Adorable Destruction is Immanent- SpaceCrab by PaintByIan

Impending doom has never looked so freakin cute. Instagram's @Paintbyian has come out of the gate with his first custom vinyl toy for Martian Toy's Space Crab Wars for Designer Con 2015. Team Europe certainly has a strong contender in this one; that little Lunartik is poised to fire the big guns. I love the clean machined finish of the sculptural additions and paint application- not a seam in sight.

Check out Martian Toy's booth #603 for the full exhibition of Space Crab Wars at Designer Con 2015. For more of Martian Toys offerings, follow along here, and check out PaintByIan's painted racing Helmets & Car body shells here.

-Tasha Zimich

REVIEW: Plastik Surgery Resin Casting Handbook by Matt Lunartik Jones

I had the distinct pleasure today of reading the 20-page "Level One" Plastik Surgery handbook compiled by Matt "Lunartik" Jones. This fun, illustrated guide to beginning resin casting is available for just £12.00 ($18) on the Lunartik site here.

I'm sure Matt knew that I am a great person to review this book. I have a bit of technical knowledge and I've been selling resin toys for several years now, so I deal with the artists that cast the resin on a near-daily basis.

However, I have never actually cast any resin figures myself so some of the details are fuzzy to me, or were, till today.

Most of the artists I work with have all of this book's knowledge, plus more, in their heads, so the book might not offer many new insights to such veteran toymakers.

However, ALL resin toymakers have interested friends, kids, cousins, neighbors' kids, or colleagues who probably want to know more about what is involved in resin casting. This right here is a perfect introductory guide to the process and well worth the small amount of money. Makes a great gift for a budding artist!

The entire handbook is illustrated in Matt's clear, colorful and fun style, with handwritten text that makes it feel almost like an old-school zine, albeit a slick and well-crafted one.

I'm not going to photograph and post up every page of the entire handbook as that would defeat the purpose of this post.

However, I will go through a few key points that I liked about it:

Plastik Surgery goes through the entire process of resin toymaking from inception to delivery of the pieces to the customer, and even a bit after delivery. It's incredibly thorough for only having 20 pages. Just the right combination of text and images on each page- keeps kids and ADHD adults interested, fully describes and illustrates all the points Matt is trying to make.

Here you see all the different sections in the book:

1. Overview
2. Concept Design
3. Model Making
4. Silicone Tool Making
5. Resin Casting
6. Painting and Signing
7. Packing and Selling
8. Supplies and Notes

All of the concepts are explained carefully, even a little bit about color variants and the psychology of collecting, the importance of presentation, and several other key concepts which were surprisingly high-level, and sort of snuck in there without me noticing that they were fairly expert explanations of abstract concepts in toy making and selling.

I think one of my favorite things about this handbook is how frequently Matt suggests you stop for a nice cuppa tea. He's right- you can't rush this stuff and you might as well slow down and enjoy it.

I highly recommend this book. I learned a bunch, and I am excited that this is the "Level One" handbook because it means Matt is planning on producing a "Level Two" follow-up to cover more advanced concepts in toy production.

If you are an artist and you don't really know how to start creating resin pieces, this is definitely the right book for you. One of the most frequent emails I get goes something like this:

"Hey Benny, I'm an artist just starting out and I have this great idea and I want to turn it into a toy. Can you help me?"

Now I have a link to give to these inquiries! Pick up your own copy of Plastik Surgery here. Really, I can't think of a better vehicle to deliver this knowledge to someone. You can even get Matt to customize it with a doodle for an extra 3 quid.

- Benny Kline

Design a Lovely Cup of Tea

Design a lovely “Mini Custom Cup of Tea” and have the chance of winning some tasty Lunartik treats!

The Rules:
You have until the 31st July 2013 to get an image of your perfect cuppa over to us viacompetitions@lunartik.com
You have many ways in which to enter, you can submit a drawing, painting, digital CAD drawing, a photo of a custom cuppa.

