Kallisti Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 (edited) This is my build thread for the GB - its a shortened version of the thread I started at the end of December when I originally began work on this, but I'm less than 25% through so I've been told it qualifies, especially as I'd started it only 2 days before the GB commended! So this is my entry: which when painted up is supposed to look something like this Its my first vinyl kit so working in a new material has seen some challenges! So here are the "sprue" shots: There are 8 parts for the main figure and two for the base... yes there IS a base if you can manage to drag your eyes further down... There is some nice ahem moulding and this is the lizard head for the base I made a start with the base yesterday to get used to manipulating the vinyl before starting on the girl - ahem. The joint from the lizard's head to the body was a complex shape that needed careful trimming and didn't fit easily. However with some careful coaxing and superglue I got it attached. Then U used Mr Disolved putty to drip into the gaps that were left and with careful application using a toothpick and wiping excess away immediately a very nice looking joint was made. How successful I won't really know until I've primed it I guess, but its thankfully quite a wrinkly bit of moulding so should look okay Here is the rear view and you can see the joint on the left above its leg. It looks really obvious now but I think with primer on, it will pretty much vanish into the detail. You might have noticed some white blotches in the first pic - this is some plaster of paris overspill as the hollow base has now been filled with plaster to give it some weight and stability. I took my time as plaster of paris can get quite hot while it dries out so I didn't want to cause the vinyl to distort due to excess heat. Once everythign it dry, I'll give it another scrub with the toothbrush to clean it up for priming... You might also notice I deliberately left a gap under the neck instead of fixing it ot the base - I thought that would add to the "depth"... Now the base has been primed, you can't see the join! Some rock painting done and now putting some colour on the lizard - initial thin green coat to get in the hollows You can see the rocks in these photos, not as pleased about how they turned out - its several layers of brown and tan to give a sandstone-like appearance. Its gone a bit too red really. I'm pleased with the darker cracks and gullies, but overall its a bit too red. There will need to be some tidying up done around the feet where the green wash has pooled at its feet. This will need to be cleaned up later. I'll do this once the lizard is done and can go back to sorting out the rocks. Next step was a decent coat of Nato Green - yes its a NATO Dragon! Now to work on the mouth and toenails - er claws... I think I can call the base done now, lots of painting, washing and highlighting to get to this stage... The lizard's got a real snarl on his face! I've added a few sprigs of lichen to give it some more texture. The rock has turned out rather well, better than I expected. So that was the "easy" part done, now for her ladyship... I think I can safely say this will be the first time I can legitimately get away with the phrase: "She's a very well put together lady!" She went together with care but without any real drama. It was a case of continual dry-fitting and trimming the vinyl from the inside of joints to thin the walls so they sat well together. This was particularly important on the torso joint which is around the chain of the bikini. Some of the links are intended to hang down onto the lower part of the torso so the vinyl there had to be thinned down quite drastically. The shoulder joints were tricky because once you have the upper torso attached, you've got very little "wiggle" room to get the arms to fit since the hands they attach to are moulded on the thighs! There is a small amount of Mr Dissolved Putty to fill the joints, this was particularly useful as it was possible to drip a tiny amount from a toothpick into the seam and encourage it to spread along the gap before it dried. The lady is primed and ready to go! I'm pleased with the joints - the joins on her upper arms are not easily detectable as they've blended with the natural patterns in that area. The other joints are also pretty much invisible. So thats the previous thread summarized. I did begin brush painting the flesh tones but made a total mess and had to strip it all off with isopropyl alcohol and I left her to one side until I coudl afford to invest in a compressor and airbrush. Well the software company I worked for has just been bought by a very large software company (whose main product is a database, hint) so my share options have been converted into a very pleasant wad of cash, and since its my birthday on Saturday I've treated myself to a compressor and airbrush so can consider restarting the delectable Sara again! So here I am... Edited February 3, 2012 by Kallisti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) So I've been practicing with the new airbrush... bought an Iwata Revolution CR yesterday from scale-models.co.uk and it arrived today! Woot, great birthday present for myself! So then I built a stand for it from Meccano and proceeded to practice spraying. My word its a complicated process and my trigger finger (which is also my mouse click fingers) is aching, but its been getting a bit rheumatic for the last week or so. Anyway, so Sara then got her first coat of flesh tone which you can see here