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!!!