I bought the kit and eagerly put it all together back when it was first released... but never painted and finished it. I had also bought the TSDS decal sheet for the model.
The basic kit is quite well done but is larger in scale than the Aurora monsters, so he really doesn't fit in well, despite being in "Aurora Style".
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The molding and fit are really good overall. I did use some putty on the main coat seams and legs, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. The engineering of the coat/body/legs assembly is complicated and poor. The kit is designed so you build the coat around the completed body and legs, making painting awkward. It is easy to fix this by cutting the holes in the tab on the legs into slots so you can slip the pre-painted legs into the pre-painted coat/vest assembly. This was the only modification I made to the model. The coat was done in Tamiya German RLM 02 Grey and the pants in Poly Scale Early Israeli Tan. The gloves, bandages, etc. all fit well and aligned without much fuss.
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I painted the wooden floor base with Poly Scale "Deck Tan" and then applied various washes and dry brushes of browns and tans over it. Each board was treated a bit differently and one at a time to make the floor more interesting and realistic. The edges between the boards themselves were picked out with a black wash. I had intended to use the TSDS decal for the floor rug... but it was much too large and just did not overlay the molded detail very well. The molding of the rug on the base is not the best... it is engraved into the floor rather than being raised up! But it is not hard to paint... Despite its size the base is very sturdy and the whole model, when completed, doesnt have much "flex" to it.
The table was painted with various Tamiya and Testors brown paints to match the wonderful TSDS decal top. I puttied in the crudely engraved papers on the table. Again, instead of being slightly raised (or provided as a printed item on the instructions to cut out and glue down) the papers are recessed into the table which is unrealistic and hard to paint. The TSDS decal solved all of that quite easily.
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I painted the book case with various Tamiya and Poly Scale browns, giving it a darker tone than the table, which is a bit orangy. All of the accessories go together very well.
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The books, jars, etc were all pre painted and glued down with Testors Clear Parts Cement. I relocated a few details to suit my own tastes and to keep things a bit less cluttered. The big difference was moving the large stack of books to the back of the base, and the name plate/book to the left side of the book case. This way they don't block the figure and clutter the scene.
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I wasn't thrilled with the invisible mice and didn't glue them down. I suppose they look "okay". Their clear cage came cracked in my kit from a stress fracture. There is also a huge mold sprue mark on the opposite side. I treated all the clear parts with a bit of Pledge With Future Shine to help hide the seams and make them a bit brighter. All of the clear glassware is very well done. Some of the bottles were tinted with Tamiya and Humbrol clear
paints to represent colored liquids inside.
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Overall a very well done, fun to build kit. The TSDS decals are very well done and go on great. Solvaset was the best solvent to make them conform, but Micro Sol and Gunze Mr. Mark Softener did okay. You do have to apply the decals over a white or light colored background, so take that into account when you paint the areas where the decals will go. For the books, I painted them all white, then yellowed up the page ends. After I applied the decals for the spines and pages, I could just go back and paint the visible parts of the book covers to match the pre colored spines.
:wave:
The basic kit is quite well done but is larger in scale than the Aurora monsters, so he really doesn't fit in well, despite being in "Aurora Style".
The molding and fit are really good overall. I did use some putty on the main coat seams and legs, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. The engineering of the coat/body/legs assembly is complicated and poor. The kit is designed so you build the coat around the completed body and legs, making painting awkward. It is easy to fix this by cutting the holes in the tab on the legs into slots so you can slip the pre-painted legs into the pre-painted coat/vest assembly. This was the only modification I made to the model. The coat was done in Tamiya German RLM 02 Grey and the pants in Poly Scale Early Israeli Tan. The gloves, bandages, etc. all fit well and aligned without much fuss.
I painted the wooden floor base with Poly Scale "Deck Tan" and then applied various washes and dry brushes of browns and tans over it. Each board was treated a bit differently and one at a time to make the floor more interesting and realistic. The edges between the boards themselves were picked out with a black wash. I had intended to use the TSDS decal for the floor rug... but it was much too large and just did not overlay the molded detail very well. The molding of the rug on the base is not the best... it is engraved into the floor rather than being raised up! But it is not hard to paint... Despite its size the base is very sturdy and the whole model, when completed, doesnt have much "flex" to it.
The table was painted with various Tamiya and Testors brown paints to match the wonderful TSDS decal top. I puttied in the crudely engraved papers on the table. Again, instead of being slightly raised (or provided as a printed item on the instructions to cut out and glue down) the papers are recessed into the table which is unrealistic and hard to paint. The TSDS decal solved all of that quite easily.
I painted the book case with various Tamiya and Poly Scale browns, giving it a darker tone than the table, which is a bit orangy. All of the accessories go together very well.
The books, jars, etc were all pre painted and glued down with Testors Clear Parts Cement. I relocated a few details to suit my own tastes and to keep things a bit less cluttered. The big difference was moving the large stack of books to the back of the base, and the name plate/book to the left side of the book case. This way they don't block the figure and clutter the scene.
I wasn't thrilled with the invisible mice and didn't glue them down. I suppose they look "okay". Their clear cage came cracked in my kit from a stress fracture. There is also a huge mold sprue mark on the opposite side. I treated all the clear parts with a bit of Pledge With Future Shine to help hide the seams and make them a bit brighter. All of the clear glassware is very well done. Some of the bottles were tinted with Tamiya and Humbrol clear
paints to represent colored liquids inside.
Overall a very well done, fun to build kit. The TSDS decals are very well done and go on great. Solvaset was the best solvent to make them conform, but Micro Sol and Gunze Mr. Mark Softener did okay. You do have to apply the decals over a white or light colored background, so take that into account when you paint the areas where the decals will go. For the books, I painted them all white, then yellowed up the page ends. After I applied the decals for the spines and pages, I could just go back and paint the visible parts of the book covers to match the pre colored spines.
:wave:
