# Captain America Build Diary



## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

Howdy.

I thought it might be fun to make a build diary of a kit, from start to finish. The idea would be to keep track of thoughts about the project and to include small photos along the way. 

I selected Captain America as the kit de jour because I've been building a lot of vehicles (planes and batmobiles) and thought a figure would be a nice change. Plus, if I get it done before March 1 I'll enter it into the contest. If not, no loss.

The way to play is to just add a brief journal entry, with or without photo, as you work on the kit. Any notes about difficulties or ideas would be especially welcome, I think, as a guide to other modellers. Everyone can play. Just go get the model.


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

I think Cap is probably my favorite Marvel character. Yeah, Spider-Man has a better costume and character development and the X-men make a good social commentary, but I dig Cap. This is probably in no small part to meeting him when I was 6 and getting his autograph on my big Captain America Bicentennial Comic by Jack Kirby. Right away I knew it wasn't him as he signed his name "Capt. America" when we all know he goes by "Cap". And he had a band-aid on the bridge of his nose, to protect the skin from rubbing on the mask. I figured it was one of the Cap stand-ins.

While I am happy to have PL re-issue the Marvel Aurora models, I have never been a fan of the Hulk and Spider-man kits. Hulk just looks ugly and Spider-Man isn't "Ditko" enough. I have a bunch of the other figure kits and have really enjoyed them: Tarzan, Lone Ranger, Superman, Superboy, Batman (both versions) and Robin (vintage). The re-sizing to make Cap fit with more of these guys sounds great to me.

I found the kit on the net for 1/3 less then my hobby store and couldn't afford to pass that up. It should be here next week. So, in the meanwhile, I'm looking for inspiration.

I think I've narrowed it down to three Cap looks:
1) The original. Joe Simon & Jack Kirby originally gave Cap a triangular shield and a skull-cap helmet. 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/078510660X/103-2301172-6443854?v=glance

2) A modified classic. One of the new cats drawing Cap, Michael Lark, has added a little bit of battle gear to Cap's look. 

http://www.splashpageart.com/GalleryRoom.asp?Details=1&GSub=268

3) The classic. Hey, it's hard to argue.

The model poses at least one problem with a lot of extra detail work in that the shield looks like it covers up most of the crouched body in back of it. Head on, you see Cap's head, outstretched hand, and shield. That's it. This gives a little support to version 1, which would have less of a shield and a modified mask, and less support to version 2, which would have modified boots and an ammo belt.

I think the real strength of the model lies in the color palette. Instead of going four-color, I think using darker and more muted colors for Cap will look good with a background of slate greys, etc., for the battle field. Ironically, the clear blue "water puddle" that Cap steps into will most likely turn into some muddied variant.

Things to think about while waiting for the mail...


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

Well, it finally arrived today! 

My first impression upon opening it up:

Oh my god this thing is gi-normous! Ha-ha! It screams the smaller scale! The base is as big as the box and has a larger footprint than the Superman base. Oy. Needless to say, I'm building only one of these for myself, if for no other reason than I don't have the room for two.

The kit is very basic and went together quickly. I kept all sub-components seperate by color, but the assembly is easy to guage. My suspicions regarding detailing Cap was confirmed: the shield will block most of the view of the torso. 

The pieces fit so-so: there are lots of mold lines, and several joints are uneven. The glove and boot cuff joints are hidden and the neck and pant-trunk lines are natural, but this is going to take some work. I like to think I'm good at this, but the lines in the chain mail tunic may have to stay there.

The base fit is much more basic. The water puddle is clear plastic, which saves on trying to figure out what to do with blue trans plastic. The name plate is funny, because you never know who would look at this SUV-sized diorama and mistake him for Flash Gordon.


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

I like that the instructions for a Captain America model are in French.

Well, let's get to it: Les differents choix de visages, oui?

A) Bouche fermee: Cap is jumping through some decimated village and doesn't break a sweat. He's breathing though his nose. THAT'S a super soldier!

B) Bouche ouverte: Cap is yelling something, most likely in French or at a French person. I think this one is the vintage visage, but I've never seen one of the original models in person.

C) Dents serrees: Cap is going "Grrrrrr". Perhaps because he just stepped into a puddle.

I had my pick anticipated and give the other choices no consideration. I even polled my 2 year old and he picked the same one I had.

And then I put the kit together.

This is the ugliest Captain America I've ever seen.

