I'm on a Twilight Knight kick! You'll remember not too long ago I finished the non-chibi Kingdom Death pinup and I'm rolling into the Pinup Sci-Fi Twilight Knight now. However, I did a "quick" inventory of my Kingdom Death miniatures and unpacked my minis from Black Friday. I know, I know, it's been a LONG time but I hadn't gotten around to starting any of them (shame!) Sometimes when I don't feel like painting, I like to organize my hoard of unpainted miniatures. So that day, I carefully unpackaged the "Naked Kickstarter Pinup Collection" (and no, they're not all naked. "Naked" just means they don't come in a box with art, cards, etc. It's just the minis on sprues). However, upon closer inspection, I saw that two of them were missing parts. I searched in the package and didn't find any that had broken off. I circled them below and e-mailed Kingdom Death's customer service, worried that it would be too late to get replacement pieces for something I bought 6 months ago. Luckily, they were able to come through and shipped me replacement pieces that arrived two weeks later. Yay! Thanks Kingdom Death :)
Back to the Pinup Sci Fi Twilight Knight. If you have Netflix, you may have seen a show called "Rosario + Vampire" in the anime section. It's eye-roll-worthy since it's full of fan service panty shots (evidently it's really windy in Japan). It's ridiculous, kind of adorable, and not too shockingly explicit like some other shows in the ecchi genre. I remember watching this show years ago, before I got into miniature painting. I've always liked Moka Akashiya (and may have been what sub-consciously inspired the "Mocha" moniker), especially her "true form" who kicks butt and puts people in their place.
I wanted to paint a KD pin-up in an "anime pinup style", which to me, means brightly-colored hair, lots of contrast, and that weird sunburn-blush effect that they use on shoulders, knees, and breasts. (I don't claim to understand it, I'm just following the style rules). For the Pinup Sci-Fi Twilight Knight, I chose Kurumu Kurono, the succubus character from the show. Maybe it was the sculpts abnormally large breasts that make her look like the well-endowed Kurumu, but I think it's the perfect inspiration! Her cloak will be purple, just like Kurumu's wings and her hair will be blue. I'll find out a way to work her school uniform color scheme into the pinup since, as you can see, the KD pinup is sporting more of a leotard than a bodice and skirt. I'll have to get creative but I love this challenge! I started with the skin using "Rosy Skin" from Reaper's Master Series paint line. I incorporated some magenta to create the blush effect and used a spot of "Linen White" as the highlight. If you ask me, it just looks like she has huge pimples on her boobs, but maybe they'll grow on me (not pimples, hopefully, but the actual style). Still, it's a lot of fun and I think she's going to look great when I'm done!
