Judge Anderson

Judge Anderson, vinyl model
1993, Halcyon

One of the most popular genres (that's a fancy way of saying subject) in vinyl model building is the female figure.  Not very surprising, since the builders are young men with healthy libidos (another fancy way of saying they're very interested in the opposite sex).

This one comes direct from an interesting British comic series called Judge Dredd, a dark comedy set in a future world.  The movie actually stayed pretty faithful to the comic for a change, except Stalone as Dredd is a lot more lovable than the comic character.  That should tell you about the mood of the comic.

OK, now for the model building.  Putting her together wasn't hard. I first took the two body halves and did a good putty job on the waist to make her outfit one seamless piece.  The belt is one piece, don't try to put in on until she's finished.  Just cut it in the back between two of the pouches and then after the body is done you can put it on her and let it hang naturally.

This model was light and stiff enough, so I didn't need to pack any of the hollow pieces or fill in the legs to keep them from bending.  Often you have to take care to stiffen the legs, it's a judgment call

Now about the paint.  I used mainly acrylic paint available in any craft section, the kind that comes in a plastic squeeze bottle.  I've discovered I prefer this for brushwork, for one thing it's a true flat paint and covers very well.  It's also cheaper than "model paint" and comes in a huge selection of colors.  Here's a complete list of the paint used on her:

Body:  Ultra Deep Blue base coat, mix some white in it for the lighter drybrush.
Gloves/boots:  Burgundy Rose over flat black for the leather, silver with a little black mixed in for the steel bits.
Elbow/knee pads:  Golden brown on the padding to contrast with the darker Burgundy.
Belt/pouches:  Spice brown over black.
Gold bits:  Gold over flat black (I use Dragon Master Gold).
Zipper/silver bits:  Silver over black (use a type that doesn't have a sparkle look)
Face:  Shading flesh base coat (or add brown to regular flesh), medium flesh drybrush, do the detail work on the eyes and lips, then borrow some powdered blush and eyeshadow.
Hair:  Start with regular dark grey primer, then drybrush Ivory or off-white.
Base:  Keep it simple so it doesn't distract from the figure.  In this case, I used straight burnt umber over flat black.

I used clear flat or gloss paint where needed, and I stuck tacks through the bottom of the base and into her shoes to help attach her and made sure the superglue had solid plastic to work on.  That just about covers it, it didn't take me very long to put this one together and I like the way she turned out.

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