Sci-fi Showdown, week 2 (2024 week 26)

This week we continue our sci-fi theme as one might expect. 

First up we have The Smuggler from Women & Sci-Fi kickstarter and Bonnie Gun from Cyberforge. Bonnie has been here before way back in week 43 of 2022. I was pretty sure that Bonnie's sculpt could hold a higher quality paint job than my previous attempt and I'm happy to say that I was right. I went with mostly the same color scheme picking out more of the details and doing more work compositionally with the orange pop colors. I also wasn't in a hurry which helps. The Smuggler in contrast, was kind of done in a hurry. This isn't because I was under any particular deadline, but mostly because her details were far too small to pick out effectively so I basically didn't bother. One of the things I like about sci-fi figs, is that they can plausibly have not-normal colored hair but TBH, I don't think the blue works. Ultimately I don't think this is a great paint job but I'm not in a hurry to print another to try again.

Next up we have Suzanne Vega from Cyberforge and TurningGear Scifi fighter from TwinGoddess. Suzanne comes with a little drone copter guy since she's a rigger but I clearly didn't print it. I like this sculpt well enough but really disliked a) how shallow most of the details were making it hard to pick them out, and b) how much negative space there is, her coat in particular. I like how the highlights on her coat and the texture on her jeans turned out. TurningGear was also a fairly difficult paint job but for different reasons. The end of her hair pancaked badly and I was nowhere near careful enough de-supporting her as there are scars all over her back and other places. I think I salvaged it well enough but it was really tedious. The Ghost Tint Plasma Fluid on her armor and sword doesn't really sell. Still working it out.

Last up we have Cuddy Grey from Cyberforge. I liked this sculpt a lot more than I expected and only after I started painting realized that she's a medic. This particular fig was printed last summer and got periodic washes and what not over that time, the most interesting of which was a sepia wash over her duster which left a texture/tone that I really like. Most of her gear is highlighted over a contrast paint basecoat but I picked out a mess of the details. You might also notice the wash and edge highlight on the gun which came out better than expected. Overall, she was a pretty fuss-free paintjob and while I could have done a lot more with the highlights, I'm happy counting her as a high quality work.

2024 finished mini counter: 140/208, 13/12 high quality