Building the PKking Dark Elf Queen Part 3

Attaching Your Queen To A Base:

No Fit.

In this case, for this model, I need to get the skirt fitted on before I attach her to the base.  The skirt is large, thin and comes in two sections.  Here we see the left side.  This section does not fit (no surprise), because it is a thin part. Thin parts never stay the same shape as the master for a number of reasons.

Fancy-Smancy Hair Dryer.

I knew you could heat up vinyl kit parts and reshape them, in theory this would apply here...  (BTW, make sure your wifey's hair tool gets put back immediately and in the condition you borrowed it or else it will be frying pan time.)

Heat...

This one gets really effing hot, so be careful.

Yes-Fit.

See, I knew it would work all along.  (I cheated, I experimented on a scrap resin part beforehand).

Awww...No-Fit.

So now the two sections fit to the model, now they need to be shaped to fit each other.

Apply Heat.

Direct heat to small sections at a time.  Don't melt your model.

Yes-Fit Again.

I like it when all the parts fit together.

Mark Position.

Now some manly-man work.  I am going (notice I did not say "We") to run a 440 screw up into the foot of the model to attach her to the base.  I do this for a number of reasons: 1) mechanical bond is more secure than glue bond, 2) I can remove/attach model at will for construction and painting and 3) Once model is completed attaching via screw is much less nerve wracking.

Be Mindfull.

I have built a number of female resin kits over the years and attaching them to a base mechanically and hiding the attachment is always tricky.  This is because female models are pretty much always wearing heels so the useable surface to attach them is quite small.  Additionally, there is always a large mass of resin  up high to hold up.  And the shoe is bent.  I've drilled the hole (using a drill press so it's straight) and pushed the 440 screw through so you can see what I'm talking about.

Mark Depth Using Tape.

Drill.

I then tape the model to the base over the hole (use your pencil lines) and carefully drill using a tap size drill for a 440 screw (#43 or .089 thousanths).

Look Ma, No Hands.

Support Rod.

BONUS!  Here's the support rod I am adding to hold up that ridiculous headdress.  I mean come on- this thing is just wacky!  Again, this is just me...I work with resin every day and seen it sag over time. Maybe this just makes me feel better, but I'm going to run a brass rod right through her head to add extra support.

That's Gotta...Nevermind.

Again, My friend, Mr. King (we are FB friends, so it's official) has made it easy for me to do this. Like before, measure the rod, pick the correct drill bit and DRILL.  (BTW, I have all my music on shuffle, it's making me a little edgy).

Drill Into Neck Cavity.

Badda Boom Badda Bing.

While "We" Are At It...

Let's just go nuts and drill up into the top headdress.  Yes, take a look at the built up pic again, this thing is freaky big.

Infrastructure, Baby.

New Base.

Going to reattach Queen to new base.  Position...

Drill.

One hole gets her attached.  The other holes are are under the petals of her skirt.  I am going to add attachments on them to keep them in place.  I think.  We shall see.

Infrastructure...Check!

Infrastructure of model is now locked in place.  I did some tweaking of the skirts shape with the blow dryer to make it more curvaceous.  (The note card in the opening is a shield to keep the heat off the legs.)

I'm cooked, see you next time!  BTW, I did finish my entry for Massive Voodoo's Mad Max 2 contest:

Cheers!

Building the PKking Dark Elf Queen Part 2

In part 1 the focus was on getting the core parts of the model cleaned up.  For part 2, I must get the leg and body attached together (so we can properly mount to the base later). Three main goals: 1) Use an attachment method that allows parts to be removed from each other, 2) When parts are together they are positively locked and do not shift position.  3) Listen to Dubstep (Butterfly Crash, Glitch Mob, Two Fingers) while working.

The plan.

PKking's engineering has made it easy for me to put this together with a screw.  First thing is to get the leg attached to body.  Start with the screw you will be using then drill hole to accommodate that specific screw.  Diagram shows the basic logic.

Imagine where screw axis will be.

Here is the actual part, I am holding up a some rod stock so I can visualize the hole.  Its an exercise in seeing if it will work before I start hacking into this thing.

Mark entry point with Sharpie.

Check visibility.

In this case the screw head will be covered by the skirt.  The less filling, grinding and sanding the better.

Use calipers to measure the screw.

I know what you might be saying, "oooh fancy tools, too expensive for me".  Sure you can go crazy and buy a $150 Brown & Sharpe pair of calipers.  (For my day job I did, because I use them all the time).  I just checked, you can get a decent 6" dial caliper on Ebay for $10-$15ish.  Don't get digital, battery will be dead when you need it.  Since I'm in the US, I use the English measurements, the dial is measured out in 100ths of an inch. The 440 screw is around .108 hundredths of an inch.  If I want the threads to bite, I should drill under this, about .099, or a #39 drill bit.

Mark center.

PKking used square rod stock to build up his master.  This allowed him to assemble the parts as he sculpted them and ultimately became the breakdown for casting as well.   Because he has already figured this out, we* will simply go down the road he has already provided.  The road we are on now is this square shaft.

*Note on use of "we".  This is the "Royal We", I.e., you and me, but really means You.  Example: "We should take out the trash".

Get hole started on center.

Using the # 39 drill bit carefully get your hole started on the center of his square shaft.

Like so.

