1/6 Kasumi swimsuit WIP

[AOJ]

After finishing my last kit for the contest (Tina Armstrong), I decided to take a break and think about which would be the next one to be done :)

Finally, and following my DOA fan instincts, and the positive experience shading Tina skin, my choice was Kasumi in swimsuit: an Ab=Flug sculpt which I only have one reference picture. Yay! (anyone can find more?)


http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/8126/mdrc029ys2.jpg
I wonder why it doesn't appear in his website ...

Badly, this kit is an evil recast :(. Bought with some other GKs a long time ago in ebay. It's a shame because in that time I didn't know about this community and the tutorials to buy in japan yahoo auctions :S


http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/3381/kas0ht2.jpg

Positioned only for the photo. The two legs and the torso are different parts, as well as head and hair. It's interesting to have 2 choices for the head, I think I'll be doing something to exchange each other easily. But I'm worried about neck joint becoming too evident :/


http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/3746/kas1lz9.jpg

There's another thing I'm wondering. How do you people do the bikini top straps? This are not included in the kit (this pieces are too small to be resin made maybe?), and I have no idea what to do. I thought about using a real cloth thread, but I think it will be odd; also thought using thick paper lines but I suppose it will look too rigid. Any ideas?

Tomorrow I'll be posting more photos of the kit progress. The previous ones are from the first day, and I've been working in this kit for a week :)

Read you!

[nightengale5385]

For the bikini straps I would use some styrene strips. Good luck with that kit. Although from the pics it's doesn't look too bad either way thai resin can be very painful to work with. I'm interested in see how it will turn out:hehe:

[Dr.H]

Thats a very pretty kit AOJ :). It does look like that neck joint will be a bit of a pain but I'm sure you'll manage fine.
Night is right that styrene strips are the most commonly used for best results.

[AOJ]

Hi guys, thanks for your opinions and help :D

Styrene strips ... I don't have any idea of what's this nor where to buy it (didn't find any translation). Again my lack of language level shines :p. Can you tell me more less what is it and where to buy?

This kit is giving me more troubles than expected, casting is pretty bad :S. I've spent between 21 and 28 hours (7 days working 3 or 4 hours) on sanding process, pinning, test fitting ... and still not finished. But I have to admit that I've been working in front of the TV :happy:


http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/7366/img0439he6.jpg

After the first test primer coat, I noticed a lot of small bubble holes everywhere :(


http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/752/img0444eh9.jpghttp://img233.imageshack.us/img233/5684/img0442ab2.jpghttp://img233.imageshack.us/img233/5892/img0441wp5.jpg

I only have 2 kind of putty to solve this problem: Mr Epoxy Putty and Tamiya Basic Type Putty (bought in Japan last year, here it's nearly impossible to find similar products at a decent price). The first one is very good but hardens too much (used in some big gaps between legs as a filler, lots of sanding required); Tamiya Basic is easily sanded but sometimes does not stick very well and pops out when sanding. I won't try to use instant glue to fill the little bubble holes, I'm not an advanced and I can really mess the work. So right now I'm trying again with Tamiya putty to see what happens. Tomorrow will sand the fills.


http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/698/img0447zy0.jpghttp://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5052/img0449yx8.jpghttp://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7452/img0448bl1.jpg

I pinned hard the hands, because the right hand holds a considerable kit weight. I used Tamiya putty again because of not hardening so much and be able to sand the joint without worrying about breaking it. But I feel like I had to use Mr Epoxy because it's harder, who knows!

So this is how is looking right now :). I like to join all pieces and take a look at it when finishing my daily GK time.


http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/3233/img0452fu0.jpg

Ahhh I'm drooling to start painting this kit! That's my favorite process part :hubba:

Oh one more question: I'm thinking of buying a bunch of Japanese supplies and I think of picking some Mr blablah materials. Do you think this are good in general? I'm specially interested in Mr Color paints, do you necessarily need Mr Thinner and Mr Leveler to work with it? In my previous kits I used Vallejo colors (acrylic) and only used water to thin the colors ...

Thanks for your suggestions! ::thumb

PS: Extra picture! My incredibly well suited working space :doh: (dining room)

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1559/img0446zd2.jpg
Certainly my parents don't like to see me working there, but I don't have any other place :squint:

[Ferio]

Styrene strips ... I don't have any idea of what's this nor where to buy it (didn't find any translation). Again my lack of language level shines :p. Can you tell me more less what is it and where to buy?


