Eagle90--I'll dig out my first fig to show you guys. Looking at it now, not so great. But back then, I was thrilled with it! So, no matter how your fig turns out, remember, it's your first, and it's the best you can do now. That's something to be proud of. The next one will be better. And so will the one after that.

By the way, I have to keep reminding myself of the same thing. I work with great modelers, and I admin a forum with a TON of great modelers, and it's sometimes hard not to get down on myself for not doing better. But it's about the journey, the enjoyment, the learning, and, in the case of the group build, the camaraderie.

So, bring on the questions!

When I prime, I cover the whole fig. I usually use the first coat to help identify defects that I correct before putting on a second coat and then begin painting. Sometimes it takes three passes to clean everything up.

By the way, how is Scotty fitting together?

I painted Picard some years back with acrylic paint but it never dried on vinyl material the figures were made of. So I stripped him down to bare plastic and primed the whole figure after assembly with spray paint made for vinyl/rubber type bumpers on cars. Seems to have done the trick. The Romulan was molded in some bizarre lavender that I really wanted to cover up.

I did the flesh with Testor's Model Master acrylic and then highlighted with some Vallejo. It looked too strong to me so I oversprayed everything with more thinned down MM.

WOW!  Great jobs everyone.  I'm still struggling with Mr. Scott.  

jibber, great Robbie!    The detail rocks!

NucMedTech.  Han has always been my favorite SW character and you have done him justice!  Great work!

Gamera, awesome work on the Picard and Romulan!  One question, is that a grey primer on the figures?  If so, did you prime every piece?  I did the head and hands of Mr. Scott and I'm wondering if it will be too dark now.  Also, what primer and paints are you using?  

Sorry for the novice questions but this is my first figure and I don't want you all hurting yourself laughing when I get him finished!  

Great work everyone!

Eagle90

NucMedTech

Wow, things have certainly slowed down here. Well, as for me, I think I'm going to call Han done. I don't think that I will get any better with what I have. It was a real good experience for me and I look forward to learning more as others post their work. So here are my final photos

 

Nuc! Great job! I think that is a model to be proud of. 

Did you spray it with flat and then at gloss to the eyes? I seem to detect a little gleam there. I'm glad to see that you think the experience was "good," but did you enjoy the build?

Definitely grab your badge--you earned it! I'll put Han in the Hall of Fame.

Stephen: Looks great to me, fantastic job with the face!

NucMedTech, that looks really good.  Excellent work on getting the eyes centered, and the red stitching looks perfect - did you mask here or is that very careful brushwork?   Skin tones might be a tad pale, but I'm thinking this is a result of harsh lighting or camera flash?

regards,

Jack

Hi everyone,

Wow, things have certainly slowed down here. Well, as for me, I think I'm going to call Han done. I don't think that I will get any better with what I have. It was a real good experience for me and I look forward to learning more as others post their work. So here are my final photos

-Stephen

Tim Kidwell

Rob - Does the Polar Lights kit give any scale? I think it was a 16" tall model, right?

The 16" Polar Lights Godzilla kit is their own original kit with no scale listed. I'm building the ex-Aurora Godzilla kit subsequently reissued by Monogram and Polar Lights. I first built it when it was issued in the green and glow-in-the-dark plastic. The Polar Lights reissue I have is molded in a lime green.

The scale of the original Aurora Godzilla kit (and the Monogram and Polar Lights reissues) has been questioned and the answer often depends on which movie you think the kit is based on. There's even a webpage that discusses the changing size of Godzilla and how he goes from 50 to 80 meters tall. http://www.historyvortex.org/HowBigGodzilla.html

The kit is considered to be based on Godzilla from the 1962 movie, King Kong vs. Godzilla because of the three toes and no ears. According to the Club Tokyo website, the kit is 1/50 scale.

