Salome Finale

If you read a previous post and thought I left star to the side for a while. This one has been on the table since Nov. of 2024!  To read part 1, click HERE. 

I left off without being able to choose a flesh color.  The first try went on a little too pink for someone from the Middle East, so I got my hands on V's Tanned Skin PAINT SET. I was a bit happier with that look. 

 I added dark hair and then some gold jewelry, and other highlights and she was quickly completed. 

 as seen in the image above the model is shown with her standing on a stone. IMO that was very "princess-y" So I got out some AVES and sculpted some pillows for her to stand on. I didn't seem to take a pic of them WIP, so we'll have to wait for the final shots.

The next task was to put her in a vignette like Star was in, but the pillows were made too large and she wouldn't find. So I found another base for her to occupy. I had some previous luck with creating a marbled look, and thought I'd try it again.  This time I found some Marble spray can. Giving it a try, it comes out of the can like Silly string but was doable. Until I tried it for real; what a mess. This stuff was not made for small scale paint jobs.  The I saw a YouTube VIDEO showing how it's done, and the guy was putting it on a full sized countertop!  So I had to be very selective with my spray. I painted a deep green as a base and then added thick streaks of a lighter green. The spray would give it it's white veins. I masked in where gold seams would be.

Looked good, except all the streaks weren't going in the same direction, again because of how brief the spray need to be. So I got out some white paint and with an filled in what I thought was lacking. Next I looked into ETSY and found a dollhouse vase with a plant that would fill in an empty spot. Yes, I didn't paint the plant. IMO taking a plant out of a package and gluing it directly on a base screams PLASTIC AQUARIUM PLANT!   I put a partial column I had under the vase to add some height.  

The final job was to epoxy the column, vase, pillows and Salome, and I was done. Thanks for looking. 

  

Lost Boys' Star Finale

 To see part 1, go HERE. I didn't realize she was sitting off to the side for so long!

The idea for the base was to be one of those mini-vignettes that you see on so many miniatures these days. star at 1/12 scale isn't quite a miniature, But I think small enough to pull off the look without taking up so much of my dwindling space. 

I was looking for a background, amongst the various Lost Boys wall paper. I was looking for something in regards to the demolished hotel. But there was nothing that showed up that I liked. There was a nice outside of the cave, but that really could have been anywhere. Then I found a scene of vampire David taking to Michael. And decided that's the one I'd use.  

Despite how it was fixed up it was still supposed to be a broken abandoned place. So I started with some sheet styrene scored to look like tile. I chewed away at it here and there and even partially lifted up one section. Then I used some Aves to crate a mound of stuff between the back of the flooring and the "wallpaper." Then it was just a matter of adding bits and bobs to fill it up to look busy. Another bit of stuff that I thought appropriate was the containers of Chinese food that was used in the scene. Knowing one could find card models of nearly everything I quickly found a container to cut out and glue together. 

 

 

The image has a red hue and I figured I'd need to bring that onto the base as well for a sort of OSL. Then the image was way too wide for the background and that needed to be cut down. I was just glue on with some LIQUITEX MATTE MEDIUM. The next thing to do was add some noodles to the container which I did with some COSCLAY.

 

Finally, Star was epoxied into her spot and I was finally done. Thanks for looking. 

 

 

Alice in Wonderland

 Shock of shocks! ;) I'm building a kit that hasn't sat in my stash for years. ;) This kit was picked up at at my local scale MODEL CLUB meeting a few months ago. Thanks Mike I.  Alice was sculpted by ELLA ARTS. And I've seen STL's over at Cults.

Alice is approx 1/10the scale  and was printed in a way that there was next to no grow lines nor dimples or "pimples". 

 Just jumping right in after cleaning and priming I tackled all the skin tones, and then turn to the blue dress - 

 

While that was drying I turned my attention to the base. It also gave me the chance to try out the new Army Painter Speed Paints 2.0.  I picked out a few colors and went to town. They went on very nicely, and even went thru the airbrush very well. 

The first pic is a little dark, but the second shows how the scene will look. At one point I put the kit base onto a wooden base - just so the painted surface wouldn't constantly be handled.

 

While I was at it, I painted up the Cheshire Cat. I just used the same colors as the example. I Also added the details to Alice's portrait. 

 

Next was to start to put the parts together and while doing that I painted the white articles of clothing - 

 

The other little thing I did was to add some of my new florescent paint set to the mushrooms and cat's eyes. The UV light really makes them shine!  I decided to leave the little head adornment off. seemed very fragile. 

It was simple to complete all the parts and I was done! Thanks for looking.

