Catching up. . .

It has been extremely hectic/busy, so bench time has not been what I had anticipated going into the Dog Days. . . then again, expectations have rarely been met this year.

The good news is that the bench has seen a fair degree of activity in the last fortnight, and this posting will serve as a catch-up summary. . .

The Rhino -- Getting ever closer, the hands are just about ready for finishing. Once that is done, final finishing and skin texturing are all that stand between the bench and the painting table.

Zombie SS-Panzeroffizier -- Tons of work on this bad boy. . . First thing I did was reduce the height of the bust: I just couldn't get my head around the gear that very effectively (and esthetic- ally!) filled the dead-space on the left side of the bust. Once that was done, the planning/plotting began in earnest, and to date I have removed the tie, and started reworking the Feldmütze. Spoiler: my rendition will be promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer. . . you can well begin to imagine the work that lies ahead. 

The Red Skull #4 -- Most of the work has concentrated on the right arm: it has been pegged, fitted, and reanimated; finishing is well underway. The right hand has been fitted; and reanimation is underway. The Cosmic Cube has been cut and finished, and awaiting polishing. Finally the base of the RK is now undergoing final clean-up before commencing enhancement.

K. Yoshiaki -- A remarkably fine bust. I've already discussed the warpage on the crest--I had to repeat the process a few times under higher heat for it to "stick"; but it looks great and no nega- tive side-effects whatsoever. The choice of location of some of the sprues might cause some concern, but I assure you it is nothing to fret over--just proceed slowly and carefully, and you will be done in no time. I've got a bit more to go before finishing the shikoro and the ushirodate; but other than that, this pup is just about ready for priming!

That's it in a nutshell! I hope to start clearing some additional space on the workbench soon so that I can begin working on "Frank" again!

KATŌ Yoshiaki -- REDUX: Review

IT . . . HAS. . . ARRIVED!!!!

And it is a beaut! Steve and the team did a superb job of molding and casting!! Kudos all around!!!

For those not familiar with the kit, the sculpture is cast in 4 pieces: head/kabuto; torso; shikoro; and ushirodate.

A couple of items of note:

• The bust is cast in the now-standard grey PUR. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this medium, but it should be noted that it is a bit softer and more "plastic". The reason I mention this is that you might find the crest of the kabuto slightly bent. NOT TO WORRY! My sample's right "wing" was just that, and all it takes to make it good as new is 30-45 seconds under a hair dryer at high heat: resin has memory and it will return to its original shape on its own. A word of caution if you have never done this before, or you are using the hair dryer for the first time: proceed slowly and do not hold the hair dryer too close to the resin. Depending on your dryer, "High" might be too hot--I always use my thumb as a heat sink and a temperature gauge: if it's uncomfort- ably hot on your skin, then it is too hot for the resin. The usual disclaimers apply:         1) Proceed with caution; and 2) If you are relatively new at this, test on a scrap piece of resin first!
• Steve included the original Ft. Duq. refsheet in my sample. I emailed him a revised refsheet when I sent him the master to reflect the most up-to-date information available to me on this helmet. The information contained in the original refsheet is regrettably not correct. Since Blogger does not appear to have a way to attach a Word .doc or a .pdf, here is the link to my posting on planetFigure which contains the revised refsheet as an attachment.

Pics to follow shortly. . .

Augie

KATŌ Yoshiaki -- REDUX

. . . and now available! 

This is just a newsflash for the forthcoming full review of SK Miniatures' version of my bust of KATŌ Yoshiaki. This is the sixth release in their reissue of the Ft. Duquesne's Great Warlords of the Sengoku series of 1/8th scale busts.

While this is old news to those of you who have been following my involvement with the resurrected line, it is worth repeating that this is effectively a new release! I completely reworked the kabuto and the shikoro before surrendering it to Steve so that he and his team could work their magic on it. . . 

The bust is now available from The Red Lancers on this side of The Pond. Please note that the boxart Steve used is the original boxart: it is not that of the revised sculpture. To the best of my knowledge there is no image of the reworked piece anywhere on the Web. . . YET!

