Gambit

Character:
Poor Gambit had languished on the workbench for years, started but unfinished.  No longer!

The same disclaimer from Rogue applies, though.  The version of this character I picture by default is from the 90's animated show.  We will not speak here of that hideous movie from last summer.

Construction:
Gambit began toy life, years ago, as a "Ken as Superman", from Superman Returns.

 

I chose this doll because Ken is the right height to stand next to my Barbie Rogue, and this Ken in particular had a nice look on his face, (most Kens sport a dopey looking grin) as well as decent articulation.

Side Note: his Superman costume has padded muscles in it.  This cracks me up.

The first thing I did was sew his bodysuit.  It's made of a double layer of black nylon.  I stopped most of the way through this step and did other projects, for a VERY long time.  He actually benefited from the delay, though, because in the meantime, I learned to use Kneadatite.

 The breastplate and boots are hand sculpted from Kneadatite.  The flexibility of the cured Kneadatite means that the pieces are (carefully!) removable.  Of course, to make them I had to wrap the doll in pieces of ziploc bag to keep the compound from sticking to the doll, while holding the desired shape. (No picture, sorry.)  I like using ziploc bags because they're thin and flexible, but not as flimsy as plastic wrap, which tends to get stuck in the dried pieces.

After sanding and paint:

Next I did the only permanent part of the costume, the gloves and mask. 

I carefully marked where they should be, and then sanded the skin, painted the areas black, finally gluing a layer of the black nylon over the paint for texture.

Next I painted the pink chevrons on the legs of the bodysuit.

I sewed him a 1/6th scale trenchcoat (I had to send away for tiny buckles, I highly recommend www.tinyzippers.com for doll sized notions).

I finished the style on the hair with a little hot water and glue for hold.  Finally, I painted his face, redoing the eyes (obviously), touching up the lips with a different shade, and reshaping the eyebrows.

And the layers come together:

Okay, so I was too lazy after all that to build him props as well, so he's borrowing those cards from a 13" Joker.

So, after a long time sitting solo, Rogue finally has her 12" Marvel guy to share her shelf with.

Aren't they cute together?

It's been a long time for him, but I'm really happy with the way he turned out.