Things have been a bit slow recently, however I've managed to start filling the gaps and smoothing the joins in my Voidraven.
After I did some test putty sections:
The mulliput was particularly hard, when I went to test filing it, so I’ve decided that I would start with mulliput and then go over any detail areas with a mix of green stuff and/or grey stuff. For a smaller project I would probably use either green stuff or grey stuff, but for the large Voidraven I would use mulliput for the all put minor detail work.
For the first stage I started by kneading the mulliput into small balls, but later found it easier to either roll it into a long tine for engine gap filling and then spread it out and smooth it with the modelling tools. For smoothing out the join between the front cockpit and the original hull I either used smaller lines of mulliput or stretched it out to be a thin film, cutting off some of the excess when it was put in place and smoothing the remainder.
I used a pot of water to keep the putty wet, both when kneading the two parts together and applying it to the Voidraven, this stopped the putty drying out, but also meant that watery putty got on the model. I was careful to clean this out of the recesses in the Voidraven so it wouldn't dry out ruining the lovely detailing. The canopy also had a smear of light brown/yellow watery putty over it, so I cleaned this with clean water so the small details wouldn’t be obscured when if the putty was allowed to dry.
Here’s some pics of my progress so far:
I still need to do the underside of the front cockpit, and some light filing and touch up with a mixture of mulliput and greenstuff on the areas I’ve done so far. I particularly want to improve the join of the two engines towards the front of the Voidraven to make it curved rather than a straight line between the two sections.
One thing to bear in mind when working with mulliput or any putty is that because water is being used to keep the putty moist things are going to get messy. Bear this in mind when you consider the location you are going to work and what clothes you are going to wear. Here's a pic of my work space when I had finished not how dirty the knee of my trousers are:
Also I would advise clearing up thoroughly as soon as you are finished, as the mulliput, even the watery bits will dry very hard and would be nightmare to remove later. The same goes for modelling tools, which you should ensure are clean of all modelling putty.
With a week to army list submission for the MAD II tournaments, and the event itself in two weeks, I’ve got to get to the painting stage soon, as I have to paint:
Quad Gun (currently undercoated)
Defense Line (currently undercoated)
One extra razorwing flock (part painted)
and repair a beastmaster and two razorwing flocks (darn fragile wings )
Hopefully next post will show be a nicely undercoated Voidraven (I’m still dithering on the tail fins though).
Rathstar