They Call Me "Spike"
Jorge Blanco has been mining the wealth of new dinosaur discoveries in Argentina and producing some remarkable kits, like this 1/35th scale Amargasaurus. This kit was done with only a handful of colors and basic techniques to create an eye catching oddball.
Over the last twenty years or so, the South American region known as Patagonia has been the most exciting treasure trove in the world for dino-fans. They were big, bad and bizarre down there. The Amargasaurus featured in this article is fascinating animal and a great subject for a kit because it breaks so many of the the dino rules we tend to expect.
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Amargasaurus was small by sauropod standards (a mere 10 meters or so), but obviously it had other interesting qualities. The enormous spines on its neck may have supported sails, or as depicted here, simply offered some protection from neck chomping carnivores. It had a short neck, bowed legs and a big round snout. A real oddity, even in the realm of dinosaurs.
As a dinosaur fan, I have to say, I have been rather fascinated by this animal since I read about it a few years back. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to see this kit from South American sculptor. You can pick one up for about $140 through Link and Pin Hobbies, but I got mine directly from caster Mike Evans at Wonderfest. I have also written a detailed review of the kit here, though I can tell you in short, it is nicely done, but it is probably not a first dino kit for a newbie.
There are eight solid resin parts in this kit and to my great pleasure, none of the tiny little tail spines were broken off. The first step is to wash the kit in dish washing liquid to give a nice clean surface for the primer to adhere to. This is very important if you want a smooth paint job that won't peel off.
Assembly begins with a little trimming of the resin posts that insert into the body at the neck and tail. (By the way, hats off to Alchemy Works and Jorge Blanco for not making the spikes separate parts! Much appreciated.)
Anyway, the fit of the parts is pretty darn good, but you have to clip the posts to about 2/3 of their original length. To do that, I am using one of my favorite tools, Xuron Rail Nips. These have a great cutting blade and cut through thick pieces of resin smoothly and without a lot of hand strain.
The next step is to glue these parts in place. I tend to use one of two products to get a good bond. One is 3 minute epoxy, which requires a little mixing and will hold tight in a few minutes. However, here I am using Gorilla Glue because it works great in the recessed parts because it expands and will grip the pieces well.
In the photo to the right, you can see a drop of amber colored Gorilla Glue. There is also a drop of water in the hole, which activates the glue. Around the outer edges I use CA glue to hold it in place while the Gorilla Glue sets up, which takes a couple hours.
Once that is set up, the legs need to be posted or pinned. You can do a lot of measuring and cross measuring and the like, but I have a simple way to do this that works really well if you have a good eye and steady hand.
First, find a suitable post or pin (like a nail with the head clipped off). Drill a hole of corresponding size into the larger of the two parts, in this case, the body. Next take a toothpick, insert it in the hole and clip it off just above the surface. Then, you put a dot of red or orange paint on the end of the toothpick. While the paint is still wet, carefully match up the two parts. The paint will mark the spot to drill the corresponding hole. Just glue in your post and drill the second hole and you are ready to put the leg together.
Once the limbs are attached, we can start covering the seams. I begin by blending two equal amounts of Apoxie Sculpt, shown below in the pre-blended state. It needs to set up a bit before use, so while I am doing that, I need to make a latex impression of the scales. I use another two part compound, Repliscale by Alchemy Works. In the picture below right, I am applying the mixed Repliscale to a representative section of the skin texture, which is very subtle. This will be used to press in detail in the putty.
To hide the seam, take a thin roll of mixed putty and press it into the gap. Then, use the little green latex stamp created with the Replicscale to impress new details over top. It is best to lightly moisten the putty first and you may need to do this a couple of times, even after priming, to get a good disguise.
The first step in painting is to prime the kit. I have now taken to using Kilz primer, which gives a great uniform coverage without swallowing details. The under belly is airbrushed using an Iwata HP-B at about 12 psi with Banshee Shadow Gray and the spikes are airbrushed with Bleached Bone, both from Badger's Freak Flex line
Next, I apply a base coat of FW Inks Raw Sienna and randomly spray in a few spots of Cowards Yellow. This will form an undercoat that in the end will come out much darker.
Once that is dry, I mix together the color that will form the top coat and the spots and stripes. I start with about six drops of Freak Flex Nocturna Blue to two drops of Body Bag Black, mixed with three drops of water to insure a good flow. Since I am going to airbrush it in, I only need to measure it in drops.
The bluish black color is applied with the airbrush compressor set very low--at about 8 psi--to help control the lines. I also work with the needle of the airbrush just millimeters from the kit and test out the pressure I am apply with my forefinger a couple of times to make sure it is controllable.
I start by making vertical stripes downward and then back filling the ridge along the neck, back and tail. When I stop to readjust my position or refill the cup, I always spray into that ridge area first to get a sense of how fast and hard the paint is coming out. If it is too much, it won't matter there.
When that is done, I take one of my favorite dino colors, Createx Transparent Light Brown, to shade down the top half of the kit and around the base of the spikes. I also paint the toes black and dry brush a little Bleached Bone over the tops of them and then seal the whole kit with Dulcote. The eye (which is literally less than two millimeters across) is painted with a white dot, followed by a pinpoint of black in the center and covered with a tiny drop of Tamiya Transparent Red.
Once that is dry, I take a light oil wash made from about 1 part Burnt Sienna oil paint to 20 parts mineral spirits and brush it over the whole kit until the colors are blended and toned down a bit. At that point, the kit is essentially done, especially if you decide not to use the base, which I did for reasons of shrinking shelf space.
As a dino fan, I am glad I had a chance to pick this kit up. I think it could be intimidating because of the spines and assembly techniques necessary, but hopefully this article has demonstrated that you can get good results with a little patience and simple applications of paint. It is a very unique kit of a unique animal and worth the work involved.
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