iHobbyExpo 2011 News!

While doing maintenance on the blog, I inadvertently deleted the entry on this year's iHobbyExpo. My sincere apologies. . .

While I am not inclined to reconstruct it, I would direct you to this excellent overview. And, by way of recap, the following:

• Moebius Black Widow -- imminent availability.
• Moebius Iron Man 'MK-VI' -- by the end of 2011.
• Atlantis Blackbeard (ex-Aurora) -- Q1, 2012.
• Moebius "The Bride and The Monster" -- June/July 2012.
• Moebius deluxe Dracula w/ female victim -- 2012.
• Moebius "Rhodey" Rhodes - War Machine -- 2012

Knight Models' Loki Laufeyson (KMV027)

Some might say I'm a glutton for punishment--and I would hesitate to argue the point too vigor- ously. However, I do know what I like, and I certainly liked Knight Models' , and especially the sculptor Jérôme's (in my Notable Acquisitions posting for Sept/Oct, I made the guarded assump- tion that this is KM regular, Jérôme Renaud), take on the Norse god of Lies and Mischief:

Sixth time must be the charm. . . or, KM had a long talk with their caster--or got a new one!. . . or, I finally lucked out. In any event, casting #39/500 is everything one might expect in a 21st c. white-metal kit! The 9 white-metal pieces are crisply cast in what appears to be a somewhat harder alloy, with no apparent distortion, and little clean-up to be done (at first glance). The base/ "throne" is cast in resin, and even this is notable improvement--though there is a soft-cure flaw, and some air voids (I've seen three to-date) that will have to be corrected. All in all, this is a solid A, casting-wise!

As with GG, this rendition of Loki may not appeal to the purists: it is taken from the time of the "Siege" storyline. Personally, it does it for me!

FOLLOW-UP. . . In the spirit of complete transparency, here are some "hands-on" observations:

• The alloy, while decidedly harder, still requires careful handling. All the more so given the finely rendered mail "tunic".
• Shrinkage differential remains a major shortcoming, though nowhere near the magnitude of the Doctor Doom kit. In fact, I am dealing with this as I write: the fit of the figure to the "throne" is considerably less than one would hope; however, given that the figure is significantly less interactive with the seat, and the latter is cast in one piece, it is a relatively simple, albeit painstaking and multi-step, fix. KM needs to re-evaluate their choice of resins; OR, forgo mixed-media kits entirely!

The figure is now assembled, minus the arms and the detailing pieces; and it is currently under the lamps in Step 1 of the "re- bedding" to the "throne". If all goes as planned (does it ever with a KM's kit?), this might be the last figure added to the Show lineup. . .

FOLLOW-UP (2). . . On to Step 2. . . Step 1 eliminated the over-whelming majority of the gaps in the fit, but did not provide a consistent locator "marker" of any sort. This is what I hope to achieve in Step 2. That accomplished, I could then begin to re-focus on the figure itself.

Before closing, I would point out that I shortened the base by some 5mm. This gives it more of a "throne-y" feel--at least AFAIC.

Notable Acquisitions Sept-Oct 2011

KITS
Knight Models kit of The Destroyer (Rhee Hyun, 70mm)
Knight Models kit of Loki (Jérôme [Renaud?], 70mm)

PAINTS, TOOLS & SUPPLIES
Selection of groundwork "bases" from Dark Age's Groundwerks.

Resurgens

About a year ago, I decided to shelve the Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter project as I did not feel, for whatever reason, that it was "working".

Well, the figure is now stripped, and I am happy to report that it survived. Unfortunately, the head suffered the most damage (the only damage, actually), but that is not necessarily a "bad thing"--after all, as good as it might have been (and that was decidedly arguable), it could have been better.

So, the reworking of Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter has begun in earnest. I will know by the end of the month whether this project is worthy of completion--or being scrapped once and for all.

Stay tuned!

FOLLOW-UP. . . I spent most of the afternoon and early evening cleaning up the stripped casting and working on the head. As to the latter, I had to rebuild the nose, as well as rework some of the exposed plastic.

A note about the stripping process--and, most importantly, the consequences of the same. I used acetone as my stripping agent--probably not the wisest choice, but the only stripper I had available that would not violently attack the polystyrene "core" I used for the head. I figured the metal was safe; as it turned out, so was the epoxy putty and the glazing putty! Hence, 85%+ of the figure survived none the worse for wear.

The head was a mixed bag: the areas of bare plastic were attacked, but not what I would describe as "violently". In fact, the nose was the only real casualty, and that was one of the areas that I had deemed "unsatisfactory" in the first go-round. The other areas were merely softened, and I took the opportunity to actually rework some of the same as I would a medium-hard clay. Very satisfying! What was even better was that after "baking" the figure for about two hours or so, attempting to burn away any remaining acetone, the plastic was as good as new! Something new learned everyday!!

So far, so good! As of this writing, this figure is tentatively on the "Active" list once again. Final clearance to follow. . .

