Catwoman - in 9 easy lives, uh, I mean steps!!!

Well, it's been a few years now since I've built a vinyl kit. Whew, how time does fly. This particular kit is a gem, the Horizon Catwoman, which of course is the Michelle Pfieffer version from the 2nd Tim Burton Batman film, Batman Returns. Opinions are mixed on this film, but not on this kit, it's a stunning likeness of Michelle and it is sculpted into a pose that is just spot on from the film. I built this kit for myself several years ago and frankly, I'm dyin' to have another crack at it so let's get goin'!

1.) Washin', Blowin', Cuttin', Trimin', and Fittin'.......
One key difference in vinyl kits is that you have to do some initial prep work even before you prime and putty. The first step is to take all the parts and wash them with warm water and a mild detergent, this makes sure that all the mold release compound is cleaned off the kit prior to painting. If you don't do this you run the risk of your primer and paint not adhereing to the kit. And that would suck, now wouldn't it? Once these parts dry of then you have to heat up and cut way the flashing from the kit components. "How the heck do I do that, Cal?" you may rightfully ask, and doggonit, I'm gonna' tell you. First, I carefully inspect all the parts to make sure I've got everything together, then one by one, I zap 'em with my trusty Vidal Sassoon 1500 Watt blow dryer. Once the part is soft and pliable, I quickly cut away the excess flashing with an X-Acto knife. Be careful with this part, kids. More than once I've cut into a good portion of my own flesh! As trim each part, I do a quick initial fitting to make sure that the parts are all going to seat well when I'm ready to assemble and glue. Just keep doin' this until all the parts are ready for pre-assembly and priming. Another neat lil' trick I use just prior to committing to the unforgiving adhesion of the ol' superglue is scoring, or marking the aligning parts. Basically it's like this: I lightly heat up the parts to be glued, before using any glue, I fit the pieces together and work them into the proper alignment. Once satisfied that everything lines up just right, I mark a line with a black marker across the seam of both parts. This way, when I get to gluin', I know that my pieces will be where I want them. 'Cause believe me, with vinyl, as opposed to styrene, superglue sticks FAST!! It's amazing how fast the glue takes hold. I had forgotten about that with vinyl kits, and had to do a couple of do-overs on my first few tries. Thankfully nail polish remover, if used soon enough, does remove the glue. So, keep this in mind, kids. Once I've gone through all the major parts, pre-fit them and marked them for alignment, it's time to glue. Once again, a light bead of superglue will suffice, and I always follow up with Insta-Set, just to really get a good solid bond. Now that the major portions are in place, I look over the whole kit and make note of the not so good seams. This kit is obviously a recast, and not a particularly good one, so there are alot of imperfections in the joint alignment. Not the end of the world, but it will take me a bit of extra work with the X-Acto knife to clean up some of the mess. But, perfection is what we're after here, so no use gripin' about the work.

2.) Primin', Puttying, Scrapin' and Sandin'.........
First, let me apologize for my unexplained absence. Shoot, it's been nearly a month since I did step one and this is the first chance I've really had to get back at this kit. So, sorry 'bout that kids, now let's get back to work. I noticed right away in the earlier step that this particular mold was not totally aligned, often the case with recast kits, so I knew there'd be a fair amount of seam repair, especially where the leftleg piece joins the body. But first I prime the whole kit with Plasti-Cote Sandable Primer, I'm using a white primer this time instead of my usual gray. Priming a kit will bring out details, flaws, misaligned parts, and all manner of other details that we'll need to address later during the process. At this point, I'm mainly concentrating on what seams will require the most putty and sanding. Well, since I'm not going to be attaching the arms until later (if I put 'em on now, it'll be real difficult to paint her face) that leaves the just the boots attached to the legs, and the left leg attached to the body That leg seam is gonna' need some work. This time around I'm using MMD Fast Drying Green Putty, by Squadron. It's far superior to the Testor's Contour Putty that I've used on lots of other kits mostly because it drys fast, sands smooth as glass, and is relatively easy to apply to the kit. I hit up the area around the leg with a liberal amount of the putty, not just to hide the seam, but to level the area between the butt and the thigh. Can't have those unsightly panty lines now, can we? After it sets for a day (or in this case, a couple of weeks!), it's time to break out the scrapin' and sandin' tools. I use a
combination of Loew-Cornell Sculpting Tools, 3M Sanding Sponges, Squadron Finishing Sticks, and good ol' fashioned sandpaper. I start by scraping the excess putty off with one of the sculpting tools, and finish by using increasingly fine grades of sanding sponges, sticks, and sandpaper. Before you know it, that seam, or seams, is lookin' pretty darn good. Once satisfied that I've smoothed 'er over, I hit the whole kit with another layer of primer and prepare to dive into the actual painting of the kit!! Oh, joy!!