Remilia & Flandre Scarlet 1/10 [First GK]

Hello, Shelf!

I had been thinking about assembling and painting a garage kit for a very long time, but I was afraid: I had no experience, and the work is rather delicate. While I was stuck between wanting to try and being too scared to do it, the lovely minami_desu simply went ahead and started assembling and painting one. And posting about it constantly on Twitter. Meanwhile, I kept reading and catching her enthusiasm. It didn’t take long to have an effect—in May, these girls arrived. Why them in particular? I just wanted them. I never stopped to think about how a beginner would cope with figures at this scale while having only the most superficial idea of the process. That was my first mistake. The second was not wanting to study the thoughtfully provided materials on the subject in any depth, which led to the flaws in the assembly and painting. But first things first.

I was beside myself with joy when I received and unpacked all of this. And I got to work immediately. (That’s tea in the glass!)

I used the most ordinary degreaser: automotive degreaser.

Something odd happened with the pins, probably also related to the fact that it would have been a good idea to read and watch more before starting. Everything pinned nicely, and the parts fit together well during assembly, but after painting, gaps appeared during final assembly.

For some reason, using clear primer never even crossed my mind: I covered everything in white Tamiya primer. And here came another mistake—I sprayed the primer from a can, so of course the coat came out uneven, but that didn’t stop me. The paint will cover it and even it all out!

Until then, my only painting experience had been with Warhammer miniatures, using a brush. I’d never used an airbrush, but decided I could handle it and borrowed said device from one noble benefactor (there is no other name for someone who would entrust his airbrush to another person for the entire summer).

YEEEAAAH, butterfingers and bravery!!!

As a result of this creative rave and the stuff below, I ended up with two shiny heads and bonnets to match.

Clutching my own non-shiny head, I ran to the store for the stuff below and saved the situation.

At this point I had a revelation: all of it looked dreadful and garish. I was especially upset by the seams on the dress, which had become visible. I don’t know how that happened—carelessness, probably. I stripped the paint with airbrush cleaner and did a slapdash job of it; the paint and primer didn’t come off completely everywhere, but my desire to keep working and not spend ages picking at it was overwhelming (because I didn’t have anything else more suitable for stripping paint on hand).

I was happier with painting attempt number two. But while repainting it for the second time, I dropped the head and broke Flan’s nose...

As for the gap, I decided simply to do nothing about it.

And in the end, it came out the way it came out. Let’s turn them around a little for the camera and against the backdrop of a German book.

It’s only on the shelf that you realize their size compared with the others :)

At first, the result made me happy. But now I’m thinking of stripping them and assembling and painting them again. Only after I’ve done a good job on a garage kit in a size more appropriate for a beginner, though. I’ve chosen one. Now I’m waiting.

The work was very interesting and absorbing, despite the result and all the mishaps along the way. I gained a lot of experience by working with my own two hands. And the most important lesson is not to rush, to work carefully and methodically, and not to be too lazy to dig through a mountain of blogs and videos. I hope I have enough patience to do all the necessary prep work on my next kit :)

Thank you to everyone who stopped by!