 

Lost Boys' Star

 Boy, seems I'm constantly playing catch-up lately. Earliest images of the Star kit I took come from February...  :P

In case you don't know, Star is  is Michael's love interest and a member of David's gang, though she is only half-vampire, having resisted her thirst for human blood. She helps Michael, Sam and the Frog Brothers to battle the gang, seeing it as a way out of her and Laddie's nightmarish existence. After the head vampire Max is killed, Star becomes fully human again and apparently enters a relationship with Michael.  s love interest and a member of David's gang, though she is only half-vampire, having resisted her thirst for human blood. She helps Michael, Sam and the Frog brothers to battle the gang, seeing it as a way out of her and Laddie's nightmarish existence. After the head vampire Max is killed, Star becomes fully human again and apparently enters a relationship with Michael.  She is played by actress Jami Gertz.

 I kind of forget the scale I had the 3D file printed, but I think it's 1/10 or 1/12th.  The printing was done by a friend over at Gillusions, from a file by Diklich Arts.  

The kit came in 6 parts including two heads, body, two arms, two feet and a base-

Getting it together was no problem, tho - my fault - I did line up one of the arms crooked. 

The next was getting the info for the painting, and while looking at the example paint job, she was wearing a white shirt, and a pink/magenta long skirt. However looking at a screen grab of the skirt I was in for an interesting time. The designs was "interesting", not to mention the multi-color shawl she was wearing and that's featured in the kit. 

 

There's a lot of designs there, not to mention that waist belt she has. Plus looking at the screen grab, she has about 20 bracelets on, and I see a lot of different colors. I'm going to have to get my number 0 brush out along with my opti-visors...

I started with a simple flesh tone, brunette hair, and a belt with a lot of purple in it.  And the skirt base coat - 

 

 

Now to start the designs on the skirt - 

 

 

And that's where I'm, leaving it for now. I was seeing those square plinths with the high backs. So I was thinking of using one of those for star. I found a screen grab of the abandoned hotel lair the vampires use, and that may be my background. But that's next time. Thanks for looking. 

 

 

The Gozanti Cruiser

No one can accuse me of timely building of my models. This little kit, from JPG Models,  was pulled from way deep in the stash. But it's now time to build. From the site: 

The Gozanti Cruiser, also known as the Gozanti-class armed transport or Gozanti-class shuttle, was a class of armored starships used by various factions. The Gozanti-class cruiser was a starship that could act as a freighter and cruiser. It could be modified to accommodate a twin laser turret in a dorsal mount and a heavy laser cannon on its ventral side. The Gozanti also had a loading elevator on the bottom near the nose and docking ports to the side near the cockpit section.[10] The ships had a hyper-drive and three engines.

This model is in 1/350th scale and has fairly clean resin casting.  It comes in 8 parts, and 3 (radar dishes) that look to be styrene. 

 It didn't take too long to clean up the mold lines and the remnants for the pour stubs. Building is straight forward and the main parts went together in less than an hour. Not included in the kit, but added was the wooden block and the clear styrene rod that will be the base. 

 Looking at the images searched for most were just a plain gray or dull metallic exterior. A few others had it looking like the red and white from the Clone Wars era. The image on the packaging is that plus a lot of weathering, which is the way I went. The block I just made flat black and I was done.  As I sort of expected was the little radar domes were all to easy to knock off, and 2 of them were lost to the carpet monster. I'll come up with a replacement. Thanks for looking. 

 

 

 

UGH! Romulan Chowder - class Cruiser

 Another kit from deep in the stash. This one is from Ugh Models which produced quality , not seen every day sci-fi vehicles from the Star Trek and other genres. Sadly they are no longer around. First signs of them were in 2013 and they seemed to be gone by 2118. If anyone has more specific info LMY

Anyway the kit is the 1000 scale Romulan Chowder - class Cruiser.  from the Star Fleet Museum site:

 

As UESN forces began their advance into Romulan territory in late 2158, the Romulans gradually abandoned any realistic hopes of resuming offensive action or achieving their war aim of conquering Vulcan. Instead, defense of Romulan space and Romulan worlds became paramount. For this reason, ship production began to shift from Cabbage-class cruisers to the purely defensive Chowder-class cruiser. Also known as "squids" or "Veronus" by UESN Intelligence, Chowder cruisers replaced the large hemispherical hull of Cabbage with a gently tapered cylindrical hull 30 m in diameter. A small wing atop the hull was tipped with two spindles that may have been auxiliary directional warp nacelles for increased maneuverability at warp speeds. A smaller version of the standard Romulan fusion power plant appeared to be used, but slightly slimmer warp nacelles were capable of propelling Chowder to a maximum observed speed of wf 3.2. Armament included a plasma cannon and six missile launchers.

 

 What drew my attention to it was the "Not A Saucer Shape, Not Seen Every Day" nature of the ship. The kit came in 5 parts, with a base and some decals.

 Clean up was quick and in no time to construction was complete. I added a wooden disc to beef up the base. 

