# Elvira- plus a building tip



## nautilusnut (Jul 9, 2008)

I'm almost finished with Elvira. (I just have to attach her dagger- it's still tacky) I built this for a friend's birthday, and I'm going to miss her- it's a great kit!
Here's a useful tip. When you build the legs, notch the left leg so it can slide into place after painting. (see photo) The bent right leg is ok as is. Build the couch first and test fit the figure, you may have to adjust it at the waist so she leans into the couch proper. I dropped the left arm slightly and built up the shoulder with epoxy putty to let Elvira's arm better reach the couch's arm.

I thought the dagger blade was ridiculously short, so I cut it off and made a new blade from a scrap of sprue. The eye makeup was a task for my 56 year-old eyes, but I think they came out well for the small scale. I airbrushed the skin tones with craft paint and brush painted the rest. Most of the builds I've see have the couch looking like red leather, but in actuality, it's covered with a velveteen-type of fabric. I stippled the fabric parts with 3 shades of a mauve color, keeping it darker behind and below the figure. I debated giving the legs black-hose, but decided on a sun-tanned pantyhose look seen in many of her photos. I added this with an airbrush using thinned brown paint. The shoes and belt were painted with black acrylic thinned slightly with future floor wax. This gave them a slight, leathery sheen. 
Moebius has produced a real winner here- I love this kit!


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## Tuxedo (Dec 14, 2011)

nautilusnut said:


> I'm almost finished with Elvira. (I just have to attach her dagger- it's still tacky) I built this for a friend's birthday, and I'm going to miss her- it's a great kit! I love this kit!


 It's a great kit and you did a great job. BIG BIG Fan of Elvira


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Great idea for ther dagger, I'll remember that when I build mine. Your version of her face looks great. Really nice work on her eyes and the shading on the face.


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

That's another great looking Elvira. I think I am going to take mine to Jaxcon in February just to see how she does in the contest. She didn't do anything at Modelpalooza in Orlando in October. However they combined all figure types into one category including military and since the contest had a strong military bent guess which type of figures took the highest places, not that they weren't good. Just a strong bias in the judging I would say. Jax has many discrete divisions so I shall see.


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## PF Flyer (Jun 24, 2008)

Beautiful build! The kit, I mean. Very clean with a first rate paint job.


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## nautilusnut (Jul 9, 2008)

It's true some contests don't know what to make of a figure like Elvira-that is, a non-military type. That said, I have been a judge at several model contests and I can tell you that 95% OF THE MODELS THAT FAIL TO WIN DO SO BECAUSE OF BASIC BUILDING FLAWS. Visible seams lines, glue spots, hair in the paint, etc- you will not place unless it's a category default situation. My Elvira would never win as you can see a small seam line on the back of her head where the hair goes together. It's UN-noticible at any but the closest viewing in strong light and since I'm not entering her in a contest, I left it- but it would count me out in a contest- no matter how good a painter you are. The president of the local IPMS club suggests if you are going to enter a contest and want to win, you should have a modeler friend go over it with a flashlight and check for ANY flaws, then point them out so you can fix them. 
I try and not worry about winning, it's fun to see other people admire your work and talk to other modelers. I've also gotten some great deals at the vendor's tables!


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## nautilusnut (Jul 9, 2008)

I may have to stand corrected on the knife. looking at photos show it DOES have a ridiculously short blade! The kit is accurate!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Good tip with the slots for the leg. I did some similar work on the Invisible Man so you could insert the legs into the body. Ten minutes of planning saves hours of work later on down the road...


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## Night-Owl (Mar 17, 2000)

Congrats on an excellent paint job :thumbsup: and thanks for the tip on the leg!


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

yes that leg tip is a keeper. I figured there had to be a way to join the two halves of the bottom of the dress and sand the seam without messing up the legs


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## nautilusnut (Jul 9, 2008)

Thank you one and all for the kind comments. Here's the finished kit with knife. (Anal that I am I went back and re-attached the original blade!)
I used a tiny press-on jewel-stone for fingernails from Dollar Tree for the red gem in the knife handle. The worse seam to repair is the one behind her legs where the dress attaches to the skirt fabric molded into the couch. I filled most of it with thick white glue, the used a little Alves Epoxy putty to smooth over the join. It's not absolutely perfect, but nearly so and I'm not gonna get into that tiny spot to sand. Here's the final product. I removed the background from the full photo as it was too distracting. Nothing else was touched.


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## deadmanincfan (Mar 11, 2008)

Spectacular work! Take a bow, sir!


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## Thunderbird (Mar 4, 2009)

That's one sweet build! You must have nerves of steel to paint those tiny eyelashes. Very clean work!


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## aurora fan (Jan 18, 1999)

Yes, the eyes are outstanding! Great job!


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