the artifact *finished*

[rob_van_riel]

I couldn't resist a snapshot of the relative sizes of the airplane and the dragon



On a more serious note, there were some scary steps to take that had the potential to make or break the project.

First was making the crater in which the wreckages sits, out of papier-mache. I'd done a small test shot, but it was still anybody's guess if it would work out at a larger size, and once that blob of sticky gunk landed on the base, there was no turning back or taking back mistakes.
I'm not entirely happy with the result, the bottom is too even. I might mix up some more papier-mache and make some extra mess tomorrow.


More of a gamble were the chamois wings.
I ended up fixing the chamois of the first section to the bones on one side with contact adhesive (is that the term? glue you put on, leave to dry for half an hour, and then connect the parts for an instant bond). This held the chamois in the correct location, which effectively freed up one or more hands for the next step, which as 'point welding' the other edge with dabs of CA and accellerator. Between them, these two glues hold and shape the membrane. Finally, the entire connecting line was given a generous helping of PVA glue, to provide the actual strength for the bond, and to fill the inevitable gaps (this is the same stuff that is sold at outrageous prices for making small windows on model vehicles).
It's a bit involved, but I really like the result. Only five more sections to go


Now I just have to hope it still looks good after a shot of primer..

[Clashcityrocker]

Very nice work skinning those wings.

Nigel

[rob_van_riel]

I've completed, for now, the work on the skin between the wing fingers.



Only the left outer panel put up any kind of real fight, and I had to replace it with a different shaped one. All panels have been given a coat of PVA glue, in preparation for painting tomorrow. Chamois is soft, and in it's intended use will soak up crazy amounts of liquids, so I'm guessing sealing with glue will be beneficial..
The inspection after priming is going to be absolutely terrifying.

I've used Junior and the second test head for a final experiment, to determine a workable colour for all those spikes, horns, and whetever else is sticking out. I ended up with titanium white with minute amounts of raw umber and burned sienna. The colour works, the paint did not; the white had shifted, with most of the pigment sinking to the bottom of the tube. With a very light colour going over a dark one, that's trouble. I'll have to see if I can revive the acrylic I used for the test, is not I may revert to oils.

No picture of Junior for now, his colouration makes him almost impossible to take pictures of even in the best of lighting conditions, and I don't even have those right now.

[Stuart]

This is an excellent idea Rob - looking forward to seeing the end product!

[rob_van_riel]

No picture of Junior for now, his colouration makes him almost impossible to take pictures of even in the best of lighting conditions, and I don't even have those right now.

Still far from perfect, but I managed a halfway decent mugshot



Priming the big guy showed some nasties with the wing panels; some parts were beautifully smooth, while others remained course. The rough spots seem to have far less interest in accepting paint. I think the rough parts are the places where I missed, or did not hot hard enough, with the PVA, as it was not easy to tell during application. With the increased visibility from the primer, I'm now in the process of putting on a second layer of PVA.

[rob_van_riel]

The second helping of PVA, along with some minimal filler, did the trick. This gave me a dull grey dragon, but I'm not looking for a grey dragon.

So, I went to work with first Hataka 'Jet Black' on the wings and a quick whif over the body, followed by Mig A-stand gloss black primer on the body.



This gave me a nice black dragon, but I'm not looking for a black dragon either, so to be continued as soon as the gloss black stops being tacky.

[iggie]

The wings have worked very well

[rob_van_riel]

A quick blast of AK Extreme Metal Aluminium gave me an absurdly shiny silver dragon, but I'm not looking for a silver dragon.



This concludes the routine paintwork. The final step with the violet filter should, at long last, give me the colour I am looking for, but it will be more challenging; it can't be an even coat, and for any given spot there is a balance point somewhere between too little and too much violet.
On the other hand, it does lend itself to slowly building up the finish over multiple coats, even at full blast it takes a while to build up to solid purple. The real key is to avoid thinking "this is taking too damn long, blast it for real" because at that point, you will have built it up just enough for that good solid blast to result in solid coverage and ruin the lot.

[rob_van_riel]

The wings have worked very well

Yup, new tricks are always something of a gamble, but my luck held and the material worked as intended. I won't need it often, but this is a trick I'll keep in mind.

[DavidWomby]

Those wings look terrific.

David

[rob_van_riel]

I just got back from the paintshop for the umpteenth time today, and this time they gave me a purple dragon. And I am looking for a purple dragon



I guess I can stop shooting different colours onto the beasty now

It's not yet done of course, at the very least it will need a coat of sealer and all of those spikes, horn, claws, what have you will have to be given a contrasting colour, but so far, so good..

[Clashcityrocker]

The wings look very good.

Nigel

[rob_van_riel]

I guess I can stop shooting different colours onto the beasty now

That might have been a bit premature..
Taking full advantage of our daily alotment of ten minutes of daylight (ok, that's exaggerated, so sue me) I did another inspection of the paintwork, and found that some parts didn't even have a hint of purple. In the process, I managed to drop the dragon Fortunately and rather miraculously it survived with no more damage than a bent finger, which was quickly bent back into position. A degree of flexibility can really save the day.
I also decided it is entirely too shiny. Don't get me wrong, shiny is fine, but when taken to the level where you can't see the details on the scuplture for all the glitter, it's gone too far. Once again, my test head was volunteered to see what some matt varnish does with the issue.

The gaps in the purple have been fixed (I think/hope), and it looks like the varnish will create a rather fetching satin shine.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Imperfections (unseen by me, BTW) aside, this is very interesting and turning our quite well.

[rob_van_riel]

Imperfections (unseen by me, BTW) aside, this is very interesting and turning our quite well.

The imperfections were hidden by the wings, so not really visible in the picture. The excess glitter (since suppressed) would also help to hide them, and on top of that, the colour is very shifty; the slightest change in angle or lighting conditions can completely change the appearance. I like the shifty effect, but it does make life hard

Always happy to provide some interesting entertainment