Oh, that nose! Oh, those ears! Oh, that shaved head! I tossed my original visage and quickly tried visages parts duex and troi. I must say, I was surprised with my choice. I hadn't thought I would go for it, but the other two just look silly.

Time to go find the non-shrinking putty...


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## F91 (Mar 3, 2002)

You must have missed a few posts lately?


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## Otto69 (Jan 2, 2004)

*Captain America, Part Deux?*

Maybe we need a Charlie Sheen face .


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

Hmm.., yes, well.

We got a little bit of a pasting with yesterday's ice storm, which has cost me my internet access and made me switch log-ins. Nevertheless, I primered the base grey and the nameplate and shield white. I also put on one layer of tamaya putty on Cap.

If I can finish the base painting and putty work on Cap in Jan. and paint Cap in Feb., I'll make the deadline. I've got an idea for the nameplate which the re-size will make fun. I'm starting to look for color palette references for the base after deciding on Cap's involvment on the Western Front (Band of Brothers; Saving Private Ryan). Cap himself will definately need another layer of tamaya before sanding starts.

Even my wife agreed on face choice: "God, those are ugly!"

Pictures tomorrow, one way or another!


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

Make that "tamiya".

Crappy storm...


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## Marko (Jul 11, 2002)

Just got the new kit and I really like it. The larger size is fine and the extra faces even better. The great artwork on the box looks even stronger in the larger size. Good job PL.


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

First pictures!


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

Right. Now, as you can see, these are not pictures to win the hearts of Americans everywhere. Rather, the CAP picture is meant more as a scale issue (hence the good doctor Palmer as reference at 6.5" or so) to illustrate the point of just how large this mini-van of a model will be once assembled.

The base will go together very well. It is now primered and I am starting to explore the color pallette in full.

Cap himself will be more of a challenge. In good news, many seams that were puttied have quickly come together. In concerning news, the untouched seams in the chain mail really stick out when the figure is placed into position. That's going to need some delicate needle file work. 

So far, I've spent @ 1 hour on the kit, all said and done.


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

I put in the face plate and a good layer of putty into all the head seams, making sure the wing and ear placements were retained. Now I'm just lettin' primer dry.

In good news, I have decided on 6 of the 8 colors for Cap's clothes: I have both whites and a red and a blue picked out (the darker washes). I just need to see the primary base paints to gauge the differences and I'm set! 

I've also decided on kit bashing. As time progresses, I am more and more convinced I will not do another CAP kit unless it's as a gift for someone else. Plus, I think the it's so cool that PL re-tasked the original kit that I'm gonna go OTB and really show what this kit can do without any modification or fabrication of the plastic (beyond seam filling). When I saw the glint of the flash bulb on the chain mail shirt, it just hit me. I started planning out paint sequences and was looking to see how the kit would help me (and the help is there), I just decided to let the kit speak for itself.

Case in point: The Shield. Now, with the Toy biz kit I have died several deaths building the friskets for that thing. The PL shield is so big and well-detailed that BMF is just fitting right into place. It's also interesting that the box art and instructions indicate the inner shield circle is black and not blue. 

Okay, not that interesting.

Finishing the sanding this week: This weekend is the trip to the paint store!


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

"Anything worthwhile takes time"
- My Old Man

Yup. Primer dried and I did the third and final putty round on the Cap body as well as the second round of putty on the face plate.

Three super-thin layers of putty and the seams are gone. It looks really good. I only have to rescribe one stripe on Caps torso. The lines on this kit are nice and pronounced. The face plate does not fit quite in line with the head, which is requiring a build-up of putty to round out the transition between the two pieces. Hopefully, one more go of it will do the trick.

First up in the spray booth: The Shield! Pics this weekend!

Hmmm... remember the Captain America cartoon? Stan Lee wrote the theme song:

"When Captain America throws his mighty shield,
all those who chose to oppose his shield must yield,
if he's lead to a fight and the duel is due,
then the red and the white and the blue will come through,
When Captain America throws his mighty shield!"

Oh yeah. I mean I didn't make that up.

Go get the MP3 of it yourself:

http://www.melaman2.com/cartoons/singles/c-america.html

boo-yah Cap!

Now when are we gonna get a Falcon model? And I don't mean a "Tonto" re-do!


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

Deane said:


> It's also interesting that the box art and instructions indicate the inner shield circle is black and not blue.


