In my last blog in this ongoing series about my eternal longing for Japan, I showed you all images of a small craft build I undertook.  Take a look at that one here. On that occasion it was a small kit build that I purchased from a Japanese online store. Last time the build was a kit build of a street food Ramen store / stand. It was a fund build and one that allowed to be a little creative about how I chose to set up and decorate the diorama. When I ordered that kit I also ordered the Takoyaki Shop kit. Takoyaki is a pretty common street food in Japan.  They are ball-shaped and made of a batter and cooked in a special molded pan to hold the ball shape. They are filled with diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion.

My first encounter with Takoyaki was in Kyoto.  Just across the street from my hotel was a Japanese supermaket. Out the front of that was a Takoyaki stand with a guy selling these golden delicious ball snacks. At first I didn’t know what they were as the stand was so brightly coloured and had bright primary coloured flags and banners. Much like in this build.

The kit comes with almost everything you need to complete the build. Once again the instructions were 100% in Japanese but they are fairly easy to follow and get a basic idea of what is required. I opted to use some different materials than the kit either provided or suggested. I also had to use some extra bits of balsa wood and bamboo skewers to achieve a desired look with the structure. But you can get away with just the kit if you try. I need to have and use a sharp scalpel knife, a ruler with a steel edge, a couple of paint brushes to apply the stain and glue (both of which come with the kit) and a cutting mat. The kit comes with PVA glue so that is all covered. As with the last build, I am not going to bore you with the details or step by steps.  But overall the build took most of the afternoon and night. Or, the better part of a bottle of Shirz.

Like with the last build, it really wasn’t that difficult a kit to put together. Especially as it doesn’t necessarily require absolute precision like you would get in a plastic model ship or airplane kit. But it was a lot of fun. I think that before I purchase any more of these kits, which are branded as Billy Dollhouse kits if you want to search for them, I will try a few little builds of my own making.  I have recently picked up some polymer  hobby clay and also some two-part resin to experiment with a few ideas that I have. You will have to stay tuned for that but I hope that you enjoyed this little example here today. Cheers.