Sometimes accidents just happen, despite being completely avoidable. Once all of the model parts were primed and ready for painting, I set about mounting the skull on the top of a plastic bottle (securing it in position with Blu-Tac) and securing the jaw on the end of a rod. I then sprayed a clean and even base coat of Humbrol Black Gloss; all went well - it looked very sleek and shiny - and I set them to dry on top of a unit in the bathroom.
An hour or so later I returned to the bathroom to check if all was well. It wasn't. The skull was gone, and I was baffled as to where. After a moment of trying to compute the possibilities I came to the conclusion that it had somehow fallen into the (what was previously a) pristine white laundry basket. I lifted the fabric lid to see the black endo skull lying on a white bath towel, looking up at me. It's as if it had deliberately fallen in there - it had clearly rolled along the surface of the bathroom unit and then plummeted over the far end, finding the two whitest items in my home to fall onto and thus stain with gloss black paint. Great! I just had to accept it had happened and chalk it up to experience.
I inspected the skull and discovered that the front was still pristine, but the rear (where it had been lying on the towel) was obviously ruined. As the paint was partially dry, I decided to let it continue to dry completely, and then set about sanding down the damaged areas with fine sandpaper. Fortunately this wasn't too much of an ordeal, and quite quickly I had the skull back in a state ready to tackle spraying the base-coat once again.
An hour or so later I returned to the bathroom to check if all was well. It wasn't. The skull was gone, and I was baffled as to where. After a moment of trying to compute the possibilities I came to the conclusion that it had somehow fallen into the (what was previously a) pristine white laundry basket. I lifted the fabric lid to see the black endo skull lying on a white bath towel, looking up at me. It's as if it had deliberately fallen in there - it had clearly rolled along the surface of the bathroom unit and then plummeted over the far end, finding the two whitest items in my home to fall onto and thus stain with gloss black paint. Great! I just had to accept it had happened and chalk it up to experience.
I inspected the skull and discovered that the front was still pristine, but the rear (where it had been lying on the towel) was obviously ruined. As the paint was partially dry, I decided to let it continue to dry completely, and then set about sanding down the damaged areas with fine sandpaper. Fortunately this wasn't too much of an ordeal, and quite quickly I had the skull back in a state ready to tackle spraying the base-coat once again.
Endo Skull after the 'laundry basket accident' and subsequent sanding down to remove the damaged paint work
The jaw pistons now ready for the gloss black base-coat (mounted with tooth-picks in a block of styrofoam)
The vinyl jaw piece, mounted on a rod to ease spraying
Hi Jamie, loved reading how you made this skull and the end results look amazing. Where did yku purchace the original kit from.
ReplyDeleteHi Jamie, loved reading how you made this skull and the end results look amazing. Where did yku purchace the original kit from.
ReplyDeleteHi Jaki. Thank you. The original kit was purchased over ten years ago from eBay. I can't recall the seller, but it was a vinyl kit from Thailand (try searching eBay for something like "Terminator T800 Skull 1/1 Vinyl Model Kit"). There are cheaper one-piece kits that should be avoided - go for the multi-part kit. I hope this helps.
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