Toy Diorama Contest

Last June 12, the last day of Toycon 2016, I tried participating in a toy diorama contest. I wanted to experience making a diorama, with the use of my favorite game character, or should I say, game waifu.

On the left is the original colors. On the right is the customized colors. I have two of the original so I can have the second one painted.

The character that I will be using for this diorama is Terra Branford from Final Fantasy VI. The fig that I will be using is a custom painted Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Trading Arts of her. The scene that I'm attempting to create is the path to Narshe mines.

I would love doing the scene with the Magitek armor, but I do not own yet the Terra fig riding the armor.

I'm on a tight budget, so my diorama consisted mainly of recycled paper, and Styrofoam. Other materials used are cotton balls, illustration board, and poster paint. In short, my diorama is made of cheap materials.

First off, the illustration board will serve as the base. When I was at the bookstore, I made sure to pick the one which is really firm, as there are other brands sold which tend to bend when weight is placed on them.

For the steps of the stairs, and flat landscapes, I used styro boards since these are lightweight, firm, and easy to cut. The styro board which I bought is half-inch thick, which lessens the trouble of creating stair steps of the right elevation. Half-inch thick is also firm enough, making me not need to buy the 1-inch thick one.

I started off cutting Styrofoam boards for the stairs. To support the elevated steps, I rolled some paper to make poles. To make them even sturdier, I glued together four of them. Thankfully, these poles did the job perfectly.

These paper poles are also used to support the higher landscapes. Even these are used for supporting the elevated cave. Thankfully, these poles did not collapse under the weight of the cave.

For the rocky slopes, these are just crumpled paper which are glued together. It's pretty hard to keep them stable though. The same goes for the cave, same process and same problem. I tried my best to make it look like an actual cave, but it's pretty hard. For the color, I mixed white and black poster paint, with the ratio 2:1, to create a gray one.

Lastly, cotton balls are used to show thick snow. I unrolled these cotton balls to spread them easier. I spread them all over the stairs, and on the path that leads to the cave. I also spread them on the rocky slopes and on the cave, to hint snow accumulation.

The Terra fig. does not stand well, without the aid of her stand, and yet I have to hide it. To solve this problem, I glued the stand so it won't move. After placing Terra on the stand, I covered the stand using cotton. I made the cotton very thick on this part of the diorama, trying to show that the snow is too thick for Terra to walk on.

I did not win the competition. The other competitors are serious about winning the contest. How would you expect my budget-tight diorama to win against these?

A scene of analyzing Star Lord with live action screen just like in the movie

Batman breaking into Joker's lair

Deadpool

(I missed taking a photo of one of the entries)

Terra is one of the most underrated characters in the Final Fantasy series, and she is set to compete against characters from these popular movies. This is the greatest challenge of my favorite character for this competition.

Japanese inspired Star Wars

I did not win the competition. I thought Star Lord is going to win this one, but the samurai style Star Wars won this one. Even though I did not win, I had a great experience, and at least I was able to show my love towards my favorite character Terra Branford. Even though she's underrated, I took the time and effort to enter her into a contest she has low chance of winning.

My contest entry

I have a friend who also loves Terra Branford. She was very glad to see the diorama that I created, and the custom painted Terra. She is the one who told me to push through the Narshe scene, since that is where she is first seen in the game.

Terra lovers joined together in front of the diorama. (They are twins).

A Weekend of Going Back to Faith

This is my testimony for FCCY Youth Encounter 2016, which I spoke in front of everyone present at the final activity. (with some edited parts)

First of all, I really have no intention of participating in this retreat. My siblings are very active as they attend this retreat every year, so my parents requested that I try participating in the Youth Encounter this year.

My big change started during the second day, during the confession. I told the priest that my last confession was seven years ago. After the confession, the priest then told me this:

"Did you know that seven is a lucky number in the Bible? All these years, and when you come back to God, I'm pretty the first thing He will say is, 'Welcome back!'."

And here I am, back in faith.

During the empowerment, almost all of the songs had an impact on me, because of what I have been going through all these years. Each of these songs reminds me of what happened in my life these past years. During this activity, I also realized that I can be a very caring person towards my group mates, even though I am an introvert, because of something that happened.

Care Group: Fish n' Chips

I would like to thank the members of my care group, whom without them, I would not be who I am today. Thank you, my shobes, for a meaningful retreat. You are my first family of a new beginning.