Suicide Squad Katana [Completed] aka the 70 mm Nocturna Models Soum 13 Moons

It took a while but Suicide Squad Katana is finally done. Luckily for me, the 70 mm Nocturna Models Soum 13 Moons resin figurine turned out to be a perfect proxy for my recreation of Yamashiro Tatsu (山城 たつ) who is the super-heroine Katana's alter ego. Here then I present you with my interpretation of how Tatsu aka Katana would look like while enjoying some R&R. 

First of two Suicide Squad proxy projects completed - Katana

Below is a 360 degree view of Suicide Squad Katana uploaded in the form of a YouTube video. Be sure to choose the high definition (HD) option for the best possible view. Following the video are some still photographs of the miniature figurine taken using a DSLR camera with a macro lens.

Truth be told, Katana turned out better than I expected. Initially I had gotten stuck in this project because I was over-complicating things in my mind. During the creative process I had envisioned intricate tattoos for her skin as well as complex Japanese motifs for her clothing. While I still believe that tattoos and motifs can greatly improve the overall paintwork of a miniature, there is a time and place for such creative endeavors. But Katana wasn't it. Hers is one of simplicity and minimalism.

Suicide Squad Katana aka Nocturna Models Soum 13 Moons [Completed]

Vignette is one of a warrior at rest yet portraying an aura of sensual lethality

Diaphanous top was not overly done to mimic a natural see-through fabric and not a wet t-shirt effect

Suicide Squad Katana's sword is sharp and hungry for more souls

Curves on the figurine were expertly sculpted and provides a sensuousness which I tried to amplify via paint

Apart from the color scheme, there was another way I could linked this figurine to the Suicide Squad character. And that was the skull icon used to represent Katana in the movie posters. Fortunately the flat round surface at the back of the signage provided a suitable canvas on which to paint the said icon. Additional weathering on top of the finished icon was an option I didn't pursue as I could not bring myself to deface the painstaking freehand work. Perhaps with time such freehand paintings will become easier for me and as a result the fear of botching them up will no longer be an issue.

Putting Katana's movie inspired skull icon on the back of the round signage was a no-brainer

Back of round signage could've used some weathering but I couldn't bring myself to deface the icon

Squares of the wooden stool somewhat contrast the curves of the signage and her derrière

If anything, the only thing I would paint differently would be to apply a much lighter brown hue on the wooden stool. It came out a bit too dark for my taste. However at this late stage of the project I didn't have the wherewithal to take on a repaint process no matter how simple.    

Meanwhile Katana's soft black hair contrasts her extremely fair skin

Admittedly the wooden stool's yellow hue is a tad too dark  ... you are looking at her stool, right?

Adding a clear semi-gloss coat to her skin gave it a somewhat healthier glow

Katana's clothing comprises of whites and off-whites with a dash of red in the form of her hairband

Slight bent in her sword is unfortunate but was noticed too late for any effective straightening to take place

The eagle-eyed among you would've noticed that her mask is missing. Well there is a good reason for that. You see, I got the scale completely wrong. This being my first serious sculpt (don't laugh) meant I was too busy trying to get the proportions right that I completely forgot about its scale. As you can see from the photo below, the half face mask is way too big for her face. So as painful as it was for me to leave out the mask, I had to do it or risk ruining the entire vignette.

Scale-wise the face mask is completely off, hence it was omitted in the final photos and video

As usual, the DSLR camera macro shots can be misleading as to how small this 70 mm figurine really is. Shown below is a scale comparison of the Nocturna Models figurine with a Vallejo Model Color paint bottle, a paperclip and the smallest denomination in the Malaysian currency i.e. a five sen coin. Also this is how the completed figurine looks to the naked eye without any zoomed in effects.

Scale comparison of the 70 mm figurine using a paperclip, a five sen coin and a Vallejo paint bottle

At extreme closeups the paint job is noticeably rougher in places but that was a byproduct of bad pre-priming prep work rather than painting boo-boos. It was a case of impatience getting the better of me as I didn't take the time to adequately smoothen out parts of the figurine before applying the primer coat. This issue was amplified by my choice of a light colour scheme. That being said, all in all I'm still happy with the final results of Katana's paint job. The ability to see imperfections in ones own work is both a blessing and curse. It improves you while leaving you forever unsatisfied.

Do my nipples offend you? Well tough titties ...

My eyes, aren't they lovely ... and they are up here

Skull icon is clearest Suicide Squad reference once the half-mask was no longer in play

My next miniature figurine painting project will be taking me out of my comfort zone. I'm going to try to paint an entire figurine using mostly an airbrush and lacquer paints. Hand painting is of course still a must for the extreme details such as eyes, teeth and lips. Aside from the small details, the airbrush will see prominent use in my next figurine. And as for lacquer paints, they have inherent properties that acrylics cannot match, at least not in the same amount of time. It is those very qualities of lacquer paint which I will be hoping to exploit in the future project. Until then, thank you for your patience in seeing this project through with me - all 15 months of it. Cheers!

Suicide Squad Katana [WIP - Samurai sword, right hand & sculpted half face mask]

With her right hand, samurai sword (katana) and half face mask painted, Suicide Squad Katana is all but completed. All that remains to be done is to assemble the painted base and place Katana onto it. So here's a quick update on a finished Katana sans base and her mask that I sculpted and painted.

