Leg Work (Right Leg)

Right, so, let's addres the legs. This has been a nightmare in every possible way. For one the legs needed a lot of attention. The gell coat had many empty zones where air pockets were behind it rendering it extremely fragile and broken or busted through in many areas. this meant there was much body filling required. There was also the detail (like the arms and chest and back) which ranged from no too bad, to completely missing in certain areas, and ultimately the entire scale of the legs makes it long and dirty. Also, the shin entrance system needed work as well because it was pants.

So after breaking the leg down to it's basics I started on the right thigh piece. I started by grinding down the cast-in bolts from around the very top as I wanted to replace these with accurate real bolt heads for greater detail later. Then came the dremelling. The main thigh detail lacked a center line right down the middle, so I replaced that. Some detailing was entirely missing around the large circular hip connector which I replaced, as well as predrilling and mounting real allen-key boltsd in those areas as well. On the inner thigh-lower there was yet more detail just completely missing.So after considering a good few reference shots I replaced these as well. NOT and easy job considering just how THIN this BH fiberglass casting was in places . . . most places . . . okay, everywhere!!. Once all this was finished I sanded her down and shot her with the same amount of primer coats and base coats as I had on all the upper body pieces.



Right thigh. (replaced metal bolts and new details)



Right thigh inner. (replaced details)

Right thigh. Cleaned, primed & base coated.

So, onto the calf and shin piece. Where to begin? I looked at these pieces for a good while before I moved in any particular direction. And that direction was . . . the pub. For another long beard stroking moment of deep thought before I did infact decided to just clean and try to make good what was already there. I had many ideas how I could re-invent that section but quite frankly, I would have been making more and more work for myself by doing so. The join (if it can be called that) between the shin plate and the calf proper was the first on the job list. I knew I was going to have to cast some fibreglass in there and that it was going to be a sloppy little job because of the small area I was going to need to get it in. So, chopped fiber it would be and some poking devices and clay! I walled up inside the calf with normal buff body clay and then spray waxed the shin plate so that it would release from the new fiberglass wall I would be casting around it.

Lower leg. (shin plate and Calf join as it was)

Clalf with clay wall lay up in place.

Shin plate in place after spray wax relase agent application.

I simply used a baby medicine syringe to get the polyester resin into the gap, and then using an old sculpting tool introduced the chopped fibers into that. I continued this messy ass process until the gaps were filled while leaving a couple of millimeters from the top for body filler application later. Now this was really a quick fix, and there are many more elegant (and I am sure efficient) ways I could have approached this, but if I had gone down that road I would have ended up making a whole new leg piece, which would make me then want to make a new high . . . new arms . . . new chest . . . and yep all of it . . . so, no!



Lower leg with resin and chopped fiber being introduced to the gaps.
(looks messy, but it was actually a lot tidier job than you'd think lol)



Lower leg with body filler now in the top 2 mm.

 Once all had set sufficintly, I pulled all the clay out and popped the shin piece out (an easy job as the wax release I use is brilliant and I swear by it) and began the long and dusty job of rubbing down and making good on the joins.


Lower leg after primary sanding.



Lower leg. New edges for shin plate join.

 There were a couple of areas where I didn't like the overall look and or finish, so I took a little bit of license there and fished off with some filler. Once done, I began the dremelling of that piece to get all the detail back to where it should be and then rubbed the whole thing down and once more, shot with primer and base coat as before.


Lower Leg pieces, cleaned, dremelled, primed and base coated.



Lower leg details.



Lower leg with "cheated" detail with new access slot.

 And as always, after these steps had time to harden fully I began with shooting the colour. Again I was constantly refering back to my reference material to try to match the colour patternation.



Lower leg (rear) coloured, laquered. Finished.



Lower leg Finished. (shin plate and knee hinge in place)



Thigh. Finished. (side)



Thigh. Finished. (front)

 So, hope you enjoyed that as the left leg was in an even worse state. That has quite taken it out of me just reliving that, so we'll take a break, leave the left leg for another day :D STAY TUNED!!!