This was a good weekend. Monique finished her Elvira model kit. I made lots of progress on my Captain America resin kit. Ultimate Soldier has been a real experiment for me. First project to use an airbrush on (a Badger Anthem 155), and the first time I’ve ever used Mold Builder to mask paint off.

Speaking of airbrushing, our compressor has been doing a great job, but it shakes the table like an earthquake, and travels as it goes, knocking down everything in its path. We’ve been getting around it by ‘catching’ the compressor as it travels, and pushing it back where it belongs. Can’t set it on the floor, because neither one of us could reach it then. It also gets very hot, so it can’t go in an enclosed place. Can’t be anywhere it would ‘travel’ into something flammable. This weekend we found the solution. I was going to build a small wooden platform with a raised lip, then mount that on the table with small c-clamps. Then I thought… why get complicated? So I c-clamped two of the compressor’s legs to the table. Problem solved! It’s been working great ever since.

As of last Friday, Cap was off to a good start, with the boots, gloves, and belt packs painted. Then Mold Builder brushed over the painted areas. Once those were protected, white came next. That one was a bit trickier to paint over with Mold Builder. More detail, with the helmet wings and Capital ‘A’. Not to mention the two big stars, and the white vertical bars of his shirt.

For the flesh, I mixed up a new batch, and thinned it down for airbrushing. Titanium White, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna in even amounts gives a nice flesh tone. The only places that needed it were on the head. Chin and nose, ears, and back around the eye sockets. At this point, the level of detail required to protect the paint necessitated using my magnifying lenses. Had to double them up to get high enough detail for me to see.

I thought the red would be easy. Spray it, cover it, and move on. Should have remembered, any time something looks easy, there’s always some way to complicate it. My red kept looking pink. I finally used a bright red base, airbrushed a light coating of black over it, and then layered reds over the black until it looked kind of ‘crimson’. Did a couple of lighter coats at an angle to highlight it. Won’t know for sure if I like it until all the Mold Builder comes off.

I’m not even sure if the mold builder will work. Did a sample peel with the browns, and it worked fine. But now it’s getting layer after layer, and has been on for days. On top of that, the boots kept getting the protection peeled off. Picking up the model kit to reposition, holding at different painting angles, I kept rubbing off the mold builder on the feet. So I put it on really thick. Now it’s kind of hard. I don’t know if it will peel off without harming the paint or not.

Either way, I’m going forward with it. All the way. Not going to peel the coating off Cap until the entire model kit has been painted. The next step should be to spray on the blue, do a bit of detailing… and then we’ll see how it comes out. With any luck, the colors will be exactly as they went on, safe and protected under the layers of mold builder.

It will probably need some touch up along the edges between the colors. Plus a spot or two where the paint will try to stick on the sealer. Keeping my fingers crossed.