# Aurora Zorro WIP



## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Well, at least his horse...

The fit on the horse is awful, to say the least. The molds are badly worn, and there is a lot of flash to clean up, plus some sink marks, rough edges, seams across the outside of the ears, and just plain big gaps. BIG gaps...










I used a couple applications of Squadron Green Putty for the main filling, and some Tamiya grey Liquid Surface Primer to fill in things like the gaps around the legs. The horse body is in eight ill fitting parts.










This is a funny picture... But you can see the where all the parts come together at the rump, leaving a lot of seams. The hind leg halves are not a a great fit and one leg is sort of a mis-match with the inside and outside halves just not matching up at all.










More putty work with another application of Squadron putty, followed by Vallejo Plastic Putty and more sanding. A coat of white primer shows it is pretty smooth now. I did some follow up sanding ...










The "finished" horse ready for its paint job. Even the tail was a poor fit and required filler.










The excessive carving, filling and sanding is not something an experienced modeller can't overcome, although it is frustrating. A beginner will not get good results, though.


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## mrmurph (Nov 21, 2007)

Thanks for sharing your technique with us!
After puttied and primed, your horse looks like a winner.


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## louspal (Sep 13, 2009)

Wow! What a bear! You did a great job; you'd never guess the time that went into it. That's the thing about prep work: If you're anything but perfect, good or bad fitting kit, it will look bad and bug the hell out of you. If it comes out flawlwss, it looks like it should and nobody but you can really appreciate the effort it took to get it that way.
I was going to practice on the White Stallion as a warm-up for Zorro. Now I think I'll probably just dive into this one (when I'm done with...).
Thanks for posting and keep us up-to-date with WIP's. I for one would dig it.


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Totally Rockin! keep us posted!:thumbsup:


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## starmanmm (Mar 19, 2000)

Just picked mine up today.... will keep an eye on your build for insite!


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## Rebel Rocker (Jan 26, 2000)

WOW!! Great job, so far!! :thumbsup: Looking forward to the rest of the build!!

Wayne


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## BrianM (Dec 3, 1998)

...great work, I admire your skill and patience. I think I'll do Zorro first! That horse is gonna drive me nuts...


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I recommend doing the horse first. That way you have something to check Zorro against. Its easier to adjust zorros feet, legs, waist or arms if you have the horse done. If you build Zorro and for some reason he doesn't fit the horse you are screwed as the horse is pretty much fixed. I will build the saddle next myself...


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Well that settles my question "I need to build something fun and fast, should I do Zorro?"


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## wolfman66 (Feb 18, 2006)

Those seams on this horse can be a pain in the rear.But you did them really well here and looking forward to seeing this one completed:thumbsup:


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## jaws62666 (Mar 25, 2009)

djnick66 said:


> I recommend doing the horse first. That way you have something to check Zorro against. Its easier to adjust zorros feet, legs, waist or arms if you have the horse done. If you build Zorro and for some reason he doesn't fit the horse you are screwed as the horse is pretty much fixed. I will build the saddle next myself...


How do you sand down your parts. I have a sanding block and sanding sticks, but it still seems like a hassle using them.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

jaws62666 said:


> How do you sand down your parts. I have a sanding block and sanding sticks, but it still seems like a hassle using them.


The good, old fashioned way... Sandpaper and some water. Worked very well. I used 220 grit (the grey wet and dry paper) to cut it down quickly and then a finer grit to smooth it out.


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## dklange (Apr 25, 2009)

The horse looks really good, djnick!! You're absolutely right... do the horse first then do Zorro... I built The Lone Ranger and having the horse to fit everything to, is a must!! Looking forward to seeing more photos! - Denis


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

wolfman66 said:


> Those seams on this horse can be a pain in the rear.


Yep, they were the same as this on my 1974 Comic Scenes Lone Ranger kit.


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## xsavoie (Jun 29, 1999)

Although this is true,the Zorro kit is such a gem,and we are so lucky to have it at all.I am sure that everyone will agree with me on this point,It's still well worth buying this kit.There seems to be no such problem with the Confederate Raider's horse since no negative remarks has been done on that kit.


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

*I'm simply thrilled that that the boys at atlantis pulled off managing to get Revell to shoot this kit for them, whose mold had been sitting for literally years in storage...I will handle any fit issues necessary...its better in my opinion, then the kit never seeing distribution again...:thumbsup:

I am also betting that the mold had those issues from day one, in its original release.

Z
*


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

xsavoie said:


> Although this is true,the Zorro kit is such a gem,and we are so lucky to have it at all.I am sure that everyone will agree with me on this point,It's still well worth buying this kit.There seems to be no such problem with the Confederate Raider's horse since no negative remarks has been done on that kit.


The Confederate Raider is an all new mold thats why it fits okay... it isn't really a reissue but more of a remake of the original. Also it isnt the same horse and the horse is twice as big making it a bit easier to work with.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Zathros said:


> *I'm simply thrilled that that the boys at atlantis pulled off managing to get Revell to shoot this kit for them, whose mold had been sitting for literally years in storage...I will handle any fit issues necessary...its better in my opinion, then the kit never seeing distribution again...:thumbsup:
> 
> I am also betting that the mold had those issues from day one, in its original release.
> 
> ...


I have gotten around to the Zorro figure. He fits much better and with the exception of one hand, there is not much flash at all. I figure Zorro only ran for a year or so so the mold is in good shape. The horse was run for The Lone Ranger, Zorro, and the White Stallion over a two decade span, hence the poor shape on that mold. So far Zorro has gone together just fine although he has the normal figure gaps and seams to fill, nothing is unusual or absurd.

Stupidly Revell added their name on the name plate in a visible area where you have to sand it off, instead of putting it on the bottom of the base where the other modern copyright info is molded. Oddly the back of the name plate is not flat, it is recessed with a lip around it, and the Revell name and date are sandwiched between two thick raised legs making sanding harder.


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

*what I usually do in a in a case with any figure or animal kit where there are unusually wide or uneven gaps, once I sand them as even as possible, I fill them using 5 minute epoxy** with an exacto knife using the flat side if the knife to smooth it over the gap**.The epoxy seems to replace the areas that should have been flush when the parts are joined..I then sand it smooth , and then go over it with one thin layer of squadron...works every time..



Z*


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## starmanmm (Mar 19, 2000)

any up dates?


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

I've built an original Zorro and Lone Ranger and the horse was always a nightmare.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I have the horse base coated... will put up some pics. Been working on other things...


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## IanWilkinson (Apr 23, 2010)

Horse is looking great after all your work.. all the prep work is one of my favourite parts of a build..


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Ok here is the horse with a base coat of Tamiya TS spray Rubber Black. I will add some Black shading into this and then apply a clear Satin top coat. Rubber Black is a very very very dark Grey. It looks like just a very flat black.











No seams here... There is a bit of sanding dust on him from other projects in progress.


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## MonsterModelMan (Dec 20, 2000)

Turning out great so far!

Thanks for posting the WIP pics for us!

MMM


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Work on the Z man has been a bit slow since I have been working on my Hunchback at the same time...

But the main body parts are all together. Fit is not "bad" but every part of the joints needs to be filled and sanded smooth. 




























The kind of crumbly black plastic makes work a bit more difficult. It is like cutting and trimming a block of cheese.


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