Raven

Character:
Raven from DC comics Teen Titans. Here Raven is seen in an interpretation of her original look from New Teen Titans in the 80's.


Construction:
Raven began toyhood as a Planetary figure:

(more pictures here.)

I chose this figure as a base because of the clean hip lines (despite the lack of articulation), and the shape of the face.

I removed the raised red lines, elbow and knee pads of the original jumpsuit, and pared back the line of the breasts. I also carved away some of the stomach and rear, to partially correct the odd way the original figure was posed. I trimmed down the area of the feet and cut up a raised heel for the shoe.

In Progress:

Then I used Magic Sculpt to smooth over the body shape, and Kneadatite to add the shoes, dress, and gloves. The front of her hair was trimmed way back and replaced with Kneadatite, which was also used to extend the hair in the back. Her cape is a separate piece, made of vinyl, Kneadatite, and two small plastic disks I had left over.


I was trying to build another separate piece for her characteristic hood, but the sculpting didn't come out as nice as I would have liked. It looks okay at this angle:

I really wanted to have the option to display her in several ways, instead of just sculpting the hood, cape and hair into one piece.

Paint and sealant and she's done. I have a new very fine brush which I used here, and I'm very pleased with the face paint.

Created as a gift for Erin.

(Pictured here with DCUC Nightwing)

Completed 2009

THEM!

Character:
When I was small, my dad and I used to watch monster movies together. I liked all the Godzilla flicks and their relations, but the one I remember the most is THEM. Those giant radioactive ants scared me thoroughly when I was little. It's a very well made movie, good creepy tension building, the ant puppets are super for their time, and the sound design is great. So for this holiday, I decided to commemorate this experience with a diorama as a gift for my dad.


Construction:
Pile of stuff I bought for this project (didn't end up using all of it):


The Ant:


The Ant (the most important part, obviously) has a base of a tarantula purchased at Michaels. Details of the figure here. I made a head out of Sculpey to slide over the pedipalps, turning a spider (two body segments) into an ant (three body segments), then joined it with some Magic Sculpt. The thorax was filled out and given segments with some more Magic Sculpt, and small pieces of cheap paintbrush bristle were stuck into the clay for the back bristles.


I cut off the rear legs of the spider, carved down the lower segments of the legs and added small spikes at the joint out of Kneadatite. The internal part of the eyes was sculpted and painted, and then a plastic outer eye was added, made of the clear portion of a "wiggly" or "googly" eye. The jaws are Kneadatite, with a wire embedded to keep them stiffer. They are slightly hinged, connected to the head with pins. Antenna are just heavy craft wire covered in "fur". Most of the fur on the ant is craft marabou, with some doll hair for texture on the back segment.



The Army Guys:


The Army Men, meant to represent the guys who invade the final giant ant base at the end of the movie, are from two sets of "Forces of Valor" figures, scale 1:32. They are sold as WWII army guys, and are highly detailed. I decided that if their details are slightly different than the National Guardsmen or whoever from the movie, it's subtle enough not to matter to anyone but students of military history. All I did to these guys was pick the ones I wanted and paint them in a detailed grayscale.


Set up from when I was trying out the guys before painting: (I didn't end up using all of them)



The Base:


The Base is built on the base of a large model car case (about 9" by 13"). The Forces of Valor sets came with some broken scale walls and rubble that I glued down and painted. The large rocks are from a plaster rock kit intended for school projects. The plaster kit also came with a bag of small gravel, which I colored and added throughout. The base was finished off with a layer of sand and plaster mix, sprinkled with rocks, and imprinted with a few ant-footprints, which ties it nicely into one piece. Only the walls and rocks are attached to the base, the army men and the ant are able to be moved.

The Sign:


Final touch, I sculpted the letters out of Magic Sculpt and glued them to a sheet of thick plastic packaging.


The most complicated piece I've done in some time. If only I'd had time to add sound effects. Completed Dec 2008

Lina Inverse!

Character:
Lina Inverse, of Slayers fame.


Construction:
I decided to do Lina because I spotted this doll:


and I thought, look at those huge 'anime' eyes on Ariel. Ariel is from the Shimmer Princess line, as is the Mulan I used here.


She has an entirely new hand-made costume. Her accents which are not cloth are Kneadatite. All costume pieces are removable except the earrings, headband (sewn to her head), and the gloves (painted to her hands). This includes 3 optional gem pieces, so she can be displayed as she appeared at the beginning or the end of Slayers Next.


The gems are just rhinestones set in Kneadatite. Her boots are Kneadatite on top of a pair of high Barbie boots that used to have flowers on the sides.



Her eyes, lips, and eyebrows are recolored, and I removed the ugly glitter eyeshadow she used to have. I also removed the ends of her eyelashes, which makes her look a little more excited and awake. I'm very pleased with the final effect. Completed Dec 2008