Katana (aka Nocturna Models Soum, 13 Moons) work-in-progress: sword, right hand and mask

Katana's sword is painted in two-tones to depict a sharp edge not unlike the real thing

Suicide Squad Katana herself is more or less done so all that remains is to put the vignette together

A key bugbear for me is the slight bend in Katana's sword which becomes more pronounced at certain viewing angles. As the sword is made out of resin, I did try to straighten it as much as possible with the help of a hair-dryer. In fact the bent was actually far worse than it is now. I managed to straighten it somewhat but obviously not enough. But I've made my peace with it so unless I can figure out a way to straighten the sword even further it'll have to do. 

From this angle, the slight bent in the sword becomes more pronounced

Back view of the completed Katana figurine sans base

As this Japanese Samurai sword belongs to Suicide Squad Katana, I painted it in a color scheme that is as close as possible to what I saw in the movie. That meant a hilt with a black grip and a sword blade that has a gold band at its base. Luckily for me the sword this figurine is holding is similar physically to the one Katana has i.e. a samurai sword (or a katana, the main character's namesake).

Yet another angle in which the bent sword blade is noticeable

Color scheme of the sword was painted to resemble the one used by Katana in the movie ...

... for example, the gold band at the base of the sword is unique to Suicide Squad Katana

To give a sense of edge (or sharpness) to the sword, I painted it in two metallic tones with one brighter than the other. In addition to that, I also painted a thin line of extremely bright metallic grey at the very edge of the sword to amplify the sharpness of the blade.

Katana's right hand holding on to her sword, which was painted in two tones to reflect a sharp edge

Katana's iconic face mask was sculpted using Citadel Green Stuff

Katana's iconic face mask, after a fairly simple paint job

While the mask isn't exactly to scale (it's a tad bigger than it's suppose to be) it should be good enough for the vignette. Moreover as the mask will likely be placed a fair distance away from Katana's face, any discrepancies in scale won't hopefully be too obvious. All the disparate parts of the Suicide Squad Katana vignette have now been painted. Once they are put together I should be able to post the final photos as well as video of this project ... the first of 2018!

Suicide Squad Katana [WIP - Facial features, Hairpin, Ponytail and Leather Arm Armor]

Funny how things work out. It was only during the painting of Katana's face that it finally dawned on me what I had to do. Prior to that I wasn't too sure what kind of look I wanted for her facial features. But I suppose that's how it is for all creative endeavors. In all likelihood I had subconsciously mulled over how to paint her face a thousand times prior to actually starting the task. And after all that subliminal thought processes, all it took was a trigger to open the creative floodgates, if you will.   

Katana (aka Nocturna Models Soum, 13 Moons) work-in-progress: face, hairpin, ponytail & leather

Suicide Squad Katana sports dark red lips on a fair (almost white) complexion à la Geisha (芸者)

That trigger was Katana's extremely fair and low-contrast facial skin tone, which was bordering on white. If you really think about it, there was only one direction I could've gone - creatively speaking - in the painting of her face i.e. Geisha style. Well, not full-Geisha makeup style. It's more of a toned down version comprising dark red lips, simpler eyeliner makeup and dark albeit thinner eyebrows. The fact that Katana is Japanese perhaps makes this all the more fitting choice of colors.

Both Katana's eyes have had light reflections (as well as tear ducts) painted on them

Katana's ponytail sports plain ivory hairpins and a vivid red hair band

Studded leather armor on Katana's right arm (... which is still missing the hand)

Another significant work-in-progress item that I finished painting was Katana's leather arm armor. While it would've made sense to paint the leather in reddish hues - this being Katana's color scheme after all - I decided on brown instead. My reasoning was to have minimal amounts of red in the entire color scheme (Katana's lips, hairband, character symbol and a yet-to-be-painted red disc on her sculpted mask) so that its impact is that much greater. Essentially I didn't want to overuse the red hue to the extend that its effect in the miniature vignette becomes diluted.  

Suicide Squad Katana is about 95% completed with only her right hand (holding on to a sword) that's missing

Viewed from this head-on angle, Katana seems to be gazing intently at you

Additional highlights were actually painted onto Katana's hair e.g. her bangs (front and side)

Katana's ponytail completes her hair, adding volume to an already voluminous hair. The reds of her hairband on her ponytail is vivid and much brighter than the dark red of her lips. Meanwhile, the hairpin was painted in ivory and off-white hues to blend in with the rest of her clothes as well as to provide a 'sandwich framework' of sorts for the reds of Katana's lips and hairband.

Katana's hairband was painted a vivid red to contrast it with the dark reds of her lips

Ponytail adds volume to Katana's already voluminous soft black hair

To avoid it being too much of a distraction, the hairpin was painted in simple ivory and off-white hues

 
Katana's right hand, which is holding on to her namesake Japanese sword, is still missing at this point. So next up is to paint her right hand, the sword as well as the character's iconic half-mask that I sculpted. Once that's done, I'll have to put Katana onto her base and see if the overall color scheme works. Although I didn't really test out the compatibility between the base's color scheme and that of Katana herself, I'm pretty sure it'll work as she primarily consists of neutral and muted colors.  

Under normal daylight, the leather arm armor takes on a decidedly lighter brown hue

For me anyway, white is the sexiest color imaginable on clothing

This is my second favourite work-in-progress pose, with the most-liked being Katana's pose in the first photo

While not exactly a masterclass paint job I am still very happy with how Katana has turned out so far. In fact I would go so far as to say she has currently turned out much better than I expected. You could say this is one perk of starting out a paint job with low expectations. As I write this blog it's the first day of the Lunar New Year. To those of you who are celebrating this occasion like I am, then may you be well, happy and prosperous over the coming Year of the Dog. 新年快乐!