I decided to start the pre-prep work on Eaglemoss' Blackest Night, Brightest Day Special #10 from their DC Super Hero Collection, Bleez. She is the Red Lantern (RL) from Sector 33, and essentially serves as the XO of the Red Lantern Corps.
This is one of the better Eaglemoss offerings--and one of the worse. Cast in 6 pieces, everything is VG+ or better save the wings. These are the Achilles' heel of the piece. Two of the "fingers" of her bat-like wings (despite having feathered bird-like wings in her Havanian pre-RL guise) broke upon removal from the packing, and the casting of all the "fingers" is sub-standard. As basically it is the paint that is maintaining the integrity of the structures, these will have to be rebuilt. Aside from normal clean-up, this will be the only additional work required of this piece.
The wing reconstruction will be graphically documented in toto so that others might benefit from the experience: sooner or later, the "fingers" will be lost.
More to follow. . .
I have found your blog because I too am trying to improve the Eaglemoss Dc and Marvel figurines.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I find that the paint strippers affect too harshly the polyester bases. And they are very hard to separate from the figure without bending the metal. Do you have any good technique to pry apart?
Firstly, welcome!
ReplyDeleteYou are absolute correct: organic paint strippers will eat away at the polyester bases if allowed to soak for any length of time. I use acetone primarily to strip figures, and while it will attack polyester, it does so to varying, mostly manageable degrees due to the high volatility of the acetone. I use acetone to strip collectible pre-paints on a regular basis, and to date have had no catastrophic experiences. If you want to preserve the branded plinth, I would strip that first with controlled applications of acetone until the base is clean, then you can proceed with the figure, hanging it upside down in a container of acetone, supported by the plinth.
Re: the difficulty of removing the figure from its plinth without destroying the latter, regrettably the answer is yes, very. I think it would be possible on some of the heavier figures, but on one like Bleez, for example, it would probably damage the figure--OR the plinth--beyond redemption.
My approach is not to create a uniform collection of like-based figurines, but have each figurine as a stand alone one-off. Hence, my first step is to remove the figure from the plinth, without any attempt to save the latter. Since the plinth is expendable, I cut/grind away the plinth around each foot before stripping the figure.
Before closing, I might suggest using one of the super "purple degreasers". These are very effective and relatively safe on all mediums. I use them to strip polystyrene kits, and they do work! You can immerse the entire figure in these, and if there are any stubborn spots remaining, you can then go back with targeted applications of acetone.
Hope this helps!
Best regards,
Augie
Thank you, Augie. You have been helpful indeed, and extremely kind.
DeleteI will experiment with these techniques. I, at one point, started with light acetones to remove the paint from a Hawkeye figure but it simply took too long and left residue, compared with the strippers. But, truth be told, I never diped the figure entirely, but rather swabbed the surface.
On a side note, I too made away with the plinth completely and created my own base for a Hulk figurine.
Thank you for everything. Kindest regards,
Rafael
My pleasure, good sir.
ReplyDeleteFunny that you should mention Hawkeye, as I stripped mine about 8 weeks ago. This was done with full strength acetone, and it was completed in about 3 hrs.
Swabbing the surface/controlled application WILL work, but it seemingly takes forever. After immersing the Black Lantern Batman bust from DC Direct in acetone, there were many areas that due to their depth and the high volatility of the acetone, were essentially left untouched. As the resin was softer than what one would find on say a Bowen bust, I decided that it was not worth the risk, so I resorted to swabbing. It took longer, but it was ultimately successful.
Since you do away with the resin plinths, it is relatively easy to remove them. Like I said, I cut or grind away the superfluous areas with a Dremel. Then I grind away what's left of the resin "soles" until I hit the metal mounting splines on the feet of the figure. Once you see metal, you can easily break off the remaining pieces of resin on the spline. I then grind off the spline and strip the figure. Once the figure is stripped, I will peg the figure with music wire, brass rod or tube, cut paper clips, etc. (virtually anything will work, but I would avoid aluminum rod/tube) and mount it on its work base.
Again, you are most welcome. If I can be of any further service, please do not hesitate.
All the best,
Augie