Crayons Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 So, I'm away from home....again. Seems for most of this year and the last, I have spent more time away from home because of work than I have been at home. I went prepared this time. I've had this figure sitting in the stash for probably about 15 years or so, one of those dodgy Thai recast jobs. The usual fair, broken parts, poor fit and detail so on and so forth. The kit has a few irksome details; the nipples that look like the poor girl is freezing and about to take someone's eye out if they get to close, so they are going to go. Same deal with the chin, weirdly pointy, although after a google search, seems to be the style for this series. So that is going to get changed too. Not a huge fan of the hair style, going to PROBABLY change it. The straps for the heels are going to take more time to clean up and fix than to remove them, so I'm going to sand them flat and replace them with wire. Putty session and body mod. (sorry for the crappy photo, working late) Chin surgery: That's about it for now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 The watch is this lump of off centred featureless resin, best description I can think of for it. As I don't have any of my punches with me, I used the end of my mechanical drafting pencil to trace a "roughly" 3.5mm circle onto some styrene scrap. Cut it out, filed and sanded to shape and have glued it in place, after sanding the kit part off. The U shape is to replace the moulded on band clasp made from a paper clip from some work documents I have. Heel laces removed and puttied: As I was removing the laces, sections snapped off, taking pieces of the leg with it, hence to very rough putty job. Belt buckle removed and replaced: I still need to do some work on the buckle, but it is done for the most part. That's it for today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 Watch done: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Some big improvements already, especially the chin! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 On 3/23/2017 at 1:54 PM, Will Vale said: Some big improvements already, especially the chin! Will Thanks Will, the worst is yet to come.....the hair. All the laces have been removed. Holes drilled to take the replacements and a small aluminium loop (courtesy of a pie tin) at the back of the shoe put in so the laces can pass through. I spotted a little hobby shop not far from the office I am currently at, so I plan on stopping in and getting a spray primer to give the parts a coat to see how well they have or haven't cleaned up. The hair is next and in a nutshell, it is garbage. Front and rear sections don't fit together, or even line up for that matter. Couple of pieces are broken. The head doesn't fit into the back or front pieces properly. The plan: Chop and trim until the head fits, then rebuild as required. I am thinking of removing the long back and side pieces and sweeping them up to turn them into a pony tail. Just a thought at this stage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 A test fit of the arms today has revealed a problem: The shoulder and arm on one side of the body is nearly 4mm wider than the other. I not sure exactly how I m going to remedy this. One idea is remove material from the arm and re-sculpt. Anyone have any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 The shoulders don't look too bad to me - most of the difference is in her top which is narrower on one side, the neck-to-outer-shoulder distance looks balanced. Maybe it's supposed to be a twisting or leaning pose, and the fabric's moved as a result? I'd be tempted to leave it as it is, or possibly fill in (her) right armpit slightly so the arm doesn't look too thin. The loop for the laces is a lovely touch. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 Heading home tonight for a few days before I fly back out. Taking the figure with me and will post some updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 This is where this kit is at: The base I picked up from the little hobby shop, about the only thing that I thought was worth. Was more for RC car buffs than anything else. OAH is 270mm. I'm going to clean the base kit hair up and see how that goes before I make a final decision about it. I've got a few days at home, so hopefully I can get this either finished or at the paint stage. Will was right about the shoulders, I used some epoxy putty to balance them out and with the addition of the hair, they don't look so out of whack. The front hair section is going to give me the most grief, the casting is just terrible. But you get that. That's it for now. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 Started puttying the hair, pinned and glued the broken section back in place: The plan is to use a heat gun to soften the resin and contour it to match the outline of the figure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 Worked out well. Still a little bit more work to do on getting the hair to lay against the arm properly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 Best laid plans of mice and men. Other than forming the hair to fit and puttying the remaining front sections, not much was achieved. But I can say it will not be getting painted until I get home again. I have however, taken an addition two figures with me: Not sure which one I will start after the hair for the current figure is finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 So.....the hair didn't survive: Re-sculpt time. Still trying to decide on the next figure. Suggestions anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted April 16, 2017 Author Share Posted April 16, 2017 The first attempt at sculpting the new hair sections using Tamiya Epoxy Putty was a total failure. So, I'm going to try something different: I've never used this stuff before, but from what I have read online, it handles much like automotive filler. I just hope it doesn't dissolve the plastic wrap and bond to the back hair section. