Red Skull #3--Prepwork, Phase 2: The Red Skull (II)

I had a bit of free time this afternoon, and after doing some putty-work and grinding on the groundwork of the White Ape, I decided to rough-in the dentition of the RS. That accomplished, I proceeded with working-out the left side of the facial structures, such that the left side of the face is now essentially done.

I might try to continue with the right side once the head comes out of the oven. . .

FOLLOW-UP. . . The head is now completely roughed-in. Now the "fun" begins, micro-detailing the dentition, etc. . . .

UPDATE - 27.09.2011. . . I now have a "rough" of the cigarette holder. For this version, I used a piece of copper wire of a suitable diameter. While it required a certain amount of care while shaping and grinding, it ultimately yielded superior results than its brass counterpart.

Red Skull #3--Prepwork, Phase 2: The Red Skull

I actually began work on the head a few weeks ago, first shimming the calvarium (with MS) to ensure a positive "lock" of the hat; and beefing up the frontal, sphenoid, and anterior temporal bones and supra-orbital processes to de facto recess the eyes. Last week, I ground off the soft tissue of the nose and lips, and began to work the lower half of the face into more angular, skeletal features. Today, I continued with the latter; and ground-off the ears and redefined the jawline.

So far, so good! More to follow. . .

Red Skull #3--Prepwork, Phase 1 completed

The arms have been fitted and await the fine tuning/finishing. Very pleased and a significant improvement on the overall dynamics of the figure. Not quite out of the woods yet, but the heavy undergrowth is thinning-out noticeably!

And the "crotch seam" has been filled and faired. This effectively concludes Phase 1 of the prepwork--all that remains to be done is the general clean-up, which as I mentioned in the review, is minimal.

Phase 2, the namesake, will commence shortly. . .

Red Skull #3--Into the breach. . .

It was a short lived honeymoon; but to look on the bright side, at least there was one!

I stand by my original review. Having said that, there is a world of difference between good castings and good fit! The castings are undeniably exquisite. The fit? Not so much. And save for a shrinkage differential between the torso and the arms, there is no apparent distortion.

Today, I removed the sword's scabbard mount, and assembled the legs, and the torso to the same. I now have a headless and armless figure before me. There is a significant gap (~1mm) along the entire mid-seam of the breeches, front to back. Yes, this could have been addressed by reducing the respective contact surfaces, but that would have compromised the fit of the torso.

The torso's fit to the legs unit was less than precise in the absence of a "key". Still, not a bad join with but a minimal fill along the back of the waist, below the belt. The main problem, as alluded to above, will be with the arms. These simply do not fit well, with the torso shrink- ing more than the limbs, and the right arm shrinking more than the left. I have yet to see a build-up that tackles this glaring issue, much less make mention of it.

I have yet to decide on how to approach this. Unfortunately, due to some poor judgement on the design of the hands, I can not remove the hands, hollow-out the sleeves, and model wrist stumps. Since the back of the right hand will be inaccessible to paint once the arm is mounted, the grief is compounded. . .

On the plus side, the separately cast cap fits the head like a glove! PERFECT!!

More to follow. . .

UPDATE - 04.08.11. . . After countless dry-fittings, burnishing contact surfaces, trimming mounting keys. . . you name it!. . . I decided that the only way to effectively take care of the "arm pro- blem" is to tackle it "old school". In other words, carefully fitting first one arm (I elected to start with the left as it would take two sessions at most), and then the next. I should be done with the left arm tonight; hopefully I'll be done with the right arm over the weekend. The right arm is a little more involved, as the sleeve will have to be substantially shimmed. . . as will the tunic upon which it rests.

Ah. . . the joys of figure painting!

Red Skull #3--Andrea's Reinhard Heydrich

I started my first full-figure rendition of the Red Skull just three weeks-shy of a year ago. Now, I have an ip bust and full-figure on the bench, soon to be joined by what will be my last dance with Herr Johann. . .

I have just received Andrea Miniatures' 90mm rendition of Reinhard Heydrich in 1937. You can well imagine my trepidation regarding this acquisition--especially given my past experiences with this manufacturer, and my experience with this project's immediate precursor. BUT. . . the uniform and pose are exactly what I was seeking, and the price was right. Nothing ventured. . . nothing gained.

This figure was released in June, 2007, the first in the manufacturer's 90mm "The Third Reich -- Rise & Fall" series. Admittedly, a strange choice for a series, to say nothing of a premiere subject! Regardless, Andrea has released some real gems in this series, and if my sample of Heydrich is any indication of what a miniaturist can expect, then they will not feel at all short-changed!

On the whole, this is an EXCELLENT kit! The castings (8 pcs. + base) are a throwback (comeback?) to happier times: Andrea at its best! On a historical note, I don't believe that the boxart, or any number of the build-ups on the Web, do justice to the portraiture of Heydrich. It is actually quite good! The detail is crisp throughout, most notably on the sword, which I will regrettably not include in my conversion.

As to the project, fairly straight OOB! Some slight mods to the left leg to delete the belting associated with the sword; tweaking of decorations, etc.; and - of course - remodelling the head and adding the cigarette holder.

I will start clean-up (VERY little to be done) and assembly in short order, but this is a Fall project.

Stay tuned!