# Superman Unchained



## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

After the rigours of the Pilgrim Observer build I thought I'd do a quick build of the new PL Superman that just turned up last week.

Quick rundown of the parts then on with the build....

Boxart is great....although I'd like to see more manufacturers leaving the logo off the boxtop, or maybe as a sticker on the shrinkwrap like with the deluxe Batmobile, so you could frame the artwork....



Head sculpt looks good and should paint up well....



Torso detail looks a little soft but should paint ok...



Arms and legs....I'll be removing the overlarge snapfit locators as I want to fit these after cleaning up the torso....





The cape is in two parts so expect a big seam to hide....



The chains are split into halves....might go with these or may replace them with real chain....


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

The base....think I'll paint this in the classic Red/Yellow....



A nice touch is the choice of decals AND stickers....not sure how opaque the colour is on the decals...will have to wait and see....



So on with the build....:thumbsup:


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

I wonder if anyone makes a transparent green colored chain? Would make it look more like kryptonite.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

scooke123 said:


> I wonder if anyone makes a transparent green colored chain? Would make it look more like kryptonite.


Prime it with white and then paint them with Tamiya Clear Green...
....should do the trick 
Denis


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Interesting kit. The figure itself seems pretty cool. The cape and chains... not so much. The chains look really bad, actually. I am sure using real metal or plastic chain would be much better. I built a big Spawn kit 25 years ago that had nice plastic chain you could position and glue.

It would have been cool if PL molded the chains in glow plastic


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

The chains actually go together better than you'd expect. The way they fit together and wrap around Superman's torso is a bit tricky, so I'd advise that a builder just roll up his sleeves and use them. The cape seam is a bear, but looks fabulous when it's done.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Aye, I spent two days on that damn cape seam!


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

On the transparency of the decals.

I think they did the right thing, it looks like they give you a solid yellow field to lay down first.
Then you put the actual decal on top of that.

I've often heard that, to get red to 'pop' that you lay down a coat of yellow first.

So this decal arrangement looks like that concept. And as such, likely takes care of any transparency issues.


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

Actually the yellow one is for the cape but that's not a bad idea....I was thinking of using some solid colour decal beneath it anyway...it's a simple enough shape to cut out


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Scan the decal first so 1) you have a back up and 2) use it to cut a mask/stencil and paint the area with white or yellow paint. Then put the decal on top


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

djnick66 said:


> Scan the decal first so 1) you have a back up and 2) use it to cut a mask/stencil and paint the area with white or yellow paint. Then put the decal on top


Or you could just cut a piece of white decal film to apply first and then put the kit decal on over that.


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

I'll try the Tamiya clear green - should do the trick. Thanks for the tip Denis!
Steve


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

BWolfe said:


> Or you could just cut a piece of white decal film to apply first and then put the kit decal on over that.


That's what I'm planning on doing....


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

Assembly took about half an hour....clean up of the seams a little longer, here's the completed build up...chains and cape are just clipped on at the moment....



Without flash the detail in the face sculpt is more apparent....



Still need to clean up the chains and see to the seams at the shoulders....



The seam in the cape also needs filling....


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Hmmmm . Methinks I can see an after market head in this kits' future...
Denis


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## BatToys (Feb 4, 2002)

It would have been nice if there was an optional chest piece with an engraved emblem.


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

mcdougall said:


> Hmmmm . Methinks I can see an after market head in this kits' future...
> Denis


Brad Hair was working on a Space Ghost resin head for this kit. 

Sean


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

I just picked up a fresh batch of RTV mold rubber. This will be for the mold I'll need just to copy the kit head. Then I want to improve the features and break the head into two sections. One will be the head from the Superman costume's neckline up, the other will be sort of a platform that will be trapped between the upper body halves. Hopefully that will make it possible to paint the head and body separately.

Wish me luck...


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## RMC (Aug 11, 2004)

I think the head and neck were molded together to discourage anyone from an aftermarket face IMO


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

RMC,

I don't think they're so naive at Round 2 as to think that designing a kit in any particular way would stymie a dedicated aftermarketeer. Rather, they and a lot of other model manufacturers are trying too hard to make their products easiest to build for younger modelers by issuing kits as snap-fit instead of glue models. While I appreciate this line of reasoning, it does make extra work if you do want to glue the parts together - having to trim off the oversize locators from the parts, for example.

In the case of Superman, I'd have much preferred to paint the head separate from the body prior to assembling them. But the way the model was designed, I simply didn't have that option. The parts I'm planning to make will allow the builder to park a (hopefully) better-detailed head on the body after painting, the same way the old Aurora/MPC/Revell Superman kit did.


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## Roy Kirchoff (Jan 1, 1970)

I really want to see how you finish this kit miniature sun.
I'm holding off on buying, details look soft.
If anyone can do this justice, it's you!

~RK~


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