HQ12-02 Race Queen [WIP - Hair & Early Work on Face]

What is past is prologue ... so goes the oft quoted Shakespearean line from The Tempest. While in modern times this phrase has frequently taken on a meaning different from that intended in the play, it is the original interpretation which applies in my case. For it seems whatever technique I had learned and applied in the past had almost no bearing on the painting of the Race Queen's skin tone. I say almost because her eyes, lips, teeth and fingernails will still see the application of old acrylic painting methods. But hitherto the rest of her skin tone had been largely painted using new techniques like airbrushing of lacquer paints; dry-brushing of pastel hues; and hand painting of oil paints.          

1/12 scale Race Queen work-in-progress: Her hair and early stages of her face

Skin tone is on the fair side, exaggerated black hair, dark background and unpainted clothes ...

... but her skin tone should look relatively less fair once her facial features and clothes are painted in

Building on earlier firsts with lacquers and pastels, this session saw oil paints added to my existing repertoire of skin tone painting techniques. In the past, I usually used acrylic paints to paint the blush hues on a female figurine's cheekbones. But because acrylic paint dries extremely fast it's difficult to correct mistakes. Alternatively, I found the use of oil paints more flexible due to its slower drying time and the ease in which mistakes can be corrected with careful use of white spirit. Blush hues on the Race Queen's face comprised a mix of Winton Oil Color Flesh Tint and Permanent Rose. 

For her blush, a Winton Oil Color mixture of Flesh Tint and Permanent Rose was used

For her lips a mix of Vallejo Carmine Red and Salmon Pink was used; for her eye sclera and teeth Reaper Leather White

For her hair, various layers of Vallejo Model Color Black, German Camouflage Black Brown and Burnt Umber was used

A previous attempt at painting black hair gave rise to plenty of misgivings as I wasn't entirely happy with the final outcome. This time around aided by both an arguably better sculpt of a head of hair and the use of black paint as a basecoat (versus a lighter black brown in the earlier attempt). The former allows the contrast in colors to stand out more while the latter prevents the black hair from becoming too brownish. Acrylic paints used for her hair comprised Vallejo Model Color 70.950 Black, 70.822 German Camouflage Black Brown and 70.941 Burnt Umber.

Random strands of the Race Queen's black hair received extra highlights ...  

... which help to create a sense of volume in her hair

Contrast between the hair and clothes will lessen once her outfit is painted

Hair on top of her head received the least highlights ...

... which essentially means the main source of light isn't from above but instead it's coming from the sides

As you can see from the photos above and below, the Race Queen has an extremely fair complexion. Now there's a reason for this. I needed her skin to be fair in order to suitably contrast against the color scheme of her clothes, which odds-on should be light pastel hues incorporating skin-like hues.  

As this is still early stages of her face, some red from her lips had bled into the teeth

While there is more work to be done on her lips, I'm happy with the color of her lipstick

A light pink blush seems suited to her fair facial skin tone, for now

As much as I enjoy working on sci-fi and military vehicles, it's the time I spent on figurines that most invigorates me. On that note I hope to add more miniature figurines into my project pipeline in the near future. For reasons I'll explain later, there is a high likelihood that I'll add up to five new projects (two anime figurines and three anime mechas) to the existing five on my work table. It seems crazy if you think about it but there is a method to my madness. All will be made clear, eventually. For now it's good bye and thanks for checking out my progress on the Race Queen. Cheers! 

Transformers Bumblebee in Volkswagen Beetle form [WIP - Fan Housing & Engine Installation]

To paraphrase Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith, I love it when a kit slowly comes together. Sometimes to prevent hobby malaise from settling in, one must meander through relatively tedious bits which largely occur when assembling and painting individual parts of a greater sum you can not yet see. But when a part of the bigger picture starts to take shape, the feeling of accomplishment is a tangible one. It further fuels the desire to continue work on the kit therefore keeping any hobby malaise in check. And so it is with the Volkswagen Beetle 1300 engine as it gradually unfolds before my very eyes.

