1:20 Ma.K. - Brick Works' Mercenary Woman Space Pilot A Inner Suit Ver. (conversion) & Mercenaries' Woman Maintenance Worker B

            Both figures in this scene come from the VERY nicely detailed 'Ma.K. UP' series of female 1:20 scale characters from Brick Works. 
Even though they are not cheap, these figures make nice diorama staff, and since 1:20 scale figures are hard to find at all I ordered a couple of them, including this pilot figure and a mechanic. 

The pilot figure was not taken OOB, though, but completely converted: I got hold of the 'Maschinen Krieger Profile 2: Snake-Eye' source book in a local Japanese book store. Beyond 'hard' Snake-Eye facts the source book also contains pictures of the Japanese model Demura Minae in a kind of pilot outfit, made up from a diving wet suit shorty, a pilot helmet and some props. Since I was not totally convinced by the original pilot figure's look, I decided to modify the figure towards this sexy Demura Minae outfit ;)

For the intended conversion, I would not change the original hairdo and the caucasian face. But the main modification were elongated body suit legs for which the small original holster (or whatever it is?) had to go from the left leg. To sculpt the new suit I used nitrous putty, adding seamless 'shorts' to the body suit. Additionally, and a bit inspired by Evangelion plug suits, I added 3 pressure vents at the shoulders and on the breast of the suit.

The rest of details was added from scratch, e .g. the air hose and mask (including a microphone cable, just as on the Demura Minae picture) and the new bigger holster/bag on the upper leg with strappers. Here, parts from leftover 1:35 scale military figures and masking tape found a new home. On the back, I also added a zipper extension, just like the ones you typically find on diving suits for ease of pulling them on and off on your own. This was also made with masking tape, painted red.

I suppose that the diving suit Demura Minae wore during the shooting was all black, but that was a bit too dull and simple for my taste. Closer inspection of the various pictures of this original diving/surf suit revealed a lot of subtle details, therefore most of the suit received a very dark brown basic tone, with lighter highlights and medium brown trim on the arms, as well as thin contrast lines to some black areas. The differences are very subtle. 

The figure's skin was painted with Testor's Skin Tone Light, shades and contrasts set with sepia ink.

The hair started with Testor's Rubber (a dark, reddish brown) and then highlighted with Humbrol's 100 (Red Brown) and 132 (Crimson) - a nice contrast to the dark brown suit and the olive drab holster/bag. Finally, the figure received a coat of semi-matte varnish, on order to play with light reflexes on the dark surface.

The orginal two-piece white metal helmet was retained and not modified. It was polished with a brass brush, and the shiny metallic look with painted red contrasts on top make another nice addition to the dark suit - I did not want to use the matte olive and black model from the source book's photo shooting.

The other figure in this scene is a mechanics figure of Brick Works' fine 'Ma.K. UP!' line. Again, details are fine, proportions excellent and the execution clean and crisp! Like the pilot figure, this one is also balanced out very well - it has a stable stand, even without glue under the feet or other tricks.

The original mechanics figure was painted in khaki drab - but as a contrast to the planned concrete hangar diorama scene, as well as to the greyish fighting suits, I painted the overall all blue. Basic tone is Humbrol 96 (RAF Blue), with lighter shades of dry painted blue and gray, and a wash with dark blue and black ink.

The basic figures was not changed, since it looks very pretty and balanced. Only added details include real paper pieces on the clip board, and a small added belt bag under the right arm.

Taken on: January 14, 2004

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Brick Works

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maschinenkrieger

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Sets appears in: • Maschinen Krieger / Ma.K. / SF3D / ZbV 3000

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