GG 2026 A Giant Task

This thread is part of the Golden Goblin painting competition 2026. Please see the entry thread for full details.
SnufflePox said:
The above does not constitute financial, medical or chemical advice. Please consult a registered chemist (and other half where applicable) before mixing random household chemicals.
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Fortunately I'm old school enough to take responsibility for my own stupidity when I do daft things that start with the question "I wonder what happens if I.....?" 🤣
 
Difficult decision made...
Well, I gave him the acetone footbath and pedicure, and the plastic came away easily enough.

This morning I was planning on getting him primed up ready to start painting as time is running out.

I started off by filing down the mould lines that the original painter had left and had dealt with by just covering them in thick layers of paint.

I also had him under the magnifying glass to pick out the final flecks of paint and to plan my gap filling.

I know that the original model was known for having some large gaps, but there seems to be some big spaces here that still have elastic paint gunge deep inside, and big clumps of what looks like 2-part epoxy glue almost holding the pieces apart. On the shoulders this makes for some quite large gaps between straps and ropes and things that I was left wondering whether I could greenstuff or milliput with my raw beginner sculpting skills.
(Photos taken through the magnifier)
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There were also sizeable areas where glue seemed smeared over the surface of the model and I was lifting them away with a scalpel, worrying I was going to damage hidden details.

It's going to set me back, and with the limited amount of hobby time I have at the moment, I may not make the GG deadline, but I know I'm not going to be happy if I don't give it the full overhaul. I may regret it, but he's going to be soaked in acetone to see if I can't break him down to his component parts, get all the adhesive off and make him all my own work, for better or for worse. I just don't want to be looking at it when I'm done and be thinking "I wish I had..."
 
not too hard to patch it up with green stuff. just use a very small ball which you smooth out with water or something.
 
From the pictures, it look a bit like the joins could also be refined a bit by shaving off some of the rougher edges to get them to meet more evenly. As @ManicMan said, a bit of water to help smooth out the Green Stuff (or Milliput, my weapon of choice) and keep from sticking to your tools works wonders.

Another trick is if you find yourself unfinished with a big ball of mixed epoxy putty left over, you can put the putty in the freezer to greatly reduce the rate of the chemical reaction (essentially paused). I have put Milliput in the freezer and come back to use it the next day; a minute warming in the hand with a bit of kneading and good to go. I assume the same could be done with Green Stuff but not personally tried it.
 
summerone said:
From the pictures, it look a bit like the joins could also be refined a bit by shaving off some of the rougher edges to get them to meet more evenly. As @ManicMan said, a bit of water to help smooth out the Green Stuff (or Milliput, my weapon of choice) and keep from sticking to your tools works wonders.

Another trick is if you find yourself unfinished with a big ball of mixed epoxy putty left over, you can put the putty in the freezer to greatly reduce the rate of the chemical reaction (essentially paused). I have put Milliput in the freezer and come back to use it the next day; a minute warming in the hand with a bit of kneading and good to go. I assume the same could be done with Green Stuff but not personally tried it.
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That's a handy tip as I always overestimate what I need. Wasted a lot last night.
 
orkwrangler said:
Do it to your satisfaction, not some deadline. I started a lot of miniatures for the October event & ended up painting one I didn't intend to. The rest are all in progress now which they might not be otherwise.
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That was my thinking. If I get it done, I get it done. If not, then at least it's motivation to get started on it rather than waiting til I'm "good enough".
 
In the words of the great Madonna, he's feeling all shiny and new! Not a speck of anything left on him.

Now I've just got to put him back together and find a break in the weather to prime him.

Is it just me, or is the sword scabbard weirdly bent on every model? It looks like it could do with being bent back, but I think it was made that way?
 

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I can see why the original builder had so much araldite in there. I've assembled the legs and torso and prioritised aligning the ropes, straps and other details that cross the parts. It's left quite the gap in some places, and the arms are going to leave some big gaps too.

I've done some limited filing which improved the fit, but essentially there's a high point in the middle of the torso that would require more filing than could safely be done, in order to get it to fit flush. So I'm going to tackle the gaps with green stuff. I'll even try to rebuild the straps etc where the gap between the bits is too wide. Worst comes to worst, I still have the acetone vat so I can start again.

The shoulder joins look like they're going to result in a pair of big gaps, but I'll see what can be filed.

The wrist will definitely need filing down to join the hand, the 'nub' of the wrist is too long and is concave shaped, making the hand sit on the tip of the nub, with very little contact between the parts. However, that should be easy to sort with a file.

I seem to remember hearing about the fit of the parts of this model being notoriously poor?
 
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