This varied in the comics over the years according to who was doing the inking.


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

While I work on lots of little detail surfacing work for Cap, I started the shield this weekend.

First, I sprayed the entire shield flat white, both sides.

Then, I went out and grabbed some more #11 blades, a pack of Bare Metal Foil chrome, and a roll of 3M low-tack tape. This stuff can't be beat and it's all pretty cheap.

After the shield dried for 48 hrs, I cut a 2 x 2" chunk of foil and pressed it over the star. Very gently, I worked out any wrinkles and pressed the foil into the star indentations. With a new #11 blade, I carefully dragged the knife around the sides of the star. I was then able to peel away the remenants of the square which left me with an all-white shield and a silver star.

I then cut a larger square of foil and re-applied it to the center of the shield. This time, I pressed around the grove of the center circle (the blue area). Again, I used the x-acto to cut the foil that was in the grove. Then, I took big strips of the low tack blue tape and covered up the remaining shield. 

My color choice for the shield will be "Insignia Blue", which is a really nice blue-black that I use for all of my Batmobiles. From experience, I can tell you that it won't go over a white base very easily, so my first coat is a very quick grey primer.

Last year, my father bought me my first twin-action airbrush and a low pressure compressor. I have used other people's kits and have always wanted one of my own. It has been an amazing gift and so much fun. You really have to just buy a sheet of styrene and one color and start trying things out to learn about pressure and mixtures. As soon as the primer is dry, I will be using the brush to hit the shield (and maybe some other things too...).


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

Oh yeah, I've started looking at some of the other diaries! Great stuff! I wish I was more comfortable with the digital camera or had a on-line site to load more stuff on. I hope to see more...


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

Well, I've hit my first (of what will be many) snag: I don't like the Insignia blue. Not dark enough. That means I have to wait for it to dry and then whip out TS-55. TS-55 is darn dark. That will look awesome, even though it won't be airbrushed.


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

Ahh, but in more encouraging news, my wireless is back up! 

Cap himself is now seamless. To say a word about that process, I use Tamiya putty, after having horrific shrinkage experiences with Squadron and Testor's putties. Also, I have a pack of needle files for delicate inbetween hard to get to edges and creases. I use three strengths of 3M wet-sand sand paper. A mild grit, slight, and then smooth (I think 600 strength). Wet sanding requires that both sand paper and sandee (e.g., the model) are wet whilst sanding, pretty continuously. I stand over the sink to do this; when my Dad and I built a car, we had buckets of water to drench our sanding blocks and wet our work surfaces.

My latest tool is a scriber from BMF. It is very very sharp and cuts a line of plastic out of the kit. This was helpfull is replacing a stripe on Caps side torso. Be warned; the thing will just go. Make sure you have a guide line in place before applying too much pressure.

I have looked at many models over the years and wondered why so many have placed so much detail in places never to be seen unaided by the human eye. As I continued to picked out crease lines in Caps clenched fist, I realized I found my siren as well; "No one will be able to see the interior of Cap's shield hand, you moron!" Sigh. Yo soy seam addict!

I have Cap primed in white. For me, white makes all the flaws stand out, so I use it as a guide. This will also make the white and red areas very easy to paint. I think I am going to mask off these areas and prime the blue regions in grey. This is also why I don't assemble the full kit, with the exception of the face plate, until painting is done. It's just too hard to paint it as one big piece.

So, having said all this, I will stop by the hobby store and find a good tamiya Red for the shield and boots. Next week, I still plan on using the airbrush to create shadows on Caps white arms, his pants, and in his glove and boot creases. I am going to use free hand wash and dry brush techniques to bring out the glorious detail of the chain mail and also the intricate seams of his mask and face. To make the boots and gloves have a leather (albiet Red) look, I am going to use a stiff brush and do a slight splatter pattern. The more I look at the kit, the more I am pleased in not modifying it and I think PL did a great job upgrading this classic. Sigh. I would have paid for a PL recreation of the "Fantastic Four" kit. Maybe my next project should be my resin re-pop of "Wonder Woman"?


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

Perhaps, in the last few weeks, you have found yourself in a general malise, an ennui, or full-out case of rickets, madly foaming: "where o where did the "CPT America Build Diary" go to?" Well, I have 4 answers to that:

1) My wife became horrifically ill in the month of January.
2) The Gov't came calling with a job offer too good to pass up.
3) My son discovered my hobby and wanted to build something with me for himself.
4) My batmobile collection woke my up at 3am, blindfolded and gagged me, and took me to an undosclosed location (I think it was my workshop, but I can't be sure) and forced me to work on some batmobiles (see point 3).

