REVIEW - NUDE RAIDER
Producer: Global Marketing - Parts: 9 - Material: Resin
I know this is politically incorrect, but it is a scientific fact that our first impressions are based on what we see, and as most men are brought up to appreciate the female form it goes without saying that most men cannot resist looking at a good looking woman. And good looking women come in many guises: the tough dominant type; the homely vulnerable type; and the mysterious quiet type. It doesn't matter if they are real, cartoons or computer generated so long as they match with our internal 'map' of what we find desireable, and what is desireable will depend upon your personal preferences, but all of them can be sexy in their own way, and lets face it being sexy is what it is all about - after all I haven't seen many kits of Peggy Mount or Hattie Jacques, have you!!
Luckily, as a one time follower of the Helmut Newton and Bob Carlos Clarke school of photography, I have been spared childish inquisitiveness about nudity because my children have grown up with images of naked and semi-naked women and see nothing unusual in it. However, as far as my kit building goes I have to own up to a personal degree of conservatism. So while I can justify a Vampirella, Lady Death, Boob Wire and Barbarella (even though I haven't needed to) because they are recognisable characters, I don't think I would get away with the type of ladies produced by Mascot Models, or some of the Japanese companies. Therefore while I have a small collection of semi-clad sexy females and one nude in my collection, I don't have anything that would raise an eyebrow or beg the question "what's she doin' dad," or "why's she doin' that." But by the same token, it is because of the prospect of questions like that that I haven't been able to justify the monetary outlay for two particular kits: Julie Strain and Lady Slave, both of which I would love to build.
However, one kit that I did buy with total disregard for the potential awkward questions was this one: Nude Raider.
This is a Global Marketing release, a 1/8 scale off white resin kit that comes in nine quality parts, relating to both casting and construction (fit). Detail of course is depented upon the original sculptor (unfortunately I don't know who that is in this case).
The casting was good, the detail sharp, clean-up was minimal, there were no air bubbles or indeed any other defects in the resin, and the fit was near perfect - only a small amount of filler was required for the joint on the left arm. But there was a problem, a major problem.
What let this kit down was the quality of the resin, or at least something to do with the resin.
Let me explain. Having gone through the process of carefully washing and drying the kit to remove any release agent, I did another dry fit to make sure everything went together snugly, and then marked the parts ready for drilling and pinning. At this point everything seemed to be going fine, the holes were drilled, the pins were cut and I was ready to start the build up, which is when I realised that I had a major problem. It didn't matter what I used, super glue, or two part epoxy nothing I did secured the parts together. I even used kicker prior to retrying each of the adhesives but to no avail.
I rewashed all of the parts alternatively using white spirit, acetone, an airbrush cleaner, I even resorted to giving them a scrub with brake fluid. But it made no difference.
I roughened all of the surfaces with sand paper and cut grooves in them with an X-Acto knife, trying to give the glues something to adhere to, but even this didn't work. At this stage I was ready to give up, cut my losses and bin the kit, when I made a last ditch attempt and used milliput. Surprisingly this worked, although the joints weren't anywhere near as secure as I would have liked; a little longer in the arm maybe and slightly taller but at least she was togther (even if I wasn't).
For painting I started with a red primer, followed by a base coat of Freak Flex pale flesh, over which I applied pastels to build up the shading and shadows. To achieve the best effect I started with the lightest colour first - white - which I applied to the areas which would logically be highlighted. Because I wanted her to look tanned but not bronzed I first boarded the highlight areas with a light brown/tan colour, and continued to use progressively darker browns and some red as I worked toward the shadowed areas which were produced using a dark, almost chocolate, brown. The final layer for the skin tones was a light dusting of peach. The kit was left in this state for 24 hours before I sealing with a matt varnish (areosol).
For her shorts I used a coffee colour, and again highlighted with the pastels working this time from dark to light. The darker colours (browns) were used on the inner folds, and the lighter colours (ochre) for top areas where highlights would naturally fall. For her shirt, or what is left it, I used a pearlescent 'waterfall green' acrylic (one of the Daler-Rowney range) with no highlights, as the paint itself created its own variations in colour depth.
As her holsters were both cast as one solid piece I decided to drill them out, and for one I also removed the flap and replaced it with a piece of thin plastic cut to shape so the holster would appear to be open. Both were painted with Raven black, as was her belt and the straps around the top of her legs. The automatic pistol was painted black and lightly drybrushed with Citadels bolt gun metal to give it a slightly chipped and worn look, the colt was painted with Citadel silver and again drybrushed with bolt gun metal.
Her boots were painted with burnt umber then lightened with a very light coat of coffee, a heavy coat of coffee was drybrushed onto the toes to produce 'scuffing.'