In this case I don't think styrene strips will give the look you want. A better solution would be aluminum foil that you fold until you get the thickness needed (probably just a couple of folds). It is flexible and can easly be shaped, cut and primed. Another solution would be the foil wrap off the top of a wine or champagne bottle.



Oh one more question: I'm thinking of buying a bunch of Japanese supplies and I think of picking some Mr blablah materials. Do you think this are good in general? I'm specially interested in Mr Color paints, do you necessarily need Mr Thinner and Mr Leveler to work with it? In my previous kits I used Vallejo colors (acrylic) and only used water to thin the colors ...


The Mister :fill in name here: materials are certainly good to use. But if you already have experience with the Vallejo line of colors then I suggest you continue using them. I know other painters who really like them and the results can be amazing.

---
Ferio

[AOJ]

In this case I don't think styrene strips will give the look you want. A better solution would be aluminum foil that you fold until you get the thickness needed (probably just a couple of folds). It is flexible and can easly be shaped, cut and primed. Another solution would be the foil wrap off the top of a wine or champagne bottle.

The Mister :fill in name here: materials are certainly good to use. But if you already have experience with the Vallejo line of colors then I suggest you continue using them. I know other painters who really like them and the results can be amazing.



Hey Ferio, thanks for the ideas! I think I'll use the bottles aluminium foil warp, I'm sure it'll work perfectly :D. Now it's time to get some alcohol ;)

I like Vallejo colors too (and it's a Spanish brand, hehe), but in some way I want to try other colors brands. Luckily maybe I can find better ones. So I do want to try the Mr. series, I've read about people using it here.

Hmmm I think I'll open a new thread about buying japanese supplies ...

[AOJ]

Update!

After a past whole week without working in the kit, I could spend some time (8hours aprox) working on it again :D

I fixed once for all all the little bubble holes around. Lots of little filling, sanding and primming here and there. After that I reported an ugly piece fit between upper and lower torso parts (too much evident imo), so decided to join the pieces together to have a better final finish.

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/1966/img0483custompz2.jpg http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3567/img0484customqh6.jpg http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2182/img0494customnp7.jpg http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/4036/img0504customzi5.jpg

Later I realized another big mistake :doh: (I supposed I was sleepy or very distracted while working previous days, otherwise I can not understand how I passed it). The leg-crotch (<-- is this a bad word?) joint was differing some millimeters, being the leg smaller.
So I had to use some putty to "fatten" the upper leg part :D. And that Mr. Epoxy Putty is pretty hard to use and apply! Well, maybe it's because I don't know how to apply it properly :hmm:

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3700/img0492customix5.jpg

Finally I could get some work around with sanding and some adding of another kind of putty (Tamiya) on the holes and imperfections.

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/7949/img0500customnh4.jpg http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/9748/img0501customuf4.jpg

Concerning the bikini straps, I'm experimenting using some bottle aluminum foil thin strips, as Ferio pointed. Just looking for the right thickness :D

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2462/img0519customtv2.jpg http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/8770/img0523customsm1.jpg

And now again ... question time! :p

It's my first time sanding over primming before painting. So how do you clean primming dust over the kit? I'm not sure if I can clean the kit using water, maybe I'll ruin the primmer coat ...

And about bikini straps. When it's better to paint it? I'm not sure if it's better to stick the straps to each bikini part, prim again and then paint the whole kit (it might be pretty difficult to mask and paint) ... or it's better to finish the whole paint job and then add the straps. What is the "normal" process?

Thanks again!

[nightengale5385]

If your primer is laquer or enamel base the water won't harm it. I usually run some warm water(and sometimes dish soap) over the parts to get all the dust off.

For the bikini straps, I would apply them last. After everything is painted just mask area where your gonna glue it at so it doesn't screw up the paint job;) .


BTW great job with the prep work!

[secretasianman]

The prep work is nice, this is the kind of kit I've shamefully abandoned before completion. As long as you let the primer cure a couple days you should have no worries cleaning the kit with water. However you need to be sparse, there's no need to soak the kit at this stage!

What color is your Tamiya epoxy? is it yellow or light green? If it's yellow it's the epoxy 'quick type' which can also be coarse, and if it's light green it's the epoxy 'smooth type.' I'm preferential to the smooth type as it has a longer curing time and agree the yellow can harden before you've completed the application.

[saitou^^]

OMG! You are doing a great job with this garage kit.

I'll be waiting for more updates!::thumb

Byeee