Red Skull (Bust)--Wrapping-up

It's been an incredibly productive day. . . just goes to show what a holiday, much-needed rain, and moderate temperatures can do for your productivity. . .

I might be a bit premature in declaring this piece ABD (all-but-done), but just. The head is now completed; the hand is a session or two from being done; as is the pesky RK. All that remains undone is final clean-up and the pre-prime once-over. In all likelihood this piece will be primed alongside the Great White Ape of Barsoom.

Until then. . .

FOLLOW-UP - 24.12.2011 . . . I treated myself to a "Me Day", and effectively wrapped-up the pre-prime work on this piece. Next step: PRIMING!

Red Skull (Bust)--Prepwork: Phase (4)--UPDATE (III)

The cigarette holder--with cigarette--is done! Now I can proceed with completing the hand. . . hopefully, any repositioning of fingers can be kept to a minimum.

Almost there. . .

FOLLOW-UP - 23.06.11. . . At the risk of being perhaps a bit premature, the hand is [essentially] done! Now comes the finishing... of the hand and the rest of the bust!! I wish I could post images this weekend, but any graphic updates will have to wait until after month end.

Until then. . .

Red Skull (Bust)--Prepwork: Phase (4)--UPDATE (II)

With month-end fast approaching and some IT issues to deal with at home, time at the bench has been somewhat limited. Nonetheless, the left collar tab is now all-but-done, and hopefully will be finished by the end of the extended weekend. I will follow the canon I set for the full figure and have Herr Schmidt as an Oberst-Gruppenführer; however, I might change the backing--or piping--colour to a yellow-biased Giftgrün ("toxic green"). Giftgrün was the Waffenfarbe of the SD.

Updated images to follow upon completion. . .

FOLLOW-UP - 30.05.11. . . The left collar tab has been completed, and the head is now all-but-done. Final finishing on the torso has begun and is well under way. All that really remains to be finished is the RK, and the right hand--but first, the cigarette holder!

Red Skull (Bust)--Prepwork: Phase (4)--UPDATE

As refinement of the skull (head and neck) continues, I took a brief break to finish and attach the Totenkopf on the right collar tab, which replaces the stock Sigrunen.

I also finalized the position of the fingers . All that remains is the final tweaking and "locking" once the cigarette holder is completed.

The Return of the Cigarette-holder

In my last update I indicated that I had decided to nix the holder due to the fact that I would have had to reposition the hand.

This evening I revisited the quandary, and found a solution! EUREKA!! Rather than reposition the hand, I will reposition the entire forearm! Yes, it will involve some remodeling of the greatcoat sleeve, but that is eminently more doable than the involved surgery to remove the cuffed hand--and the resulting pose is much more natural.

The alterations are still in the preliminary stages, but, as soon as I have the arm remodeled and fitted, I will post images.

Nice to be back on track!

Red Skull (Bust)--Prepwork: Phase (2-3)--UPDATE

I wasn't joking when I quipped that the paucity of visual references of the new Silver Screen Red Skull at the moment would afford me more time to work on the bust. . . that is precisely what I have done!

In some respects the bust is just about done; in others, I can't begin to visualize the end. Mind you, this is not a 'bad thing'. . . quite the contrary. In no particular order:

• The head/skull is now about 80% done. Both eyes are in place; though as I suspected, the dentition is in the process of being reworked.
  
• The right forearm has been positively fitted. The major components can now be assembled securely without a drop of glue.
  
• The right hand has been sectioned and wired; repositioning of the fingers to accommodate the cigarette has begun. Yes, the cigarette--no holder. I would have had to reposition the hand within the cuff to accommodate the the holder, and the gain was not commensurate with the effort required. Aside from the head, the hand is the most labour-intensive element of this project.
  
• The Oak Leaves of the RK have been roughed-in. The Swords await. . . !
  

Once the hand is "locked", I will post a graphic update.

Red Skull (Bust)--Prepwork: Phase (2)--The Skull, continued

[NOTE: After having to deal with a busted water main--the big one!--and a @#$!-awful day at work (and it's only Monday!), the bench was not in the cards, so I thought I would provide some graphic entertainment to yesterday's post. . . ]

I had about a 2 hr. block available to me today, and I spent it refining the foundations laid in my last bench session. To wit, the dentition is now completely roughed-in, as is the dessicated musculature of the left side of the face. On the right side, I roughed-in the temporal musculature, as well as the right orb. The latter is more at a dry run at this point, though the overall effect is just about spot-on.

