Greetings everybody. I'm a new modeler to the figurine arena. My modeling skills have been pretty much WW II aircraft, with etched metal, some scratch building in certain areas and the ever popular air-brush techniques. I've recently found and purchased the Rocketeer in vinyl. I've absolutely zero experience with this medium and I'm wanting to get going on this. Any help in direction to books or other info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Hi Rotorhead...I presume the figure you are talking about is the Screamin' Rocketeer...I have this in my stash and it's a great figure.
The first thing you need to do with vinyl figures is to remove the excess material where the liquid vinyl was poured into the mold. The instructions generally show which areas are to be removed.
This is done with a SHARP craft knife blade....to make it easier you can immerse the area to be cut in hot water for a few minutes...this softens the vinyl and makes it easier to cut.
Be VERY careful when cutting and always cut AWAY from yourself to avoid accidents.

As I recall, the Rocketeer figure that I have has slightly warped legs....if yours is the same you can solve this by immersing in hot water and pulling them into the correct stance before immersing in cold water.

To give the figure more stability you can fill the legs with some lead shot followed by some plaster of paris.

The kit will need to be assembled using CA glue and any gaps filled using regular model filler.

Do not attempt to paint enamel paints directly onto the vinyl as the paint will remain tacky forever.

Use acrylics or, if you want to use enamels, apply a basecoat of acrylic primer first.

Finally, you might want to attach some heavy gauge wire into the soles of the feet to aid in fixing the figure to a base.

Welcome to the forums Rotorhead.:wave:
When you cut the vinyl, please do it while the vinyl's warm. If you don't, you'll find some areas slice easier than others. If you hit a soft spot, the knife will slice extremely quickly and if your fingers are in the way.....
Use cyano to glue your kit together.
I hope this helps mate.

Chris.:)

I use a blow dryer to warm the vinyl parts for cutting...you might also want to think about in a cut-resistant glove...learned THAT one through bitter experience...Krylon Sandable Primer or Painter's Touch Primer are great for all types of vinyl kits.

Excellent tips James!! I use Duplicolor primer, but I've heard good things about Krylon.

Chris.:)

I agree with James on using a blow-dryer to heat the vinyl. It's FAR less messy than hot water.

You may also find the vinyl parts have warped or compressed in the box, and may not fit together correctly. This can also be solved by heating with a hair dryer before gluing. Obviously water won't work in that case, 'cause you can't glue wet parts. :)

All the airbrush painting techniques you've developed with airplanes will work fine with this project. You just have to figure out how to use them a little differently.

Here's a how to:
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/basics/lj_vinyl.htm