MOVIES
I had the chance to interview Takashi, a japanese fan of Kerberos Saga, builder of Protect Gears, also involved into the reparation of a screen used Protect Gear from StrayDog movie! (Click on each picture to enlarge.)
Protect Gear Saga: Takashi: Can you tell us how you got to know the Kerberos saga? As a fan of Mamoru Oshii works, I became a fan of the Kerberos Saga since Akai Megane. I felt a deep attachment for the world of the movie. When did you decide to make your first Protect Gear? Half a year after watching the movie, I read the article written by Mr. Shinada Fuyuki in B-Club magazine (here) and was convinced that I could make one by myself.
The awesome Akai Megane Protect Gear replica made by Takashi How long did it take you to build the full Akai Megane Protect Gear? I done the armor in around six months. At the time, I was an engineering college student, I had plenty of free time compared to today, so I did not have a time limit for the construction process.
All the armor parts
Close up of the bottom of the backpack What materials and techniques did you used for this armor? The very detailed article of Mr. Shinada was my guide, so almost all of the materials were the same as the real costumes: urethane sheets, vinyl leather and fiberglass for the mask.
Raw FRP mask and finished version Later you also made a suit from the manga Kenrou Densetsu (few pictures of this armor were published in the readers columns of B-Club magazine). The two Protect Gears are very close isn't it? Yes, only few parts were needed to convert Akai Megane suit into Kenrou Densetsu version.
The Kenrou Densetsu version, the chest is mainly the most different part than Akai Megane version (the calculator is removed) How did you get involved in the repair of a Protect Gear used in StrayDog? A friend at the time, who living in the neighborhood, was involved in the movie as a modeling support. He knew I had made my own armor, so he thought that I could be enough skilled for this job. Working on a real movie suit must be very stressful, how did you experience this challenge? Usually the costumes used for filming are thrown away, the armor was wrapped in an ordinary plastic bag when I received it... Can you explain the reparations that you have done on the armor? The Protect Gear was not seriousely damaged, I have mainly done three actions: 1) During the shooting, there was a lot of dust and cement powder (used for explosions and bullet impacts), so I used water and a vacuum cleaner with which I carefully cleaned all.
The Protect Gear during drying after cleaning 2) Reparation of the imitation leather which started to unstuck. This work was only necessary for few parts. 3) The third action was the one that took me the most time, some fingers had lost their armor plates (molded resin parts stuck on the gloves).
The gloves were covered of over 20 articulated hard parts casted in resin The cleaning and repair process taken around 2 weeks, but I remember it was not progressing as well as I wished because I had already graduated from college at this time.
On the left, the Kenrou Densetsu version made by Takashi, on the right the restaured suit from StrayDog Thank you so much Takashi-san for all these wonderful informations, your interview is a great addition to my website!
Protect Gear Saga - May 2020 |
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