Another really minor update today, just showing off the final parts of the body and the start of the heads.
At least the hair shouldn’t present any problems. Again, the stripes on the uniforms provided several annoying moments and they still require further cleaning after all this!!!
Konatas wrists were especially hard since I had to do them free hand again and the parts were very very thin.
The arms also had some small gaps which were filled in with some milliput. Nothing too dramatic but the head does look like it’s looking too far down. I’ll have to look into the positioning and see if that is correct as it does look a little off right now.
But that’s nothing compared to Tsukasa!
there are some serious connection issues with the arms at the moment, they just don’t line up well with the shoulders. The connection between the neck and body are also terrible so I’ll need to figure out a way to get it to fit in more snuggly.
This Tsukasa model really makes you appreciate the little details in other figure designs, like how the neck is usually molded to the body and the dead is the only thing separate, or how the areas where parts join are made as invisible as possible.
Painting the head and eyes should be a breeze compared to the mod work tsukasa will need. Speaking of mods, I purchased 2 3mm diameter rods and some sculpey for mirei-san. She will get legs yet!!!
Through the Looking Glass 
28 comments
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April 13, 2009 at 2:51 pm
ernest
what kind of paint do you use to paint ur figure?
April 13, 2009 at 10:54 pm
gundamjehutykai
I use acrylic paints almost exclusively as they are relatively cheap, non toxic and easy to find. I have a fair selection of miniature paints with some citadel (games workshop) stuff for use. I sometimes use tamiya acrylic paints but they tend to dry a little too quickly so aren’t great for brush techniques as they leave very evident marks.
I have a few enamel paints as well but I try to steer clear of laquers cos they stink!!! (and are insanely expensive)
Hope that helps
April 17, 2009 at 3:04 pm
ernest
is acrylic a shiny paint??
is it the same with the paints used on completed figures in the stores?????
April 17, 2009 at 3:09 pm
ernest
hey…
how can you get rid of a bulging area(small)in the face??..maybe its because of the manufacturing.
A SAND PAPER?????
DO U THINK IT WILL SCRATCH MY FIGURE???
April 17, 2009 at 3:26 pm
gundamjehutykai
By default, all paints, unless specified, dry to a matt finish so non shiny. Have a look at my completed figures if you want more examples. They are all painted using acrylics and they don’t have any shine. If they do, I would have noted that I added that in myself, either using washes or gloss coat.
I’m not sure what kind of paints they use for PVC figures (if the parts aren’t already molded in the right colour) but I would assume that it would be enamel. the finish for the fine detailing is too smooth for an acrylic and laquer is rather expensive.
As for the bulge… if you are talking about a resin figure, then sandpaper is the way to go. Just be sure to look at the grit number of the sandpaper. 400 grit is the max you should use. Anything more coarse (ie. with a lower number) will scratch the parts badly. If the area is delicate (with lots of other details around) Then try 800 grit (finer sandpaper) and see how that goes. the 800 grit is also good for removing scratches from other sanding attempts.
if it’s a PVC or prepainted resin, then it will damage the paintjob so you will need to touch up once you’re done.
April 18, 2009 at 3:57 pm
ernest
tnx!!
i try a 600 sandpaper for my tsukasa’s face(she wears a shrine maiden outfit) it perfectly done my work.
——
what colors will be mixed in order to achieved the hair color of tsukasa??
——
what do u think is the proper way to make a highlights??
an airbrush???
April 18, 2009 at 4:04 pm
ernest
heyy….
how did you done lighting ur figure??
its usually done on the sides of the figure?
hows that??
April 18, 2009 at 9:00 pm
gundamjehutykai
glad to hear that the sandpaper did the trick. The hair colour is lilac. I happen to have a pot of the colour from ages back on a previous model so I just used that. You should be able to get a similar colour by mixing purple, pink and white. Just go really easy on the purple. As for highlights, I tend to paint the whole area with a uniform base coat, then spray the areas which you expect to be darker with a darker shade. Finally, I spay the area again with a lighter shade of the base coat to smooth out the colours. it’s tricky butyou get better with it with practice.
And the lighting… I guess I really should post something about my lighting setup but basically, I have a box which has white sheets inside to reflect light with 2 sides open to let light in. Using 2 light sources, one from above and one from the front, I adjust the sources to try and minimise the shadows cast on the figure. it’s kinda hard to explain without pics…
April 20, 2009 at 12:04 pm
ernest
do u use airbrush for highlights????
