This week, I made time for Carla McCarthy. My friend Ludo has been extremely patient as I navigated through personal stuff over the last few months. I admit, this Scale 75 miniatures has intimidated me for a long time. Carla's from Scale 75's "Steam Wars" line of figures. I absolutely love the character and personality in these models-- and the quality of detail? WOW!
While normally one would think a bigger miniature would be preferable to paint over a smaller 28mm miniature, the details in the larger models are just as small and there are much more of them! I think one really needs to know their stuff in order to paint a truly impressive 75mm model. Since there's more surface to paint, the expectation is that you'll do more with it-- flat color with a few highlights here & there just won't cut it. I want to do this figure justice and I'm thinking of ways to add colorful interest to her (and blending. LOTS of blending). I'm definitely inspired by the studio model and will need to do some more research on Steampunk costuming for some more ideas before I get started painting. However, first thing's first and I need to unbox, clean, and assemble her gloriousness!
Here's where I started-- all the pieces were laid out nicely in the box and I carefully clipped, filed and cleaned each bit before starting assembly. However, I learned a valuable lesson after scrubbing bits before assembly. Always, always plug the garbage disposal drain before you scrub miniature bits with dish soap and a toothbrush. There was a panic search & rescue for Carla's torso and I was terrified that it had compromised the details in the sculpt. (In fact, I think I blacked out and stood there shouting "AHH!!!" down the drain for a few seconds before I calmed down enough to find a flashlight). I was very lucky-- no damage was done and that was a stupid mistake I shall not repeat in the future. So embarrassing.
The details on this miniature are incredible! I carefully dried and attached the leg pieces with my preferred Loctite super glue--it's not watery at all and provides superior control over where you place the glue and the design of the bottle helps ensure that you won't accidentally over-squeeze with the rubber side grips. I'll admit-- this is the part of the process that I enjoy the very least. I've screwed up in every imaginable way during the gluing process in the past. When it comes to assembling the miniature, I get nervous to the point where my hands get shaky ("Waiter! One glass of red wine, please!"). All I can think about is how many ways there are to mess up a miniature before you even get started painting-- unhelpful, but true! In past times, I've used too much/too little glue and under-filed/over-filed the pieces to the point where they don't fit properly. I've held the pieces together too tightly during the glue setting process and bent the metal and other times, I haven't held it together long enough, resulting in parts shifting and causing unnecessary gaps that can't be undone or completely fixed.
Needless to say, I'm getting better! I made sure to line up her stocking straps when glueing her bottom half together. I'll still need to do a bit of gap-filling in the end I'm sure, but making sure the important details line up is the first step towards super glue success!
Of course, in the end we had some casualties-- due to my constant clumsiness, I accidentally dropped my beloved paint water glass in the sink (what is it with me and dropping things in the sink!?). As I was washing it, it slipped from my hands in seemingly-slow motion to my utter horror and dismay. Luckily, it didn't shatter, and I'm still going to use it diligently. I've since renamed him "Chip".
"Chip" now has much more character and I look forward to his constant companionship during the painting of Miss Carla McCarthy. Can't wait!