Polar Lights Creature from the Black Lagoon

March 09, 2010
Polar Lights/Aurora: Creature from the Black Lagoon

	I ground down the seams and use Aves Apoxy to redo the plating and detail. I tried to make a texture stamp of the scales to help hide the copious seams, but the old Alumilite quick mold stuff must be too old. It never firmed up into a useable form, even with a blow dryer on it. I wound up resculpting the epoxy with the end of a brass tube that I thinned out further with hobby knife. Then I used some Aves solvent and a brush to soften the texture. Looks okay now, but I'm hoping it will look just as good with some paint on it.
	The seam work is done and the base is primered. I use Plasti-Kote automotive lacquer primer.
	Better. Not perfect. But it's better than the seam lines that were there. I'm going to take my time to perfect this. Still have the arms and legs to do! So there's plenty of opportunity to get it right, or close to right.
	I wasn't satisfied with how my sculpting efforts didn't quite match the pebbly texture of the model kit and couldn't quite figure out a way to get it to soften up to just the right consistency when I suddenly remembered I bought a couple bottles of Gunze Sangyeo's "Mr. Surfacer 1000". It's a thick-ish primer paint meant to cover up seams, pinholes, and minor dings in styrene kits and I thought just maybe that'll do the trick. Here's the results:
	My sculpting is a million miles away from the fine artists we have at the Clubhouse, but I think it was enough to get the job done! The shiny area along the side is the Mr. Surfacer, the rest of the matte grey is the Plasti-Kote. Despite my initial misgivings, it's beginning to match up to the original texture of the kit! So I'm nearly done with the prep work. I just have to deal with the seams along the inner sides of the legs and the bottom sides of the arms. Don't think I can start any color on it this weekend as I want the primer to get nice and solid before I start.
	All the colors are Golden's AB acrylics with AB extender and distilled water. Here's the initial underpainting. t's mostly Burnt Sienna and Hansa yellow with some Titanium White. I did the shading with the base mix with a lot more Burnt Sienna and Raw Umber added.
	Then I just messed around with several glazes using the base color with a lot of Permanent Green, Raw Sienna, and a touch of Hooker's green in there too. The AB extender tends to make the paint transparent and glossy so you can see a bit of sheen there even after the paint has dried. It was a big back and forth between the green hues and the more neutral beige green hues. Lots of noodle spraying to let some of the underpainting show through in some areas.
	I tried to be fairly consistent with how all the areas of the figure is treated, but some organic variations in tone and hue are important to give it a sense of naturalness.
	I detail painted the hands, feet and face with variations of the colors I used in basecoating the body, adding Napthol Red Light to the mix for the webbing between the fingers and the lips and tongue. Then I overcoated with Future Floor Acrylic in preparation for a wash coat. Thought I'd try gold for the pupils. Not sure I like it. Might change it to black.
	I applied a (kinda sloppy) pin-wash of True Details Black. It's a water-based wash. Once it's set, I'll go back in with a clean, wet brush and remove the excess.
	Trying to figure out what to do with the base. At first I tried to go for something realistic with a lot of browns and greens, but it just looked like a mess. The water is very stylized so I figure maybe a stylized water look might work. Jury's still out on that. I used the same colors on the lizard that I used on the creature. I always imagined the lizard was some sort of relative of the creature, like a nephew, twice removed!
	The figure is completed. I may take some of the shine off some parts of the figure though. Too much gloss and it starts to really diminush the scale.
	Backside detail.
	Back of the legs. This area would not be easily seen once the figure is glued to the base, but I like to make sure all areas of the kit a finished with an equal degree of care.
	Nearly there! Time to concentrate on the base.
	The lizard is completed, with detail painting on the eyes and mouth. Need to tackle the rest of the base.
	The completed base, with skeleton hand and snake attached. I decided to go with an understated treatment of the nameplate, using the colors that echo the rock formations in the scene. I also matted out the rocks and sand and I painted the branch to look like driftwood.
	The Creature is finished.
	Back side.
	He's coming for YOU!
	Completed model.
	One last close-up.