translucent photos on Flickr

The early morning sun shows some interesting detail in these leaves. Taken on the Fruit and Vegetable Island, Chicago Botanic Garden Jul 28, 2012 L1040941.dng

DSC_1773 by Quantum Stalker

In our modern collecting world, Fate figures, while hit or miss on quality, generally follow the same aesthetic as the various animation/game art sources dictate.

Well, back in the day when Fate was first introduced as a mainstream series, there were quite a few different takes on the material. An example of which was the Revoltech Saber that I looked at a while back. Another line that people may not be aware of are the various Fate scale figures produced by Gift and sold through Good Smile Company.

I recently purchased this OG Saber off eBay on a whim, mostly sweetened by the fact that I already had Paypal credit I wanted to use, plus an in person negotiation resulting in a price drop and free shipping because I was in Markham anyway.

This figure had always intrigued me. While the typical Fate release follows its anime/2D game art very closely, the Gift figures went for a more "realistic" look. The face went for more real world proportions and features, and the armour, while following the general rules of the character itself, is very ornate unlike the various animation models. The various finishes on the figure, coupled with mirrored base (I didn't take off the protective film) basically give the figure a very ethereal appearance.

Saber is sculpted in a standing pose with Exalibur held under her right palm, with a slight wind blowing across her body. As this figure was a first edition release, it also came with an Animation head.

Her standard head sculpt isn't bad.. it's not super great either from an expression perspective, but I suppose Gift was going for the serene look. I would have liked to see a bit more definition on her face, particularly around the mouth, but the bright colour of her skin and hair do fit the statue well. The animation head is nice to have, but really doesn't work with this figure at ALL - the face doesn't have the right shape, her hair is all wrong (Figma 2.0 has a much better wind swept look) and the colours for.. reasons.. are darker than that of the standard sculpt. Detailing of the hair on either sculpt is good, but nothing outstanding, with more detailing strangely on the animation head. Also, I guess just to make things difference, the bow on the back of each head is different as well.

As mentioned above, the main selling point of this figure is the ornateness of the outfit. From the pictures, you should be able to make out the sheer abundance of sculpted details on the armour plating, the gold trim on blue tunic, the various fabric folds, and her translucent skirt. The latter, combined with the metallic finishes of the other parts of the outfit are what give Saber this glowing effect, provided of course that there is sufficient light.

While we're on the subject, paint finish overall is quite good. On a figure with a glossy finish, any sort of flaws, particularly overspray, stick out like a sore thumb. The only real area of weakness would be on the gold, both her outfit trim and the gold on the hilt of Excalibur. These paint apps suffer from slight overspray and masking issues. Finishes on the actual parts, however, are quite well done, with no issues to report from a smoothness or assembly perspective.

Thus, overall another good Fate scale figure. It's not that the figure is overly bad, but rather, it just is somewhat flawed in comparison to the more anime inspired ones due to the to the desire for a different aesthetic. But if you're able to overlook the somewhat weak headsculpt, the ornate armour and gloosy finish will ensure that this piece will definitely stand out on your shelves.

Translucent by *altglas*

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Banana leaf from below.

Zenza Bronica EC-TL

Zenzanon 2.4/80mm @ f/2.8

Fomapan 100

Rodinal 1+50

10 min @ 20°C

translucent 1 by Regina

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Translucent Color Ball by Willis Reifsnyder

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It is what it is. I loaded up as much trans-red and trans-green (with some creative license in those color groups) and some trans-clear for fullness. Merry Christmas and all that!

Translucent tube anemone by Nick Hobgood

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Translucent Pig by incidencematrix

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Shot with an Olympus 35RC

Olympus E. Zuiko 42mm f/2.8 lens

Lomochrome Metropolis film

Shot at EI 100 and developed normally

Developed and scanned by The Darkroom

Herbst by jni2008

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translucent echeverria by Liz Henry