so picture time =)
Sorting 13 Hours
Pink: 8 Hours
Green: 3.5 Hours
Orange: 10 Hours
Blue: 5 Hours
Red: 2 hours
Total: 41.5 hours
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
DR days 18/19/20
I have now finished blue, and have started red... Red is going to be a pain in the tookus, it's got the most pieces of any color, and it's just going to be a pain... yellow has a similar number of pieces, however that will be easy once I've done all this red as I'll have a better idea of the exact size and shape of the pieces, and how much black there is, I swear these pieces are taunting me, I'm certain the black is going to be a certain shape and take up a certain section of the piece i'm looking for, yet I search, and search, just to find it looks nothing like I expected...
so picture time =)
1 more hour of work, easy peasy
yet another hour of work fun and easy =)
My first two fully finished sections
Sorted red, took a full hour of sorting
First 30 minutes of work on red
My first hour total.
Another thirty minutes
The tail was a pain in my rear end... there's nothing worse than thinking the black is going to be a bigger percentage of the piece just to find that it's not...
Total 2 hours of puzzling on red =D
so picture time =)
Friday, February 21, 2014
Howl's moving castle info
Okay, so I had a request to explain the entire howl's moving castle thing.
Howl's moving castle is a movie directed by legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki and his production studio, Studio Ghibli. It is based off a book by Diana Wynne Jones of the same name.
Hayao Miyazaki is an acclaimed japanese filmmaker, he is one of the most successful animators in the world, rivaling Walt Disney, in fact his studio is often referred to as the "disney of the east" although most fans will immediately tell you that there's no comparison...
As for the reason the papercraft model is so important, there is a pretty good sized online papercrafting community, it's a fun and inexpensive way in which to make 3d models, all it requires is paper, glue, and scissors. There are even 3d modeling programs made specifically for people to create their own papercraft models. This model however is commercially produced, and honestly one of the largest and most difficult commercially produced papercraft models available.
There is also a PDF scan of the model floating around, and that's what most people are able to get, this is the reason I received so many messages on facebook about the papercraft, most were asking for the PDF, or asking if there were english instructions (the model is only available in japanese)
Honestly, a papercraft model like this is much like a giant, super complex, 3d puzzle that requires cutting and pasting =)
Finally a few Miyazaki and Ghibli trailers...
And it's not a Hayao Miyazaki film, or a ghibli film, however it's by Miyazaki's mentor Isao Takahata and I feel this needs an honorable mention as Takahata is part of the Ghibli team... This movie, grave of the fireflies, is so good it's actually on the late Roger Eberts list of the top 10 best WWII movies of all time.
Howl's moving castle is a movie directed by legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki and his production studio, Studio Ghibli. It is based off a book by Diana Wynne Jones of the same name.
Hayao Miyazaki is an acclaimed japanese filmmaker, he is one of the most successful animators in the world, rivaling Walt Disney, in fact his studio is often referred to as the "disney of the east" although most fans will immediately tell you that there's no comparison...
As for the reason the papercraft model is so important, there is a pretty good sized online papercrafting community, it's a fun and inexpensive way in which to make 3d models, all it requires is paper, glue, and scissors. There are even 3d modeling programs made specifically for people to create their own papercraft models. This model however is commercially produced, and honestly one of the largest and most difficult commercially produced papercraft models available.
There is also a PDF scan of the model floating around, and that's what most people are able to get, this is the reason I received so many messages on facebook about the papercraft, most were asking for the PDF, or asking if there were english instructions (the model is only available in japanese)
Honestly, a papercraft model like this is much like a giant, super complex, 3d puzzle that requires cutting and pasting =)
Finally a few Miyazaki and Ghibli trailers...
And it's not a Hayao Miyazaki film, or a ghibli film, however it's by Miyazaki's mentor Isao Takahata and I feel this needs an honorable mention as Takahata is part of the Ghibli team... This movie, grave of the fireflies, is so good it's actually on the late Roger Eberts list of the top 10 best WWII movies of all time.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
DR day 16/17 + a little side project.
So here's my Double Retrospect update...
