It's a lovely kit but the easy build which is described in other accounts of constructing this figure have not really reflected my experience. That's not a complaint and there's nothing here which is particularly problematic. The challenges involved are pleasingly thought provoking and there are opportunities for enhancing the already-impressive detail, but as I suggested in my last post this is not a kit for beginners.
You also need to be careful to check for stray bits of casting material in unusual locations - I found some between the ammunition pouches, on his left eyelid and on this left shoulder between the epaulette and the camera strap. I thought I had been thorough but I spotted these various examples at different times during the build, usually by accident, so if you attempt this figure do take a good look at your version.
The camera straps also represent a challenge. Most of the strap is moulded around the neck and there is a diagonal hollow on his front, visible in the image above, where the base of the camera sits. The two ends of the straps are separate pieces and you need to be careful to work out which strap goes on
which side as well as which way around they fit. I secured the camera in place temporarily with a small amount of blu tac and after a lot of test fitting I glued each strap into position. The gaps on the joins were filled with Mr Dissolved Putty and when this was dry Mr Surfacer 1200 was applied with a fine brush to create a coherent surface.
Fitting the base was also not straightforward since the mating surfaces are uneven and don't really correspond to each other. I sanded them level and used brass rod to reinforce the join before using CA glue to bond the parts. You need to check that the base is the correct way around (with the large curved surface of the imitation rock facing away from you) and you need to test the alignment so that you're happy with it, bearing in mind that his head is turning to the side.
That brings us to fitting the rifle and the arms, which is where things got really complicated. The hands are moulded to the rifle and they slot into place between the arms, with a clever piece of moulding on his left side which interlocks with the rifle bolt and clicks into place. I've read accounts of other builds where this aspect has gone like clockwork but this was not my experience. Having fixed the arms in place using blu tac I soon found that my attempts to test fit the rifle forced the arms out of their sockets. There followed a process of shaving off tiny amounts of resin from the joining surfaces on the arms and especially his right hand, test fitting again, shaving off more, and so on, repeatedly over a period of a couple of hours. I then went away and came back a few days later and carried on again until I was happy with the fit. I'll need to paint the rifle separately so this is one area of considerable risk, where I could construct the kit and then find that the rifle doesn't fit. With this in mind I was determined to ensure that the rifle fitted in place with properly joining surfaces but also that adding the rifle didn't exert so much force on the kit that the arms were removed. Finally I cut out masking for the hands to avoid paint build-up and I might try the same for the area where the rifle is cradled.
Also while working on the rifle I hollowed out the trigger guard, refined the area around the bolt, hollowed out the rounded sight near the muzzle, removed the moulding around the cleaning rod, hollowed out the muzzle very gently, and cleaned up the rear plate.
While engaging in fitting the rifle I was also shaving small pieces off the joining surfaces of the arms since again fit was not as straightforward as I would perhaps have preferred. Some of this was a result of the removal of the casting blocks but some of it was about trying to get the interlocking parts to, well, interlock. Eventually I succeeded and while there is always a join line on the arms, with this
figure there were some considerable trenches as you can see above and below.
These were filled initially with CA glue since I wanted to reinforce the join. Of course CA glue is brittle and has limited shearing strength, so adding to my concerns about the rifle ripping the arms off during the fitting process.
As a result I built up layers of Vallejo putty until it was sitting proud of the joint and then I sanded it back. I'm quite pleased with the result but some detail has been lost and there is some scratching so I'll try to tidy this up before painting.
The ammunition pouches are intriguing since the two grenades are supposed to be suspended from these on the figure's right hand side. There are indentations to receive the wire fittings on the grenades but the real pouches feature leather strips on the front which can hold the wire, with small pips on the under-side of the pouches for securing the leather. In order to replicate the leather strips I measured out thin plastic card and used a Waldron punch and die set to punch out the holes at the ends. I also removed all of the resin moulding around the pips, but left the pips in place. This created a better fit for the grenades and for the straps. You'll notice that I then managed to damage the end of one of the straps so my plan is to replace this damage once the grenades are in place at the end of the build.
I also managed to damage the rear of the bergmuetze while removing the hefty casting plug. This is situated on the inside of the hat and emerges on the rear piping. I found it very difficult to remove this plug and used various tools, including different scalpel blades, sanders and a micro-chisel. Despite my best efforts a part of the piping on the rear of the hat was removed, as you can see below.
I repaired the damage with Milliput, which was rolled out very thin and then fitted in what proved to be a delicate operation. Once this had set I sanded it level and used a scalpel blade to add the gap between the hat and the piping, as you can see below.
You'll note that I have also used Mr Surfacer 1000, applied using a stippling approach, in order to recreate a rough surface on the various cloth parts of the hat. I should say that the hat has been fitted to the head temporarily in the images above and below - this was also the product of a lot of test fitting and slow removal of tiny amounts of resin. You do get a sense of the very fine sculpting of his features, right down to the tiny lines around his eyes.
For the backpack there are casting plugs around the 'shoulders' of the pack and where the top of the pack joins the cape. These are quite difficult to clean up because of their locations but eventually I succeeded. Again I used Mr Surfacer 1000 to give a rough cloth effect.
The kit comes with a coil of copper wire for the rope and I had been looking forward to this aspect of the build. I uncoiled the wire and using a pair of pliers at the mid-point I plaited the two halves of the copper together. This was surprisingly easy and the final effect is much more convincing that I had expected. There are small indentations on the pack, behind the moulded rope, in order to receive the ends of the copper rope - very clever. The pitons are nicely moulded but need to be hollowed out in order to receive the crampons, which are made from the other piece of wire which is included in the kit. In order to get something like the right shape I used one of the thinner prongs on my Hold and Fold and wrapped the wire around it, before using wire cutters to remove the shaped piece. The result is much better than I had hoped for and gives a pretty good approximation of crampons.
At this stage I also worked on the rifle strap. Removing this from its casting block is a challenge but if you cut the thin strips of resin at their furthest points away from the strap then you minimise the kinetic energy going into the strap and so reduce the chance of damaging the part. From then on it's a question of delicately cutting away the remaining resin and tidying things up. You then need to bend the strap into shape. There are clear attachment points on the rear of the rear of the rifle so you'll need to bend the strap into place. Again there is a risk of breaking the strap so in order to avoid this I used a hair dryer to heat the ends of the strap before bending them in the appropriate direction. In order to get the curve of the strap I heated this while wrapping it around the curved handle of a pair of scissors. Each of these tasks took a few attempts and some test fitting but they were pretty straightforward and quite fun.
The camera is a very fine rendition of a Leica III and apart from drilling the lens out I left this pretty much intact.
The same can't be said for the grenades. The moulding of the base of the grenades is quite soapy and while I could have stuck with it I felt it was better (and easier) to replace it with plastic card using a Waldron punch and die set. The circular pins were given a more refined and to-scale form by gently hollowing them out with a rat file but you need to be careful because they are very delicate.
So that's it for now. Next I'll do a bit of a polish using micro mesh and fine sanding sticks, then I'll spend time going over the figure and checking for anything I've missed. After that, p
Happy modelling!
Nick
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