Resurgens

About a year ago, I decided to shelve the Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter project as I did not feel, for whatever reason, that it was "working".

Well, the figure is now stripped, and I am happy to report that it survived. Unfortunately, the head suffered the most damage (the only damage, actually), but that is not necessarily a "bad thing"--after all, as good as it might have been (and that was decidedly arguable), it could have been better.

So, the reworking of Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter has begun in earnest. I will know by the end of the month whether this project is worthy of completion--or being scrapped once and for all.

Stay tuned!

FOLLOW-UP. . . I spent most of the afternoon and early evening cleaning up the stripped casting and working on the head. As to the latter, I had to rebuild the nose, as well as rework some of the exposed plastic.

A note about the stripping process--and, most importantly, the consequences of the same. I used acetone as my stripping agent--probably not the wisest choice, but the only stripper I had available that would not violently attack the polystyrene "core" I used for the head. I figured the metal was safe; as it turned out, so was the epoxy putty and the glazing putty! Hence, 85%+ of the figure survived none the worse for wear.

The head was a mixed bag: the areas of bare plastic were attacked, but not what I would describe as "violently". In fact, the nose was the only real casualty, and that was one of the areas that I had deemed "unsatisfactory" in the first go-round. The other areas were merely softened, and I took the opportunity to actually rework some of the same as I would a medium-hard clay. Very satisfying! What was even better was that after "baking" the figure for about two hours or so, attempting to burn away any remaining acetone, the plastic was as good as new! Something new learned everyday!!

So far, so good! As of this writing, this figure is tentatively on the "Active" list once again. Final clearance to follow. . .

UPDATE - 16.10.2011 . . . The head/face is now all-but-done, as are all the touch-ups and revisions made to the body. The one spot I have not spent too much time on is the hand holding the severed head: once that is cleaned-up and checked-off the list, the figure will essentially be ready to re-prime. I have also modified one of the stovepipe hats from SM's Mr. Honk that I will probably add to the groundwork, along with an axe. . .

UPDATE - 17.10.2011 . . . The figure is now essentially ready for priming! All that remains to be done is going over the "trophy" head: I have already added a deep cut on the left forehead, and I know I will replace the left fang.

Not bad for a few days' work. I am moving this thread to the completed projects' folder: the next graphic update will be of the [re-]primed figure when I relaunch the painting thread. . .

UPDATE - 18.10.2011 . . . I've focused on the trophy head this evening. Whereas the initial fitting was somewhat "loose" and capricious, I decided to tighten things up considerably. To this end, the new head has been re-fitted and securely pegged (nb: not permanently--the head will not be permanently attached until just prior to final mounting), with the coiffure to be reworked in the days to come. Almost there. . .

UPDATE - 19.10.2011 . . . DONE!!!

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter -- The Film

Just stumbled across very good news indeed. . . the film version of ALVH commenced filming in March of this year, and has been scheduled tbr in June 2012.

Will have to give serious thought to "dusting off" the project. . .

Oðindestroyer (I) - The left arm w/ helm; sabatons; Oðinsword

As I mentioned in the last posting, the helm has been hollowed out. In anticipation of what followed, I also cleaned-out and "squared" the left sight.

Well. . . since my last posting, I popped-off and took apart the left arm. This allowed me to rework the animation of the same, as well as integrate the helm with the arm, which are now a single unit. The helmet was pegged to the metacarpals with a piece of copper wire, but not before the ventral surface of the latter was reduced to nothing. This will allow me to model a more natural, animated hand, actually cradling the helm. I have roughed-in the fingers of the gauntlet, and restored the proximal lamina of the manica. My allusion to this specialized item of Roman armour is not made lightly, as the best way to visually describe the Destroyer within a historical context is as a crupellarius.

The left arm is now in the oven curing. Once it is done and cooled, I will rework the join of the arm to the shoulder plates unit--essentially creating a deeper ball joint to facilitate a more stable join.

More to follow. . .

UPDATE - 08.10.2011. . . Finishing the left arm has begun. Perhaps one--or two?--more putty sessions to get everything just so; but definitely over the hump. More importantly, I just transferred the figure to its working base. I will have to resculpt the feet, however, as these appear to have suffered disproportionate shrinkage (lateral compression) in the casting process. WIP images to follow shortly. . .

UPDATE - 09.10.2011. . . The feet (sabatons) have been roughed-in and Phase 1 reduction has been completed. . . the difference is night and day!

UPDATE - 10.10.2011 . . . When we last heard of the Oðinsword, the blank was curing in the oven. Since then, I have added the tang and the quillons; roughed-in the pommel; and the blade is now ~75% finished. The pommel (and whatever of the grip will be visible) will be attached to the hand; the blade/quillons unit will be a separate piece that will be attached to the hand via the tang.

Oðindestroyer - The Project

If not for the inordinate amount of redetailing awaiting me, this would be a relatively simple, straightforward conversion:

• Sculpt a bare head of the All-Father.
• Reanimate the left arm to have it holding the Destroyer helm.
• Sculpt the Oðinsword.

In short, something like this.

The new head has been roughly sculpted (in SSF), and fitted to the armour. Much left to do--beard, facial landscaping, eyepatch, hair, etc.), but definitely off to a good start. . .

FOLLOW-UP. . . The helm has been hollowed-out, and I have begun detailing of same.

FOLLOW-UP (2) - 02.10.2011 . . . The Oðinsword blank is now curing in the oven. Right arm has been pegged and fitted; rt. gauntlet has been tapped to accommodate the sword's tang. The left arm has been reanimated, pegged, and attached: though I have glued it in place, I am not sure whether this will provide me with enough room to effect the changes envisioned, so I may yet pop it off. The fingers of the left gauntlet have been ground off--they will be re-sculpted around the helm.

