1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Neon Genesis Evangelion, dojinshi model kit)

[Dizzyfugu]

Another anime character/resin garage kit, I have been in the mood lately to do "other" and more colorful things...


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


(Canonical) Character description and history:
Hikari Horaki is the class representative of Class 2-A, the 8th grade class that all Eva pilots (and potential pilots) attend in the series. In Japan this is a student leader elected by the class, whose duties include making sure that assigned daily routines (watering the plants/flowers, feeding the goldfish, etc.) are carried out, and generally seeing that good order and decorum are observed in class. Class reps also lead the class in the "Rise! Bow!" ceremonial greeting when the teacher enters the room (which Hikari is seen doing several times during the series). Essentially, "class representative" is more or less equivalent to "class president" in North American schools.


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Hikari is friends with Asuka Langley Soryu and she lets Asuka stay at her house during a point in her nervous breakdown. Hikari told Asuka, "I think it's okay for you to do whatever you want and I won't say anything, because I think you did your best, Asuka", further suggesting that Hikari is somewhat less assertive outside of her classroom duties.

Within the TV series context Hikari is 13years old (Birthday: 2/18/2002) and 153cm tall. Her hair is medium-length and dark brown, typically styled in two pigtails that reach just past her shoulders, held together with bands that feature red or violet baubles as fasteners. Her bangs are usually parted or swept to the side, framing her face. A prominent feature of her face is a scattering of small freckles across her nose and cheeks. She has expressive, often wide, dark purple or violet-coloured eyes. Overall, she conveys an impression of being lively, spirited, and sometimes quite direct.


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


She has two sisters: her older sister, Kodama, and her younger sister, Nozomi, both unseen characters. She says that she is the only one that cooks for her entire family, heavily implying that her mother is dead. Her place as a potential Children would bear this out.

She has feelings for fellow student Toji Suzuhara (both share an orphan background), providing grounds for a major tragedy when Toji is killed by EVA-01 during (the manga version of) the Bardiel incident. Because a major part of her job is to make sure the class follows proper protocol, Hikari first appears to be slightly aggressive and rigid. She might believe that herself, as she apparently thinks that her skill in cooking might be unexpected when she tells Toji about it (presuming that something so feminine would be at odds with her strong promotion of the rules).


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The Japanese first name Hikari means "light" in English. Usually, the name is written with the kanji character 光, which carries exactly this meaning. It is a very beautiful and popular name in Japan, commonly given to girls, but it can also be used as a boy's name (unisex). The name is often associated with positive qualities such as brightness, hope, warmth, and a radiant future.

Hikari's family name Horaki is written with the kanji 洞木, which means洞 (Hora) = "cave," "hollow," or "den." and 木 (ki) = "tree" or "wood." Therefore, Horaki translates to "hollow tree" or "cave tree." However, a fun fact about the character names in Evangelion: The creator, Hideaki Anno, named many of the characters after Japanese naval vessels. However, Hikari Horaki and her sisters, Kodama and Nozomi, are actually named after the different types of high-speed bullet trains (Shinkansen) in Japan!


The kit and its assembly:
This figure model/statue is a "real" what-if: it's an unofficial dojinshi sculpt that depicts the side character Hikari Horaki in a (fictional yet typical) deep yellow EVA pilot plugsuit. In Neon Genesis Evangelion canon, Hikari does not become an EVA pilot, neither in the original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series nor the manga or any other franchise iteration. She remains a student and the class representative, primarily concerned with her friends, her crush on Toji Suzuhara, and her daily life amidst the unfolding events. The character's role is to represent the civilian perspective and the more "normal" aspects of life that the EVA pilots are fighting to protect.

Being a fictional/dojinshi rendition I assume that the figure's mould is a garage kit, but I apparently have a recast (from the source with the yellow boxes...); it was cheap and I had it stashed away as conversion fodder or donor bank. But since the figure is presented in a rather unusual sitting/reclined position, parts transfer turned out to be not as easy as I had hoped for, so the kit ended up the The Stash™, waiting for further use. However, after recently building/painting a vintage Volks figure I came across the Hikari kit once more and eventually decided to build it OOB.

As a classic garage kit it comes with photographs of the completed figure, on on this base as well as picture material of the "real" Hikari I created some painting aids with the help of generativfe A.I. - which is pretty impressive:


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


And, BTW, this is the canonical Hikari (in school uniform):


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Due to the relatively small 1:8 scale the kit was not very complex, and it came in a classic sub-assembly with a torso, separate arms, legs and head. The only smaller parts are bangs and two pigtails (which are quite small, they could be more voluminous and longer) for the head and the plugsuit's "satchel". This item is more accurately referred to as a "life-support pack" and actually wraps around the pilot's ribcage. This pack, along with other components on the back of the plugsuit, is responsible for housing elements related to the suit's life support and medical aid functions. This would include systems for monitoring the pilot's status, providing medical assistance like defibrillation or CPR, and circulating oxygen. The backpack design also features a "scapular exoskeletal carapace and rib-like structures", which run over the wearer's shoulders and under the thorax.

Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Fit of the single parts turned out to be quite good. However, I found a rather ugly air bubble in the resin, right under the figure's chin, and it was a delicate task to fill it and make it disappear with putty. PSR was also required to make the legs fit onto the torso, and the arms had to be modified so that they would fit onto the torso and match the figures sitting/reclined pose. In fact, the shoulder attachment points had to be re-done, and iron wire was used to stabilize the arms in their modified positions. Iron wire was also used to attach the head and retain some flexibility to find a good position/orientation once the body had been completed.
Another weak point of the kit is the face: IMHO it is not a good depiction of Hikari, who has in manga and animation sharper facial features and smaller/narrower eyes, both underline her somewhat artificially bossy" public appearance. The model's face reminds me a lot of an American cartoon figure, but not of a Japanese anime with a rather dark and serious undertone.

Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Legs and torso were completed as a sub-assembly, due to the PSR work around the hips, as well as the head with its separate hair parts (bangs and pigtails). On the head I added a pair of characteristic sensor clips that are normally part of an Evangelion plugsuit – the kit misses these completely, and I doubt that Hikari's bauble hairbands are supposed to act as neuronal interfaces with an EVA unit? They were scratched from IP sprue material. The baubles of her characteristic hairbands were also missing in the kit, and consist of 3mm steel balls.


Painting and display base:
All parts received a basic coat with white acrylic primer (Vallejo) because of the touchy yellow suit. Then the body/plugsuit received a counter-shaded overall livery with RAL 1028 (Melonengelb, a.k.a. Lufthansagelb, the airline's corporate accent color) as base and RAL 1003 Signalgelb for upper surfaces, applied with rattle cans, to create a mild artificial light/shading effect on the otherwise very sleek and uniform plugsuit.

Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Then the body parts received a black ink washing to emphasize recesses and add "shadow effects". Yellow details  were added with a pale yellow (Revell 12) as well as with deep red (Humbrol 19). Parts of the plugsuit's "underwear" and other details were painted with Tar Black (Revell 09) or created with generic black decal material, where appropriate, to avoid masking.
Black 0.5mm decal strips were also used to re-create the filled seams on the leg/torso intersections and the zipper fairing over the figure's abdomen. The red "02" codes were made with USAF 45° letters.

Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Hikari's face was painted with rattle cans, too: the basis is Tamiya's TS-77 "Flat Flesh" over which lighter Montana 8190 "Flesh" was sprayed/hushed "from above", to artificially highlight forehead, nose, chin and cheeks. I stuck to canonical pics of Hikari and gave her blue eyes. These, as well es the eyebrows, were done with water-slide decals from a generic aftermarket sheet – since the face sculpt dictated the eyes' shape I went for rather round "saucer eyes" – I considered using narrower eyes, but that would not have worked on the tall face. Her characteristic freckles (in canonical illustrations she only has three on each cheek!) were created with Dark Earth acrylic paint, applied with the tip of a fine, hard toothpick. Thinned Humbrol 70 was used to fill her lips and emphasize the figure's mouth, but without making it look like lipstick.
Hikari's dark brown hair was brush-painted with a base of ModelMaster 1583 "Rubber" with wet-in-wet highlights in Humbrol 113 (Rust), plus some very dark brown to add visual depth to the hair strands. Once completd a "light reflex halo" was added, with highly lightened Humbrol 113 (a brownish pink). The hair band baubles were painted in a dark pink (just as the canonical Hikari wears them to her school uniform).

Once complete the head received a coat with matt acrylic varnish while the body/plugsuit and the hair clips received a semi-matt finish, for some natural light reflexes.


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


I originally did not want to create a base for the figure, due to the sitting pose, but eventually gave in and scratched an un-typical base (for me) with a small 15x10cm / 6x4 inches medium-density fiberboard, onto which a vacu-formed hexagonal tile sheet ("professional" doll house stuff!) was glued. The tile recesses were filled with grey watercolor to enhance the contrast of the bright figure with the white and paly grey tiles. The base sides were covered with black edgeband.


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ 1:8 Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (Dojinshi/garage kit recast) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


...and, finally, as a bonus some A.I.-artwork based on the model pics above:


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (A.I.-generated, based on pictures of 1:8 dojinshi model) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (A.I.-generated, based on pictures of 1:8 dojinshi model) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (A.I.-generated, based on pictures of 1:8 dojinshi model) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (A.I.-generated, based on pictures of 1:8 dojinshi model) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (A.I.-generated, based on pictures of 1:8 dojinshi model) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (A.I.-generated, based on pictures of 1:8 dojinshi model) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Neon Genesis Evangelion +++ Hikari Horaki in plugsuit (A.I.-generated, based on pictures of 1:8 dojinshi model) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[NARSES2]

I'm impressed as much by the coverage of the yellow (a notoriously difficult colour to get right) as I am by the build 

[Dizzyfugu]

I'm impressed as much by the coverage of the yellow (a notoriously difficult colour to get right) as I am by the build 

I was scared of it, too - but I had RAL tones of good quality in rattle cans at hand, and the rich Melonengelb is also available from Revell in a tin (310), so that corrections could be subtly made to the uniform suit where needed. The white Primer underneazh also helped a lot. A gamble, yes, I am with you, but it worked out well - and I think it really looks good within the other canonical suit designs (e.g. in white, red, pink). 

Glad you like it!

[Pellson]

Being a subject miles from my ordinary areas f interest, I still found your excellent grounding in the manga story and appearance surprisingly interesting.  Not to mention the actual work you've laid down to create the paint effects.  Very impressive indeed!

[Dizzyfugu]

Being a subject miles from my ordinary areas f interest, I still found your excellent grounding in the manga story and appearance surprisingly interesting.  Not to mention the actual work you've laid down to create the paint effects.  Very impressive indeed!

Thank you, too!