Sorted! only took an hour
the first hours work on triple torso guy
Another 30 minutes of work
The final result of blue/black... 3 hours of puzzling total
results...
results...
Sorting 12 Hours
Pink: 8 Hours
Green: 3.5 Hours
Orange: 10 Hours
Blue: 3 Hours
Total: 37.5 hours
And now for a little side project I did tonight instead of puzzling...
As I mentioned, I received a bunch of facebook messages asking about the HMC papercraft, well, I've been wanting to make and upload a video slideshow of the work that went into making this papercraft, so I finally sat down, and took an evening to make it...
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
pleasant facebook surprise + DR, day 13/14/15
So, some of you might remember in my first post that I said that I regretted not blogging about my howls moving castle papercraft a few years ago while I was doing it...
(Just a picture to remind you)
Anyways... I found out today that there is an "other" tab under the facebook messages section which holds all messages which are sent to you from people whom you don't know on facbook, Imagine my shock when I had NINE messages dating back to 2012 asking me for info about the howls moving castle papercraft...
Needless to day I sat there for awhile returning messages explaining as much as I could (although by this point it's probibly too late for most of them)
anyways, on to DR update...
Three more days of work, and I'm halfway through the remaining orange... I'm down to one and a half trays of pieces now, so it shouldn't take me more than another hour or two to do all the black/orange...
that outline is two hours worth of work >.<
yet another two hours of work >.<
this third section took another two hours or so, it should get a LOT easier from here...
I will say, that probibly about a half hour of these last six was dedicated to regularly reorganizing my pieces on the trays...
still, as of now, the orange is looking like it will take less time than the pink, and there are significantly more pieces, so I'm definately getting better =D
Anyways... I found out today that there is an "other" tab under the facebook messages section which holds all messages which are sent to you from people whom you don't know on facbook, Imagine my shock when I had NINE messages dating back to 2012 asking me for info about the howls moving castle papercraft...
Needless to day I sat there for awhile returning messages explaining as much as I could (although by this point it's probibly too late for most of them)
anyways, on to DR update...
Three more days of work, and I'm halfway through the remaining orange... I'm down to one and a half trays of pieces now, so it shouldn't take me more than another hour or two to do all the black/orange...
I will say, that probibly about a half hour of these last six was dedicated to regularly reorganizing my pieces on the trays...
still, as of now, the orange is looking like it will take less time than the pink, and there are significantly more pieces, so I'm definately getting better =D
Sorting 11 hours
Pink: 8 hours
Green: 3.5 hours
orange: 7.5 hours
Total: 30 hours
Update: finished orange/black... took approximately another hour... it's looking like orange will end up only taking approximately 9 hours total, since this was significantly harder than pink I believe i'm getting better at this =)
Update 2: Finished solid orange, which took another half hour
so the triple man section time ticked down to this as best I can figure out...
Upper left: 2.5 hours
upper middle: 1 hour
upper right: 1 hours
middle right: 1 hour
Bottom right: 1 hour
Bottom middle/left: 1 hour
solid orange 0.5 hours
So 8 hours total on the triple man and solid orange on top of the two hours for the hunched man...
so new totals are...
Update: finished orange/black... took approximately another hour... it's looking like orange will end up only taking approximately 9 hours total, since this was significantly harder than pink I believe i'm getting better at this =)
Update 2: Finished solid orange, which took another half hour
Upper left: 2.5 hours
upper middle: 1 hour
upper right: 1 hours
middle right: 1 hour
Bottom right: 1 hour
Bottom middle/left: 1 hour
solid orange 0.5 hours
So 8 hours total on the triple man and solid orange on top of the two hours for the hunched man...
so new totals are...
Sorting 11 hours
Pink: 8 hours
Green: 3.5 hours
orange: 10 hours
Total: 33.5 hours
Friday, February 14, 2014
Neuschwanstein castle + DR day 11/12
So I decided to mix it up a little today and put the double retrospect update last =)
So to start off, I've said multiple times that I don't like real life images in my puzzles, I prefer something that's come out of someones imagination, I just find the puzzles more interesting...
