Suicide Squad Katana [WIP - Skin Tone Revisited] aka 70 mm Nocturna Models Soum 13 Moons

It's funny how the slightest issue with a paint job can put a screeching halt to progress in a miniature project. On my last skin tone update for Katana I had briefly mentioned about the chalkiness of her skin tone. Little did I know then it would bug me enough that I couldn't proceed with the painting of Suicide Squad proxy character (using the Nocturna Models 70 mm figurine - Soum, 13 Moons). It would take an unrelated AFV project to break the creative impasse. And it came in the form of a satin varnish which I had used in my T-55A project to protect the underlying basecoat paint. 

Suicide Squad Katana's light skin tone after a thin layer of satin varnish

So in essence the only thing that has changed is Katana receving a thin coat of satin varnish over her bare skin. But it's wonderful what a little shine can do. An obvious fix is the mitigation of skin tone chalkiness. Highlights are now further enhanced too. The semi-gloss nature of a satin varnish helps increase reflectiveness in natural areas of Katana's skin which incidentally have already been painted in a lighter hue. What this does is make the highlights 'pop' more and increase contrast in a fair complexion. Differences are subtle but significant enough for me to be satisfied and move on.

Katana (aka Soum) work-in-progress: skin tone chalkiness reduced with semi-gloss varnish

Semi-gloss varnish enhances the skin tone highlights on Katana's shoulders and knees

Katana will likely have black hair and white clothing with a pastel design on her left thigh-high stocking   

How we perceive colours depends on what other colour is next to them. It's therefore important to take note of the dull grey primer that currently covers the rest of Katana's body. This, to a certain extent, dulls the skin tone that has been painted so far. So the challenge is to choose an appropriate colour scheme that will enhance Katana's extremely fair complexion. I'm contemplating giving her brownish black hair, white clothing/socks and either a warm or cool pastel design for her thigh-high stocking. It will be something Katana would wear but not necessarily what she wore in the movies.

Baby got back ...

... and then some

Essence of Katana/Soum's pose is perhaps best captured at this angle

So I'm excited again about this project. It's funny how overcoming such a small hurdle can breathe new life into a stalled miniature painting project. It's also good to make figurines part of the regular project cycle again. In fact, I'm actually putting the finishing touches to Bronn and he should be completed first (and soon) before I resume work on Katana. Coincidentally, coming up in my next blog post is yet another figurine namely the T-55A tank commander. Until then, have a good one!