iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 19/09/2026

The store stocks a bit of everything: out of print kits, new stuff, samples, artist proofs, limited items, just crazy stuff. Cash only - proceeds go to charity, apparently right now they're sending money to Kumamoto earthquake relief. If you're *really* into Ma.K, absolutely worth the day trip.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 19/09/2026

The shop is open Wednesday-Sunday 10am-6pm but visits are by reservation only; contact info and address etc. are on the shop's IG (www.instagram.com/ma.k.kom/) Ogawa-san understands enough English that you can probably use that in your email and you'll be fine.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 19/09/2026

It's basically half shop half museum: models panted by Ogawa, Yokoyama and other artists, books and magazines including Maschinen Krieger's debut in a 1982 issue of Hobby Japan, all sorts of weird and wild stuff.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 19/09/2026

I had a surprise day off my current work trip so I took the train to Komaki, Aichi Prefecture, where car/motorcycle restorer and kitbash enthusiast Masao Ogawa has opened a small shop dedicated to Kow Yokoyama's Maschinen Krieger universe. #マシーネンクリーガー #maschinenkrieger #modelbuilding #scalemodel

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 13/09/2026

On my way to a three-week work thing and decided to see if it’s possible to paint on the bullet train. Answer: yes but I should have zenithaled for heavy body paints! Alternatively I could have worked in grayscale to set values and then glazed color on top. #minipainting #40k #warhammer

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 29/08/2026

Glamor shots for my Twin Lance! Very pleased with how these came out, tested my abilities in a lot of areas. 2000 painted Tau points starting to creep within view. #minipainting #miniaturepainting #warhammer #warhammer40k #warhammer40000 #tauempire

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 25/08/2026

Thread of assorted photos from the fourth annual Rusty Nurgling painting contest at the #Warhammer Store & Cafe Tokyo. By no means comprehensive - just some minis and details that caught my attention. Japan's #minipainting community growing in size and skill every year, really impressive stuff. 1/3

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 22/08/2026

No wins at Rusty Nurgling this year but happy to have gotten my main project (the Twin Lance) to the finish line and gotten a chance to show off my Golden Demon entry to friends in person for the first time. #minipainting #warhammer40k #bloodbowl

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 17/07/2026

Rumors of my demise have been slightly exaggerated... got back from my U.S. work trip last week, and this week I've been hacking away at the Ork side of the Armageddon box. One more sprue of Boyz to build and then it'll just be down to putting everything on bases and prepping for painting. #40k

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 01/06/2026

Did get a project finished before my upcoming long work trip - this incredible #Evangelion model by Kaiyodo for @mechamay.bsky.social! He's a hugeboi and I had fun with enamel washes for that grimdark weathering and OSL. #mechamay #minipainting

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 02/04/2026

No pin but very pleased with the response to my Golden Demon entry at Adepticon. Super happy with how it turned out and ready to move on to the next project! #bloodbowl #minipainting #miniaturepainting #warhammer

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 26/03/2026

chuckles_im_in_danger.gif

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 26/03/2026

Hello from Adepticon and from my first class piece, from last night’s @brushforhire.bsky.social class “Making You Uncomfortable”! Gonna see if I can’t finish this off and get it in the MAA case.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 15/03/2026

With about a week to go, my Adepticon 2026 schedule! Some of the non-class events are maybes and I'm especially not sure if I'll have post-class energy to play EDH but I'd like to try. If I'm not in a class I'm probably at Fort Wappel; I'll also have Japanese kitkats to give and stickers to trade!

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 12/03/2026

So uh Adepticon eh? My Golden Demon project is coming together… I def. won’t trophy and I likely won’t pin, but my goal is to see this concept through and get it in the case and I think I’ll manage that.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 25/01/2026

Played my first game of commander and succeeded in my goal of being a general nuisance even though I died first (and then after that we realized that the winner would be decided on the next turn anyway). May have to eventually build my own deck though for now I’ll stick with precon. #mtg

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 24/01/2026

You got a blank badge on entrance and received a piece after each experience, with the fourth and final piece distributed across the street at the Warhammer Cafe. More events already planned for next month and beyond, massive 👏👏 for the WH Japan team.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 24/01/2026

First Warhammer Experience Tokyo had lines out the door from opening - massive effort to introduce the hobby to newbies with a video station, paint demo and game demo. Combat Patrol/Spearhead open play signups filled up less than an hour after registration was announced earlier this month.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 16/01/2026

Whole gang's got numbers now! Last painting steps will be some touch-ups/fixes, details, freehanding logos on the left shoulderpad and then cleaning up the rims so I can call this team a wrap.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 16/01/2026

Applying water decals and mostly not fucking it up - though I was getting some weird reactions with the softener and setter on the Vallejo express paint. Is that a typical interaction? Applied varnish after the first incident and mostly seemed to help. #bloodbowl

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 14/01/2026

Bit late posting this but it turns out that waking up at 2:30am to register for #Adepticon *was* worth it as I got the swag bag badge *and* some amazing classes (including w/ @brushforhire.bsky.social & @d-ozborne.bsky.social). Still figuring out how I'm getting from Chicago to Milwaukee on 3/25...

