A “CRASH COURSE” TO VINYL KIT CONSTRUCTION AND PAINTING,
ALONG WITH A REVIEW OF HORIZON’S “STEEL” FIGURE
A “CRASH COURSE” TO VINYL KIT CONSTRUCTION AND PAINTING
(Part One)
(Initial
Analysis)
As with
any kit, you should naturally start out by analyzing the instructions very
carefully. Pay close attention to the instruction’s drawings. This is very
important with vinyl kits, since, similar to vacu-form ones, cutting is
required to remove excess material. Another reason this step is important is
that some vinyl kits have instructions and diagrams that are very vague.
Reviewing them until you feel comfortable with how the kit goes together may
save you grief in the future.
(Time to Cut)
After
you feel comfortable with the instructions, it’s time to remove the excess
vinyl. One important property of
vinyl is its susceptibility to heat. This can be taken advantage of by heating
the vinyl with either a hair blower or a hot container of water directly before
cutting it. Take your time while cutting, making sure to remove only what
should be removed. Do repeated dry-fittings. It is far easier to gradually
remove excess vinyl than to rush through this process and later have to correct
problems where too much vinyl has been removed. (I can personally attest to
this).
Also,
you should ALWAYS cut AWAY from your hands and fingers. (The
digit you save may be your own).
(Assembly - Filling and Gluing)
Due to another property of vinyl, plastic glues and
liquid cements won’t work. Two-part epoxies can be used. But, it is best to use
a cyanoacylate (or super) glue. The use of a super glue accelerator speeds up
the bonding process.
A disadvantage of using a super glue is that it does not
actually melt (or fuse) the vinyl together. A second disadvantage is its poor
“shearing” strength, (i.e., tap the bonded area hard from the side and chances
are your bond will break). With these two disadvantages, you must be careful
your figure does not tip over once it is built
.
A disadvantage relating to vinyl’s susceptibility to
heat, (similar to its advantage), is that when it gets hot, it tends to loose
its strength and shape. This causes problems with a figure’s support areas, such
as ankles and legs. They will bend and give way when they become too
warm.
To solve this heat problem use a filler on the insides
of the feet and legs. Two types of fillers are Plaster of Paris and Modelers
Paste. Before assembling the feet to the legs (if they are not one piece), make
sure the top of the feet pieces have holes in them. This will allow your Plaster
of Paris to flow down through the legs into the feet. Using a filler also helps
solve the “tipping over” problem by lowering the figures center of
gravity.
Another way to prevent your figure from falling over is
to mount it onto a stand. The stand can be a plastic base that may come with the
model or a purchased wooden plaque. Do this by using posts, (such as dowels or
brass rods), to secure the feet. Before attaching the feet to the legs, drill a
hole down through the bottom of each foot into your base. Make sure that the
hole in each foot is large enough for the posts to fit through, but small enough
to prevent any Plaster from seeping through.
With your posts inserted down through the
bottom of the feet, insert the protruding ends into the holes in your base, but
don’t glue them into place just yet. Position the upper portion of the posts in
a way that allows the feet of the figure to be flush with the base. At this point, if
the feet and legs are not one piece, glue them together. After the glue has
hardened, mix and pour the plaster in from the waste of the figure. Let it seep
down through the legs into the feet, filling the cavity up to the waste.
A variation of this is to use both brass rods and
aluminum or brass tubes, enabling the figure to slide off the base. The rods are
glued into the base, sticking up. The tubes (having their upper holes covered
with tape) are secured with the plaster in the feet/leg sub-assemblies, flush
with the soles of the feet, allowing the figure to slide down onto the
rods.
(Puttying and Sanding)
Three types of putties that can be used to fill seams
are Modeling Putty, Two Part Epoxy, and Super Glue. All have advantages and
disadvantages, (as most of you are probably aware). I have found that both
modeling putty and super glue are good fillers with vinyl kits. You should
experiment with them all, however, finding the one (or ones) you like
best.
Note: When using the first two types, be careful! Vinyl
is a petroleum product, (i.e., it is oil based). Other oil based products may
not interact well with the vinyl, possibly eating away at the material. It is
best to get a scrap piece of vinyl to experiment on first, before going on to
the real thing.
(Priming)
In order to uncover those existing seams and excessive
puttied areas, you’re gonna' have to prime. Again, due to vinyl being oil based,
you should use an acrylic paint as your primer coat. Some people carefully
“mist” a light lacquer coating on, but be careful! In addition to lacquer,
enamel, and oil based paints possibly harming your kit, the paint may not adhere
to the surfaces correctly, preventing it from drying completely. When using the
acrylic paint, dilute it and apply it either by brush or by airbrush. Once you
have a protective barrier coat, you can use either enamels or oils with no
problem.
(Brief Painting Overview)
A major problem with painting a large size figure is
trying to make it look more like a miniature representation of the original
subject and less like an oversized toy. One way to do this is by applying, for
each base color, multiple hues of the same color on top of one another.
“Layering” is a term which can be used to describe this technique. It gives your
model a more realistic look by adding “depth” to it. It can be done with
acrylics, oils and enamels.
With this technique, you first start out with the
darkest hue of your color, applying it to the recesses of the figure, (i.e.,
crevices in the skin or folds in the clothing). Then, successive lighter hues of
the base color are applied over each previous coat, concentrating more and more
on the highest surface areas of your figure. Each successive coat is gently
blended in with the previous darker ones. The final lightest shade is applied to
the upper most portions of the figure. For a figure’s face, this would be the
bridge of the nose, the cheeks, the forehead, chin, etc.
Both air brushing and hand brushing washes can be used
to apply this technique.
visitors.
Copyright © 2008 by Anthony I. Wootson. No material may be reproduced without permission. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.