WIP - Commission 1/8 scale Spike Spiegel of Cowboy Bebop fame

[Joa]

Wow... It's been that long since I last fingered this kit?

Originally Posted by Joa 12-17-2007

Next in line is another commission piece; Spike Spiegel from cowboy bebop:

Ok, so I am finishing off those commissions I have laying about, and this one along with the Headlong berserk kit has been on the bench for too long.
Well, to say the least my summer vacation lit that long dead inspiration spark so I decided early on to keep occupying the hobby room for the remaining 2 weeks.

The base shown in the quoted pic was made by our very own Master of wood work; Todd, aka Dr. H here at GKJ. As always the result is simply stunning.

On with the show...
I went to one of the best miniature train hobby shops here in Stockholm and found me this:



It'll work on the 12v power converter shown, but in its otf form it is way to short for Spikey:




Enter saw, knife, file and some brass tube to extend the lamp post:




That's more like it:




And it works:




More to come..

[gklover]

how the Spike Spiegel coming?

[Kyte]

Ah, I am going to have to get a Spike.

Great Idea with the lamp post, he will look great with that!

[Joa]

Not meaning to shock anybody ... but I'm at it again .. building a kit that is... ^^

And I'm back with Mr. Spiegel as you can see.
Tonight I just gave him some skin, and a few days ago I did the base on which he will stand using plaster of Paris, seran wrap, my fingers + a scriber:




- The left arm will fit into the sleeve of his jacket, so no need to be fuzzy about the irregularities near the joint... ^^


- Here you see where the cables for the cigarette LED enters his elbow, which will be in slight contact with the lamp post where the wires will disappear through a hole in it... ^^


- The plaster base, scribed and painted. The holes are for the lamp post and for Spikes' left foot. You see the cables entering through the back of the wooden plaque + exiting through the hole for the post.


That's all for tonight.

[Joa]

Shirt'n tie...





Also .. i quite forgot to post WIP pictures of the upcoming cigarette;
A red LED was installed in his neck/torso with the wires coming out of hos right elbow (to enter the lamp post as described earlier):


And a sneek peek of what it will look like:

[Joa]

And some more...

The hair is done:


Basic blues for the suit done:

[Joa]

Getting there...

The head is dry mounted for these pics.

Flash / No flash

[sivousplay]

Joa,

So, how much do you airbrush and how much do you brush-brush? I've never used an airbrush and I'm just kinda curious about it ... seems you have to spend a lot of time masking to avoid hitting the wrong places, but you do get some amazing blends that I could never do w/ a traditional brush.

jim

[Joa]

Originally Posted by sivousplay

So, how much do you airbrush and how much do you brush-brush?

It all depends on the subject, the scale and the intensity of details.

For larger, non-detailed and non-structure areas I tend to base cote with a regular (Raphael #3) brush using multiple layers of quite diluted paint and then shade/highlight with the airbrush.
For Spike's suit I did just that, but only added shadows with the airbrush.
For more detailed areas (in spike's case the face) and skin in general, I usually use the airbrush for all purposes except for the eyes, nails etc.
Most ppl paint hair the *same old anime/manga style* with basecoat, shade/highlight, while I have taken to the streak treatment for most my kits except for where it's inappropriate (Felicia).
Dark basecoat, and then build up layer on layer with thinned down (using a transparent medium) paint going towards lighter version of your colour of choice and lastly finish off with white for the highlights, and then mist the entire hair with a uniform diluted shade of the original hair colour + a top coat of your choice. I most often go for matte/dull, but sometimes a pearly shine or slight gloss adds to the character...
I hope this answers your Q

Originally Posted by sivousplay

I've never used an airbrush and I'm just kinda curious about it ...

See it as another tool, another technique which will help you achieve certain effects and results.
It's like with the micro wave oven .. you don't realize you need one till you get one.

Originally Posted by sivousplay

seems you have to spend a lot of time masking to avoid hitting the wrong places

It's learning by doing, and practice makes perfect .. masking for the shading of the suit took me about 15 minutes. Sometimes it's tedious, yes .. but the end result makes it worth the extra mile.

[Joa]