Examine your kit. Make sure all pieces are present and dry-fit all pieces together to orient yourself as to what goes where. This kit has 7 pieces.

Who wouldn’t love that face.

Wash all parts using Westley’s Bleche-White. Wear gloves!

All joints in resin kits should be “pinned” using threaded rod or wire. Here we check the joints.

Here we mark the points in the joint to accept the pinning.

Here is the threaded rod we’re using for the larger joints (the waist and the wings). Wire will be used for the leg joints. Get both at your local hardware store.

We drill the leg at top and bottom, to connect the lower leg to the thigh and to connect the bottom of the feet to the base. Important: Use only drill bits designed to drill plastic, otherwise parts can fragment!

Next we drill many holes where the waist pieces will join. The large center hole will receive threaded rod while the smaller holes will help the epoxy find “tooth” to permanently affix the pieces.

Now we create texture stamps. In this process we use 2-part Aves putty, blend it thoroughly, and press small pieces into the creature’s fur. This helps replicate the texture when we’re filling seams later. Tip: Use Aves Safety Solvent to wet your fingers and sculpting tools. This helps keep it from sticking and helps with smoothing.

Now, this is the tool for cutting threaded rod!

Photos show pinned pieces, set in 2-part epoxy (we use 5 minute epoxy), and clipped to size. Note that the wings will be painted and attached to the kit at the end.  This allows for easier painting. Note also that wire, not threaded rod, is inserted into the leg joints (which were too small to accept the threaded rod).  A small copper wire is wrapped around the wire to give it “tooth.” 

We’ve used Aves to fill the seams. We’ve pressed the texture stamps into the Aves to replicate the texture. We’ve used sculpting tools (a homemade pointed stick) to help define the texture.  Once the Aves is dry, we’ve primed the kit with the Duplicolor and then used a diamond drill bit (a nice set is available from Kitbuilder’s Magazine – see our links page!) to gouge out depth and realism in the fur, and then we cover the seam with a light coating of white glue. This step adds a smoothness that blends the fur realistically. Important: Nothing looks worse on a seam than a “bulge” so use the least amount of putty possible. You can always add more if necessary. If you have a bulge, use your dremel and the diamond bits to file it down and add the necessary texture.

All pieces are primed with Dupli-Color auto primer, then sprayed with a light texture paint (Faux Fabrix grey, designed for model car interiors), then sealed with Testors Dull-Cote. The texture adds to the realism of all surfaces and improves blending seams.

Not shown but we’ve sprayed the base flat black using Dupli-Color auto primer. Now, using Liquitex paints, we blend a gray color (using black and white blended together and using Golden Airbrush Medium as a thinner/blending agent), dry-brush the stonework on the base. Drybrushing is where we dip the brush into paint, and brush off most of the paint on a paper towel, leaving just a bit on the brush. Your brush can be any old brush with fairly firm bristles. Micro-Mark carries an inexpensive set of drybrushes and we recommend them highly. Then we lightly brush over the surfaces of the kit. You’ll notice that with the drybrushing, only the raised details receive paint, generating a dynamic 3-D effect. Then, lighten the paint by adding white and repeat, this time with even less paint (wipe more off) and brushing more lightly. Soon you’ll have a cool stone effect. Note the pre-drilled holes that will receive the pins from the creature’s feet. We’ve left the bottom of the base flat black. We not mist the base with Dull-Cote. We then take some green furniture felt, place it under the kit and draw the outline, cut out a piece, and adhere it to the base. I didn’t like the base sign (“Vampire Visions”) so I created my own sign using a graphics program and printed it on photo paper, trimmed it, and adhered it using 3M spray adhesive (a type stronger than Photomount but that might work also). Wow, the base is completed!

Now, we cover the base with wax paper and painter’s tape (for easy removal later), and epoxy the creature onto the base. Note: we put epoxy in the holes only and don’t get it on the base or wax paper. Later, the wax paper will be easily removed.

Now, using a black ink wash (used by gaming miniature modelers, and I recommend getting a ton of these in various colors), we brush it over the entire kit and then immediately wipe off any excess with a damp rag. This leaves the ink in only the low spots and adds immediate realism. Note that my color scheme for this vampire is gray so my color choices are made accordingly.

Using Lifetone paints (again, available from Kitbuilders Magazine), which is essentially taxidermy paint, we hand brush a scale pattern. This is my first attempt at scaling and vein work. I work from larger, black “spots” to smaller, grayer ones, ending at the smallest spots which are almost white. Now I use a very fine tipped brush and draw rough veins on the wings.

Now I “mottle” the wings. Mottling gives you that neat semi-transparent vein effect. It’s fairly easily achieved with an airbrush set to about 40 psi. First I used a blackish-blue color (again, at this stage it’s all LifeTone paints) and I work very close to the kit surface, perhaps just a ½ inch or so from the kits surface! Just form a bunch of fast “S” and other squiggly shapes. You must keep the airbrush moving during the mottling process. Slow down and you’ll have just painted hard lines you’ll have to clean up. Next, I switch colors to a dark brown, then incorporate a touch of red and some white. Keep it up using different colors appropriate to your subject. Remember you are creating the colors within your creature so use the appropriate shades (e.g.; things are usually bloodier/bluer within). Next, I cover each wing completely again with the ink (yes!) and wipe the ink off with a damp cloth. This “embeds” the mottling for a more realistic effect. Then, using a fine-tipped brush, I hand draw white veins on the wings. Intuitively you would want to use red (for arteries) or blue (for veins) but use white at first. It looks sinewy and really pops. Then I add some small blue and red ones for effect. I want to be clear that when you paint on the veins you’re working a distance from the kits’ surface, holding the brush loosely and near the end of the handle, letting the brush loosely scramble around in a vein pattern. If you try to work “up close” and draw the veins too rigidly, you may lose the natural appearance (which is random, take a look at your wrist).

We now epoxy on the wings, taking time to properly re-texture the seams. We prime, wash (with ink), and paint. Now we have an almost completed little harpy.

Now for the eyes! A company called Zotz puts out eye decals for $15 a sheet. Purchase a sheet for human eyes and a sheet of creature eyes. You won’t be disappointed. Zotz gives you a huge number in many scales to last for dozens of builds. I select the eyes I want, trim them from the sheet of creature eyes, and place them in water for about 10 seconds – no longer. Then, using tweezers, place them on a paper towel. Now, put a drop of MicroSol (not MicroSet) into each eye on the kit and, using a toothpick, carefully move each decal from the backing sheet and place into the eye. You can position with the toothpick until you are satisfied.

Now for the final finishing. Using a fine-tipped brush I clean up some of the leopard spots, clean up around the eyes, clean up the vein work (accentuating the white veins while removing some rough looking veins by lightly painting over with some of the mottling colors, essentially erasing unpleasing areas), paint the teeth (working from brown at the gum lines to whiter at the tips), paint in the toenails and claws, and, as a final step, put a drop of epoxy into each eye, the nostrils, and to portions of the lips. Now, we remove the waxed paper and, wallah, the finished kit! Remember, blend colors and don’t stop at any step until you are satisfied with the results. If you have questions about anything in this article, contact me at pat@fantasymodelersclub.com.

Here’s the final build.