And so, Wing-head has not progressed much. 

In CAP-related news, I discovered these handsome custom parts from comic artist Terry Beatty:

http://home.cshore.com/bucwheat/repl.htm

I must say, looking at these makes me completely betray my past decision to eschew customizing the kit. However, the face plate is welded in tight and the idea of cracking it open makes me queasy. On the other hand, I never bought the PL Hulk because of the face. Manoman, I'm getting it now!

Pics of Cap later this week. We're back in action!!


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## F91 (Mar 3, 2002)

I hope your wife is better. Glad your son is into it, that's cool.
That said, I think there is a rule about posts containing the combination of the words- ennui, rickets and eschew. Seems it opens a portal to another dimension or something.


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

We are working on my wife's recovery, thank you. With a quick consult to John's Hopkins, I think we are reversing a course previously set to disaster.

My son is almost three, and very gregarious. He has seen my Batmobiles in progress and usually is satisfied to proclaim design modifications, such as: "Batman should sit here; Robin should be in this seat; Why would Batman ever drive a convertible and risk opening himself up to long-range high-caliber assault, etc." This curiousity has culminated with my modified JL 1950's Batmobile. He asked for one for Valentine's Day. Being a level-headed rationalist, I immediately drove all over town to find the last remaining over-priced kit gathering dust in the corner of a deaf taxidermist's office that he shares with a dementing antiquarian (the last place I looked: go figure). Box in hand, I set out to create custom Batman, Robin, and silver-age Batgirl (she of the red/green costume and limited career) figures to inhabit said vehicle.

Like I said, a rationalist.

He likes when we assemble kits together, and his influence to date on the CAP kit is considerable ("Put the legs here, Daddy; Why is he stepping in a puddle, Daddy; Why does his face look funny, Daddy, etc."). He liked the JL Batmobile kit because we could screw parts together. I built kits with my dad, so I am more than happy to do so in turn. 

So, all in all, recent events have been poor. Prognosis: improvement.

In the words of Stan the Man: Excelsior!


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

Captain America: White (Part 1)

I am going to paint CAP using a combination of spray, airbrush, and wet/dry brush techniques. The first step is white.

I keep CAP in his separate pieces so that painting will be easier, given his crouched posture. The whole figure gets a pasting with Testor’s Primer White. I like white primer in that it helps me to see surface flaws more readily. Then, on the specific parts, I hit them with Testor’s Flat White. This will dry for two days and will conclude part 1.

Captain America: Red (Part 1)

I have become enamored with the Tamiya spray paints. Very nice, even flow and I really dig the colors. My choice of red is TS-XX: Dull Red. 

I typically use a two-stage paint process: I put the spray can in a deep Tupperware dish filled with warm (not boiling) water and let it soak for 10 minutes. During this time, I wipe down my model piece with a Tack cloth to remove lint and Nazi’s. I then give the piece a light even dusting and then complete another 10-minute warm water bath. Then I move in closer and give a full covering spray. 

With the red paint, I had to go very lightly, as the red is very thin. Whereas most colors cover to satisfaction in two cycles, this red takes 3.

Boots and gloves are placed on plastic spikes and get a good cover before going off to a dust-free box. Make sure to paint the insides of the glove cuffs!

For the boot cuffs, I use Tamiya low-tack tape to mask off the leg. As red does not cover blue well, I err on the side of the boot cuff in my masking line. Any problems can be fixed with a little red paint. Again, make sure to paint inside the boot cuffs!

CAP’s abs stripes will require the same process. I use a new #11 blade to gently cut masking tape along the groves of the stripes (I said the lines on this kit would help!).

I use foil and 3M blue low tack tape to cover the large body parts that need coverage EXCEPT for white paint areas. The foil can leave marks on light colors. I use the 3M blue tape to protect those regions.


Pics tonight!


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## Roy Kirchoff (Jan 1, 1970)

Thanks for sharing. You have some good practices and I appreciate you telling us about your progress.

RK


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## F91 (Mar 3, 2002)

3M makes a purple masking tape that is even lower tack.


