A moment of inattention brings denim disaster upon the 1/12 scale Girl's Rider miniature figurine

 Ever had that nanosecond of wool-gathering while you were in the midst of a painting session that just absolutely ruins days of meticulous work. Well I have, almost too many times. And this particular fubar was an absolute horror show! So what happened was during the application of a water-based matt coating agent i.e. the Mr.Hobby Mr.Premium Top Coat Flat on the Girl's Rider figurine's denim jeans, I mentally switched off and kept my finger depressed too long on the spray trigger. Even after I noticing my mistake it still took me a further second or so to react. By then the jeans was covered in too much coating agent and showing the dreaded whitening effect. But it gets worse ...

Denim disaster, the tragic consequences of applying too much matt coating agent 

 To compound my mistake, I panicked and tried using running water to remove the still dripping wet coating agent. When that failed I started to inexplicably rub frantically at the denim jeans, thus peeling off the layers of acrylic paint all the way down to the primer coat. And if you thought the front view was bad, the back was even worse (see below). That's days of hard work gone in a puff of aerosol spray.

Paint damage at the back of the miniature figurine was even worse

 Now, I feel the need to reiterate that the horror show that you see above and below isn't the fault of the aforementioned water-based matt coating agent. Not really. I have used the Mr.Premium Top Coat Flat before, on surfaces covered with acrylic paint without any problems. In fact, if you look at the lower half of the denim jeans - disregarding the blobs of matt coating agent caused by an overzealous spray can trigger finger - you would've noticed the paint is largely unscathed. 

Lower half of the denim jeans weren't as badly affected as the upper half

 After coming to terms with this humongous fubar - which involved swearing like an out of control potty mouth for an extended period of time - I calmed down enough to start restorative work on the denim jeans. And when it's eventually finished I won't hesitate to use the Mr.Premium Top Coat Flat on the jeans again. That's how confident I am that this is just a case of user misuse rather than product unsuitability. Misplaced bravado or confident optimism? I guess we'll find out in the week ahead. 

 In the meantime work has resumed on the Star Wars Speeder Bike and momentum is building to such an extent that it will likely be completed at the same time or soon after the Girl's Rider figurine. Both projects as well as the completed Scout Trooper are part of an all-encompassing Star Wars: Join-the-Empire umbrella project comprising a series of mini-vignettes that depict how a propaganda recruitment photo shoot may have looked like in the scifi universe. Concurrently with the Girl's Rider denim jeans restoration, I'll also be working on the chassis/main structure of the Speeder Bike. One or the other should make it into the upcoming post. Until then, stay safe and be well.