Punching out of my weight class - The start of an 18cm bust!

Giorgos Tsougkouzidis is an amazing sculptor out of Greece. I happened across his models and had to have one. For those interested you can find him here:

http://www.imgrum.net/user/giorgos_tsougkouzidis/2253023608/1311791958549379051_2253023608

It took about 3 weeks for the package to arrive to the US. It was well packed and nothing was broken when it got here. The kit comes in three pieces which was quite the surprise for something this big. The mold lines and clean up were minimal as you will see in the pictures below. Just to put it into perspective there were less mold lines on this than your typical Privateer Press model, and about the same as a regular Space Marine! The casting is crisp and the detail is just astounding.

I spent about an hour getting the mold lines off and pinning the shoulder to the body. I had debated painting it separately but decided I'd rather work on the piece as a whole.

Up next is priming and getting some inks on this bad boy. This looks to be like a project that is going to take a lot of time, thank the Lord for airbrushes!

Here you can see that it's just three pieces

Even the inside of the mouth is detailed!

Just a bit of mold line on this one. 

Here is a good shot for scale. The model on the left is a standard 28mm model.

And here is is with the shoulder attached. You can see that it's balanced really well. 

Kharchev 1.0

I was debating holding my next post for a finished model, but I have been having so much fun working on this one that I just wanted to share.

If you are not familiar with the Privater Press War Machine Line. This is Kharchev. He is both a big stompy robot (aka War Jack) and a War Caster. Basically he is all the cool things that draws one to the game.

First things first. The model is all metal and big with a capital B for something in all metal. Think about the same size as the old GW Daemon Prince big metal model for reference.

With that in mind, I started of course by removing all the flash and mold lines from each piece of the model. Then it was on to pinning, a lot of pinning.....

With that done I moved on to pinning the model to the base and primed with Vallejo Surface Primer - Grey. Once the primer was cured I coated the model with Vallejo Model Color Grey/Black, Then did the first under highlights using stone grey. I then shot the first red inks using FW - Red. Once that was dry I did the second under highlight using a mix of Vallejo Model Color - Flat Flesh and Vallejo Game Color - Red at a ratio of 10:1. Then I shot the second ink using P3 - Red ink.

It was then time to gloss coat to seal in the freshness. Once the gloss coat was cured I started working on the blacks that would both be on the finished model and for an undercoat to the silvers. Again I used Vallejo Model Color - Black/Grey. Once the tedious process of blacking was completed it was on to the brown undercoat for the golds. I used Vallejo Game Color - Beasty Brown. For the next step I needed to decided what gold I wanted on the model. I decided to go with something a bit darker, so I grabbed Vallejo Model Color - Bronze as a base. Then it was onto the silvers. Again I wanted something darker to start with so I chose P3 - Pig Iron.

Once all that was done I worked on his tiny little half face. Which is a great focal point on the model as its a huge contrast to the big shiny robot body. I started with Reaper - Olive Green as the undertone. then glazed Vallejo Model Color - Bright Flesh. Then I did a very light glaze of purple to give the skin tone a bit more depth, and highlighted back up to Bright Flesh. With all that work done, It was time to gloss coat it again.

Then I added the oil washes. For this model I did two. I used a black and Burnt Umber, The black was used on the reds and silvers, and the Burnt Umber on the golds.

So that's were we leave off. The only things left are to add the highlights and shades to the silvers and golds, work on the base, and add the snow effect.

Pinning. What is it and why you should do it.


Let's take a moment or three to talk about pinning. If you are putting together metal or resin models you should really be pinning. Here are a few reasons why it makes sense to do so.

1. It keeps that pesky hand/arm/head/backpack etc from falling off on the game table.
2. Number 1 is especially frustrating when it chips the paint.
3. Geez now that I have glued the arm back onto my already painted model I have glue everywhere ruining the paint job I just spent 10 hours on....
4. It's a great way to have something to hold onto if you are painting your models before assembly.

So how do you pin you ask? Pretty easily really. There are a few things you will need to get started.

A good jeweler's pin set. I personally use the P3 version as it's under $10 and the drill bits have been stayed the sharpest and broken the least of the ones I have used. GF9, Army Painter and GW all sell them as well. PRO TIP- STAY AWAY FROM THE GW BRANDED ONE. It cost 3 times as much for the same darn thing. Don't through your money away buy some shiny models with it.

Most of the pin vices come with a few different sized drill bits and a bit of brass rod. I find for most 28mm models that the 0.85mm drill and rods are the right size for the job. If you are going to pin something big and heavy, I use the 1.5mm stuff.

You will also need a good pair of snips. For the longest time I just used an old nail cutter and that worked well for 0.85mm and below. If you are going to pin with anything bigger I would recommend getting a good set of metal snips. Again you can buy these from all the miniature companies, but why pay $20 for something you can pick up at Home Depot, Lowes, Menard's ect for under $10?

I'd like to also talk about using pinning to your advantage during modeling/painting.

I am working an a PP model for a client called the Blighted Bather. This thing is tiny. The body is white metal and the cauldron is resin. I don't know about you but to me that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen if I had just glued it all together.

I started like every other model, cleaning off mold lines and snipping off the odd spru/extra bit of metal. Then it was time to figure out where and with what to pin.

If you look at the model you can see that the metal legs go into the resin and the torso of the model goes into it as well. The "rubber ducky" sits on the base. As I am using a scenic base the ducky will be put into one of the recesses and will have clear resin applied around it to simulate water keeping it secured. I pinned it anyway so that I have something to hold it onto the cork. I then figured out the angle to pin by placing the pieces together and using the drill as a guide. Then its just a matter of drilling into the different pieces. Once the legs and torso have their pins. I take a dab of bright paint and put it on the end of the brass rod, and use the pin as a guide placing it down on the bit that it will be pinned to. This gives me a target to drill into. Drilling then becomes easy. Just make sure to make your hole deep enough 1/8th" should do. For priming and painting I like to put filler rod into the drilled holes. This will keep them free of paint and let me find them easily. Pro Tip - don't glue in your filler rods, just place them in the holes as you will need to remove them later.

Ok here are some pics of what I am talking about.

Here is the pin vice and a leg that is about to be pinned. 

Here you can see the legs pinned and the place holder pins in the cauldron. 

This has the torso and the ducky on pins in the cork ready for priming and painting. 

Well there ya go, Pinning is not hard and it will save you so very much hassle down the road. Please add some comments and questions.