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

Alrighty, I've promised the pics, so here we go:

As you can see, "Dull Red" is not the "Italian Red" often seen in the four-color comic palette. 

Also, you can imagine just how much torso detail will be lost once the shield is attached with the second image. You can't beat yourself up over detailing the mid-section when that big, bullet-bouncing beacon of America blocks your view.

The 3M tape I use may be purple, or blue. I can't tell, truth be told.

Will this get done in time for the contest? Well, in the time that I've started this project, I found a little hobby forum known as the clubhouse. All in all, I think it's probably more suited to a comic model guy than the PL boards are. They too are having a contest, which includes all PL kits as fair game. I went into the vault and looked at all the PL kits wrapped in celophane and realized I had to do something for that contest too. THAT kit is almost done. I showed some pieces of it off to my local store, "War & Pieces", and they really dug what I was doing. In a serendipitous way, Dave Metzner is gonna judge that show, which will be cool, 'cuz he's the guy that has made all of my adolescent dreams of owning these rare kits come true! I couldn't tell you what the prizes are; hell, I can't tell you if there are prizes for the CAP gig. It's just fun building these things...

So, clubhouse project done this weekend. Cap primary colors established this weekend.

Favorite CAP comic: The collected Golden Age Captain America, vol 1. Jack Kirby is totally raw in this. The costume isn't settled until issue 2, and then Simon and Kirby never look back. Bucky, Red Skull, and a lot of Nazi's. Boo-Yah! 






What's up for Superbowl Sunday: Blue, baby, blue!


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

Ah, the more things stay the same...

Well, in the wee hours of Saturday morning I had finished my clubhouse submission. I was thinking about ways to paint CAP's face when I went over to the model and flipped it over to see his head AND IT WAS UGLY! UGLY I TELL YOU! UGLY! AAAHHH!!!

=whew= It was the wee hours, heh.

I caved: I wrote off a quick email to Terry Beatty, got a disturbingly fast response, and then grabbed that face by the cheeks and started to twist. Pretty quickly, I heard the cracking of putty and the snap of plastic. It was over. Dear god, what was once all ready to be painted was now a shattered shell of splintered mess.

Oh, Polar Lights CAP: You were a faithful friend, a stalwart companion, and an old sock. I took your trust and I betrayed it for ten Yankee dollars because, in the end, you were ugly. You looked ridiculous. You needed rhinoplasty with a sense of urgency and desperation. Yours, and I fully believe this, was the face that ended a model kit company.

Oh, stop snickering. It was emotional.

The face plate snapped off easily, with only the top pin stuck in the rear head piece. This created a slight change in plans. Why start working on the chain mail tunic if copius amounts of priming and sanding of the face and neck region remain?

So, I present to you:

Captain America: Blue (Part 1)

The blue parts of CAP’s costume need to be covered in grey primer. As much of a pain as this seems, it really is important to get a dark base so that the blue will cover without a million coats of paint. I used Tamiya masking tape around the boot cuffs and then used 3M tape to completely cover them. I picked a mid-line from CAP's belt and used the Tamiya and 3M tapes to cover his upper body.

My color dujor is TS-15. It's a nice medium-dark gloss blue. 2 quick coats and CAP has pants! I used a Tamiya flat black and a Testor's silver to freehand paint the belt.

A word on freehand painting: don't. There's nothing that blows more than brush lines. Don't kid yourself, you CAN see them and they do ruin the kit. So, with those loving and understanding statements out of the way, how in Bucky's name am I painting free hand?
1) Big brush: use an expensive brush that is the width of the area you are painting. Different widths = different brushes = bling-bling.
2) Fresh, well-mixed paint. This will ensure leveling of the semi-viscous paint.
3) Turn the model, NOT your hand. Your motor neurons are beautiful works of art. Nonetheless, they are highly susceptible to the effects of practice. Thus, familiar and time-worn movements are under incredible neuronal control. New and awkward movements are not. Keep your hand doing the same brush stroke and move the kit around into different positions to accommodate your hand. Trust me.

So, I gotta think about the chain mail. Maybe I can get it done before the face shows up. The face WILL show up, right, Terry? Terry? Gulp! Oh Cap, I think I mighta been snookered by Baron Zemo. Geez, I'm no Rick Jones after all...


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## F91 (Mar 3, 2002)

Well at least you didn't get the red oil paints from the torso stripes smudged all over Caps white stripes AND completly ruin the sheild and have to repaint it!


