The Gorgon
1/9th scale STL 3D print from Minichix Studios
Painted in 2026
The second of the busts I got of Marta Slusarska from her Minichix range of kits.
This time a take on that rather unfortunate character from Greek myth, the Gorgon.
I always feel some characters from Greek myth get a bit of a rubbish time, OK, there’s usually been some sexual shenanigans in their past, but usually the punishment seems to far outstrip the original crime, and having a gaze that turns folk into stone seems a tad harsh….. Then again, it makes for a good story and I did grow up blessed to see the many Harryhausen films made with stop motion effects.
The glowing eyes of the Gorgon in the film was one of the things I thought I’d like to try hinting at on this model, although rather than a normal flesh colour, I thought I’d go for a distinct green flesh tone.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Photo #1 shows the main casting of the bust. There’s several additional components that make up the rest of the hair / Snakes, but they will get in the way of painting if added at this stage, and the fit is excellent, so no filler will be necessary of they’re glued in place later on.
I’ve airbrushed three different shades of flesh tone onto a grey primer, having mixed the colours using Tamiya Flesh colour and different ratios of Nato Brown and Flat White.
Yes, I know I mentioned green flesh colours, just bear with me a little.
Photo #2 So the bust has moved forward quite a bit in this shot, I’ve added a dusting of mid-green to the flesh colours, then added a heavier coat with the airbrush having fastened some net over certain areas like the shoulders and cheeks to act as a partial mask.
This left a kind of scaled effect on the skin once the net masking was removed.
The orange around the eyes was my idea to hint that they glow when she turns people to stone, the flashing of the eyes affecting the skin around them, not burning it exactly, but changing it from the green of the rest of her colouring.
The eyes themselves I’ve painted with Darkstar Burnt Iron, followed by some Steel metallics from the same company, and then added some liquid Chrome from a Molotow pen.
The effect doesn’t really translate will to a photograph, but she looks rather disturbing ( which is what I intended ) as the chrome really does reflect light, and her gaze seems to follow you to some degree if you shift position.
Photo #3 shows a side view, and the scale pattern on the cheeks is a bit more visible.
I’ve undercoated the “hair” with several coats of MP Cream colour acrylics, ready for the snake pattern to be added.
Photo #4…. Um, you know when I said I was adding that net masking ?
Well I didn’t quite think through where I was positioning the tape that held the net in place, so ended up with some distinct blank areas on the back.
Oh, you can’t see them of course now, because I extended the cream colour down her neck and along the line of her spine, which I’d eventually freehand into some snake tattoos….. as I intended all along…… Honest !
Photo #5. This side view shows the hair having been undercoated, but note the joint at the hairline running straight up from her left eye. This is where five snakes join on to her, and it’s a really flush joint that will require absolutely no filler at all. It allowed me to leave the snakes off, and to be able to get at that side of the paint a lot easier than if I’d had to fastem them in place first thing.
I’ve painted the lips with a very dark purple, then added fine white lines to look like the texture that lips have. This will be covered by another colour, but the white will shine through to make the additional colour show up better – an old method called “Under-painting” that a lot of Old Masters used when using weaker pigmented paints in dark areas.
Photo #6 shows a top view of the hair. I’ve added some MP Mustard acrylic to the snake bodies to look like the pattern on an “Albino” Boa Constrictor.
I wanted the distinct contrast to the skin colour, and also the sculpting of the snake heads looks like either Python or Boa shape, rather than something poisonous like a Cobra or Viper.
The only moan I have about this is that maybe having then as something like a Cobra would enable them to spit venom, which could be handy for our Gorgin about town….. Just a thought.
I’ve added some leather colour to the underside scales of the snakes, just to difference them from the upper bodies and their markings.
Photos #7 and #8. Another couple of shots showing the snakes and their patterning.
Photo #9 and here I’ve added the very minimal clothing. I’ve painted it initially with a sand coloured acrylic, adding three or four thin coats to build up a solid ground, and then added Rembrandt Orange oils to the areas of deeper shadow, and topped this off by blending in Winsor and Newton Chrome Yellow.
The paint is still wet at this point and rather shiny.
Oh, and the other problem is that these type of colours take about two weeks to dry properly, even with the heat of the drying cabinet helping out.
Photo #10 and making sure I don’t touch the wet paints over her boobs, I added the freehand patterning to the snake tattoo on her back. I didn’t want this too arty and complex, this is after all an ancient Greek personality, so the design is rather simplistic.