Bottom view (from left) shows muffler connected to exhaust manifold heat exchangers located on either side of the oil strainer while what seems to be the rear suspension/brakes link the undercarriage to the engine

Top view (from left) shows the fan housing and belt on the engine with the heat exchangers, rear suspension/brakes and transmission located between the engine and the upper part of the undercarriage onto which interior parts will attach

What you see above is the actually the results of Steps 3 and 4 of the Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen Beetle 1300 (1966) kit. As with the earlier steps, I had decided to paint up the individual parts first before assembling them all together. Up to this point, the color scheme is pretty much a black and metallic combo with a smattering of engine grime and oil to up the realism factor.

Instructions for the Volkswagen 1300 Beetle fan housing and engine installation

Undercarriage, fan housing, fan belt, muffler, exhaust manifold heat exchangers, etc. were painted before assembly

Only new material used from previous step was the Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver acrylic paint in lacquer thinner

Other than the paints and weathering materials in the previous steps, only one new paint was used namely the Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver thinned using lacquer thinner instead of the Tamiya X-20A acrylic paint thinner. This is possible because Tamiya acrylic paints are formulated such that they work equally well with lacquer thinner. One advantage of using lacquer thinner to thin Tamiya acrylic paints is that the resulting coat is supposedly stronger. Personally I did it just to test out whether there was any truth to the claim that Tamiya acrylics could mix with lacquer thinner.

Front view: engine as it stands now prominently shows the muffler, fan belt/housing, intake manifold, ignition coil, etc.

In an angled view, the exhaust manifold heat exchangers (running from the muffler to undercarriage) becomes visible

Nestled in the middle, between the engine and undercarriage, is the transmission

Only at extreme closeups does one begin to truly appreciate the details inherent in this Tamiya kit. To achieve this I dusted off my dedicated macro lens and snapped most of the photos on this blog post. 

Viewing angle above affords a better of the VW Beetle transmission

Back of fan housing lacks detail, presumably becomes it will be glued/attached to another part

Wheel-like contraptions attached to the rear axle are the rear brakes

A huge part of what can be seen now may not be visible after additional assembly steps

Can you spot the difference between the flat aluminum and chrome silver? The latter is shinier

With the undercarriage attached to the engine, the platform upon which the Volkswagen Beetle will be built is now set. It's unlikely that the undercarriage will remain in its current state i.e. semigloss black finish with minimal wash effects. Final weathering plans isn't set in stone. But based on the Bumblebee movie, chances are it will involve addition of brown or ocherish dry mud and dirt.  

Undercarriage was primed in black, coated in semigloss clear coat and given a black wash; weathering comes later

Oil strainer is surrounded by the muffler, exhaust manifold heat exchangers and transmission

Look closely at the oil strainer and you can see some spilled oil effects

Undercarriage protrusions fit snugly enough atop the transmission and to the side of the oil strainer

For an assembly consisting of many tiny parts, the assembled whole is surprisingly sturdy

Painting up the parts first before assembling them together certainly has its pros and cons. Pros - it makes color separation easier while livening up the assembly process. Cons - it can make the assembly process harder by coating joints in paint or result in damage to the paint while the parts are being forced together. In the case of the Beetle, both pros and cons have occurred. That being said, I wouldn't have it any other way as the pros largely outweigh the cons, for this kit anyway.

Color scheme so far comprises all manner of blacks and metallics covered with engine grime and oil

Flat aluminum surfaces look more realistic after being weathered with engine grime

Black surfaces take on either a gloss, semigloss or flat look to offer variation to the monotone scheme

Only uncertainty thus far is whether I've attached the muffler correctly to the exhaust manifold; time will tell

Undercarriage factory-new look will likely undergo further dry mud and dirt weathering

Next two steps will involve the Beetle's front uprights and suspensions, on the other end of the undercarriage. So there's still much work to be done before the more visible car interior and body is even touched upon. Slow and steady, I always say. For I know no other approach to this hobby.

Space Battleship Yamato 2199, Cosmo Reverse Version [WIP - Finding matching colors for the hull and deck]

You would think that finding matching colors for the hull and deck of the Super Battleship Yamato is a pretty straightforward exercise. Then again, I tend to overcomplicate things by overthinking solutions to problems arising out of extensive research. And so it was with the Yamato. Over the years there have been quite a few versions of this iconic anime spaceship. They can be largely grouped into three distinct color schemes namely an all-metallic one from the live-action movie, and either a neutral gray-red or blue gray-red from the original anime as well as remake series. 