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 02/11/2025

I was apparently rolling Quite Hot and killed and/or maimed half my friend’s players before scoring a touchdown on turn 8.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 02/11/2025

Needed an excuse to get out of the house so I’m learning Blood Bowl.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

The MVP of this year's Nova Open was the phenomenal weather: usually it's as hot and humid as Tokyo, this time it was jeans-and-light-hoodie weather throughout. Sad I'll missing it next year but looking forward to catching up w/ friends at @adepticongaming.bsky.social!

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

My vendor haul was... fairly restrained! A few busts including the #TrenchCrusade Artillery Witch and the new Neko Galaxy piece, the Kimera Kolors base set, and an H&S Evolution because once you use a good airbrush nothing will compare. Oh and that #infinitygame paint set was a trivia prize!

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

I could have refined it more if I'd had time before my trip - I left 12 days before the con to visit my in-laws - but after getting blanked in 2024 it was great to get back on the podium with a bronze, and also great to see so many painters get recognized after last year's judging fiasco.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

On the competition side in Capital Palette, I ended up focusing on this amazing Batman sculpt by Andrea Miniatures. Prepping and painting metal minis is hard - who knew? - but this was the furthest I'd ever pushed myself on a display piece. #minipainting #miniaturepainting #novaopen #novaopen2025

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

Overall I couldn't be happier with the classes I took at Nova Open (and a big shoutout to @d-ozborne.bsky.social who organizes the seminar track) - I finally found the sweet spot in terms of pushing myself with lots of new and challenging topics while allowing for plenty of time to rest & socialize.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

Last but not least on Sunday morning was Erik Swinson’s class on painting better #Warhammer faces. Who knew it’s… not impossible? Well, maybe to paint to his level is, but this is a bit of a game changer when I get around to those Votann minis.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

After four days of waking up for 8-9am starts, Day 5 started in the afternoon. First up was Ninjon’s class on his fast tabletop methods - was very cool to take a class w/ a creator whose videos got me into the hobby. Later was Marco Frisoni’s class on underpainting and contrast/inks. #minipainting

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

Day 4 was all about sculpting - first stones and bedrock for display bases, then modifying characters with green stuff and epoxy. Really key for my toolset if I want to get more ambitious with dioramas, dynamic poses etc.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

That afternoon was @brushforhire.bsky.social’s Git Gud at Galaxies class - randomness to lay down starfields and then strategic layering of inks to give your galaxy depth and color. Didn’t quite nail it but would love to do a project around it in the future.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

Day 3 started w/ a full morning of airbrush classes, first a 101 refresher and then advanced techniques with @d-ozborne.bsky.social Sure, sex is great, but have you ever pulled the masking tape off and seen perfectly straight lines? (This class may or may not have inspired me to upgrade my setup)

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

Time to go and catch up on Nova Open posting because I mostly stuck to IG. Was very happy with how this turned out after Day 2 - the NMM is sketchy but I’m absolutely enamored with how easy it is to mix single-pigment paints. #minipainting #miniaturepainting

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/09/2025

It’s a subscription thing! If you get the subscription you will eventually collect multiple combat patrols. First volume is ¥500 for two minis, dice and a play mat which is a very good deal. Of course vol. 2 is ¥1500 and 3~ are ¥2500…

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 26/08/2025

Day 1 wrapped! We did a couple hours of theory followed by base coating/sketching/blocking; I focused most of the afternoon on the cape and trying out things like textures, tomorrow we're going to be tackling skin tones, NMM etc. #NovaOpen #minipainting #miniaturepainting

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 26/08/2025

Hello from #NovaOpen! Starting my con with the two-day Kimera masterclass. As always I have Japanese KitKats for classmates and fellow hobbying peeps.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 03/08/2025

I’ve been neglecting this account and need to do better - who will I be seeing at Nova Open 2025? Photo tax is the cross stitch project I’m working on to get me in the zone to work on my Capital Palette entry.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 13/07/2025

Finally started working on my Nova Open Capital Palette stuff! I might have posted about this mini a while ago but I found it at a secondhand shop in Akiba and it's just such a badass sculpt - white metal and resin from the early 00s. Still a long way to go but feel good about the shape of things.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 30/06/2025

Last week I wrapped up two more minis for Roles For Initiative improv D&D show at Tokyo Comedy Bar. To the left is tiefling cleric Tesla Cybertruck, & to the right is... an actual Cybertruck that served as a setpiece for May's event.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 06/06/2025

Catching up on posts but recently painted my ratling warpblaster - really tried to push myself to go for table ready but still looking good and I think I succeeded with a combination of OSL and lots of grimy washes. #skaven #ageofsigmar #warhammer #minipainting #miniaturepainting #aos

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 21/05/2025

The warplock jezzails also turned out great though I’m going to have to go through them eventually for detail work.

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 21/05/2025

Been too busy with work to post here but more #skaven dip success from last week. #warhammer #minipainting #miniaturepainting

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Dan @nerdy.tokyo · 29/04/2025

Warhammer Store & Cafe Tokyo just announced new rules for the play tables and paint stations. A bit annoying but fair; honestly the fact that they're adding a reservation form is a win. #warhammer40k #warhammerjapan

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