Quick Update: Restoration of Girl's Rider Denim Jeans

 Tempted as I was to strip the Girl's Rider miniature figurine's denim jeans down to its primer coat and begin painting from scratch, I felt it was too drastic a step to take. I couldn't bring myself to just write-off the untarnished areas of the denim texture, which had taken hours to paint. So I set out to salvage what I could, and repaint what I couldn't. At the risk of sounding like an egotist looking through rose-tinted glasses, I thought the denim jeans restoration turned out quite well; better than expected at least. Results can be seen in the photos below, so do let me know if you agree with me, or not.    

1/12 scale miniature figurine Girl's Rider denim jeans restoration work (front view)

 Key to the whole heartache in the first place was the application of a water-based matt coating agent i.e. the Mr.Hobby Mr.Premium Top Coat Flat on the denim jeans. As such the logical question to ask is whether my attempt to matt the denim texture was worth it. In short, the answer is yes! It would've been clearer to compare before and after matting photos, but this being just a quick update meant I left them out. Pinky swear I'll add the before/after shots and upload them once I finish work on the leather. And there's actually more work to do on the leather accessories now as I'll explain later.      

1/12 scale miniature figurine Girl's Rider denim jeans restoration work (back view)

 To refresh your memory on how bad the denim jeans was previously, below are some before and after restoration photos that I did manage to upload. It was easier for me to fix the front compared with the back of the jeans, simply because the buttocks area was more severely damaged. 

Girl's Rider denim jeans, front view: after restoration (above), before restoration (below)

Girl's Rider denim jeans, back view: after restoration (above), before restoration (below)

 There were some spillover damage to the leather accessories. But because fixing the denim texture took a lot out of me, there wasn't anything left in the tank to extend restorative work to the leather boots and belt as well. It's not all bad though as I have yet to actually complete work on the leather, so you could say the damage occurred when about 80% of the work have been completed, not 100%. I guess that's one way of seeing the glass as half full, not empty. 

 Once I complete work on the leather accessories, I will upload photos of the results together with the before/after matting effects on the denim jeans. This I'll do concurrently with two other revived projects i.e. the Star Wars Speeder Bike and Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Cosmo Reverse Version. So in the coming weeks I'll be uploading posts about these three projects. For a quick update I've rambled on for too long now. So I shall stop and bid you, as always, to stay safe and be well.    

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. 

Girl's Rider [Work-in-Progress: Denim Jeans Part 1of 2] - Hasegawa 1/12 scale miniature figurine

 To my surprise, the texture of denim jeans turned out to be way much harder to paint at 1/12 scale compared with 1/28 scale (which I did for the Logan/Wolverine figurine). Initially I was pretty pleased with what I had done with the Girl's Rider denim jeans. But upon closer inspection of the work-in-progress photos (see below), I guess it wouldn't hurt to add slightly more texture to the denim jeans. It'll have to be a careful balance between contrast and texture as too much of the latter, especially if not done well, might dull the contrast between shadows and highlight I've painted on the jeans.  

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim jeans (front view, black background)

Wrinkles on the denim jeans were given the brightest highlights ...

... with the darkest shadow reserved for areas such as the ...

... back thighs of the female figurine's denim jeans.

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim jeans (back view, black background)

Coming in second in terms of highlight brightness is the bottom of her buttocks ...

... as well as the sides of her buttocks, in order to accentuate the roundness of said area ...

... while the kneecaps had an equally bright highlight as the wrinkles on the jeans.

All photos of the denim jeans with a black background was taken with the Canon EOS 650D and Tamron 90mm macro lens; with settings at f/16 aperture; 1/60sec shutter speed; and ISO-1600

 What I can ascertain from the work-in-progress photos you see here is a seemingly lack of texture, especially on certain areas of the jeans such as her crotch area (specifically where the legs meet the torso) as well as on the back of her thighs. It's highly likely I'll try to add more texture on the jeans during the next phase, which will mainly involve the painting of leather accessories such as the figurine's gloves, belt, and boots. Meanwhile, with the denim jeans being a rather dark blue, I also took some photos using a higher contrast background such as white (see below).

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim jeans (front view, white background)

Against a white background, the denim jeans is perhaps looks the clearest ...

... as the high contrast background focuses our eyes towards ...

... the myriad of painted details on the figurine's denim jeans.

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim jeans (back view, white background)

Denim texture could do with some improvements on her back thigh ...

... on the sides of the denim jeans, especially on her right leg ...

... and on the crotch area above the figurine's right thigh.

All photos of the denim jeans with a white background was taken with the Canon EOS 650D and Tamron 90mm macro lens; with settings at f/16 aperture; 1/60sec shutter speed; and ISO-1600

 Color scheme for the denim jeans comprised Vallejo Model Color acrylic paints as follows: Dark Sea Blue (70.898), Dark Prussian Blue (70.899), Prussian Blue (70.965), and Pastel Blue (70.901).