There is however one exception, Neuschwanstein castle (try to say that ten times fast =D), the granddaddy of all castle puzzles, It's pretty much a given that if you're into puzzles, that you've seen Neuschwanstein castle, it's about the most beautiful castle ever erected...
Which made me think that while i've done a puzzle of Neuschwanstein castle when I was younger, it's been awhile... I was looking for a large version of the puzzle, however the images I REALLY like are the 2,000 piece Buffalo puzzle versions (I especially love the Neuschwanstein Castle in winter image)
anyways, that let me to realize, Buffalo games makes four 2,000 piece neuschwanstein castle puzzles, and they're set during the four seasons of the year, wouldn't it be fun to get all four, mix them, and then put together what would essentually be "The four seasons of Neuschwanstein Castle" as a 8,000 piece puzzle =) I mean all the big puzzles come in sections, why shouldn't I buy sections and make up my own huge puzzle =P
anyways, now for some images...
Neuschwanstein Castle during spring
Neuschwanstein Castle during fall
Neuschwanstein Castle during winter
Honestly, I don't know why the heck a puzzle company hasn't released a four seasons puzzle like this, it seems totally marketable to me... Only thing I would do is rebrand the spring image as summer and the summer image as spring... I mean the vibrancy of the landscape mixed with the rainbow in the summer picture just screams spring more than the one that's supposed to be spring...
Now on to double retrospect
Sorted the pieces, took and hour total, first 3 boards are orange/black, final board is anything with white or blue, this way I didn't have the partial white or blue pieces in the way when I was doing the hunched man, which didn't have any blue near it, and then I was easily able to find the orange/black/white pieces that fit on this panel after I had finished the black
an hour of puzzling right there
another hour and I was done with the hunched dolphin holding man =)
sooooo...
So to start off, I've said multiple times that I don't like real life images in my puzzles, I prefer something that's come out of someones imagination, I just find the puzzles more interesting...
There is however one exception, Neuschwanstein castle (try to say that ten times fast =D), the granddaddy of all castle puzzles, It's pretty much a given that if you're into puzzles, that you've seen Neuschwanstein castle, it's about the most beautiful castle ever erected...
Which made me think that while i've done a puzzle of Neuschwanstein castle when I was younger, it's been awhile... I was looking for a large version of the puzzle, however the images I REALLY like are the 2,000 piece Buffalo puzzle versions (I especially love the Neuschwanstein Castle in winter image)
anyways, that let me to realize, Buffalo games makes four 2,000 piece neuschwanstein castle puzzles, and they're set during the four seasons of the year, wouldn't it be fun to get all four, mix them, and then put together what would essentually be "The four seasons of Neuschwanstein Castle" as a 8,000 piece puzzle =) I mean all the big puzzles come in sections, why shouldn't I buy sections and make up my own huge puzzle =P
anyways, now for some images...
Neuschwanstein Castle during summer
Honestly, I don't know why the heck a puzzle company hasn't released a four seasons puzzle like this, it seems totally marketable to me... Only thing I would do is rebrand the spring image as summer and the summer image as spring... I mean the vibrancy of the landscape mixed with the rainbow in the summer picture just screams spring more than the one that's supposed to be spring...
Now on to double retrospect
sooooo...
Sorting 10.5 hours
Pink: 8 hours
Green: 3.5 hours
orange: 2 hours
Total: 24 hours
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
DR day 10 + Disney Dreams frustration
Last night I finished the green section, sorting the solid greens took 30 minutes or so, finishing the black took approximately an hour, and the solid green only took 30 minutes... I'm getting much better at this =)
Sorting 9.5 hours
Pink: 8 hours
Green: 3.5 hours
Total: 21 hours
Meanwhile I ran into this collection of disney dreams puzzles...
It's 500 piece versions of thomas kinkades beautiful tributes to, princess and the frog, lion king, peter pan, and the jungle book
added to the 6 750 piece disney dreams puzzles I already had, it makes my disney dreams puzzle collection complete... well almost...
