WIP Andreas Pin up lady, x 2

[Jamie Stokes]

Hi all,
in a bout of madness I ordered Andreas metal figures, pin up 'Dusting Away" and "Up to Mischief"

The South Australian model club I'm a member of has a theme for this years expo 'Black or White'.

So these two fit the bill.



I'd built Andreas miniatures the old fiddler a few years back, as was pleased at how it turned out....
...what I'd forgotten was the fiddly little fit issues, and the clogging effect of white metal on files, sand papers, dulling effects on scalpels......
(Ahh, but, but but......I hear the cries......yes, white metal is good, we've been using it for years, and if the cast is now good you can remelt it, plus it will offer superior strength for thin pieces that resin just cant....)

Gripe over, onto the models.
First pass, I must not have cleaned/ primed/ appeased the small god of white metal figure construction properly, so a soak in acetone, rebuffed all surfaces, primed with a lacquer based rattle can (Tamiya metal primer to the rescue!!! - followed by a weeks wait to allow proper curing)

7 days later, Vallejo primer grey, let set over night, the flesh base coats applied (Andreas stuff....)

The thing is, with these figures, because they are based on 2-D illustrations, the splitting of the figure comes down to the make it in pieces, after you painted the preceding section.....
So here are the parts laid out, primed, and first layer of skin tones done.....



I've switched from brass rod to steel rod (did a wonderful job of destroying a set of wire cutters of mine....from now on, dremel cutter with grinder bit) as I think with the maid dusting away, the mass of white metal will strain the joints and glue over time
(Here's where I think metal legs and resin body would have been better - no need to stress about the ankles bending under that load of full metal torso)

And for those that are wondering, yes, that is a slab of marble, I found that near an office that had undergone remodeling - it's about the size of a kitchen sink, and was in the trash heap.....till it come home with me..... makes for a nice flat surface, easy cleaning, and super glues scrapes right off....

More progress reports and feedback welcome, I've got a month to get these two complete....

cheers

Jamie

 

[Mark S]

Looking good Jamie...very nice pieces...gives new meaning to zap-a-gap.

 

[pgarri27]

Very nice. I read on one of the fantasy forums where one artist undercoats the flesh parts of her female figures with gloss paint to give them extra smooth skin. I will enjoy seeing te progress on these girls.

 

[Joe55]

Howdy Jamie! Who doesn't like the ladies? I'll be watching to see how these babes turn out .

Joe

 

[theBaron]

How will you do the stockings? I have a 1/8th scale anime character in progress on the bench, and I want to do the effect of sheer material, but I've paused to think about it (and think about it, and think about it....). I'm planning on using Tamiya's smoke thinned and applied with the airbrush, but I'm curious to any technique to reproduce the look.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Jamie Stokes]

@Mark S, like the old joke about not keeping your eye drops next to the superglue

@pgarri that is a neat idea. I'm not happy with the current finish, so I'll mix in some satin gloss in with the flesh tones, and lay down another coat.

@Joe, thanks mate!

@ Brad (aka the Baron) you've got it , airbrush time...... the idea is to lay down a very thin coat of Tamiya smoke, and then do repeat layers to build up the shade effects.
from other research, treat it like a shear fabric, that goes thin when stretched over muscle mass (thighs and calve, for example) and draws together over the natural hollows and thinner parts of the leg (around the ankles, backs of the knees)

Once I finish sorting out flesh tones, I'll re-do the base coats, then attach the legs, and then move onto the stockings.....

cheers
Jamie

 

[theBaron]

Thanks, Jamie! I look forward to seeing your progress.

Of course, the fun part is doing the research on this subject

Prost!
Brad

 

[Gellso]

Looking good so far.
Following.
Gells

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Brad, I used the idea you suggested,
a 50/50 mix of Vallejo satin varnish and Vallejo basic flesh tone,

came up a treat, and no yellowish tint!

Here are the updates, with the flesh tomes done, and the clothes have been blocked in.



It's easy to see the contrast, bit of yellow tint versus more of a Caucasian skin tone.....


At some point I must have tossed out a bottle of Tamiya smoke....

So I thought I'd mix a satin varnish and some Jo Sonja Carbon Black......




Not quite the result I wanted..... flushed out my airbrush, realised that I'd bent the tip somewhere and somehow that night,
So flushed it out, and went to be after a short sulk......

Tonight I'll re-coat with a secondary airbrush I have (it's OK, doesn't go as fine as the Iwata...)
First, the flesh tones, let is set overnight, and then lay down some Tamiya smoke (grabbed today while picking up some common cold throat drops)

cheers

Jamie

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Ok,
went to Melbourne Model Expo,
spent a bit, came home, didn't get any gongs, not even a nice certificate....
Although I got to meet Tony Dawe (Western Australia) and Ben Flood (ex West Australian, now a Victorian by location), so it's always cool to meet your PF mates in the flesh.....

returned to the bench, here's some updates

Worked on the carpet for the maid, decided to include some floorboards for context.
(I sourced this from the floaty boaty section at one of the LHS)



The base is figured red gum, done by my self and my near feeble woodworking skills......
The odd grey lump is the feather duster.

The original art work shows a pink carpet: my wife looked at that said it "looks like a lump of flesh she's holding"......

the legs have been redone, shoes pending.
I'm thinking of going over the stockings again with a satin varnish, to cut down and smooth out the sheen.



I'll need to add the garter straps to the white shoes legs, and the shoes will be painted red.

Not really feeling the love from these kits, it seems to have fought and resisted at most every step so far......

I dunno, maybe I need to take the wife out on a fancy date, all dressed to the nines, appease the female energy of the house......
(Flowers aren't cutting it, tried...)

cheers
Jamie

 

[theBaron]

Looks like the stockings came out nicely, as far as reproducing the look of sheer material goes. I think you're on to something about knocking down the gloss a little.

Prost!
Brad