This is actually a present for one of my best friends, who is a big fan of Ghost In The Shell. The work is pretty much based on the box kit of the 2 versions of Motoko released by Takara without too much customization. A lot of time has been spent on research, head sculpt, custom making of the VR goggles, taking photos and finally the photoshop work.
The box kit was actually bought 8 months ago. To be honest, I was not all that satisfied with it. The costume is not bad but the headsculpt of Motoko is not impressive at all. I left it aside until recently I have seen some professional basher showed a repainted Motoko and that enlightened / encouraged me to give this a try.
(Note: body joints were removed by photoshop on some pictures)
Major Motoko Kusanagi
Takara Motoko Kusanagi OP Limited Version
Cool Girl 2.0 body
Headsculpt repainted (see below)
Custom made VR goggles (see below)
Motoko in Stand Alone Complex
Takara Motoko Kusanagi Ninja Version
CG Scenes (Which one do you like?)
This is the signature move of Motoko that she jumps off the roof of a building, enter the room from the window to give the criminals a surprise attack. To make this pose with correct lighting, I need to really hang the figure on the legs so it is up side down. Then I applied stronger light from the leg down to match the scene.
This CG scene is based on the Episode 1 of “Stand Alone Complex”. Motoko is rescuing some hostages hold by some Gaisha Cyborgs. The venue is like a traditional Japanese banquet room. She is slicking in quietly and has her “thermoptic camouflage” activated.
Just trying to pose Motoko with a futuristic city background scene. I also put a couple of images of those spider-like mini tanks, called, Tachikoma to give some feeling of Ghost In The Shell.
Headsculpt Painting & Hair Treatment
Since Motoko is an anime character, I use stronger contour and color. I also did a few trials on the eyebrows to give her the cool serious look that best matches her style. Hair styling is also very essential here. First I straighten the hair by pouring hot water from the top of her head and let it cool down and dry over night. This will yield a more natural look of hair hanging down. Then I gave her a hair cut, mostly cutting the hair covering the neck, as supposedly the signal sockets behind her neck should show. Finally use hair gel to keep hair in shape.
VR Goggles Customization
I just can’t bash Motoko without giving her the VR goggles. That took me quite a long time to look for usable material and finally I found some gundam body parts. The green things you see on photo is a pair of knee armour of some unknown robot. I joined them together with some modeling plastic sheet. Then applied some putty to hide the joints. Polish up and paint. The 4 small round sensors on the goggles are gundam loose parts.
Weapon
Not too much work here. Just attached carrying stripe to the Seburo C-26A (the long one). The hand gun is Seburo M-5. The black submachine gun alike one was from another Motoko kit that I have no idea what model it is.