As you can see in this image, there's still a 500 piece version of his sleeping beauty artwork (which is one of my favorites) packaged with 500 piece variations of 3 puzzles I already have... but the problem... the collection on amazon is $50!!!!
On top of that, Princess and the frog isn't from thomas kinkades disney dreams collection... it's from his disney DISCOVERIES collection... so why package it in the disney dreams collection puzzle set...
Not to mention the other artwork that's not even been made into a puzzle format yet...
Fantasia
Tangled
winnie the pooh
On top of that, Princess and the frog isn't from thomas kinkades disney dreams collection... it's from his disney DISCOVERIES collection... so why package it in the disney dreams collection puzzle set...
Not to mention the other artwork that's not even been made into a puzzle format yet...
Lady and the tramp
and winnie the pooh...
My greatest hope is that ceaco will continue to make the remaining disney dreams puzzles, I would LOVE 750 (or more) versions of the 10 other pieces of disney inspired Thomas Kinkade art =)
Edit: Right after I posted this I noticed the similar color palette of the 4 500 piece puzzle set, it's by ceaco... so I guess there's hope =)
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
DR day 9 + A Talking Jigsaw Puzzle!?!?
first of all my double retrospect update...
Started the green, and finished all of the dolphin green/black... tonight I start the ground in the panel with the single headed siamese twins. It took me three and a half hours total as I spent 30 minutes sorting out the green/black, and another hour sorting through the blue, orange, and red pieces to find any with green on them...
This is one BIG lesson learned, next section I need to have a plan in mind as to which order I'm going to do the colors... for this section I just sorted any pieces that had two colors (on either side of a black line) into whichever color was most prominent... but because of this, I had to sort through almost all the colors a second time for those pieces with small amounts of pink/green because it's annoying to have a break in an outline that can be filled by a single piece you sorted into another box... I hope that all made sense =)
Meanwhile I started thinking about these puzzles, it's a series of 5 puzzles (I have two, the school, and the hospital) basically the puzzle itself is super easy to assemble, however most of the puzzle is made up of identical windows, with identical shapes, that can fit anywhere in the puzzle... the challenge is to logically figure out where the windows go by what's happening in the panels... they're super fun puzzles, but it seems that they've gotten super expensive to buy online (although that doesn't mean I'm not going to try)
There is a 6th puzzle that was released only in europe, it's elvis' heartbreak hotel, and it's the largest of the series, however this one is next to impossible to find
there was also a series of 5 similar puzzles by the same artist, similar idea, except the box includes a frame that fits around the rectangular box, and you build the puzzle in 3 dimentions... I've never tackled one of these puzzles (although I own the one pictured below), but I've always thought that the way it's set up looks rather flimsy... I'll do it someday though =)
and finally an example of the pieces...
This is one BIG lesson learned, next section I need to have a plan in mind as to which order I'm going to do the colors... for this section I just sorted any pieces that had two colors (on either side of a black line) into whichever color was most prominent... but because of this, I had to sort through almost all the colors a second time for those pieces with small amounts of pink/green because it's annoying to have a break in an outline that can be filled by a single piece you sorted into another box... I hope that all made sense =)
Meanwhile I started thinking about these puzzles, it's a series of 5 puzzles (I have two, the school, and the hospital) basically the puzzle itself is super easy to assemble, however most of the puzzle is made up of identical windows, with identical shapes, that can fit anywhere in the puzzle... the challenge is to logically figure out where the windows go by what's happening in the panels... they're super fun puzzles, but it seems that they've gotten super expensive to buy online (although that doesn't mean I'm not going to try)
There is a 6th puzzle that was released only in europe, it's elvis' heartbreak hotel, and it's the largest of the series, however this one is next to impossible to find
Sunday, February 9, 2014
DR progress
Another two days of puzzling, and I've completely finished the pink section YAY!!