April 20, 2009 at 6:24 pm
gundamjehutykai
for larger areas, like hair, yes. With small areas on the body, I try to get away with brushing as you get more control on the area, but it’s harder to smooth the colours out afterwards.
April 21, 2009 at 12:09 pm
ernest
how much is the airbrush???
April 21, 2009 at 6:31 pm
gundamjehutykai
Tough question. Depends on the make and model. You will also need to buy a compressor to push the air through the airbrush and that adds to the cost. The glossary and techniques page gives a basic breakdown of my current setup. But you’re looking at around £100 for the compressor and £80 for a good airbrush. You can get cheaper alternatives (my original setup was a sparmax and they are pretty good for their cost. The compressor still works!) but it depends on your budget. I would highly advise against getting one if you’re just thinking about doing one or 2 kits. It’s an investment
April 23, 2009 at 12:19 pm
ernest
ouch!
cant afford that!
did u use airbrush on asuka’s hair??????
April 23, 2009 at 6:09 pm
gundamjehutykai
Asuka? She was a prepainted figure I bought a while back from E2046 so I didn’t paint her. from the looks of things tho, they did airbrush the hair.
April 24, 2009 at 12:29 pm
ernest
heyyy..,,,what’s the meaning of timotei?????
April 24, 2009 at 6:34 pm
gundamjehutykai
You mean you don’t know?
It was a reference to a really old japanese timotei shampoo advert.
April 25, 2009 at 1:34 pm
ernest
is timotei a kind of shampoo?
a brand?
April 25, 2009 at 8:50 pm
gundamjehutykai
Timotei is a brand of shampoo (like head and shoulders) which is still on sale in stores, at least in the UK.
The ads have changed somewhat tho…
April 26, 2009 at 2:40 pm
ernest
arigatougozaimasu!
April 26, 2009 at 3:35 pm
gundamjehutykai
dou itashimashite
April 27, 2009 at 1:24 pm
ernest
hey…..what is pre-painted figure??
cause i have one pre-painted figure which is a rei ayanami by alter….
X-O-X-O
April 27, 2009 at 1:32 pm
ernest
are u good in japanese speaking???
huhuhu im notttttttttt…………………………………….
dot-dot-dot-dot-dot-dot-dot
April 27, 2009 at 6:26 pm
gundamjehutykai
Basically, there are 2 main types of fixed pose figures you can buy. One is PVC (the ones companies like alter sell) and resin kits (what I do mostly). PVC kits are all done and ready to display out of the box but resin kits require you to prep, build and paint the figure yourself.
When I say that my Asuka is prepainted, it means that she’s a resin kit which somebody else painted for me.
And I can speak japanese but not particularly well. My speech and listening are OK (If I concentrate, I can watch anime with no subs, provided they don’t get too complicated and sciency) but my reading and writing are appaling. I can read Hiragana and Katakana tho.
April 28, 2009 at 2:49 pm
ernest
did u taught ur self or someone taught you??
April 28, 2009 at 6:13 pm
gundamjehutykai
self taught, like most painters. It basically comes down to confidence and experience.
May 3, 2009 at 11:13 am
ernest
hey…,,,
what is scale?????like 1/8..1/2
what’s that?
May 13, 2009 at 2:07 pm
ernest
hellow????
pls.answer me…………………….
May 13, 2009 at 9:13 pm
gundamjehutykai
Christ, I think it’s safe to assume that you don’t really read this blog, do you? One has to wonder if you’re just trying to troll.
The last post did state that this blog is now, for all intents and purposes, dead!!
You’re lucky that I swung down randomly for a quick look. Besides,aside from the post, there are a few other ways I can be contacted if you really needed your question answered.
but since I’m here, The scale indicated a rough size of the model/figure in question. In theory, it’s supposed to state the size of the figure relative to it’s actual size. So 1/4 means that it’s 1 quarter of the size of the “real” thing.
So if you stood a 1/100 scale gundam up, it would take 100 of them stacked from head to toe to match the true size of the gundam.
Of course, it doesn’t really work like that, esp for figures, as the actual height is never really set in stone. so 2 figures of a character in the same scale can still be a different height. Thus scale paints more towards a rough range rather than a definite number.