Vallejo Model Color acrylic paints used for the denim jeans color scheme and texture

 To add variety to the photos, an azure background was also used in the photography session. In terms of hue, the azure background is closest to the blue jeans. Despite the closeness of the colors, the dark blue denim jeans still stand out fairly well against an azure background (see below).

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim jeans (front view, azure background)

Leather accessories (belt and boots; basecoated black) will be painted in the next session

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim jeans (side view from left, azure background)

Belt and boots (basecoated black) will be painted to resemble brownish red leather

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim jeans (back view, azure background)

Blue denim jeans and a white tee shirt is a classic combination that never gets old

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: denim jeans (side view from right, azure background)

Parts of her jeans remain too shiny, which suspends believe we're looking at denim texture

All photos of the denim jeans with an azure background was taken with the Canon EOS 650D and Tamron 90mm macro lens; with settings at f/16 aperture; 1/60sec shutter speed; and ISO-1600

 Another issue bugging me is that certain parts of the miniature figurine's denim jeans remain too shiny even after I applied some Vallejo Matt Medium. The glossiness should lessen if I add more texture. It's either that or apply yet another layer of paint mixed with matt medium. As mentioned above, the next phase will involve me painting leather accessories like her gloves, belt, and boots. As I contemplate the techniques for painting leather, I wonder if leather rather than denim is going to be the second hardest part of the Girl's Rider to paint. I'll let you know if this is the case in the next post, together with yet more textures on the denim jeans. Until then, stay safe and be well.

Girl's Rider [Work-in-Progress: White T-Shirt] - Hasegawa 1/12 scale miniature figurine

 In what technically should be the most boring post about the Girl's Rider miniature figurine's painting process, I am showcasing the whites of her form-hugging t-shirt. Even as I was typing out the preceding  sentence, I could already feel - space time continuum be damned - the boredom oozing out of the future self of you, my dear readers. But please bear with me as we get through this slight bump in my series of work-in-progress photos of the Hasegawa 1/12 scale miniature figurine.  

Girl's Rider work-in-progress: painting the whites of a tight-fitting t-shirt

Shadows were strategically placed at limited areas of the white t-shirt ...

... such as on the wrinkles around the bottom of her breasts ...

... on the small of her back as well as the spine indentation ...

... (oops, a white spot on the shadows of her back will need to be corrected) ...

... on the wrinkles found on both her shoulder region ...

... on the wrinkles located on the left half of her midriff ...

... and on the wrinkles beneath the bust area of the Girl's Rider figurine.

Photos taken at f/16, 1/60sec, ISO-1600; with a 90mm macro lens

 For quite some time now, my go-to colors for painting white has strictly followed the Vallejo Model Color formula comprising Deck Tan (70.986), German Camouflage Beige WWII (70.821), Neutral Gray (70.992), Ivory (70.918), and White (70.951). It's a color scheme I'm somewhat familiar with since I almost always choose white when I'm painting the clothes of female figurines. To me at least, white is an extremely sexy color when paired with the appropriate garments and female figurine.  

Acrylic paints that were used to create the whites of the figurine's t-shirt

 Photos of the white t-shirt were also taken against an azure-like background, purely just to showcase the t-shirt against a less stark background. I think the t-shirt looks more striking against a black background, which offers it the highest possible level of contrast. When the entire miniature figurine is finished, the best choice of background color won't be so cut and dried. For example, her jeans will be painted a dark blue, and subsequently it may perhaps look better against a lighter background. In the future I'll probably test out three types of photography background i.e. black, azure, and white. 

White t-shirt of the Girl's Rider figurine against an azure-like background

In the case of the Girl's Rider figurine, the wrinkles on her t-shirt are ...

... a result of the said clothing item being an extremely tight-fitting one ... 

... which results in the t-shirt closely hugging her form ...

... thus accentuating the natural s-curves of her upper body ...

... especially around the small of her back and back shoulder blades ...

... around her midriff, more on the right half because she is leaning inwards towards her right ... 

... and around the sides as well as the lower half of both her breasts.

DSLR camera and lens used: Canon EOS 650D with Tamron 90mm macro lens

 Next up is arguable the second hardest part of the Girl's Rider figurine to paint (after her face/skin tone) i.e. the denim jeans. As mentioned earlier, the denim will be a dark blue hue with lighter blue patches on areas such as the knees, thighs, wrinkles, and buttocks. So far I've been maintaining a fairly consistent pace of a blog post a week - the most I've done in over a year. With the Lunar New Year celebration beginning this Tuesday, it'll be a challenge to not falter pace-wise so early into the year. But que será, será, I'll just face every week as it comes and hope to continue posting regularly after the debacle that was 2021. As always, thanks for reading, stay safe, and be well.