1. Download the PDF Entry Form – Download Now
2. Download the Lunartik Design Template – Download Now
3. The Deadline is the 31st July 2013

The Prizes:
There are 3 prizes up for grabs.
The winner will receive a full tray of Mini Series 2, that’s 16 Mini Teas and some signed goodies from Matt JOnes.
2 runners up will each receive a pair of signed Mini Teas of their choice.

The Judges: Matt JOnes & Doktor A

We’re looking for everything and anything, all submissions will be taken into account.
Good Luck Tea Drinkers!

Welcome to Lunartik’s Mini-Tea Tour

An exhibition featuring over 70+ custom works of art based on Matt JOnes’ platform art toys
‘Lunartik in a Cup of Tea’. These artistic interpretations have been brewed to perfection by a fine
selection of World Artists.

Mini-Tea Tour Dates: 2013

Venue 8:
Raygun Comic Store
Opening Party: The 4th May 2013 with Matt JOnes in the house!
Date: 4th May – 30th June 2013
Address: 26 Red Lion Street, Richmond, London, TW9 1RW, United Kingdom.
Raygun Comic Store

Mini-Tea Tour History 2011/2012

Venue 1:
The Mini-Tea Tour debuted on the 6th April 2011, as part of the Pictoplasma character walk in Berlin.
It was a true success and a much loved exhibition.

Venue 2:
The tour continued on its travels around Europe and eventually arrived in the wonderful city of Vienna, where it was proudly displayed in the fashion boutique “Sixxa Store” for the entirety of
May 2011. There was a tea party and artists signing on the opening night.

Venue 3:
The Tour traveled to the UK and was featured in London’s Forbidden Planet Mega Store in August. Where we all had cake!

Venue 4:
Cambridge Art Salon – Cambridge.

Venue 5:
Forbidden Planet Store – Cambridge.

Venue 6:
Fat Buddha Store – Glasgow.

Venue 7:
The SHO Gallery & Shop – Cardiff.

SNEEK PEAK: Lunartik in a Tiny Cuppa Tea

Tiny Cuppa Tea R&D - Final Assembly, originally uploaded by Matt JOnes aka Lunartik.

We are big fans of the beautiful full-size Lunartik in a Cuppa Tea designer toys by Matt Jones from the UK.

Matt has been cooking up a small follow-up to the Lunartiks: the Tiny Cuppas are almost ready to begin production at the factory!

These miniature versions of the Cuppa toy will surely enjoy widespread popularity once they're released... with a lower price, they'll be even more collectible than the full-size Cuppas, and they're ridiculously cute to boot.

Tea time!

SNEAK PEEK: Lunartik Cuppa Tea minis

Caught this image uploaded by Matt Jones of Lunartik: an image of the mini Cuppa Teas he's developing. They'll be sold blind boxed and they look to be about the same size as those little Qees in the background: 2.5 to 3 inches tall. Ridiculously cute.

No set date or price yet. More images on his Flickr page.

THE FREAK MACHINE custom 18" Knucklebear by Matt JOnes aka Lunartik

This crazy Freaky machine has been haphazardly roaming the world with no due care and attention to what ever it destroys in its wake.
We as a race can only hope that the Shrooms below its gigantic feet don't die in vain, as they are slightly enchanted!

More details:
One off custom piece made for the Ik'sentrik shop opening in Bath.
Signed by Matt JOnes, hand painted & sculpted onto a Limited Edition Knuckles Bear no.285/500 pcs.
Now the final piece stands 13" tall on a cast resin base inhabited by 8 hand made Shrooms.
The base measures 9" in Diameter.
The lucky buyer will also receive a special limited edition AP (Artist Proof) print to display with the piece.

This piece will be for sale for 1200 pounds.

See a 360-degree turnaround on Matt's page here.

If that's too rich for your blood, Matt's also selling a limited run of 25 signed & numbered prints for 40 pounds each. Prints and custom can be purchased here.