Dark Mistress SBS

[Glen]

Part 2.


Here is a pic of the cleaned up figure. I used a basic hobby knife, padded sanding sticks and twigs (long, narrow sanding sticks, ideal for tight spaces), and some needle files (ideal for even tighter spaces). All of these tools are standard items for any modeler's tool kit, whether you build models or figures, plastic, resin, or metal. I did attention to squaring corners and rounding edges or scallops where appropriate. I went around the entire perimeter of the figure - including the inside areas - removing all of the stray bits of metal and flash in addition to dressing the edges. It is sometimes difficult to tell where detail ends and flash begins, so some degree of magnification is very helpful. I use a pair of 3.25X reading glasses.

I used a pair of sprue nippers to remove the front part of the base so I could lay piece on a scanner. A razor saw will also work. Both items are also fairly standard in the modeler's tool kit - especially if you do any kind of conversion or scratch-building.


I also reworked the eye sockets on the skull by sanding off the raised ring and sanding down the surrounding area. I then used a ball cutter in a motor-tool to create shallow depressions in the skull. Nothing fancy. Paint should accomplish the rest. A sharply curved knife blade will also work for scooping out the depressions, but it will take longer. Apart from the skull, I didn't feel any great need for additional embellishments (although I think a small dagger hanging off her right hip might be appropriate).


Priming next.


Questions and comments are welcomed.


Cheers,


Glen

[Glen]

Well, the first one (in red) is a bit scary. The second one, however... red hair, leathers, shiny sword blade... woof! 


Glen

[böckchen]

they are not part of my world too,
these nice modern pinup girls with their
unsightly cosmetic instrument set.
Here stimulators some imagination ....
Heavy Metal Warrior Woman - Heavy Metal Painting [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[PJDeluhery]

Ahhh! Babes in armor! I love this figure.

[Glen]

Part 1.

I am starting a new project!. This is Andreas Trost's 75mm Dark Mistress, a Conan-ish barbarian warrior babe. I'm not sure about her name; Dark Mistress would seem to be a great name for a Goth Dominatrix, but I'm not making the connection to a battle-axe wielding hottie...


In light of recent threads on aiding those new to painting miniatures (and flats in particular), I'm going to be a bit more detailed in my descriptions of what I'm doing, the tools I'm using, etc. This will be old hat to most of you, but bear with me. Additionally, everyone should understand that my methods are not the end-all, do-all, last word on the subject. Everyone develops their own comfortable methodology over time. There may be better (cheaper, faster, more accurate) methods, but unless it involves fire or blood, there's generally no hard right or wrong.


The figure is scantily-clad (but not nude), helmeted, and armed to the teeth; a worthy standard for any warrior babe. The figure's actually size is 90mm, or 3.5 inches, from the ground to the top of the helmet spike. It seems the 75mm point is actually around the eye line. The piece was well-cast with no short shots (incomplete casting) and only the usual amount of flash and stray bits to be removed. There was some minor pitting along the ground line, but it doesn't affect the actual figure.

The figure is well designed and engraved in that she has a pretty face and all of her features are where they're supposed to be. Her arms and legs are well formed and there is a visible elbow bone and kneecaps. She is wearing a corset-like garment over her chest, a fur loin cloth fastened at the sides with a small chain, and a large belt. Her boots are fur topped and have a wrapping around the lower calf. Her weapons consist of a curved scimitar-like sword and a large battle axe. The axe handle has a nice wood grain effect engraved into it. There was one minor glitch; the skull's eyes seem a bit off - the right eye (as viewed) being noticeably lower than the left eye.

The pic shows the piece as cast/packaged before any cleanup was done. The image was scanned.

Questions and comments are welcomed.

Cheers,

Glen