Getting back on track with a folding hobby table

 It's past mid-September and I've yet to do any significant paint work in 2021. So far I've been entangled in an endless loop of assembly, prep, and priming work. Any painting I've done has been trifling busy work comprising color tests and simple base coats. So what went wrong? One word, three syllables ... pandemic. Apart from devastating 'normal' life as we know it and taking away what little free time I had for the hobby, it also resulted in my usual hobby table for one becoming a work-from-home table for two. Having the missus beside me during the work day is the one silver lining in this pandemic, but space for painting via hand-brush/wet palette was compromised, until now ...

All folded up, a folding table for use as a temporary hobby work area

Once opened up, the table has two-tiers: a narrow one stacked above the main area

Each tile on the floor roughly measures 1x1 feet, so the work area is less than 3x2 feet 

 As you would've gathered by now from the photos above, the solution came in the form of a fairly compact folding table. Costing slightly more than RM100 (roughly USD25), this was the cheapest option I could find online to solve my workspace problem. I got it via Shopee, a local online shopping portal. Incidentally it was the first furniture I had bought online which was non-Ikea. For the price, the compact and stable folding table is definitely value for money. But more than that, I hope it pays back above and beyond what it cost by enabling me to resume detailed paint/weathering work.

Here the folding hobby table is stacked up against my dedicated airbrushing space

 While I do retain a small dedicated workspace for airbrushing (see above) that is set apart from my normal hobby work table (now a work-from-home table) due to the issue of toxic chemicals and fumes; that very reason makes it unsuitable for prolonged periods of slow hand brush painting of miniatures. With the acquisition of this folding hobby table, I now no longer have any valid excuse to procrastinate anymore when it comes to finally painting a miniature or scale model kit.

Above is the exact dimensions provided by the online furniture supplier

 This folding hobby table is spacious enough to place the required materials e.g. wet palette, reference images, elbow room for steadying the painting hand, a work-lamp, magnifying lamp (rarely used now), brush cleaning material, water container, etc. etc. And it's also close to the same height as my current work-table which helps. Speaking of the pandemic, there is a bit of a good news for my family in that my son has finally been able to get vaccinated. Thankfully he qualified to receive the Pfizer Biontech jab. The missus and I could only get the Sinovac jabs ourselves. Regardless, please get vaccinated if you haven't done so already. Until next time, stay safe always. 

Loki Variant [WIP - Primed for Painting]

 If there is one thing this pandemic has cast over my hobby activities, it's a pall of inertia that has put me on a mind-numbingly looped path comprising just prep and priming work. This is partly due to my hobby worktable being turned into a work-from-home-table to be shared by the missus and I. That impediment should be resolved eventually with a mini folding-worktable that I plan to get online. For now though, all I can effectively do is to prep and prime to my heart's content. So dear reader, please forgive me for yet another boring primed-figurine blog post; this one for Marvel's Loki Variant.

Knight Models Marvel Universe - Loki Variant [work-in-progress: primed]

 As per the norm, a light grey primer coating was applied on the Loki Variant figurine. In most cases I've found that light grey works best for the majority of my projects. Other primer colors I occasionally use are black (for metal paint) and white (for anime figurine skin tones). Prior to the application of the primer coat, the details on the Loki Variant figurine weren't very visible due to the metal's shiny texture. However, with the primer coat on, the figurine's inherent details began to show up.  

Loki Variant (front view) after applying the light gray Tamiya Fine Surface Primer

Loki Variant (back view) after applying the light gray Tamiya Fine Surface Primer

With the application of a light gray primer coat ...

... the inherent details on the Loki Variant metal figurine ...

... becomes much more visible to the naked eye compared with ...

... when the figurine was at its plain metal (i.e. non-primed) stage

 Even from a cursory glance you can already tell that the inherent details of this Marvel Universe Loki figurine is simply excellent. While Loki's clothing texture was brilliantly done, the crowning glory for me is the figurine's facial features. While not exactly Tom Hiddleston, the facial features are very much Loki personified. It's evil, its cocky, its confident, its maniacal, in other words it's so Loki.

Loki Variant (top-down view) after the light gray Tamiya Fine Surface Primer was applied

Nice details on the fur-like clothing texture on the Loki Variant's upper back 

A length of sprue from a different kit was glued onto the throne to help stabilize the base

 Similar to a previous Knight Models figurine I had completed (i.e. Spider-Man), the back of the base had to be propped up with a piece of spare sprue from a different kit. Without this simple piece of sprue, the whole vignette (i.e. figurine plus base) would simply topple over. With it, the vignette's center of gravity stabilizes, and the figurine seated on the throne will not topple over.