I'm honestly very proud of myself, I've never done a puzzle like this before... Sure I could have started with my copy of historia comica Op 1 and 2 (4k pieces apeace) then gone on to do astrology (9k peaces) then life (24k) and finally graduated to double retrospect (32k pieces DUH!) but I skipped up to double retrospect, and the results are very pleasing =D (although I still havn't tackled the white yet xD)
anyways, now for the pics
Pink/Black section complete! YAY!! very proud
My cat of course always chooses the puzzle as the one place in the room she wants to sit, she WAS in the center, but by the time I managed to get my camera, and get close enough this was the result...
my sorted out solid pink pieces (I appropriated the trays from my moms crafting room incase I havn't mentioned it yet)
The completed pink section, I guess everything is correct so far =) It really looks nice and I'm REALLY proud...
So now I'm sitting at 8 days of work, and 15 hours total. The remaining pink/black since my last post took approx 1.5 hours and the solid pink took the same (including sorting)
So right now I'm sitting at
Sorting: 7 hours
Pink: 8 hours
I'm honestly very proud of myself, I've never done a puzzle like this before... Sure I could have started with my copy of historia comica Op 1 and 2 (4k pieces apeace) then gone on to do astrology (9k peaces) then life (24k) and finally graduated to double retrospect (32k pieces DUH!) but I skipped up to double retrospect, and the results are very pleasing =D (although I still havn't tackled the white yet xD)
anyways, now for the pics
So now I'm sitting at 8 days of work, and 15 hours total. The remaining pink/black since my last post took approx 1.5 hours and the solid pink took the same (including sorting)
So right now I'm sitting at
Sorting: 7 hours
Pink: 8 hours
Saturday, February 8, 2014
DR + Disney Stained Glass
So last night I finished a bit more of the double retrospect, (DR now in all topic titles) I did some assembly, and now have few enough pieces to place on a single tray...
Another hour of work =)
A half hour later, as you can see I added the orange/black piece where the pieces were slightly uneven, and it fits perfectly... I guess it's correct =D
I have to protect my puzzle, as I'm sure any puzzler knows, or anyone who does anything involving small pieces, or anyone who owns a computer... okay lets just take it down to cat owners in general, in anything you do, it's a cats mission to undo it, or mess it up to the point of no return... So I have to lay my chart on top of any loose ends when not actively puzzling (or even when I leave the room) and I have to stack an empty tray over the single pieces that I've sorted... I'm just glad I found a way of storing my pieces that aren't in use, or i'd have pieces scattered around the room (and maybe even the house)
My puzzle drawers =) Appropriated from my moms craft room (they're usually closed =P)
In other news, I got a Disney puzzle which I had ordered all the way from japan like two months ago...
It's a stained glass representation of Disney throughout the years, and I think it's absolutely stunning, this will of course be assembled on my desk which I'm working on Double Retrospect on the floor.
The one thing I'm a bit disappointed is the fact that the 1,000 version of this same puzzle is apparently done using semi transparent pieces, while this version is solid normal pieces. I still love it, and I believe the additional challenge is much more attractive than semi transparent pieces (since I don't plan to glue it)
the full puzzle, it came with a product pamphlet, and puzzle glue, which I immediately threw away as I never plan to glue it, and I don't want a bag to burst causing a gluey mess
some detail pictures
I'm sorry for the lower quality images, however I just cannot seem to make my stupid camera take close up pictures with any decent quality, as you can see the following image is much more colorful, yet it's slightly blurry (and this was one of the better tries, most of them were MUCH worse) yet while my vita sucks at taking distant photos, it excls in the detail department, so I think i'd prefer less colorful images with decent quality, to blurry images.
As you can see, it's full normal shaped pieces with a nice glossy finish...
the back of the box, it has a number for each image, to help identify the cartoon (as if most of us need it) as well as a short paragraph of what I assume is a brief description of the movie (As I cannot read japanese, I have no clue)
In other news, I got a Disney puzzle which I had ordered all the way from japan like two months ago...
It's a stained glass representation of Disney throughout the years, and I think it's absolutely stunning, this will of course be assembled on my desk which I'm working on Double Retrospect on the floor.
The one thing I'm a bit disappointed is the fact that the 1,000 version of this same puzzle is apparently done using semi transparent pieces, while this version is solid normal pieces. I still love it, and I believe the additional challenge is much more attractive than semi transparent pieces (since I don't plan to glue it)
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