Sin - Prepwork V : The Crop

It is now time to zoom-in to the "optionals". First up: the crop. This is extremely well designed and cast; however, the quality of the alloy notwithstanding, the white metal stock is an "accident magnet". I would concur with any counter-argument revolving around the malleability of the metal; nevertheless, I would rather exercise additional caution with handling, transport, and display, than resign myself to the inevitable--and have to deal with it in the aftermath. 

Thus did I replace the stock with a custom-tapered brass rod, drilling into the handle of the crop, as well as the keeper/"popper". I then glued the keeper to the stock, and set it aside to cure. The stock/keeper unit will be glued to the hand/handle unit as part of the final wrap-up.

As a final note, I will test the "grip" of the superglue on the "popper" in the next week or so: it is one piece that I do not want to lose.

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Sin - Prepwork: Intermezzo 3

This should be the final interlude for the time being. . . 

This evening, I made gigantic strides not only in fittings, but sub-assemblies as well. To wit:

• The torso has been permanently attached to the legs unit.
• The coat tails have been assembled, [mostly] filled, and fitted to the legs unit. There is still the shimming to be done [20.09.2014--DONE!] to provide for a seamless join to the torso; as well as finishing and polishing.
• The arms have been preliminarily fitted. There is still a bit of work to be done on these as the fit must be perfect: the arms will be permanently attached to the torso only after the coat tails are attached--and the figure is over 50% painted! 

Movin' right along. . . 

FOLLOW-UP 21.09.2014 - The pistol/hand unit has been permanently attached to the right arm.

Sin - Prepwork: Intermezzo 2

This will be a one-peg miniature, as the second peg (the rear/left boot) would not provide addi- tional support of any significance, and things could go "south" in the blink of an eye--literally. That being said, I would not be averse to drilling through the boot's toe box, and subsequently refinishing, if I felt it would serve a purpose.

After mulling it over for a day, I could not justify having a relatively top-heavy white metal figure supported by a single, thin (~3/64"d.) paper-clip peg. So I finished the clean-up of the legs above the boots, glued the two legs together (thus completing the legs sub-assembly unit), and trans- ferred the 'patient to surgery". The 'patient' is now resting comfortably with a fitted 16ga. copper wire peg running from the ball of the foot through the vamp of the boot. Finishing of the filled areas to follow. . . 

And I went ahead and started to modify the holster. First step is simply extending the length of the holster: this was done with MS.

Phase 2 of the holster was also completed, where the heavy-seamed leather holster was recon- figured for what will be a modern--if not futuristic!--design.  

FOLLOW-UP 16.09.2014 - The putty work on the holster has been all-but-completed, and it is now in the oven curing. . . Save for final detailing--if any--the holster should be done by the end 
of the weekend.

Sin - Prepwork: Intermezzo 1

To wrap-up the weekend, I decided to go ahead and peg the figure. This will be a one-peg minia- ture, as the second peg (the rear/left boot) would not provide additional support of any signifi- cance, and things could go "south" in the blink of an eye--literally. That being said, I would not 
be averse to drilling through the boot's toe box, and subsequently refinishing, if I felt it would serve a purpose.

And I went ahead and started to modify the holster. First step is simply extending the length of the holster: this was done with MS.

Finally, I glued the assembled groundwork to the display base. While this is a major deviation from the norm for me, final positioning of the figure and any attendant tweaks must be done with the groundwork in place.

Not a bad weekend, all things considered. . .

Sin - Prepwork IV : The Groundwork

Given the subject, the futuristic "diamond plate" texture of the kit groundwork is quite apropos. The dimensions of the smallish rectangular plinth, however, are somewhat of challenge to inte- grate in a square "frame". So I have spent the last hour customizing a piece of square brass tubing and a section of brass strip to unilaterally extend the short sections of the rectangle. 

I should know by morning if I succeeded--or not. 

FOLLOW-UP 14.09.2014 - DONE!

Sin - Prepwork III : The Head

With Phase 1 of fitting the head to the neck being finalized, it is now time to turn our attention to the head. I began by removing the hair bun, and then proceeded with reducing the nose and "tex- turing" the right half of the face: the face is now about 50% done. For the time being, that will be it insofar as re-sculpting the face is concerned as I am awaiting the arrival of some hopefully-enlightening references.  

But before putting the head pieces aside, I slightly hollowed the hat to accommodate the forth- coming convex amplification of the cranium and elimination of the flat-on-flat keyed join. 

More to follow. . .  

FOLLOW-UP . . . The cranium has been amplified (MS) and the hat fitted. So far, so good. . .

UPDATE 20.09.2014 - The face/head is now all -but-done!

Sin - Prepwork II

The weekend is finally here, and it was time to vent some of the agita of the week. .  .

The legs are now well-over 80% cleaned-up and just about ready for assembly. The sash-end has been pretty much cleaned-up, though it still requires a bit of additional finishing. The sash was the only piece to manifest advanced mold deterioration, hardly surprising given the undercuts.

Finally, the neck opening was reamed, and the head pegged: the neck stump is now curing.

More to follow. . .

Sin - Prepwork I

Let the game begin. . . !

As I am wont to do, I first examined each and every piece carefully, noting the molding seam lines, surface aberrations and venting pips. I then dry-fit all the pieces, further noting where the joins will require additional work in order to minimize--and/or eliminate--the use of filler. As I noted in the review, there is very little work to be done beyond the norm.

Feeling an acceptable degree of familiarity with the figure, it was time to break out the grinding burrs! I first began with the holster, as I wanted to familiarize myself with the hardness and com- position of the alloy used. Secondly, I wanted the holster in the kit to accommodate her tricked- out pistol. Since the holster is noticeably smaller (suggesting the presence of a second firearm), I merely ground-out the back and bottom edges of the holster. I will further modify/detail the hol- ster (e.g., lengthen, etc.) later in the course of prepping the figure. 

With the holster behind me, it was time to tackle the "elephant in the box": the greatcoat tails
(2 pieces). As noted earlier, these are inordinately thick by design. There is obviously a painting workaround this design concession, if the boxart is any indication; but I have never been inclined to make silk purses out of sows' ears. So a little over 30 minutes later, the greatcoat tails are now ready for final finishing.

A most encouraging start!

Sinthea Schmidt (fka Diane Tianseen)

I was surfin' some manufacturers' sites the other day, when I ran across Diane Tianseen on Scale 75's website. This is their fifth offering in their Fallen Frontiers range, and was released earlier this year in May. 

Designed by Adrian Prado and sculpted by Alfonso Prieto, the 75mm kit is comprised of 13 exquisitely cast white-metal pieces (+ plinth). I can say with nary a reservation that this is the best white-metal casting I have seen come out of Spain in longer than I care to remember! My only criticism is that the trailing edges of the greatcoat tails (2 pieces) are inordinately thick. I can certainly understand why they chose to take this approach, but be prepared to spend some time with file or grinder to thin these out--if you are so inclined. 'Nuff said.

So what prompted me to get a futuristic, Nazi-esque Kriegerfräulein? Glad you asked! Sin (née Sinthea Schmidt) is one of my favorite Marvel supervillains. I won't bore you with the details--suffice it to say that she is the daughter of none other than Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull!

As for what is to come. . . stay tuned!