 The base was painted black and I'm deciding what green to use. Images show if from a Deep Green to an almost gray Sage Green. But that's for next time. Thanks for looking. 

 

McDevitt Werewolf

 When I originally ordered this kit I either didn't pay attention or somehow missed it, but this thing is huge! Having a deep look into Troy McDevitt's offerings it turns out that it is 1/3rd scale. 

 In the same search I found that it was sculpted in 2013 - aah  - nothing like getting to things promptly.

First things first, I found a wolf image that I liked and that I think I could copy. Then it got it's primer coat of black 

 

The other colors were added. All that's left if finishing the mouth and the eyes. 

 

  

Made creepy yellow eyes, and weathered up his teeth, and I was done. Thanks for looking. 

 

Alpha Omega Doomsday Missile

 This latest kit is an offering from Fantastic Plastic. It is the Alpha & Omega Doomsday Missile seen at the end of the 1970 film Beneath the Planet of the Apes. 

In the first "Planet of the Apes" sequel, "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" (1970), the stranded human astronauts find a community of mutant humans living in the ruined subway system of the former New York City. Their ancestors having survived the nuclear apocalypse that destroyed the surface world, they reverently worship one of the last remaining artifacts of that bygone time -- a "Doomsday Bomb" bearing the ominous "Alpha-Omega" symbol.

 

The kit is 12 parts in 1:24th scale. It looks much taller than it's 12" height. It is all 3D printed with all the attachment points cleaned off, but I gave it a light sanding anyway. 

 It's not often that you get a garage kit. Leave all the parts in the box, shake it and it builds itself. This IS one of those kits. 

According to FP, it's a simple mock-ICBM (albeit it scaled down for filming purposes) with added fuselage texture and a pair of fins, the missile also has a weird hook on its upper body, its only function that of an easy point where the invading ape army can latch their ropes and bring the doomsday weapon crashing to the ground.  Looking at the missile and the hook, there's no way it would last 10 minutes before I accidentally break it off, so into the parts box it went. 

 And in one day the model was done. Next I started looking at the painting. The instructions says it's a golden color. But looking at the screen grabs of the movie (image above), it looked more to me like a silver or chrome with some orange tarnish on it. Since it's my model that's the way I'm going. I got out my trusted Rustoleum Chrome paint and gave it a shot. Looks great. 

 I left it for a few days for the chrome to cure, and then hit with with a thinned sepia wash. That did little to nothing, So I decided to give in a little and added a mist coat of a gold from Vallejo. Adding a little more at the bottom I was happy with the result. while I was letting this last paint coat cure, I had to address the decals. FP uses an excellent printer, but being so thin, it needs a coat of Microscale's Decal Film. While the decal film is drying, I decided it's a good time to take break and think about the base.  The kit comes with a small 4in. diameter 3D printed base, but I was thinking more of something like the set in the film.  check back for that soon. 

 

 

 

Buffalo Gal

 I figured it was time to get started on my "pledge model" for my local modeling club. Earlier in the year, I had chosen Buffalo Gal. This is a scene from It's a Wonderful Life, starring Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart. I enjoy it, and watch it a few times each Christmas season.  Since it's been around since 1946, I'm sure everyone has seen it at some time.

The model is a well made 3D printed kit by Nostalgic Resin, and depicts the walk home after George and Mary fell into the school's swimming pool (BTW the pool's real and still exists at Beverly Hills High School). This is the first real scene where they start their romance.  

 

 The first problem I had was whether to do it in color or B&W. Due to the size I thought it was too large for it to be all in B&W, and soon after found a nice colorized image of what I needed - the clothes. 

 

The only problem I had with it was the sidewalk was warped, and no amount of heating kept it flat. So I quickly tossed it aside and got out a piece of sheet styrene. I also had a decent sized wooden base and tested fitted all the basing materials. Besides the sidewalk, it come with a section of hedge, a picket fence, and a pillar.

Getting started, the pillar was painted gray, the fence white, and the hedge a green. It looked a little too plain so the hedge got flocked, I painted the picket fence and added some miniature rose bushes to fill the void, and the  pillar was fine so it just got a coat of paint with a little dark wash. seems I never took a WIP of the base so we'll see it at the end. 

Now I know what's to be done with the figures it was just a matter of filling in the colors. 

 

Getting to the faces, Stewart's likeness was good, Donna's barely came close, but not being able to sculpt a likeness, I'll just add paint to this as well.

 My next decision was Mary's robe. I know it's white, but that's an awful lot of white and I didn't want to make her look like a ghost with a sheet. So being George's clothes were warm earthy colors, I tried making the shadows in the robe a similar earthy colors. No good... That just made her look like she rolled around in some dirt. So the robe was repainted and this time I took the palest blue to fill in the shadows. This looked better. and I was done. Thanks for looking. 

Sadly my roses were mostly hidden