Its been a hectic time for us at this period. So, have to lay off for a one week after the body works. Finally, I am back in action again. Collected some dust, so, I brushed the model lightly with a number 5 brush. Then I continued to work on the head dress, while the decal is drying, I worked on the body by increasing the contrast slightly and then shading it back. Back and forth a few times.
Finally, the decals, chopped into 1.5mm X 12mm strips are joined to form the various curves in the head gear. When that is done, the thing was set aside to dry for 3 days to make sure the thing cures properly. The whole decalling process took me 4 nights of 1 hour each. While waiting, I tone the cape on the back a little bit more with primary green to bring out the rich turquoise colour.
Finally, the decals, chopped into 1.5mm X 12mm strips are joined to form the various curves in the head gear. When that is done, the thing was set aside to dry for 3 days to make sure the thing cures properly. The whole decalling process took me 4 nights of 1 hour each. While waiting, I tone the cape on the back a little bit more with primary green to bring out the rich turquoise colour.
The I added in the gold trims by drybrushing the previous black portion with a little bit more white but every so gently to make sure that it does not get into the black portion which I needed for the shadows. Gold without shadows looks fake, Gold without the base of white to bring out the glitter also looked fake....so that is why the white needed to be on the highlights. So when I paint in the Vallejo gold undiluted with a semi dry brush with Number 0, I l will get a 3 tone finish from the super bright, the dull and the near black, then there is the shadow of black. This gives the thing a more 3D look. I left the gold to cure for a few days, same period with the decals.
Next, I needed to paint over the head gear with the correct red before I add the black trimmings. This is harder than I expected. I hand painted the whole head of the bust with a Number 6 brush with Future polish, two thin coats and let it dry for 3 more days to make sure it is cured to a hard finish. Then I mixed the colour with Flat Red and Orange Fluid to match the colour on the decals and painted in the joints and to pick up the curves not achievable by the decals. It took about 5 coats in order for the colour to solidify enough to have the correct hue as the decal. This I am setting aside to dry for another few more days before I work on the black trim and bringing later the thing back with some Vallejo Glaze medium mixed with Matt Medium diluted to about 20% and do it ever so little to get the correct texture with a slight glint to the skin tones and also to leave the eyes to be glossy so that there is a glint in it permanently.