I used colours that were different from the actual snakes of her hair – Leather Brown from MP and a little MP Cream to add some spotting.
Photo #11 and I’ve added some shadows to the snake tattoos to help them appear to be three separate bodies
Photo #12 and I’ve added Purple Madder Alizarin to the lips, see how that white shines through ?
Photo #13. Now that the bra type clothing is dry, and the rest of the painting finished ( OK, I did forget to paint in the leather of the band around her neck, but I managed to do that afterwards ), I could add the rest of the snakes.
There’s three separate snakes along with the piece that is five snakes that goes on the front of the head. I’ve undercoated them in the same way as I did the rest of the hair, painted on the pattern with the MP Mustard acrylic, and then given the whole lot a wash of Viridian oils.
I think this latter addition – the wash of Viridian – was a step too far, it’s brought the snakes back to appearing green, which whilst it ties them in to her skin colour – which is what I intended it to do – I think I should have left them in their lighter cream colours.
I’ve got to paint the heads of the snakes yet, but for now the paint needs to dry fully.
Photo #14 shows a view from the back at this point, I’ve got to admit that the snakes do look rather cool.
Photo #15. Aaaaargh !
If you’ve read my other articles, then you’ll already know that I share problems and mistakes within them.
Painting is not always a smooth process, and even the best of us ( and I don’t suppose I am ) have the odd hiccup along the way.
In this case whilst gluing the separate snake bodies onto the head I managed to get a drop of superglue on the chest of the model, just visible in this shot and with a black ring around the area in photo #16.
It’s not hugely intrusive after carefully shaving away most of the drop of hardened glue, but once noticed, it can’t be unseen, and to my eye, it kind of leaps out at me each time I view the model.
Options ?
Strip the model and repaint – um, no, not at this stage friends.
Retouch the area and hope to match in the colours – Possibly the option to go for.
Add the figure painter’s version of the AFV builder’s Tarpaulin, i.e. paint a tattoo or a scar over the area – well; maybe, maybe.
Photo #17. Then I saw a video online using a nail-art silicon tool to lift prints off an etch plate and then place it on a model. Granted this was done on a flat area of a sci-fi tank, but could I make it work to cover up the glue mark on this model. The etch plate and the silicone stamp are shown in this shot.
Photo #18. As an initial idea, it kind of works to transfer a design across. You need a steady hand, and to be honest a flatter area would probably work better.
I added some stippled lines around the design to make it look like primitive tattooing, and with further practice I think this might be an option to add more complex designs to larger fantasy figures.
Photo #19 shows another design – a lot simpler one too – on the busts left arm. This came out better, and I’d had a little more practice. I used oil paints straight from the tube applied to the template, wiping off the excess with the plastic “squeegee” ( A rubber one might be better at clearing all the traces of paint from the plate though )and then transferred the design onto the model.
Photo #20 shows the addition of tongues to the snakes. To make these I used a spare piece of plastic sprue, flattening it with a file on two sides, and then heating it with a cigarette lighter to allow me to stretch it out to the desired thickness.
The sprue retains its flattened profile while being stretched, so then it was just a case of cutting a split of the end of the tongue, forcing a bend into the plastic and trimming it to size. Superglue was used to fasten the tongues in place, and each of the snakes received different sizes and shaped ones.
Final thoughts.
In the final shots I’ve painted the heads of each of the snakes and finished off the gold rings that adorn them.
It’s been suggested that some of them might look good if painted to represent ceramic items, rather than metal rings, but I’m not sure that they would look right. It’s something to try on another day I think.
Otherwise, I’m fairly happy with the appearance of the bust, I did plan that the snakes would be a lot paler, but the white acrylic stains easily, and the Olive Green oils applied as a wash have ended up much more prominent than I’d intended.
However, they do now blend in with the overall colour-scheme, and work better than the stark white look that they had during the painting process.
This was only ever a test piece to see what a new airbrush could do, to see if I could make a bust have a somewhat “disturbing” appearance, and finally to see if there was an easier way to produce tattoos on open areas of skin.
I don’t have any illusion that this is of competition quality, Ok it’ll probably go to a few shows on the display stand, but the painting isn’t neat enough, and there’s at least one glue mark that really haunts me.
But it’s a good kit, and my shortcomings shouldn’t put you off thom having a look at Marta’s website for her range of STL files.