NaMoPaiMo Prep: Part V

I had a heck of a time tweedle beetle battling with my phone to get my final prep pictures (and several others) off of it. I did it though!

We last left off with the wait for various drying apoxie parts both on the Kirin itself and the antlers.

(Antlers drying on makeup brushes to give them their shape.)

The extended drying time turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the antlers I sculpted were quite large, a bit closer to Traditional scale (1:9). On top of that, the antlers were slightly different sizes. While not a huge, noticeable difference, it was enough to bother me. So I quickly changed gears and opted to use one antler. As the antlers weren't completely dry, I altered the shape of the chosen antler and attached it to my Kirin's head. 

(Antler drying-a prime example of using what's on hand.)

Before that, I did carve out some of the front of the hooves to give the appearance of cloven hooves. 

As Kirin are depicted with a single horn, I did not find this a bad solution to my problem. However, I did poorly connect the antler (due to the semi-dryness of the apoxie) and it did come off. Knowing I could reattach it after sanding and priming both the antler and body. This was also a turn of good fortune as I was better able to prime the antler as it sits nearly on top of the forelock of the model. 

(Antler-less Kirin with starts of primer)

Personally, I like to use white gesso to prime my models. Plus, I can mix acrylic paints in to give the model a start in the right direction, even before my base coat goes on. As this Kirin is going to have emerald colored scales and a creamy colored body, a yellow base will add to both colors (at the time I was working on this I hadn't considered the scutes, antler or hooves color). Mane and tail I was considering a dark brown or else the same color as the body. 

On Jan. 31st, I did it. My model was prepped, antler attached and my "nudie" picture sent in for the fun "before" collage photo that Jennifer Bray-Buxton is kind enough to put together.

("Nudie" selfie of me & my Kirin-ready for NaMoPaiMo!)

Till the next time! (Which isn't far away!)