As these closeup photos show, the inherent details of the Loki Variant figurine ...

... are simply excellent, everything looks good especially the facial features ...

... which should bode well for the coming painting process to follow

 So with the Loki Variant ready for paint, is my prep-prime-loop destined to be finally broken. Alas dear reader, the answer is not yet. It will take a while for my folding-worktable to arrive so there might be another one or two prep/priming posts of other projects before the painting can begin. Meanwhile on the pandemic front, the situation is as dire as it ever was. My country even ranked dead last in the Bloomberg Covid Resilience Score. Worse still, in recent weeks more covidiots are starting to surface with numerous people refusing to be vaccinated. Sigh. When will this nightmare ever end.

Loki Variant [WIP - Assembly of the Knight Models Marvel Universe Figurine]

 Of all the miniature figurine materials I have worked on so far, metal is by far my least favourite. My dislike for the material stems mainly from the imprecision of connecting metal parts. There is a certain leeway to be had when gluing two metal parts together that the vehicular-scale-modeler in me abhors. Personally I prefer two parts to come together in only one way sans any margin of flex. But I can see how someone who likes to customize their miniatures may delight in this pseudo-flexibility. Perhaps this will be made clearer when you read about my experience with metal Loki below.       

Knight Models Marvel Universe - Loki [work-in-progress: assembled]

 For this particular Knight Models metal figurine, the somewhat imprecise way two connecting parts came together required me to make use of additional materials/tools during the assembly process. These extra materials/tools include a 'baking soda-cyanoacrylate' mixture, a hobby drill, and modelling putty. All were needed to resolve issues resulting from my experience with this figurine.   

Individual metal and resin parts of the Loki figurine model kit

Baking soda plus super glue equals an extremely strong bond and heat!

Modelling Putty, specifically the Games Workshop Green Stuff

 In certain instances, there was a need for me to drill deeper holes into existing shallow ones, especially those found on Loki's helmet and staff pole. Doing so allowed the separate parts to not only fit better, but also gain better purchase with each other. Fortunately, the white metal was soft enough to yield to my mini hobby drill. End result were a better fit for Loki's horns and ponytail to his head as well as the staff's pole to its tri-bladed tip/head (see below). 

Loki's horns attaches to his helmet; the drill deepens the holes on his helmet for added purchase

To deepen the hole where the ponytail connects to the head (via the helmet) as well as ...

... the hole where the staff head/tip connects to the pole, the same mini-drill was used

 Because metal parts are relatively heavier than their resin or plastic equivalents, I wanted to create a bonding that was stronger than your average super glue. As such, I decided to use a 'baking soda-cyanoacrylate (super glue)' mixture when gluing metal parts together. Long story short, the bond strength resulting from this mixture is much stronger than just using super glue alone. WARNING: this mixture results in an exothermic reaction i.e. it releases heat which may damage your skin! So please be careful. This mixture was also used on a sprue propping up the base because I felt it needed the extra strength in order to support the base plus figurine.

A plastic sprue from a different model kit was used to prop up and stabilize the base ...

... with a 'super glue-baking soda' combo used to ensure a strong bond between plastic and resin

 Another issue arising from the imprecision was unsightly gaps that frequently formed between parts being joined together. To resolve this, I used modelling putty to fill in the gaps. Additionally, I had to sculpt the putty so that its texture resembled the parts around it. For example, the putty used to fill in the gaps between the lower and upper arm was sculpted to look like the 'glove-like wrappings' on the lower arm. Other than filling gaps, the modelling putty was also required to prevent Loki's left foot from resting on thin air. To this end, I sculpted an extension to Loki's stony throne so that his foot now rested on what I hope looks like just another natural outcrop. 

Gaps arising from an imprecise connection on upper/lower arms were filled up with modelling putty

Patterns resembling the bandage on the forearm was sculpted on the modelling putty ...

... in order to enable the modelling putty to blend in with the rest of the figurine's details

An extension to the stone base was also sculpted ...

... to prevent Loki's left foot from appearing to rest on thin air

 Despite the difficulties inherent in the Loki Variant's assembly process, I was delighted with the final results. While I don't have much experience working with putty aside from filling small gaps, the simple textures involved meant I could still pull off the required sculpting work without major ramifications. However, the real visual test will come after the priming process. Only after that will I know for sure if the sculpted texture blends in well with the rest of the figurine and its base. 

