Preparation
Assembly
Sculpting
Basing
Priming
Preparation
The concept here is to start with large or coarse tools and finish with small or fine tools.
I remove any large parts I don’t want with my side-cutters or razor saw.
Using my scalpel, I scrape, rather than cut, off the mould lines. This means that I’m taking off less material with each pass of the blade so I’m less likely to make a mistake and if I do make a mistake, then it won’t be so major.
Next, I smooth the scraped areas with diamond files and use my riffler files to get to any places that were too obscured to get the scalpel to.
Any marks left by the files I then smooth with papers.
Assembly
I drill holes the same diameter as my wire in each surface to be glued being careful to match the holes so that they line up with their partners. Next, I mix up some Duro then superglue a small lump into one hole, add more superglue and lastly a length of straightened wire, which should be too long for my final pin. I then cut the wire to size by dry fitting the part to be fixed. When the wire is the correct length, so that the pieces fit together as closely as possible, I superglue more Duro into the hole of the new part and then apply superglue to the whole surface to be glued and affix it to the first surface. If the surface looked too rough for there to be much contact then I add a small amount of Duro and more superglue on top.
Sculpting
For sculpting I move from hard to soft tools.
Any gaps around the joins of my now pinned components can be filled with Duro or Duro mixed with Milliput. I apply the putty with my wooden tools, press it into the gaps and remove any excess. I want to be left with enough putty to cover the join but not so much that I significantly change the shape of the original sculpt/casting or obscure any detail. I then use my firm silicone brushes to smooth the putty and blend the shapes in with the original sculpting of the miniature and continue the process with the softer ones.
If there are any details I need to recreate, or corrections which I need to make on the rest of the miniature, then I can use pointed wooden tools, the angled silicone brushes or my homemade tools.
If there are any rough areas from the casting, which should be smooth, I fill these with watered down acrylic filler or with Milliput mixed with a little water, either of which can be brushed on. When dry, these can both be lightly sanded.
Once cured, large areas, which are intended to be smooth, may be sanded.
Basing
Using a mix of Milliput and a little Duro, I sculpt the base to look like cracked rocks comparable to the base of the mounted figure, using a similar process to that used above. To make an uneven, rocky texture, I press some pieces of cork against the surfaces.
Here are some other examples of possible bases:
Priming
Using my external mixing, syphon fed airbrush, I spray black polyurethane primer in thin layers using a sweeping motion from around 8-12” with about 40 psi (3 bars) of pressure (this may depend on your airbrush). As with an aerosol spray, it’s best to start the spray pointing past the miniature and then sweep across it and finish the movement beyond the miniature again. This action will give a more even coat. After a couple of thin coats all over, I shorten the distance and direct the spray more specifically at the places I’ve missed but still try to use a sweeping motion to keep the layers even.
If after this I still have some gaps but I’m in danger of making the undercoat too thick, then I use a brush and some slightly thinned primer. This may not be necessary, however, because I can cover small gaps with my pre-highlighting.