Friday, June 17, 2011

I Can Be... A Green Lantern!



Character: 
Barbara Millicent Roberts, you have a history of willpower and you are capable of overcoming great fear. Will you accept this charge?




Construction: 
When I found out the only Barbie product for the new Green Lantern movie was a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Carol Ferris, I decided that couldn't stand. After all, Barbie has had over a hundred careers, even spent time in Starfleet, and been transformed into a number of superheroines. She deserves this. Much to the movie marketers' surprise, I'm sure, the Green Lantern Corps are not an all-boys club. (For more on why I like Barbie, you can see my review of I Can Be... Race Car Driver Barbie)


The Barbie I chose to receive the ring is a Fashionista "Sweetie," for her classic Barbie look, and her Fashionista articulation. I re-did her hair into a simple ponytail, but didn't change her eyes or lips.


I bought a pair of 1/6 scale fists on eBay, and sculpted the ring onto the right one as a first step. Attaching the fists to Barbie's arms required the sacrifice of her original hands so I could use the existing wrist articulation. 

Her arms were so slim that I decided to give her a little more muscle with some Kneadatite epoxy putty.




Next step was building her jumpsuit. I bought a shirt at the local thrift store that had the texture I wanted: almost a thin swimsuit material, a lycra with a little sheen to it.


Her jumpsuit is entirely handsewn. Her boots used to belong to a Princess Amidala doll.




I painted her boots, and cut down and painted her earrings. Her green gauntlets and symbol area are painted onto the jumpsuit by hand with fabric paint.



The final step: sculpting her mask out of Kneadatite. The mask and ring I left the base color of the Kneadatite, because it's a perfectly nice green already.



Even More Pictures to come in another post. Completed 2011



5 comments:

  1. You can start selling this. I am sure lot of order will come.

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  2. my daughter has been begging for a girl green lantern doll and of course they are no where to be found. How much would you charge for one? Im desperate!

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  3. Sorry, LaKinta, but A) I really have no time for commissions right now, B) I don't know how old your daughter is, but I wouldn't trust my work to hold up to children's play, C) given the cost of the materials and the time involved, I would have to charge something like $200 to make it worth my while. That seems like too much to ask, which is why I don't sell my customs.

    I don't know of any official doll releases, but you could probably find a great action figure (6 inches tall) of one of the female Green Lanterns.
    I like this one of Katma Tui: http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Classics-Katma-Tui-Figure/dp/B001Q8NJX0

    Here's a good Jade: http://www.amazon.com/DC-Direct-Brightest-Day-Action/dp/B004J18E2W

    Soranik Natu is pretty kick-ass looking here: http://www.amazon.com/DC-Direct-Green-Lantern-Soranik/dp/B004YCUL04/ref=pd_sim_t_5

    Best of Luck!

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