Girl's Rider - Hasegawa 1/12 scale resin figurine [Primed for Paint]

 As I have alluded to before in one form or another, the year 2021 has turned into a series of 'prep and prime' projects. And while I have set myself up to start painting soon, there is still one figurine left to prep and prime before I do. That figurine is none other than the Hasegawa /12 scale Girl's Rider. 

Hasegawa 1/12 scale resin figurine Girl's Rider [work-in-progress: primed; front view]

Hasegawa 1/12 scale resin figurine Girl's Rider [work-in-progress: primed; back view]

 As with after every priming session, the details on the miniature figurine tends to stand out more ... for me at least. You should be able see this at a glance from the series of photos below showcasing the figurine after it had been primed by a light grey hue of the Tamiya Fine Surface Primer.

For a figurine is that is based on a minimalist concept ...

... of  a female bike rider clad in a simple tight-fitting white t-shirt ...

... and denim jeans as well as an all leather ensemble comprising ...

... accessories such as black gloves, belt, and riding boots ...

... there is a rich tapestry of little details ...

... ranging from her facial features and elaborate hair strands to ...

... the myriad of creases and folds on both her t-shirt and jeans ... 

... to the straps of her riding boots.

 One thing I love about Japanese sculptors is their approach towards miniature figurines in making every day situations extraordinary by exploiting tiny little details. This is not too different from how anime is made especially by two of my favorite directors namely Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai. Let me explain. For example, the concept of a girl clad in a simple t-shirt and jeans ensemble is made remarkable by small details such as the myriad of folds and creases on her clothing which serve to accentuate the body's sensual s-curves. Add to that excellent facial features and you have a winner. 

Each sculpture will invariably have its own distinct racial facial features ...

... and it's no different for Girl's Rider which to me looks distinctly East Asian ...

... meanwhile strategically placed creases and folds on both the t-shirt and jeans ...

... serve to further accentuate the already sensual s-curves on the figurine's body ...

... which is displayed primarily by the figurine's model-like pose ...

... helped of course by the figurines natural body shape ...

... which is shaped like an hourglass.

 Personal workflow of the painting process for this figurine necessitates that I paint her main body (e.g. legs, torso, and face) separately from her arms and hands. However, I am still in two minds whether to paint her using a combination of lacquer basecoats followed by either oil or acrylic paints; or maybe just stick mainly to acrylics. Knowing myself, I will likely try something I have never done before which is the former. If I do so my initial challenge will be to mask the appropriate areas before block painting the separate areas e.g. t-shirt (white), jeans (blue), hair and belt (black), and face (skin tone). Masking is one of the things I hate doing in the painting process, hence my indecision.

In order to make the riding boots look a tad more interesting ...

... I am thinking of painting anthemion-like designs on the shafts.

As for the figurine's hands, the right hand is holding on to a glove ...

... while the left hand is open-palmed and will eventually rest on her hips.

 Suffice to say I have already prepped a fair number of miniature figurines to keep me occupied with painting in the months ahead. This is in addition to my ongoing assemble-prime-&-paint-as-you-go projects that involve working on sub-assemblies before they are put together as a greater whole. An example of this was the RX-78-2 Gundam scale model kit project. And top if off, I finally get to do show better quality hobby-related videos and photographs with selected Corel creative software I had gotten on the cheap. Things are looking up hobby-wise even if they are looking worse pandemic-wise as hospitalization cases shoot up yet again. Will this nightmare never end?