### Metadata ![[IMG_0444.png]] - **Figure:** Tifa Lockhart 1/8 (Final Fantasy 7) - **Completed:** 2012-09 - **Focus:** get back into modeling - **Colors Used:** Mr. Color - White (01), Gloss Black (02), Brown (07) + Red (327), Super Silver (157), Skin (Mr. Color clear gloss + clear red + clear orange mixture); Model Master - Brown (eyes) ## Intro Tifa was my first fully completed kit from E2046 and definitely nice. I currently have another two E2046 kits that I’m working on currently on, and while the quality seems to vary a bit from kit to kit, overall they are good. The quality of the kit and how it fits together were not quite as nice as Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, one of the other kits I’m working on, but it wasn’t bad at all. Everything was relatively clean and fit together well – the only minor complaint is the way the legs attach to the torso wasn’t a super strong connection without pinning as the two halves were both relatively flat. In any case, since this was a pretty small kit with few parts, it was a fairly quick build. I didn’t do anything fancy and really just wanted to get something new completed as I’m trying to get back into modeling more since I’ve only done a couple models in the last couple years. I went pretty standard on colors just using standard Mr. Color Gloss Black and Mr. Color White. Another reason I picked this kit is for the skin – I would really like to learn how to do better skin tones and this kit was small enough that I could redo it without too much issue if it turned out horrible. For the skin, I started with a white base. I then topped it with some custom skin tone mixtures as seen in this thread. It took a couple tries but I eventually got something decent. It’s definitely not as nice as the author of the referenced thread, but for a first time creating skin tones rather than trying to use pre-made colors / Mr. Color clear orange, I thought it worked out decent enough. ## Photos ![[IMG_0468.png]] ![[IMG_0443.png]] ![[IMG_0445.png]] ![[IMG_0446.png]] ![[IMG_0447.png]] ![[IMG_0448.png]] ![[IMG_0449.png]] ![[IMG_0450.png]] ![[IMG_0451.png]] ![[IMG_0452.png]] ![[IMG_0453.png]] ![[IMG_0454.png]] ![[IMG_0455.png]] ![[IMG_0456.png]] ![[IMG_0457.png]] ![[IMG_0458.png]] ![[IMG_0459.png]] ![[IMG_0460.png]] ![[IMG_0461.png]] ![[IMG_0462.png]] ![[IMG_0463.png]] ![[IMG_0464.png]] ![[IMG_0465.png]] ![[IMG_0466.png]] ![[IMG_0467.png]] ## Lessons Learned - **Using para film for masking is a terrific idea.** Prior to this kit, for masking I relied very heavily on masking tape for the majority of masking projects. However, I read somewhere that para film works great, and indeed it does. It’s pretty cheap considering how much you get too. I ordered 2 x 250ft boxes of para film from Amazon for $25 or $30 or so. It may sound pricey for a masking solution given tape may be just a few dollars, but that’s 500 feet worth of masking materials, pre-stretched! With para film, you just pull a bit out, take the paper off, stretch it (it has good stretch to it too), and wrap it around whatever you want to mask. It sticks well once stretched (especially if you wrap it around several times – it sticks very well to itself). You can also easily readjust it once on too – I just push it as needed with a toothpick – this is not something you can do well with tape since tape really is meant for straight lines. Para film allows you to do curved areas a lot better. It also can cover a larger area easily if needed rather than using a bunch of strips of tape. These 2 boxes that I bought will probably last me for the next 10 years of modeling and I can see myself using it for the majority of masking in the future except on small areas where straight line of tape will work better.