Space Battleship Yamato (top to bottom) as seen in the live-action movie, season one and two of the anime series remake

Adding to the possible iterations of its color scheme is the fact that Yamato's deck also comes in various hues such as traditional navy ship wooden deck tan, pale violet brown, metallic, or a color identical to the upper hull. Whether all these color options is viewed either as a hindrance or a scale modeler's wet dream is down to a matter of perspective. Personally I'm for the latter as the more color schemes available to a subject matter, the greater its artistic potential. And as for the Super Battleship Yamato 2199, Cosmo Reverse Version, I plan to use the blue gray-red-pale violet brown color combination. There'll be plenty of opportunity to use other schemes in future builds.  

Bandai Color Guide for the Space Battleship Yamato 2199, Cosmo Reverse version

Paint equivalents for the 1/1000 scale Cosmo Reversion version as translated into English by www.mech9.com

Meanwhile, I noticed a trend in the Bandai Color Guides in which they are slowly transitioning from recommending Mr.Hobby's lacquer-based Mr Color paints to its water-based acrylic Hobby Aqueous Color paints instead. As I mainly use the former, it's getting harder for me to find the exact paint recipes to mix the colors I need. One way around this is to refer to Color Guides from the older Bandai scale model kits. Sometimes this is unnecessary as the Mr.Hobby acrylic paints have their lacquer equivalents. It's when they don't when it becomes harder for me to achieve color accuracy.

Color Guide for a 19-year-old Bandai Space Battleship Yamato 1/500 scale model kit

Paint equivalents for the 1/500 scale Yamato as translated into English by www.mech9.com

For this project, I used a combination of color guides from an older kit (released late-2010) and the present kit namely the Space Battleship Yamato, Cosmo Reverse Version. The reds and grays of the Yamato were based on paint recipes of the older 1/500 scale kit while the deck was based on the recipe of the existing kit. Luckily for me, the latter recipe suggested acrylic paints that had lacquer equivalents. So with the main exterior colors accounted for, I was good to go. And then to create some variation of these main colors, I plan apply weathering using oil and enamel-based paints.  

Space Battleship Yamato Reds and Grays mixed at a paint ratio recommended in the older kit's color guide

Resulting mix of the Yamato Gray hue looks very close to the sprue's molded color i.e. a bluish gray

Ditto for the Yamato Red hue which looks almost a 100% match to the sprue color

While Yamato's decks are molded in blue gray, the color guide recommends a kind of pale violet brown

On a side note, I was lucky to come across a set of discontinued paints created specifically for the Space Battleship Yamato circa 2199. While I do not intend to use them on this project, they did provide me with a reference point for what is deemed as officially acceptable colors for the Yamato.  

Mr.Hobby Mr.Color Special Set - Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (seemingly no longer in production)

Paint hues provided in the Mr Color Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Special Set

A pictorial guide showing where on the Space Battleship Yamato to apply the paint colors

In keeping with the photo above, the Yamato Gray is more of a light neutral gray vs the blue gray mixture

Before storage, the paints were thinned with Mr.Color Leveling Thinner at a ratio of 1:1

A closeup look at the Yamato hues as found in the Mr.Hobby Mr.Color Special Set

Of the three colors provided in this set, I was particularly interested in the shade of red and gray. While the red seemed similar to the batch I mixed up, the gray was more of a neutral gray. As a stickler for color accuracy, I feel that having this official color paint set is absolutely priceless.

Comparison of the mixed Yamato grays and reds versus the ready-made ones in the Mr.Color Special Set

So with the paint colors all mixed up, at least the main ones, it's time to assemble the Bandai 1/1000 scale Super Battleship Yamato 2199, Cosmo Reverse Version. Some Yamato kit variations allow for the addition of LED lights. This one though, does not. As such, the assembly should be fairly less complicated. With that I leave you with a quote often attributed to Captain Okita, the first commander of the Space Battleship Yamato ... The less time you have, the more you need to use it wisely.