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

Yeah, oil paints make me too nervous. I have stories of wretched fortune as well, and CAP is no different. My initial work on CAP's shield ran afoul of trouble. The blue bled into the red stripe zone. I've had to re-prime the shield. I most likely will start with red as the first color.

I used slightly darker reds and blues to create washes in the crease lines of CAP's boots, pants, gloves, and red stripes. I found a light cool grey and did the same for the white torso stripes. This just adds slightly to the shadows of the kit.


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

Face Front, Baby, it's Valentine Day in my hobby world!!!!! The mailman brought a special gift today: Heads!!

My new CAP head has arrived and it is AWESOME! It's Kirby-rific! Just perfectly nails the look.

Cap arrived safely packaged (with Hulk, but that's another story). A resin strip with ears and new wings were bubble wrapped. A cool instruction page was also included.

I see very few face bubbles and I will check to see if they break the surface. The new ears go flush to the head and the new wings fit into new holes on the face plate. The new wings are larger (think your MEGO Cap doll), which I am very pleased with. I will do a little edge cleaning and he should be set to go!

'Nuff said!


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## F91 (Mar 3, 2002)

Must resist...too many metaphors...head pounding...must resist....


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

My son really liked his Batmobile. We put the pieces together on Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, he put it on the sofa and backed it up. The dual tail pipes dug into the fabric and one snapped off. To prevent any more damage to the furniture, we decided to cut off the other one as well. He digs it, though, and we race our twin batmobiles on the kitchen floor.

The new CAP face plate has been welded in and two coats of putty applied. The name plate has three of four colors brushed in (I eschew sponges, do it with a sable brush, baby!).

This weekend, I'm off to Joe's Hobby to get some nice wide tamiya tape for re-masking the shield. That'll go fast.

Which brings us to the base. I will say up front that I have not looked at anybody's base yet, because I want to do my own thing. I have a rule about Aurora figure bases: Don't Make the Base More Interesting Than the Figure.

My brother had a gig for VIACOM last week and so we hung out in Times Square. We critiqued the Aurora figure models on the aspect of figure to base interest ratio. Our conclusion: Aurora made some kits that contained potential pitfalls: Tarzan, Spiderman, Hulk, and oh yeah, Mon Capitan. Rest easy, we talked about other things, too.

What I mean by all of this is how the eye wants to track the image. You want the figure to get the most attention. The eye goes to the figure, then the background, and then back to the primary figure. Art critics will say that when the eye spends more time on the background than the foreground that you, my hipster picasso, are in trouble.

Let's pick on Tarzan. Tarzan is a nude male figure with a loin cloth. He stands atop a dead lion, with a knife wound, on the edge of a river bank. Just by this description, the base takes more time to explain than the figure. While the artist can focus on the beautiful detail work of the lion and base with a myriad of washes and dry brushes, we have to balance the detail work with what the figure can take. Tarzan, for example, COULD be covered in mud, sweat, and blood. That would help balance a more detailed base. I decided though, that my pre-conceived notions of Tarzan didn't gibe with that. So, I approached the base as more of a watercolor painting. That is, a layering of colors to suggest form and shadow. Bottom line: the suggestion of detail in the background to provide a balanced composition to the detail and color of the foreground.

*Similar dynamics exist in automotive color and trim. The PL '50's Batmobile has one of the most exquisitely detailed interiors in recent Bat-memory. The impulse to paint every detail a different color needs to be curtailed, if a realistic look is desired, in favor for the overall design flow. Look at your own car interior. Can you imagine if every knob, vent, and speaker were seperate colors? The fabric a different color from the cloth/leather chairs and moldings? But I digress like a flunky for Batroc Ze Lepair. Onward!

Cap is another example of how the base could wind up more interesting than Wing-head himself. Blown-up walls, burnt and splintered lumber, and a big puddle with splash plumes. The important thing to remember is color balance. CAP is dark blue, red, and crisp white. That honking shield is glossy, as is the chain mail. In balance, the browns, greens, and greys of the base need to be less chromatic, with less detail than the figure (all those new PL details like the chain mail and the mask seams are now important).

The modeler's friend: The image google. I went searching for french cobblestone and found some suitable images, for example:

http://www.monarchstone.net/portfolio/pages_port/sandstone.square.cobb.htm

If we can replicate these stones, our goal is achieved!

Pictures Tuesday!