Regrettably, that will conclude the despatches from the bench for the week. However, I will try to post any breaking news, developments, etc. as time permits and circumstances demand.

Red Skull (Bust)--Prepwork: Phase (2)--The Skull, etc.

The work begins in earnest on the skull. . .

Let's face it, a "generic", anatomical skull is Modelling 101. The first thing I ever modelled was a gorilla skull, followed by the skull of a Neanderthal. And the skull handle on the swordstick in my first full- figure rendition of this Marvel super-villain was a stroll through the park! But a "living" skull. . . with sentient character. . . that's something else altogether. . . My first rendition was good, but hardly great: not quite "bony", angular enough--for my tastes at least. I intend to address some of these perceived shortcomings on this go-round.

Very little progress has been made since my last update--graphic or otherwise. I have reworked the dentition somewhat--in all probability not for the last time--and I have roughed in the raw, dessicated musculature of the right side of the lower half of the face.

Going forward, I will post updates via images.

In other areas, the RKwOL/S is approximately 60% done. This is a stand-alone item that will be fitted under the collar of the tunic. The insignias of the collar patches have been removed and await the forthcoming enhancements.

Graphic updates to-date. . .

Red Skull


Batwoman
[NOTE: the stock ears on the cowl have yet to be removed]


Divio Juckal

Red Skull (Bust)--The Project & Prepwork Update

Last things first. . .

Progress continues to be made on the focal point of this conversion. The "structural" skull is now about 70-80% complete, and the dental work has begun in earnest. A shirt collar has been added, and the head-cum-skull fitted.

Which brings us to the nature of the Project. At its most basic, the converting or replacement of the head to/with a skull: obviously, I have elected the former option. That is really all that needs to be done to effect a visually and immediately recognizable depiction of the Red Skull. BUT. . . the devil is in the details! And here is where most of the effort will be expended.

• Rework the collar insignia
• Add the EK II ribbon
• Add the RK
  

The stock figure, as we have seen, depicts a "plain" SS-Obersturm- führer; i.e., a First Lt. There are no decorations or ribbons; and no insignia aside from the collar patches. Unless one is willing to retcon the background story of Herr Schmidt, retention of the current insignia is complacency/indifference? at its worst. The same may be said for the decorations--or lack thereof.

Finally, while the bust provides a cigarette, I intend to augment it with a cigarette holder--and make any aesthetic changes to the hand that I deem necessary.

Back to the bench!

FOLLOW-UP . . . The second tunic button has been carefully removed (to be reattached later), and the area refinished as a prelude to the addition of the EK II ribbon.

FOLLOW-UP (2) . . . The EK II ribbon has been added (MS). The tunic button has been cleaned-up, finished, and reattached.

Red Skull (Bust)--Prepwork: Phase I

I have obviously skipped a posting, and I will hopefully be able to outline the project in the days ahead.

With that editorial comment out of the way, quite a bit of progress has been made this evening:

• The assembled torso/pedestal has been tapped and pegged, and mounted on its work base.
• Clean-up of the puttied/filled areas has begun.
• The calvarium has been added with MS.
• The salient facial features have been removed, the overall volume selectively reduced, and the skull roughed-in, again with MS. VERY pleased to this point!

Red Skull (Bust)--Introduction & Kit Review

With the full figure behind me, it is time to follow-up with the bust/s. . .

Yes, you read right, busts. I always intended to do a companion bust to the full figure, and to this end I acquired Young Miniatures' 1/10th scale SS Totenkopf Officer (YM1811--OOB presentation can be found here) in the Fall. But. . . I recently acquired Jaguar Models' 1/12th scale SS-Ober- sturmführer (Oberleutnant/First Lt.) (GD-12005) by Mike Good (sculpted in 1998!), and this will be the basis of my first conversion project.

The bust is cast in 5 pieces + an elegantly designed pedestal that practically seamlessly attaches to the back of the torso. The all-critical head is cast separately, as is the distressed peaked cap. The remaining pieces of the kit are the right forearm/hand and cigarette. Casting quality is VG+. There are concentrations of air bubbles along some of the edges and proximal ends of the castings, but nothing out of the ordinary--or to fret over: these are now filled and under the lamp.

Whereas the Young bust will be hatted, this rendition will be bare-headed. I will further elaborate on the project in the next posting in the thread.