03 February 2013

Soum - Assembly

As I mentioned in my introduction/review, the eight castings comprising the core pieces of the kit were perfect: clean, sharp/crisp (as well as subtle!) details and seam lines that were virtually not there. The only flaws were 4 minor air "holes" in areas where they would not be seen if the miniaturist chose to ignore them. Fit, as a whole, was excellent as well. . . and herein lies the rub.

Flawless--or nearly so--castings and seamless fit can be a siren's song in kits like this. If you have this kit and have yet to dive in, or are planning to get it (and I strongly encourage you to do so!), I would say that an angel's approach (rather than a fool's) is the order of the day. The figure is sitting upon a bench with no definite attachment point/s: one not only has to ensure that the figure is actually sitting with the left arm supporting it, but that her feet are touching the flag- stoned floor convincingly. This requires patience and repeated dry-fitting to get it just right. In my example, the left leg was slightly raised, precluding contact of the heel with the floor; and the left hand would not snuggle into the sculpted depression for the palm.

While there are any number of ways to address these issues, I focused on a good seat, and took it from there. I had to slightly bend the left leg at the knee (~1mm cut behind the knee), and elevate (read: fill) the depression for the palm. Voila! Perfect fit!!

The figure is now all-but-assembled. Later today, I hope to be able to permanently attach the right arm, and work-out the fit of the right hand/sword unit. Once that is done, I will concentrate on final clean-up before working on the kanzashi/pony-tail.

More to follow. . .

No comments:

Post a Comment