A larger image of Loki after assembly and some prep work

 So assembly of the Loki Variant is now done. As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the priming process is next for this miniature figurine. That will be something to look forward to. Anything to take my mind off this awful pandemic the country is mired in. As always, stay safe and be well.

Passing the 500,000 milestone

 It took a while but after a decade of blogging, I finally passed half a million page views on my blog. Not an impressive number I grant you, especially when one takes into account the length of time that has passed before the milestone was reached. Yet it's a number I am grateful for. Why? Because in spite of all the views that may have landed accidentally, it still means a proportion of them, however small, comprise of readers who do want to follow my blog. For that alone I am grateful.  

 Sadly this milestone has occurred in the midst of other statistics of a much worse nature. Where I'm at, there are almost daily records for number infected, number of deaths, number of patients in the intensive care units, number of people dying in their homes, the list goes on in this never-ending pandemic. May you, dear reader, be safe in such trying times. And to all of you who have taken the time to read and comment on my blog throughout all these years ... thank you! 

Knight Models Marvel Universe Loki [Unboxing & Pre-Assembly Review] ... The Beginnings of a Loki Variant

 In a seemingly interminable period of endless dawdling, I had continually procrastinated on my Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) projects with the excuse that the miniatures in my collection did not closely resemble their movie counterparts either in features or attire. However, this feeble excuse for sitting on my MCU projects no longer holds true in more ways than one (see what I did there) with the introduction of Loki Variants into MCU Phase 3 & 4. With so many versions of Loki in existence, the Knight Models metal figurine in my collection can now lay claim to being one of them.     

Loki Variants as seen in Marvel's Mighty Thor - Issue No.3 (2015)

 So at risk of sounding like a broken record, I dusted off yet another keep-in-view project based on yet another flavor-of-the-month-inspiration. Such miniature figurines inevitably end up as to-be-revived-later-after-inspiration-wanes projects, although I've a good feeling that the Loki figurine is a keeper. It seems well suited to airbrushing which has become my go-to painting technique of choice. Of course, when it comes to figurines, it is almost impossible to paint everything via airbrush. The old paintbrush-by-hand method is still very much an integral part of the figurine painting process.

Knight Models Marvel Universe 1/28 scale figurines - Loki

Loki unboxed - a look inside the Knight Models figurine model kit

 A look inside shows that the Knight Models Loki miniature kit comprises parts made from two types of material i.e. metal for the figurines itself and resin for the base on which the figurine rests (see below). Based on experience, I will likely have to use putty to fill in joint gaps, and even mold the putty to mimic the surface texture of the missing gaps. While quite a challenge for novice modelers, Loki should be breeze for those of you with a fair number of projects under your belt.   

 While Loki Variants have existed in Marvel comics long before their introduction into the MCU, I still didn't quite make that mental-connection with my miniature projects. I guess I was too hung up on ensuring accuracy and likeness of the said miniatures with their movie equivalents in the MCU. It took the latest Marvel Studio made-for-TV-show, namely Loki, to break me out of an impediment I had created of myself. With the many Loki variants (see below for the show's versions) found in the MCU Phase 3 & 4, it was no longer an issue that the miniature looked nothing like Tom Hiddleston's onscreen character. Any Loki miniature can be a variant, and that's cool enough for me.     

Marvel Studios Loki (Season One) as seen in Disney+

From left, Boastful Loki, Kid Loki (holding Alligator Loki) and Classic Loki

President Loki (in the center surrounded by a multitude of other Loki variants)

Sylvie, a female Loki variant that was inspired by two characters i.e. Lady Loki and Enchantress

 You might be curious enough to wonder though, which variant does the Knight Model figurine actually represent. My opinion is that the figurine is nothing more than just a generic old-school representation of Loki, the God of Mischief. But if I had to choose, my guess would be that the figurine most closely resembles a variant known as King Loki (see illustrations below), which is described as one of the oldest and most evil incarnation of Loki. Cool. That just ramps up the inspiration level. 

 Loki is certainly fast becoming my favourite Marvel character, all thanks in large part to Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of the God of Mischief. This now has been enhanced by the brilliant performance of Sophia Di Martino and Richard E. Grant as Loki variants Sylvie and Classic Loki respectively. It's fitting I end this blog with a quote from the show ... I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose. Meanwhile back here in Midgard, my glorious purpose is to stay safe. Hope you and yours are too ... safe.