Member Showcase

Click on any photo below to see larger version

Like most modelers, I built model kits when I was younger. Mostly Armor and Figure kits, usually Aurora. As I matured, I put aside modeling and “got on with life.” Later on I got back into the hobby again. I think what influenced me most was going into a hobby shop and seeing a book about modeling by a fellow named Francois Verlinden. What surprised me the most when I saw this book was that he was my age. I was foolishly under the impression that building model kits was for kids.

Seeing Verlinden’s work though made me realize that model building could be an art form for grown-ups. Next thing I knew, I was walking out the door of the hobby shop with the Verlinden book and a model in hand. I was back into the old love of my youth. I’ve truly regretted having given up on modeling all those years ago. Since then my skills have grown. I still mainly build Armor and Figures, but I’ve also done Sci-fi and even have tried my hand at Autos, Aircraft and Ships.

While Armor is still my first choice in building, I’ve really made a name for myself with building and painting Figures. I don’t limit myself to any one kind of figure. I’ve done vinyl, resin and metal figures. It doesn’t matter to me if it was military, fantasy or true life. I’ve tried my hand at it. The are quite a few good figure companies out there. Verlinden and Jaguar are good for Historical and Military Figures in resin. While Horizon and Geometrics are good companies that put out vinyl models for subject matter such as Sci-Fi, Comic Book and TV/Movie Characters.

Since the guys in the club really like the figures that I do, I thought that my showcase feature should deal with figure modeling and painting. Recently, I have started working on Horizon’s Comic Book version of Batman. This model was originally done in resin, but it was also put out in vinyl form. Vinyl models are generally less expensive than resin and the detail can be just as good as some of the resin kits out on the market.

Working with vinyl can be easier than working with resin and harder at the same time. As with the Batman, the vinyl pieces are easier to cut and trim than with resin since the model is hollow as compared to a solid resin kit, but there is usually much more flash on a vinyl model from where it was “pulled” over the master. Even then, you need to trim vinyl with a sharp Exacto Blade to get the best results. This can lead to it’s own hazards, as my bandaged thumbs can testify to. When trimming the excess vinyl from the figure, I always trim most but not all the flash off. For me this makes the piece easier to handle. I can always go back and take my time paring the remaining flash away.

With my primary and fine trimming done, it is now time to do the finishing cleaning up of the model. Even if you take your time and trim as closely and carefully as you can, there will be places that need to be cleaned up. This is because the vinyl is so soft and pliable, you don’t want to trim right down to the part itself, otherwise you may end up cutting into the part, especially if you are using a new, sharp blade. I usually sand the edges where I’ve trimmed at this point.

Most times, you can just sand down the trimmed edges with various grades of sandpaper. I tend to use 320 or 400 grit first and the go back and sand over that with 600 to 800 grit sandpaper. With the Batman figure, however, there where areas in the cape that I just couldn’t get to with sandpaper and elbow grease due to the compound curves. When this occurs, I rely on my Dremel tool with either a grinding stone or sanding head.

After sanding the part down, it’s time to start gluing the model together. I use Super-glue though I have known some people to use PVC Cement to glue the model together. I prefer Super-glue since I’ve never been able to get PVC Cement to work for me. Horizon does make a glue that is especially for vinyl models, but I’ve never tried it. Gluing is pretty straight forward. Most vinyl kits have their joins at logical locations, for example on Batman’s lower torso and legs, the legs glue together where the boots meet the calves so there is a natural join line there.
I always start my gluing with the lower body and legs. The big reason for doing this is that a vinyl kit is hollow. When I have glued the legs and torso together, I like to fill the lower half of the model with something solid. You can use Plaster of Paris, but I like to use Durham’s Water Putty. This is just like plaster in as much as it’s a powder that you add water to and pour, however I think that Durham’s tends to dry harder and faster than plaster.
There are two main reasons I fill the model. The first is that most model kits call for some kind of filling to be used, generally what is suggested is wadded up newspaper. With vinyl being soft and the model being hollow, there can be a chance that the model can lose some of it’s shape if exposed to heat, such as sitting in a car or being near a window. I really wouldn’t suggest this, but who knows what can happen when transporting models to a convention. I’ve learned the hard way. Filling the model gives it some extra support.

The second reason I fill a model, especially with something like Durham’s is stability. I like to put my models on a base when I’m done and a tried and true method of doing this is to “pin” the model to the base. This usually means drilling a couple of holes in the model’s feet ands then drilling matching holes into the base. You then snip of a short piece of stiff wire, I like to use an old coat hanger, and epoxy the wire into the holes drilled into the feet, leaving some wire sticking out.

After the epoxy has set, you then epoxy the model to the base by matching up the wires in the feet to the holes drilled in the base. I will show more on this later. Filling the lower legs and torso with Durham’s provides solidity to the model for when you drill into the feet and epoxy the wire into the holes.

There still were some areas that needed to be puttied due to gaps. Where the arms joined to the torso was one. I use Squadron Green Stuff. It’s a general purpose model putty. I like it mainly because it can be thinned down with Model Master Plastic Cement. This comes in handy on Vinyl and Resin Figures since you can some-times put just enough thinned putty on the gap to fill it and when dry there’s minimal sanding, sometimes all you need to do for clean-up is just wipe off the dried excess with a Q-tip dampened with Model Master Cement.

Okay, now that the sanding, gluing, filling and clean-up is done, it’s time to start painting.

You will see in the photo that not all the assembly is finished. With the Batman, final assembly cannot be done until after the painting. The main reason for this was, of course, the Cape. It’s hard to paint all the inside of the cape and Batman’s back if you glue the cape to the torso. Of course, since most of that area won’t be seen, just a simple base coat will do. But since I decided to glue the cape to the torso after painting was complete, I went ahead and added highlights and shadows.

Sometimes little things like that can make or break your model when it comes to judging at a contest. Believe me, some of those judges must have x-ray eyes. I first sprayed a primer coat on the model, using Krylon Grey Sandable Primer.

I painted the cape using a combination of wet on wet technique and glazing. I used Polly S acrylic paints. Wet on wet painting is where you paint on the base color and while it is still wet, you apply the highlights and the shadow colors and blend them into the base color. Usually, this technique is done with oil paints, but with the proper planning you can do wet on wet with acrylics before they dry. This requires a quick hand to accomplish right. Glazing is where you apply thin layers of colors to the base color.

I used this technique to emphasize some of the shadow and highlight areas, where the wet on wet technique became a bit muddy.		Using these same techniques, I painted the body of the figure. Finally, I painted the bat emblem on Batman’s chest.
next page