Mirei-san 1/7 Secretary

[Jamie Stokes]

Mirei-san, a Japanese secretary, is an anime type character, based on the illustrations of Shunya Yamashita.....

He gives the character a very sensual look, with out going (too) far into the over inflated look a lot of anime figures can have....

Plus, apart from a mini-skirt, and an eye popping amount of cleavage, she actually has a lot of clothes on!

Which is rare for a lot of figures of this kind

This cast in a ivory/ cream resin, and like a lot of garage kits, needs some work and love to get it to a point without air bubbles, chips, and the occasional miscast.....

I've included a copy of the artwork (trawled from the net) as well as a the parts layout of the figure, and a close up of the face. Plus one version of what the figure has been painted up to.

Think I'll stick with that, for now.....I don't think late oak-leaf SS pattern top, with reversible pea dot pattern miniskirt would apply here, although some nit wit could paint it that way, I suppose......

In actuality, I have started to pre-assemble the kit, adding the upper inner torso to the hips/ mini skirt section, and the face to the neck......

More later, currently I am cleaning up, filling air bubbles, fixing chips and dings, and trying to work out a paint and build order....

comments, questions and critiques welcome!

cheers for now

 

[housecarl]

I think you should have a lot of fun getting paint into all the nooks & cranies.
Carl.

 

[TWOMOONS]

I've had this figure for a while now...there is another "secretary type" I guess you could call it; standing and bent over to the side somewhat...and instead of the usual reed thin legs that the Japanese figures normally have, she's got some meat on her thighs ...you know, like normal women.
Excellent sculpts.

 

[Jamie Stokes]

an update.....

After fixing quite a few pinholes (repeatedly) and getting rid of some casting marks, have started on the face, legs and hands.

took me two goes to get a flesh tone I was happy with, airbrush work until I got to the lips and eyes.

the eyes will need reworking - not symmetrical, also wobbly, rather then a neat circle.

I have also included a reference pic too.

Once I have this done, then I need to tackle the thigh high stockings......

Cheers

 

[tonydawe]

Oh behave baby, yeah......

Nice to see you back on the Planet mate and what a comeback.

I kinda like the idea of reversible pea dot cam jacket though...not as crazy as it sounds.

Perhaps if you paint her as a blonde she could be Helga, Colonel Klink's secretary from Hogan's Heroes.

Makes me want to dictate a memo....

 

[Jamie Stokes]

thanks Tony.....

hmm, Helga from Hogans Heroes.......nice flash back!

Anyway, some more work on the face. As well as painting in the bra (and not yet photographed, the panties), plus various retouches where needed.

Here is the upper torso, to date. I am going to give it the "leave it for 24 hours" test, then come back to it, see if I want to rework the eyes and eye lashes.

 

[Andrew Craft]

looking good, I bought this figure about a month ago after seeing your previous posts. Cant wait to see what you do with it.

 

[mil-mart]

Jamie, excellent skintones it looks like porcelain, was that the effect you were after. Nice work on the eyes and looking forward to following this one.

Cheers Ken

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Andrew, Ken,
thanks for looking in.

glad you liked the kit so much you got one yourself, Andrew,

Ken,
Yep have tried for a 'flatter' skin tone finish, rather then fill of the shades and highlights we'd expect from a more 'realistic' figure. Being an anime/ cartoon style figure, I have wound back the shadows and highlights.

Plus, the focus of this figure will be; face, cleavage, legs, legs, cleavage, face, miniskirt, legs, cleavage, jacket, hair......

Stockings effort to commence shortly!

cheers

Jamie

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Stockings time!

After trawling the internet for references, and 'how to dos' came upon an Andrea monograph, which recommends using smoke colours ie those used for tinting car windows, cockpit canopies, or adding smoke effects for exhausts or fire damage.

So after masking up the parts I wanted untinted, I laid down some primary tints where stockings seem to darken - around parts of the knee (including the back of the knee), the ankles, the sole of the foot....basically, wherever the fabric of the stocking is not 'stretched' by muscle mass. Or compressed, in this case, by the legs being crossed

I do have some areas to tidy up, fine brushwork in the near future.

While some areas I am not happy with, I think I am heading in the right direction for doing sheer effect stockings......

plus, not so bad for an entry level airbrush!


Cheers

PS _ I'm glad I went for such a pink tone; one of my early thoughts was the effect of the smoke toning down the flesh. Which it is supposed to do; however, if I had gone for a paler skin tone, my concern was that the contrast between pale skin and dark stockings/ clothing wouldn't have been what I was after, too stark.

 

[housecarl]

Nice pair of legs. Ohhhhhh Matron.
Carl.

 

[tonydawe]

Excellent effect with the airbrush and the smoke effect mate. Turned out beautifully.

 

[bunnie666]

Great Start

That's a great start on her. She will be a handful (wink) but I can see your very experienced with such challenges. I have a few large scale Japanese ladies in storage waiting for some color... I'm glad to see other miniatures being discussed here other than strictly historic in nature. As artists, inspiration comes from all directions.

Paul

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Carl, Tony, Paul,
thanks for the look in, and comments.....

Yep, nice legs. Paul, you give me too much credit; this is the first time that I have ever tried sheer effects with an airbrush, the key was restraint!

Plus some careful observation of ladies legs, whilst wearing stockings....research your topic!

Like wise, it is nice to see other figures beyond warriors being presented here.

More later,

Cheers

 

[megroot]

Everything is nice on her Jamie.
Like what you have done on the secretary....

Marc

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Marc,
thanks for that, always good to hear from you.

More work.

Have added the eyebrows, and the blouse and 'belt line' for the skirt.

I have been deciding on whether or not to redo the eyes, and the stockings, or just be happy with what I have done.

After some thought, the amount of work (and rework) I would have to do wasn't going to worth the investment, so I'll live with it.

I'll admit, the eyebrows looked a bit odd, until I popped her hair on to check, and it seems ok. Of course, feedback always welcomed.

I'll be airbrushing the skirt, so I can then fit the legs, and then finish the seat. Plus I have the shoes to work on as well......

So all the above work will be masked off for airbrushing.

Oh, while I could do her hair as a 'dirty blond' (innuendo intended) I will be sticking with a brown hair style, ultimately...

cheers

 

[tonydawe]

She's definitely a dirty blonde Jamie. All the best secretaries are!!!

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Not much more painting done,

more sorting out the chair.

The original chair was all cast in resin, and to me, the upright wouldn't have enough strength over time to support the figure with out distorting.

So I grabbed some brass tube, bulked it out with evergreen tube (styrene) and glue the lot into place.....

and then realised I should have measure it all up first....

(smacks forehead at this point)

So have lashed the figure together with tamiya masking tape, and got the chair dimensions right.

Also went a base coated the skirt, going along well, until I fumbled the jar holding her, smudged the paint, and got some grit on the skirt.

Out of scale finger marks, out of scale grit, so I decided to pack up my toys, and do a rework later.

Mind you, have painted the shoes, given them a good coat of gloss varnish, looking the part now.

More soon!

Cheers

 

[Andrew Craft]

Oh no! Hopefully you don't have too much to redo, she's looking great though.

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Thanks Andrew for looking in...

mostly ok, thanks to the miracle product of masking - glad wrap!

Andrew,
I submitted a friend request......

More later,

Cheers