where she's standing in front of my practice sheet. I made a bit of a mess on ther right lower torso, but overall its a much better finish that the one I achieved brush painting a couple of weeks ago! PS Dave, I doubt if I'll have her ready for Farnborough next week, so we won't overload everyone's senses with too much displayed flesh! Hmm, that sounds nasty doesn't it... Edited February 4, 2012 by Kallisti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 If she ends up looking anything like the creature at her feet she will be exceptionally good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Not normally into this genre of build, but this is looking great. From the photos the seams are flawless. Your airbrush work looks great too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Ogilvie Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Don't think I'd be allowed to model subjects like this - great flesh tones Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul RH Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Aha!! Found her again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 A week goes by and progress is slow but steady... As you can see she's still a work in progress and having seen this photo I see I've overdone the shading on her torso so will have to smooth that out more. I'm pleased with her boots and thong - they've come up quite well, but still need to add some highlights - the shading works nicely but it still needs the highlights added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shar2 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 She's looking great. Having talked to some of the guys at Farnborough I'll be adding a bit more shading and colour to my Elf Assassin so will be keen to see how Sara comes along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 (edited) I saw yours last week - I couldn't believe that ehre were two of them in the same month lol - shame you lost out to Pete's, I did vote for yours I've found an online source for this kit for only 10 Eur plus postage: http://homemedia4u.com/catalog/product_inf...roducts_id=3786 along with other interesting figures such as the Bloody Marie figure which I've ordered for later Not quite so much chainmail on that one and its not TOO revealing unlike most of them which are frankly just silly! Mind you the Veronica figure looks good - it looks like it should be based on a Boris Vallejo painting but I can't find it, however looking at his gallery ( http://vallejo.ural.net/ ) there are some masterful examples of painting impressive physiques in chainmail bikinis! Here is an interesting example (not entirely safe for work so I'll post a link) http://vallejo.ural.net/1989/show.php?006 Edited February 18, 2012 by Kallisti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Looking great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) Well the painting has slowed down as I seem to end up adding paint almost molecule by molecule now! in addition she is a VERY difficult lady to photograph! I took the plunge on Sunday and did the chainmail. This was mostly done with a sort-of drybrush technique by using the side of the brush rather than the tip. This meant the paint stayed OUT of the gaps between the chain links. Had to do a little touching up afterwards. Added more shading to the pauldrons, skull on her right boob and added a "sheepskin" lining to the bracer on the left arm. Painted some fingernails but some of these need a bit more touching up. Added some eyes but she's staring a bit and I tried my best not to let her go boss-eyed but not sure if I succeeded. Quite happy with right eye but not so with left. Darkened the lips and added a little bit of highlight to the cheekbones but doesn't look like its enough. Here is a photo without flash and here is one with flash but level adjusted in Photoshop I think I'm beginning to struggle now - I really don't know what to do with her face to make it look more lifelike. Similarly with the rest of her - she still looks painted and not lifelike. I think I need to add more highlights to her hair, right arm bracer and boots, but the skin is just too "plastic" looking. if you can imagine something between the two photos, that what she looks like in normal lighting conditions. I'm goign to have to try to moderate my camera flash to get better photos. This is getting frustrating... Edited February 22, 2012 by Kallisti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkkeeper Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 She's fab, nice job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancieT Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 very nice indeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 I'm taking a short break from the charms of Sara and her bikini. Need to do some more research as to how to get a good skin tone before I start again. Think I might be investing in some artists pastels to get a nice tone when I begin again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Looking great....but that pole position is....never mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Ogilvie Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 Did you get her finished? Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted May 27, 2012 Author Share Posted May 27, 2012 I'm afraid not, she's still gracing my shelf in a state of half readiness I need to find the time and oomph to finish off the skin tones and fix the eyes. One day... one day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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