UPDATE - 16.10.2011 . . . The head/face is now all-but-done, as are all the touch-ups and revisions made to the body. The one spot I have not spent too much time on is the hand holding the severed head: once that is cleaned-up and checked-off the list, the figure will essentially be ready to re-prime. I have also modified one of the stovepipe hats from SM's Mr. Honk that I will probably add to the groundwork, along with an axe. . .

UPDATE - 17.10.2011 . . . The figure is now essentially ready for priming! All that remains to be done is going over the "trophy" head: I have already added a deep cut on the left forehead, and I know I will replace the left fang.

Not bad for a few days' work. I am moving this thread to the completed projects' folder: the next graphic update will be of the [re-]primed figure when I relaunch the painting thread. . .

UPDATE - 18.10.2011 . . . I've focused on the trophy head this evening. Whereas the initial fitting was somewhat "loose" and capricious, I decided to tighten things up considerably. To this end, the new head has been re-fitted and securely pegged (nb: not permanently--the head will not be permanently attached until just prior to final mounting), with the coiffure to be reworked in the days to come. Almost there. . .

UPDATE - 19.10.2011 . . . DONE!!!

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter -- The Film

Just stumbled across very good news indeed. . . the film version of ALVH commenced filming in March of this year, and has been scheduled tbr in June 2012.

Will have to give serious thought to "dusting off" the project. . .

Oðindestroyer (I) - The left arm w/ helm; sabatons; Oðinsword

As I mentioned in the last posting, the helm has been hollowed out. In anticipation of what followed, I also cleaned-out and "squared" the left sight.

Well. . . since my last posting, I popped-off and took apart the left arm. This allowed me to rework the animation of the same, as well as integrate the helm with the arm, which are now a single unit. The helmet was pegged to the metacarpals with a piece of copper wire, but not before the ventral surface of the latter was reduced to nothing. This will allow me to model a more natural, animated hand, actually cradling the helm. I have roughed-in the fingers of the gauntlet, and restored the proximal lamina of the manica. My allusion to this specialized item of Roman armour is not made lightly, as the best way to visually describe the Destroyer within a historical context is as a crupellarius.

The left arm is now in the oven curing. Once it is done and cooled, I will rework the join of the arm to the shoulder plates unit--essentially creating a deeper ball joint to facilitate a more stable join.

More to follow. . .

UPDATE - 08.10.2011. . . Finishing the left arm has begun. Perhaps one--or two?--more putty sessions to get everything just so; but definitely over the hump. More importantly, I just transferred the figure to its working base. I will have to resculpt the feet, however, as these appear to have suffered disproportionate shrinkage (lateral compression) in the casting process. WIP images to follow shortly. . .

UPDATE - 09.10.2011. . . The feet (sabatons) have been roughed-in and Phase 1 reduction has been completed. . . the difference is night and day!

UPDATE - 10.10.2011 . . . When we last heard of the Oðinsword, the blank was curing in the oven. Since then, I have added the tang and the quillons; roughed-in the pommel; and the blade is now ~75% finished. The pommel (and whatever of the grip will be visible) will be attached to the hand; the blade/quillons unit will be a separate piece that will be attached to the hand via the tang.

Oðindestroyer - The Project

If not for the inordinate amount of redetailing awaiting me, this would be a relatively simple, straightforward conversion:

• Sculpt a bare head of the All-Father.
• Reanimate the left arm to have it holding the Destroyer helm.
• Sculpt the Oðinsword.

In short, something like this.

The new head has been roughly sculpted (in SSF), and fitted to the armour. Much left to do--beard, facial landscaping, eyepatch, hair, etc.), but definitely off to a good start. . .

FOLLOW-UP. . . The helm has been hollowed-out, and I have begun detailing of same.

FOLLOW-UP (2) - 02.10.2011 . . . The Oðinsword blank is now curing in the oven. Right arm has been pegged and fitted; rt. gauntlet has been tapped to accommodate the sword's tang. The left arm has been reanimated, pegged, and attached: though I have glued it in place, I am not sure whether this will provide me with enough room to effect the changes envisioned, so I may yet pop it off. The fingers of the left gauntlet have been ground off--they will be re-sculpted around the helm.

Oðindestroyer - Review of KM's The Destroyer

Knight Models' first release (according to KM, the second) in their "Tales of Asgard" series is The Destroyer (KMV-024). The master is from the hands of Rhee Hyun, his second work for KM.

This is a relatively simple, white-metal kit. Comprised of 4 pieces (body, helm, 2 arms) + ground- work, it is as "under-engineered" as it gets nowadays--and this is NOT a "bad thing"!

Sadly, casting quality has not improved one iota since this time last year . The metal is argu- ably softer, and the detail suffers accordingly. For example, most of the rivets will have to be re- fined, if not redone--five rivets were not even cast! Which brings me to the second strike: rough, grainy finish on the metal. I suspect that this is due to excessive use of talc as a mold release:
a conclusion supported by the missing rivets (talc would have filled the respective cavities); nu-
merous voids on the surface of the casting, some relatively deep and irregular; and the non- existence of many of the engraved lines delineating the segmented plate armour.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Regrettably, no surprises; however, since this will be a [some- what minor] conversion of the subject, most of the offending items will be dealt with in the course of the "upgrade". 

NEXT: The project.