Stay tuned. . . 

KATŌ Yoshiaki -- FINISHED!!!

Just put the shikoro in the oven to set the final column of lacing. There is still some final clean-up to do, but otherwise I believe this project can be deemed completed.

This sculpture will be en route to Steve sometime during the week. Joining it will be the Toshiie sculpture. After much consideration, I concluded that the projected changes would essentially require a 60-70% resculpt, and that was a capital investment in time that I did not have. So I reworked, repaired, and refinished the shikoro; cleaned-up the main sculpture (this is a 2-piece sculpt); and updated and revised the refsheet.

I think these will see the light of day sometime in the next 3-4 months. I am hesitant as I do not know the status of Ii or Yamamoto. In any case, as soon as Yoshiaki is available, it will express itself to the painting bench--I am very much looking forward to tackling this piece!

Photos to follow shortly!

FOLLOW-UP 31.01.2013. . . The sculptures are now en route to England! Regrettably, I did not have time to photograph the reworked master of Yoshiaki, but I promise I will provide a 360 once I have a kit in my hands. I really can't wait!!!

By way of follow-up, I spoke with Steve today and he confirmed that Ii and Yamamoto will probably be the last two busts released from the first series. Stay tuned. . . 

KATŌ Yoshiaki -- update

The revamping of Yoshiaki is now about 70% done. . .

As I feared, work pretty much monopolized my time over the last three weeks--and then some! Throw in a few unexpected "surprises"--courtesy of Mr. Murphy, and I'm quite surprised I'm as far along as I am!

Regardless, I am now in the finishing stages of the kawari-kabuto. A few minor touch-ups remain, but essentially I'm there. The shikoro has been reworked in its entirety: I am now finishing the extensions of the lames, and after that final fitting and lacing. Once that is done, I can then replace some of the lacings of the manju-wa, and start going through the finalization checklist.

As to its release, that will not be until next year. I spoke with Steve this morning, and I expressed to him my concerns about shipping a master sculpture during the Holiday Season. He quite agreed, so this one will be en route to him in early 2013, and it may (probably will?) join the Maeda's as an early Q2-2013 release.

I will hopefully have images up before too long. In the meantime, I leave you with images of the original sculpt as a comparative baseline--and a hopefully pleasant stroll down memory lane:

KATŌ Yoshiaki -- a reappraisal

The Yoshiaki master sculpt is essentially fine as is: there are a few spots that need some touching-up and even fewer undercuts that could be cleaner and sharper, but otherwise good-to-go.

However, the shikoro was absent from the kit, and that precipitated a mad scramble! Would I have to resculpt a brand new shikoro? Did I have an adaptable shikoro that I could cannibalize from one of the archive kits?? Being that this shikoro was sculpted specifically for this helmet, I thought it highly unlikely, but anything to avoid having to sculpt a unique shikoro from scratch for a second time!

Well, as it turns out much ado about nothing, as Jim was gracious enough to contact me immediately and affirm that it was a simple oversight on his part: I should have the shikoro by this time next week!

BUT. . . part of the mad scramble entailed poring over the references once again, to see if any of the shikoro that I did have could be suitably modified. And it was then that I came across a few images that I did not have available at the time of original sculpt.. .

Bottom line, while the mods to the kabuto will be minimal , the re-release of KATŌ Yoshiaki will depict an accurized helmet. Even though I have already painted this piece twice, third time is the charm, and I am very much looking forward to painting what will be a near-definitive rendition of this spectacular kabuto. I say "near" because I have never seen this kabuto (or anything similar) in person, and it continues to reveal mysteries once thought solved.

I will hopefully have the reworked master en route to Steve within the fortnight.

UPDATE - 18.10.2012. . . By way of update, I have just received the erstwhile-missing shikoro. Given the proximity to month-end and the demands of work, the completion of the required work will be delayed somewhat. I am still hopeful that it might be en route by month's end, but realistically I have informed Steve that it will be on its way by the week of the 11th.

BACK TO THE BENCH!!!