Oðindestroyer - Review of KM's The Destroyer

Knight Models' first release (according to KM, the second) in their "Tales of Asgard" series is The Destroyer (KMV-024). The master is from the hands of Rhee Hyun, his second work for KM.

This is a relatively simple, white-metal kit. Comprised of 4 pieces (body, helm, 2 arms) + ground- work, it is as "under-engineered" as it gets nowadays--and this is NOT a "bad thing"!

Sadly, casting quality has not improved one iota since this time last year . The metal is argu- ably softer, and the detail suffers accordingly. For example, most of the rivets will have to be re- fined, if not redone--five rivets were not even cast! Which brings me to the second strike: rough, grainy finish on the metal. I suspect that this is due to excessive use of talc as a mold release:
a conclusion supported by the missing rivets (talc would have filled the respective cavities); nu-
merous voids on the surface of the casting, some relatively deep and irregular; and the non- existence of many of the engraved lines delineating the segmented plate armour.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Regrettably, no surprises; however, since this will be a [some- what minor] conversion of the subject, most of the offending items will be dealt with in the course of the "upgrade". 

NEXT: The project.

Oðindestroyer - Introduction

It has been a VERY good Summer at the local cinema for Superhero fans! I have not seen GL, but I have seen the three Marvel releases: all different--but all VG+, or better!

For myself, the biggest surprise was Thor. As I have told several friends, it is--IMHO--the best of the prequels that collectively set the stage for next year's release of The Avengers. Don't get me wrong. . . the Iron Man films are still my favourites, but there was a very different dynamic, pace, and purpose at work with these.

But I digress. . . One of the more memorable "characters" in Thor was the Destroyer, Oðin's own, personal armour automaton. Those who wish a more in-depth background of the character can check out the Wiki entry.

The Destroyer is essentially lifeless until animated by the life-force of a sentient being. To the best of my knowledge, the only time that the Destroyer armour has been "worn" was when Oðin donned it to deal with Thor in the one-shot, Thor: Man of War (2008). There is some very inspirational art in this issue, and given what I knew about the movie when it was released, I was hoping they might take a brief detour in this direction. Alas, no, but it was probably for the best.

As you can probably well-imagine, the hobby-and-collectibles biz immediately gravitated to the character of the Destroyer. Surprisingly, one of the companies was Knight Models, with their first--and only release to date--in their "Tales of Asgard" series.

This kit (#109/500) was recently presented to me as a gift. Was I excited to receive it? YOU BET! Excited and grateful. Do I feel the same after having spent a week or so with it? Obviously I am ever-grateful for the thoughtful generosity manifested; but the excitement has been tempered considerably.

Full review to follow in the days to come. . .

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 (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 #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. . .

White Ape of Barsoom--Wrap-up

The fairing, blending and detailing of the hair was indeed completed by early nightfall, which paved the way for initiating the finalization steps. I have just completed the first "glazing" of the sculpt, and if all goes as hoped, I should have it completed and ready for priming over the coming weekend.

This concludes the Modelling phase of the project. I have enjoyed it immensely. AFAIC, this has been a "classic" conversion project. . . and I will finally have a Great White Ape of Barsoom in my collection!

Images of the primed, completed figure will be posted in the introductory post of the Painting phase of the project.

Until then. . .

White Ape of Barsoom--Update (4)

By way of keeping everyone abreast of the progress. . .

• Fairing, blending and fine detailing of the dorsal half of the hair continues--and may be completed before calling it a day.
• Groundwork has been fitted to display base. Have yet to decide whether to build up the "integrating groundwork" as an integral part of the resin piece; or after the latter has been permanently attached.
• Club has been finished.
• Fine finishing and final detailing has begun.
  

At this point, I do not believe the piece will be primed this weekend. What's the rush? Having said that, I do believe it will be ready for priming in the next 7-10 days, with a priming date of no later than mid-October.

Stay tuned. . .

2011 Status Report -- Fall Update

1) Red Skull (bust, Jaguar Models 1/12th scale conversion)
2) Divio "Mad Dog" Juckal [SP vârcolac] (Smart Max 'Smog 1888')
3) Great White Ape of Barsoom (Smart Max Mr. Honk ['Smog 1888'] conversion)
4) Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter (Andrea 54mm conversion)
5) Loki Laufeyson (Knight Models 70mm)

It is looking like this might very well be my Show line-up for 2012. That's not to say that changes and/or additions are not possible; but there are only so many hours in a day, and it looks like I will have my hands full at work at the very least through the Show.

If there are changes and/or additions to the above, they will most likely come from this "active reserve":

a) Gambit (Knight Models 75mm) -- on the painting bench.
b) Red Skull #2 (ff) (Smart Max 150mm conversion)
c) Red Skull #3 (ff) (Andrea Miniatures 90mm conversion)
d) Tars Tarkas (bust, Monster Caesar/Andrew Martin, "1/8"th scale)
e) Oðindestroyer (Knight Models 70mm conversion)
f) Baba Yaga (Smart Max Nibaba ['Smog 1888'] conversion)

Back to the bench!!

A~

Baba Yaga - UPDATE

• Mortar has been "scaled". Surface texturing of the mortar has begun, as has the hollowing. I'm about a third of the way done with the latter.
• The pose has been "locked" and the lower half of the figure is completely roughed-in. Finishing of the left leg has begun.
  
• Figure has been fitted to the rim of the mortar. Pegging to follow soon.
• "Fleshed-out" the torso somewhat: nothing dramatic, just a bit more youthful.
  

I am more and more taken with the idea of following Smart Max's lead and converting the oaken right forearm to a silver birch. This will necessitate extensive reworking of the right shoulder girdle, but it shouldn't be too bad.

Stay tuned. . .