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 That didn't go as well as I had hoped. The putty did in fact eat through the plastic wrap in some sections, and I'm not sure if the tube was old and getting close to its best before date, but the putty cured to a nice buttery consistency, however, as I cut, filed and sanded the hair to shape, the stuff just crumbled away. AND as I was "carefully" removing the front section of the hair after the putty had cured, a section of the rear hair piece snapped off, so I had to sort that out. The next plan, is to buy another tube of the polyester putty, this time though, I'm going to glue the head and hair sections together then apply the putty. Shouldn't affect the ease of painting, but will allow me to do away with the plastic wrap. Which may or may not have caused the putty to crumble. Away from home for about another two weeks, so I am also going to start work on the Akane figure. The surface of the Naru Narusegawa figure looks like the surface of the moon and is going to take several airbrushed coats of Mr. Surfacer 1000 before I even start work on it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 So, after a few long discussions with SWMBO, I have quit my job to take a much earned and long overdue break. This where Shoko is at: As for the hair. After several failed attempts to sculpt new sections, I decided to try and glue all the broken parts of the original back together and make a new casting, this is what I ended up with: It is a bit rough, but workable. Need to tidy up the paint work around the shoes, then put the laces in place. The belt/buckle I am going to paint by hand as it is going to way easier than the X number of hours involved just in masking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cameraman Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 Hi Crayons, not a usual modelling subject for me but I love to see your work. Fine results/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted December 3, 2017 Author Share Posted December 3, 2017 Cameraman, thank you for your kind words. So, an update. The lower section is now complete. Installing the laces gave me no end of grief. When I drilled the holes to take the replacements, I drilled through upper foot at a 45° angle then at a 90° angle through the side of the shoe. What I did not take into account at that time, was feeding the new laces through the holes. Just poking the cotton (original plan was to use wire, but I found a cotton that is a match for the blue) just didn't work as it was not rigid enough to work itself around the bend. After many hours of profanities and cursing my own stupidity, I came on the idea of pushing the cotton in through the top and then using a .3mm drill bit inserted through the shoe and using the flutes on the drill bit to bind against the thread and then pull the drill bit out and hopefully the cotton as well. It worked. The laces aren't perfect, but I can live with it. And I consider it much better than the original. Finishing off the torso next, which is just a few paint touch ups then on to the head. I've cast four more front hair sections just in case I stuff one up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted December 7, 2017 Author Share Posted December 7, 2017 Torso finished off. None of the assemblies are glued together at the moment. As it stands, the figure is currently 250mm in height. Apologies for the crap photos, never been much good with a camera. The figure is shadowed, but my total inability to take a photo means they don't show. I will take the finished figure to someone who knows what they are doing with a camera. Head/hair next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 The front hair section is a nightmare. It has been a repetitious process of position, mark, heat and bend over and over. Just need to patiently soldier on, I think I still have a few swear words I haven't used yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangle Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Nice work! Your cast looks good and cleaning up a few rough edges has got to be better than trying to sort out a broken piece, I find the filling and sanding of resin figures a real pain too! I'll be interested in seeing your work on Akane when you get started, I remember watching Rumbling Hearts, it's a surprisingly hard hitting anime compared to the cutesy outside appearance of the front cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYA Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 (edited) Hi Crayons, I like what you have done so far! I am about to start something similar so it is a great opportunity. One thing that puzzles me thought is the hair, did it break apart as a consequence of the heat gun? Or was there another reason? Good luck with your project. Edited January 17, 2018 by CYA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 On 1/14/2018 at 10:25 PM, CYA said: Hi Crayons, I like what you have done so far! I am about to start something similar so it is a great opportunity. One thing that puzzles me thought is the hair, did it break apart as a consequence of the heat gun? Or was there another reason? Good luck with your project. The dreaded hair. I didn't even get a chance to apply heat to it. I was traveling interstate for work and packing the figure in my luggage to take with me to work on. Packed fine at one end, and well, the photo shows how it arrived at the other end. I've never had a resin part break on me because of the application of heat. Heat just makes it go all soft and bendy. Photo update in the next day or two, just finishing painting the eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted January 26, 2018 Author Share Posted January 26, 2018 The term "next day or two" in this case was very subjective. Sorry for the delay in posting a photo of the face. Still a few lines around the eyes to tweak. I've been thinking about making eye decals instead of hand painting, the lines would be a lot smoother and neater. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 The hand painting is more charming though. You've definitely got the anime look with the internal and external reflections Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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