This 1/50 scale Aurora Godzilla plastic model kit was issued in 1964, and continued production until 1968, when it was replaced the following year by its Glow-in-the-Dark counterpart. It is molded in a bright fuschia color and was kit number 469 in the Aurora series of plastic model kits. The Aurora Godzilla is one of the first Godzilla toy-related items produced, which is interesting since it's an American release.

The figure appears to be based on the KING-Goji (Godzilla 1962) suit, as there are no ears on Godzilla and he has three-toed feet.

The box alone is sought-after and the artwork is famous, featuring a blood splattered Godzilla amidst a flaming city and lightning bolts. Here are detailed assembly instructions.

Year of Initial Release: 1964; Last Updated: 17 - November - 2002

NucMedTech

Hi Guys,

     Almost at the finish with Han. This is what I have done this weekend.

Nicely done!

Did you do any shading on the shirt? White is one of those colors that many of us struggle to add depth to without making it look dingy.

What brand paint and colors did you use for Han's flesh tones? Any special finishing techniques?

Hi Guys,

     Almost at the finish with Han. This is what I have done this weekend.

GMorrison

BUMP page 2 will not do...

Thanks for that, GMorrison!

My seaborne adventure for the magazine is almost at an end, and then I'll begin on Conan. I know, you've all heard it before ... But I admit I'm a slow builder. On the other hand, deadlines make me get things done, and I have a deadline on this review model, so SOON!

BUMP page 2 will not do...

No, I missed out on that one. I am going to wait now until the new yet and watch for any that come up.

Thanks for the heads up.

Stephan, that's is looking stunning. Now how about a Chewy to go with him.

NucMedTech - Superb work! Are you using an airbrush or brush-painting?

Yeah Stephen, nice work there on Han- looking forward to seeing his face finished.

Stephen, your Solo figure is looking very fine indeed.

NMT that looks amazing, very nice work.

That Solo figure is looking right on.  Can't tell if it's the lighting or your rendering, but the leather belt looks really good.

regards,

Jack

Hi guys, a lot of great work going on here. That Robby the Robot is great.

Even though I haven't posted much I have not been sitting idle. Here's two pics to let you all know where I'm at currently.

i110.photobucket.com/.../IMG_2191_zpsc2513ec5.jpg

i110.photobucket.com/.../IMG_2192_zpsdf9660ba.jpg

Next up is painting the face and hands, we'll see how that turns out.

-Stephen

Jack and Jibber- thanks guys! Octopi have copper-based blood on Earth, guess I should look up some photos of them. The Romulans were played by human actors and actresses so they'd have to have the whole pink blood vessel thing going on even if make-up used green and yellow on the skin. I went with the green - looks sorta ok- if I don't like it when she's done- easy enough to paint over!

Romulans have our eyes, I would paint em the same

Gamera, that's a good question you have regarding Romulan blood effecting the eye colour.  Looking at both movie and art profiles, it seems they were left portrayed as human, except for very dark iris.

Maybe someone with some medical background would have better insight, as copper in blood species actually do exist.   At the moment I'm too tired in to wrap my head around  "... appeared green when oxygenated in the arteries, or copper or rust-colored when deoxygenated in the veins"  and tying that in with the eye surface - lol.

regards,

Jack

Gamera looks great so far, I have to admit that as much as I build I have a difficult time painting faces. I'm very impressed when people do it right. Picard was a great character and STNG was one of the best Sci Fi series ever. Nice choice in a hero.  

Thanks guys, need to get Picard's eyes painted too. Funny, in a bit of a quandary here- I'm intending to add a little red wash to Picard's eyes to highlight the edges. I'm wondering if I should use green for the Romulan, considering her green copper based blood,  dunno how it will look- guess I can paint over it if I don't like it.  

Gamera, nice start on those.

I haven't even got mine out of the box yet. I have trouble enough concentrating on one build at a time. I will get to it soon though. I need to make sure I can sort the legs out.

Gamera, looks good and I can see  shading in the faces.  Smart move on painting an exact shape to the whites of the eyes - really helps getting the iris and pupil  centered/looking in the same direction.

regards,

Jack