Topic: Yuzzums' Customs

[Sjefke]

Stunning! The use of a nitrile glove is inspired! She does indeed look like Visas Marr (a character from KOTOR II if you didn't know that already).

I've been using nitrile for a while now.  Cloth is nice but there's just no way to get it to look natural at 1/18th scale.  Nitrile seems to have the a much better thickness and flow.  Here's another teaser from one of the figures I sent CC...



That was made from the pinky of a glove I got at my dentist's office.
UNUSED! . Since it's a finger, it was just the right size for a dress, seamless.

It's a pain to work with though.  I need to use Loctite flexible glue to get it on a figure.  The pants on Yakface took about five hours and five tries to get right.   If I'm a little sloppy, it just melts the PVC.  Forget about do-overs. 
It takes color from Sharpies and even holds paint as long as there's no handling, but I really prefer using the desired color glove.  It's available in a wide range of colors, but just try finding it.  It's embarrassing to beg a few gloves from a doctors office, ambulance or food service.  "What do you need it for"?...... 

[Sjefke]

She is a star, buddy  I promise, much more of her story to come! You have contributed so much to the series already!

Thanks Buddy
Let me know if you have any other characters in development.  You know how slowly I work.  I think I started Rocket and Groot eight weeks ago and the bodies aren't even done.

[Tamer]

Wow, great material to use for dresses. Time to share.

Any advice you can give for working with it and then adding color to it would be awesome! It sure did work great on the latest one you showed us.

[JDeck]

That looks great. Its hard to get 3.75" soft goods to look realistic, but this looks really good.

[Sjefke]

Any advice you can give for working with it and then adding color to it would be awesome! It sure did work great on the latest one you showed us.

I'll work on that, Tamer.

[Sjefke]

Any advice you can give for working with it and then adding color to it would be awesome! It sure did work great on the latest one you showed us.

I'll work on that, Tamer.

That looks great. Its hard to get 3.75" soft goods to look realistic, but this looks really good.

Thanks JDeck.  I've been using that material a lot. 
My blue mercenary's Kama (page 1)
Bastilla Shan's skirt.
Jess's pants
Yakface's pants
Cane Adiss' necks

You've been on fire lately yourself. 

[Sjefke]

Hey Yarders
 
Work on Rocket and Groot's bodies has stalled while I got the heads and their molds as good as I could.  I'm finally satisfied.  I experimented with different tints.  Dark brown is the way to go for Rockets and light tan with a hint of green for Groot.



Time to see what they look like painted.

[Tamer]

Looks pretty fantastic to me. Off to share.

[JDeck]

Man they look great. Can't wait to see them finished.

[Starchaser]

Looking awesome! I think your color decisions are spot on. Look forward to the finished product

[Sjefke]

Thanks Starchaser, JDeck and Tamer
 
Up until now, I've been avoiding Rocket's body.  I'm using a Megablock figure, but I've been making adjustment to the arms and legs, hence the need for Ultra-articulated Spider-Man wrists.  The elbow looks less bulky.  The real problem for me was the legs.  In many renderings, Rocket stands on his forefeet, and his ankles don't rest on the ground.  That presented a major problem because of his size. 


 
Making a forefoot hinge
I saw this trick on FigureRealm.  They feature a tutorial on how to make a hinge in a hand of a six inch scale figure so it could hold items more securely.  I gave it a go with 3.75 scale Bilbo Baggins feet, mostly because I liked the sculpt of the toes.  I drilled through the feet and ran a thin paper clip through.  I pulled out the metal hinge and made my cuts.
These were my planned cuts.
(I've been experimenting with Ibis Paint app)



After making the cuts, i ran metal pin back thru.  I had to do some repair work with acrocyanate filler, but I got the joints to swing securely.



Incorporating rare earth magnets
I definitely want to be able to recreate the movie prison riot scene when Rocket stands on Groot's back, but I don't want to go crazy trying to balance one figure on top of another, so I figured putting magnets in the feet was the way to go.  These magnets are 1 mm diameter and 0.5 mm thick.  There are larger stronger magnets in Groot's arm and back.



Here's a pic of Rocket's foot on Groot's right arm.
i still have to repair that broken wrist.



Fabricating rocker ankles
This is where that Ultra-articulated Spidey wrist comes in.  I needed something really small and that ball joint is the smallest I know of, even smaller than an Ahsoka Tano ankle.  I cut the ankle and then bored it hollow with a Dremel.



It was a tight fit.  There was so little plastic left that the light was shining through the flesh colored paint to the inside.  First, I coated the ball joint and its peg with liquid mask.  Then, I filled the foot with a tiny amount of fast curing marine plastic repair resin.  While the resin was still fresh and soft, I shoved the peg into the foot.  Once the resin cured, the foot worked better than expected.



This shows the range of motion.



So there it is, the  smallest foot with a ball jointed rocker ankle and a hinged forefoot I could make.  It's rough and needs some serious finishing, but they both work.  The next step is attaching the ankles to the knees.

Thanks Yarders.

[Tamer]

Wow so much to learn here. Thanks for sharing.

It looks great. Off to tell the world.

[Sjefke]

Just having a little fun with molding.
I never liked the nankles and swelbows of the SAGA Death Star Gunner, but we are just never going to see a better sample.  I figure if I grab a couple of INCs form Sinodolls.  How hard can it be to suit them up with a helmet and armor?



Here's a couple of head casts. 



I actually have the body of Gauran Kal Fas ready to go, but his soft goods are proving troublesome.



The original is on the right.  My paint job is better. 



Thanks
I should have Rocket Raccoon's arms and legs done soon.

[I-am-Boba-Fett]

Great job on Rocket and Groot so far Sjefke!
 I agree your paint job on the Guaran Kal Fas cast head looks better.
 I wouldn't mind getting one of those Guaran Kal Fas cast heads from you. Want to trade one of those for one of my cast heads equal in value?

[Tamer]

Boy I agree, your paint work is so much better. Off to share the latest.