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## daikins (Jul 24, 2003)

Hey-hey! It's down to the wire, on this eve of Cap-dom. There's not much point in posting pictures now, huh?

Things here at Cap central have been very busy: 
1) My wife has been getting better, slowly, which is much better than getting worse. 
2) I finished my 1950's Batmobile
3) I have been working Cap-tastically on this kit, with mixed results.

Lots of little messages that have told me I'm rushing things: paint lifts because of too short drying time; paint runs; things not looking just right. Thankfully, everything was fixable. 

I had done the name plate with a white background and tri-color letters. The problem was that the white background was undifferentiated from the middle of the letters: You couldn't read 'em! So, back to the paint booth, painted the background a light gull grey and then bingo: the tri-colors stood out fine!

I had a great time with the base. Again, in accord with my last rant, I went more for the suggestion of detail than tons of detail. I picked four colors for the stone walls and just started making grids of four consecutive stones to keep the colors distributed. Then I just started layering coats of washes, inconsistently, to make them look dirty and old.

The ground was fun too. I grabbed a really big brush and hit it with a nice floquil green. I then did the sides in two shades of brown-red brown. A mud color mixed with brown served for the puddle. I put in three or four different washes of black and brown over the whole thing. I hit the puddle with high gloss and then did the rest of the base with a dull coat. I went back with semi-gloss on the exposed mud.

The clear splash pieces got a dry-brushed undercoating of brown and mud. The top side got light washes of black and then hit with high-gloss.

The wood pieces were done in various shades of brown, with black washes. The whole thing took a weekend. It was big, messy, fun.

Cap's been straightforward; I added darker reds into the folds of Cap's gloves and boots and used three different blues on the chain metal. I'm not so sure there's enough difference in those blues, except in good lighting. The most fun has been in the new Cap face. You don't use the wing pins or any indentation for the ears, so you have to get everything straight in your mind when you start layin' them in. 

Last thing to do is put some gloss and matte coats on Cap's respective body parts. I've tested the fit for Cap onto the base and it's not what I would have predicted. Cap has a twist to his calf so that he doesn't face forward. Is this what the original did?

See you tomorrow!


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

THanks for keeping us informed - this is just like a Captain Ameriblog!


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

*The Last Ameriblog*

The glue is drying and the digital camera is warming up! I finished painting Cap in the wee hours of the morning. The Matte coat over Caps really brought out the colors. In good lighting, I now see the gloss chain mail is looking good too.

To tell the truth, I don't think it's finished. I still see a million little things that I could go do. Maybe I'll go back and do them in a little while, when the dust has settled.

In sum, I don't know what to make of the PL Cap kit. My fondness of the character is what made me get it, but it's big, weirdly posed, and has a strange face. Without a doubt, the contest is what got me through this kit. Otherwise, it would be sitting half-started next to a small pile of similar-fated kits. My biggest sources of inspiration for this project were Terry Beatty and my son. Terry's head sculpt is beautiful and I hope I've done it some small justice. My little guy would come downstairs every morning and inspect the last night's progress. 

Returning to figure building has been interesting. I'm less daunted by the idea of building my Wonder Woman kit, or getting the pieces to do the retro Superman. Certainly, Terry's work made me go out and get a Hulk kit, but it's not burning a whole on my bench to get built right away.

When I decided to really get into kit fabricating and building, it was internet pages that helped me out and set the bar for a standard of work. My intent in writting this was to spark other people to build in a similar manner. I remain convinced that there are no special skills or abilities required for model building, only patience and desire.

So, off to the camera and let's take some pictures!


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## MonsterModelMan (Dec 20, 2000)

It sounds GREAT and I can't wait to see it. Get your pics uploaded before 12:00PM noon today March 1st! The photo album will be getting closed at that time to begin the judging process.

MMM


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

Oy, the digital thing! Man, what a headache.

I made the fool mistake of trying to improve the contrast of the pictures, which resulted in a bunch of very very dark pictures (Cap's night recon?).

Well, for what it's worth, they're all there. Tell me what you think. I'll probably work on it some more in a few weeks...


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## Deane (Apr 18, 2003)

Cap even beat out Batman, way back when... (Sorry, Bats)


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## john guard (Dec 31, 2001)

i got Terry's resin face on my cap! but i'm a long way from finishing!! The Cap face is awesome!!!!!


thanks Terry!


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