Assembled
PURCHASED:
080519.01
BEGUN:
080603
COMPLETE:
CONSTRUCTION
LOG
080601
Arrived today and just finished its bath. This kit is a monster!
Sure, when I read it was 30 inches tall, I thought, 'Cool! That's a good size.' Nuh-uh. 30" is HUGE. Then there's the length which is HUGE and the body itself alone is as big as small dog!
080607.14
In about 2 hrs this morning, I cut all the holes open, glued the headpiece to the neck and base tail to tip along w/ shredded paper stuffing and skewer sticks. (Picked up a hundred for a buck at the dollar store.
Aside from those two parts, the rest of the pieces are simply holding snapped in. I still have to skewer and stuff the legs before gluing the front and back halves to themselves before finally guiing those two halves together.
080607.23
Finished assembly. All told it took about 4hrs. Pulled it all apart, sticked and stuffed the legs and glued all four into the torso. From there, I decided to change procedure.
The neck to the front of the body was next. That got extra sticks and some rigging. I had to shred every last piece of scrap paper I had in stock. I even had to shred 20 or so sheets of clean paper.
As the front half finished up, I glued the back half on. I got to thinking that if I filled the back half with the tail on, that the mid-body would be a weak point as it would have a big gap of stuffing. So back body attached to front body.
The halves were not matching up exactly, so I hit a few key dabs to keep a simple attachment going while I sticked and stuffed away. As the sides filled out, the halves matched up and when I finished stuffing the whole thing, I glued the mid-rif and held that tight for a min. Done.
Once that had dried awhile, I attached the tail. That seam is the absolute worst on the body, followed by the torso seam. The neck base ain't so bad, the legs less so and the upperneck is the least off. But even that isn't good.
Now I just have to glue the jaw and mouth on and he is fully assembled. There is a lot of putty work, so I don't know if he will make it into this round of airbrushing.
080618.00
This is the last vinyl kit that will be assmebled in the old manner. I discovered on Hugger that vinyl reacts nicely w/ a heat gun. I might have been able to pull the seams in better than they turned out. But maybe not. You never know. But he is sitting in the living room, big as anything. I don't think I'll be keeping this one. Give it away to somebody somewhere. We'll see.
