is a casing that’s as much a part of the cosplay as her clothing so her appearance can vary from skeletal, to cybernetic (her most common appearance), to insectoid, to human. She almost always has a stylized wharf roach named “Sodium Sulfite”, usually called by the nickname “Nato-kun”, living on top of her head. Though quite frightening in her usual cybernetic form, she is thought to be friendly, at least to other cybernetics.

The "Prisoner and Paper Plane" part of the name is originally a Len original song (Prisoner) and an answer song (Paperplane) first uploaded on 2008/2009 period. It later became notable enough to receive a background series, a novel series, and also a manga adaptation by Akamura Aki. Though the song, novel, and manga may have different plots and also additional characters it all revolves on two "lovers", a prisoner and a sick person in which both of them died in their own respective point of views.

Here is another of E2046’s fantastic line of resin figures. The 49 pieces are packaged in several sealed plastic bags. These bags are wrapped in bubble wrap and placed, with foam and more bubble wrap, into a plastic tub. This tub is placed in a sturdy cardboard box which is then shipped halfway around the world in about 2 weeks. The tan colored, very fine resin contained no casting flaws that I could find, nor was anything broken.

Included is several pages of instructions, but this only includes a parts breakdown and some general hints and tips for working with resin (and this comes in several languages). A small decal sheet is included, an arm tattoo and similar styled markings for her “hat” and jacket. A small piece of chain is included for a necklace.

 Things started out here with washing the parts in a mild soap and water bath to remove any release agent left on the parts. Then I took everything out and gave it a coat of primer, in this case Tamiya's fine gray primer in a rattle can. This does two things. First, since most hobby paints don't stick well to the resin, it gives the paints something to bite in to. Second, for me at least, it better shows any casting flaws that may have to be dealt with. This was left to dry for a few days, only because I had other kits about ready to be finished up.

The next thing for me was to decide on colors and how to paint. I decided to use Vallejo acrylics on this one and so ordered a few bottles needed. Black Grey 70.862, Blue Green 70.808, and Sky Blue 70.961 were going to be the major colors here. I decided I wasn't going to be bothered by the airbrush for this kit, so brush painting all around here .. another reason I went with (mostly) Vallejo paints. (I did use Model Master Skin Tone for the flesh and used Tamiyas semi-gloss black for the belts).

Anyway, painting went on in small bursts over the next few weeks; I kept up a fairly good momentum on this kit. Once the major pieces were painted I started on the detail areas like the lacing of the boots, and bodice, and the detail on the belts. One thing I am just not used to is the fragile nature of these acrylics, even with a primer underneath. I had to re-do many areas just because of handling them to paint and assemble, and the assembling part is were I made my biggest mistake of the build.

Once all the parts were painted, assembly started. As this is all resin, superglue is the weapon of choice. But it was here that I realized I should have fit tested the parts before assembling. Most of the pieces needed trimmed or adapted to fit together properly. Now, don't get me wrong, none of it was anything major. It was mostly that the additional fiddling around to get a proper fit wore off some of the paint, so more touching-up painting was needed. Had I checked the fit first, as I should have, it would have not have been a big deal. I just didn't think of it because most of the kits I have done from E2046 fit together beautifully, with only a minor trim needed here or there.

I bought a cheap wood base at the local craft shop and painted it brown, and then drilled a hole in it and Calne Ca's foot. I used a small piece of stiff metal rod and glued her to the base. I forgot about the small piece of chain for her skull necklace until now. Realizing getting it up under her collar without breaking something else might be rather difficult, I improvised and made it into a pendant hanging from her belt. I actually like it better.

This is another fantastic kit from E2046. The fit issues caught me by surprise, but taking care of that first would have reduced or eliminated that. I recommend these kits to everyone; they are especially nice when you want to do something different.

I might end up getting the kit of her more robotic form sometime soon.

The Internet

http://www.e2046.com/p/Calne+Ca+Prisoner+and+Paper+Plane+Version/24037/

http://www.e2046.com/p/Calne+Ca/19322/

http://vocaloid.wikia.com/wiki/Hatsune_Miku

 Dale Rannals

5 January 2018

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