I've worked on these two ladies on and off for
years. Brea and Senni, the Tonnika Twins.
Once again, the heads were supplied via trade from the late, great Stan the Man. They were painted by Charles of Darth Sinister Creations. Thanks again for the invaluable help with these two.
The base bodies were TVC and/or Movie Heroes Aurra Sings. First, I carefully sanded the shoulder and wrist wrappings away. Next, the neckline high spots were sanded smooth, then low spots were filled with Aves Apoxie. I cut off the unarticulated feet, and fitted feet from a LC comic pack Ysanne Isard (Brea) and a TVC Aayla Secura (Senni). Aayla's heels gave Senni a little extra height - I originally tried using Aayla's shins so that I could keep the feet identical, but they were
too long. Hands are from TBS Roses.
I used two layers of thick Tamiya masking tape to outline the collars, then filled the areas with Aves. When the Apoxie cured, I used a rolled-up piece of sandpaper to gently sand the Aves flush to the tape. The roll allowed the paper to follow the contours around the neck.
The sleeve cuffs are pieces of electric cord insulation. Might've been a mouse cable, but I can't remember that far back.
Brea's belt was sanded from a TVC Jyn Erso belt, while Senni's was sanded from one of the Aurras' belts. The belt buckles were hole-punched from a pair of Yavin celebration medals. The garters were cut from a couple of Yavin Luke gunbelts - They're the center rings that fit around the figures' waist pegs.
Senni's base color is Meltonian "Avocado" spray vinyl dye. Her bright green highlights are Vallejo Game Color "Escorpena Green."
Brea's coloration was much more difficult, and one of the big reasons why these two took so long. I originally dyed her with VHT "Satin Blue," which is a nice shade of navy. For whatever reason, the feathered edges of the Aves on the neckline remained visible through the dye. I didn't have any problems with the Meltonian; maybe VHT uses stronger solvents. IDK. I tried building up heavy layers and sanding with grits as fine as 2500 and even a magic eraser, but the line was still clear. I even had to rebuild the collar due to all the sanding. Eventually I realized I'd have to use acrylic. The top coat is Vallejo Model Color "Dark Blue," with "Deep Sky Blue" details. I don't like brush-painting figures, but in this case it was necessary. Each Twin got several coats of Testors Dull-cote.
I sprayed the garters with VHT "Red," then wet-sanded the top and bottom edges for a crisp break from red to black. I strongly considered using small zip-ties because of their ribbed texture - I bet they'd look great painted black with a red dry-brushing. Ultimately, I figured their harder, less flexible type of plastic would be more trouble than they'd be worth.
In addition to the dye/Aves issue, I had some other big problems to work through:
1) My first attempt at sanding a neckline went haywire, and I ended up creating a flat-chested uniboob. Looked like a DCUC Starfire.
2) The shoulder joints are very delicate. I ripped two arms apart trying to boil-and-pop them out. Ultimately, I decided to play it safe (but expensive) and cut the arms from the torsos with an X-Acto. All told, it took
five Aurras to make these two gals.
3) I was working on a Laudica parallel to the Twins, using the same basic recipe. I finished her first, and was trying to insert her shoulders when the pressure caused the Aves around the neckline to crack away from the body. I wasn't too heartbroken, but if the same thing happened to one of the Twins after all that Apoxie and dye work, I'd have flipped my wig. As a precaution, I sanded the shoulder pegs considerably to help them go in easier. Thank the maker it seemed to work.
4) I originally planned to use vinyl strips from the cover of a three-ring binder to make the belts. Scrounged a binder, bought a circle cutter from Hobby Lobby (the belts would need to be cut in curved strips to sit on the gals' hips properly), and cut out a variety of pieces. I picked the best one and started supergluing it on. Imagine my surprise when the glue wouldn't bond to the "vinyl." Apparently the binder cover was made of HDPE or similar plastic. *Sigh*
Thanks for looking!