We are just getting it centered.  Once you tag the surface, check it, you will be able to see if your on center or not.

"...stay on target"

Slowly, staying on this imaginary axis, drill all the way through.  As the bit breaks through the surface keep in mind you have just wrecked a one-of-a-kind $110 resin masterpiece.  Yes, I will find where you live and re-position all of your Star Wars action figures or worse blunt a corner on your 9.6 DD #168.  True value is not is not measured in collections of atomic particles.

More drilling.

Time to extend the hole up into the body.  I check using the model and mark the depth with tape.

Lightly tag.

Again, before we wreck this beautiful model any further, using existing hole as a guide, we only want to mark the inner surface.

Check centering.

Looks good, hole is in center.

Crank it.

We are good.  Drill up to the tape.  Now, you will notice the tape is missing, I'm not sure what happened here, but I am going to put the blame squarely on Sticky (my AMS Deamon).

Another diagram.

My pics got messed up a bit, but the diagram will make what is going on here clear.  Right now there should be a .099 hole in both parts of your model.  This hole is a "Tap" size hole, meaning it is the right size for threading the 440 screw.  We want the 440 threads to bite on the "A" portion above.  The "B" portion is a "Clearance Hole", meaning it will need to be slightly larger than the 440 screw.  What this does is allow the screw to pull the "B" section of the leg snug against the "A" section.  At this moment both holes are .099. Remove the leg and carefully drill that hole to .111 (not shown, BTW).

440 tap.

Here is the body and a 440 tap.

Carefully tap hole.

Resin is soft, so tap hole carefully.  This is why I used 440 size screw, the threads are larger and have more bite.  Additionally, the hole is deep to allow for more threads to bite.  Eventually, the threads in the resin will tear our, so we will not overuse the hole.

Recess hole.

As you can see, the entry is at an angle causing screw head to hang out.  We need this 440 screw to be recessed so that skirt will fit.  This means a little grinding.

Grinding.

Use the flat side of the grinding tool to seat against the hole.  The outer spinning face of the tool does the most grinding, the end does not.  Use this to your advantage to define the hole.

Leg firmly attached.

PKking's leg attachment point is awesome, the addition of the screw locks it in place with no wobble.  And, we can remove the leg for assembly and painting.  Oh yeah.  In the next chapter, we will get the skirt on, after that get her attached to the base.  Time to go brush my teeth.  Cheers!

Building the PKking Dark Elf Queen Part 1

Nice Package!

I just had to put this kit under the knife.  So here we go.  (I suggest listening to Excision during this phase of construction).  I am going to go through my process here in some detail, if you fall asleep at any point I will simply deduct points from your final score.

The model's core

The very first thing to do is get the model's core set.  By this I mean correctly fitted and aligned.  Everything else on this model will get added or positioned relative to this core structure.  Think of it as your armature (like the aluminum skeleton in a spaceship miniature).  Here is the core of the DEQ.  As noted in the unboxing, these castings are really clean, this means less work for me.  Less work grinding means more time shopping for shoes.  

#18 X-acto and maple block

I hate grinding resin.  When ever possible I will cut it off.  You need to be careful about this, resin chips and you don't want to be adding back something that you cut off.  Especially if it is a thin edge, these areas are time consuming to repair.  Resin is kinda like wood, but no grain.  Kinda.  What I mean is, if you were chiseling into oak, you would use a sharp tool and slice off a little at a time.  Same logic with resin, the trick is to slice off a little at a time.  Also, cut away from the detail or in the opposite direction of your eye.  You control the cut and if it chips (it will) it will be on the inside and hidden.  I have a bunch of these small maple blocks that I use to cut everything on.  They allow you to steady the part.

Thin slices and away from your fleshy bits

Most people don't use their #18 blade.  I think I use it more than the #11.  Remember, it's not a race.  Thin layers.  It goes very quick.

Look ma, no dust!

This took about 5 minutes.

Test fit.

Nice fit.  Notice that the edge of the leg where pour stub was removed is underneath corset detail on model. Before I went crazy and cleaned up this I test fit first to see if it is visible.  If it isn't, then I'm done, no sense in wasting effort on an area that will be hidden.  Remember, I have shoes to shop for.

Save the big chunks you cut off.

I save all the resin I cut off (throw them into one of the bags).  These are very useful to fix chips and holes on parts later on.  Because they are the same material they glue really well and sand the same as the host.  You'll see.

Save the bags parts came in.

Likewise, I save all the original bags the parts came in.  Usually there is little bits of resin junk in them.  As you are building you typically discover some little chip or something missing from a part.  If you saved the bags, chances are you can locate the little chip and glue it back on.  Oh yes, I know what your thinking.  This guy is anal.  It's Ok.  I've had worse.

Another pour stub.

Time to expunge this stub.

Same logic.  Cut away in direction of eye.

Another awesome tool.  Scalpel chisel.

...But you said.  Use very little pressure and BE careful.

Beautiful.

Sawing off instead.

In this case I am using a saw to remove the unwanted material.  When looking at this part my first inclination was to cut off the square part too.  Then I realized this was probably a keyed locator for the hair.  So before cutting I checked the other part and sure enough it was.  2 points for me!  Check how your parts go together so your not making work for yourself.

Square peg into square hole.

Viola!

So we got the basics sorted out.  Let's take a break before tackling the rest of the headdress and skirt.  See you next time!