HQ12-02 Race Queen [WIP - Prep, Pinning & Priming]

HQ12-02 Race Queen aka the 1/12 scale resin figurine from atelier iT will have the dubious honor of being my first miniature figurine project to involve considerable use of an airbrush. As is always the case, before the Race Queen receives any paint she first has to undergo preparatory steps. What's different this time is the effort that went into the prep work. Usually all it took was just a quick wash of the resin miniature followed by removal of mould lines and ending with a coat of primer. Now however, I believe changes to the work flow are needed if I'm going to improve on final results.  

1/12 scale atelier iT Race Queen work-in-progress: final primer coat

First primer coat highlighted areas that still needed prep work

Changes to my work flow actually translated into the addition of two major steps to the preparatory process. Firstly to strengthen the bond between joints of separate parts, a 'resin pinning' step was put in. As can be seen in the immediate photos below, resin pinning essentially involves drilling holes into the parts to be attached and inserting a brass rod to strengthen the connection. This step becomes more essential the bigger the scale of the miniature figurine you're working with.

Pinning Step 01: drill holes into the center of the joints

Pinning Step 02: Insert brass tubes into the holes and cut them down to size

Pinning Step 03: Matching holes are drilled into leg parts that will be attached to the torso

Pinning allows the legs to be attached more securely to the torso

A misalignment caused the drill to pierce through the resin; seen here patched with green putty

Resin parts after the pinning process; seen here before the brass rods were cut down to size

In the other deviation from my usual practice, I undertook the mould line removal process twice. The first time the mould line was removed was before the initial primer coat while the second time occurred right after the initial primer coat. For this to work, the initial primer coat was applied lightly to highlight mould lines and other imperfections (e.g. holes in the resin miniature) I might've missed. After these issues had been fixed, the second and final primer coat was then applied.

First primer coating highlight areas which need further prep work such as the mould line above 

After sanding down the mould line, a second coat of primer was applied in preparation for painting

So the Race Queen is now fully primed, and ready to receive her first coat of paint. I plan to start with her skin tone using lacquer paints. And depending on the level of highlights, mid-tones and shadows I can achieve with an airbrush, her skin tone may or may not need additional work. If it does then there are three non-acrylic routes I can take namely oil paints, enamel paints or pastel shading. Why non-acrylic? Well it's because I don;t intend to use the same old same old techniques for painting flesh. I'm after the one which produces the most realistic skin effects and that requires experimentation.  

Front view of the Race Queen's torso, head and legs after the final primer coat

Back view of the Race Queen's torso, head and legs after the final primer coat

Both arms after the additional prep work and the final primer coat

View of both the Race Queen's arms from a slightly different angle

As with every project involving the first time use of a particular technique, there is every chance final results are going to be less than optimal. To minimize this, I'll be layering skin tone shadows, mid-tones and highlights onto some plastic spoons to get the hang of working with lacquer paints and an airbrush. Of course this is far from an ideal way to practice airbrushing lacquer paints due to the differences between the contours of a simple spoon versus the human body. However it's the most cost effective method of practicing I can think of. And it'll have to do. For now.