Robotic Rabbit Demon

Character: Erin asked me to come up with a handmade present for a friend.  I poked around in the bins, and started to get inspired. I therefore present a Mutant Toy: the Robot Rabbit Demon.

Construction: Essentially he's a complicated kit-bash. I picked out a bunch of pieces that I thought worked together.

Pile of possible pieces (not all used):

The main body is a Spiderman Movie Green Goblin, the head is from the "Robotic Rabbit" that came with a B:tAS Mad Hatter. I also cut two little claws off the rabbit and affixed them to the left foot. I replaced Goblin's right arm below the joint with an arm from another figure... I think it was called "She Demon", but I'm not sure.

The tail is a modified tentacle from a Spiderman/Doctor Octopus playset, and the wings are from a female demon-type action figure.  

I cut holes in the back of the Goblin to attach the wings and tail, and used Kneadatite to create a new elbow on the right arm.

Careful use of super-glue secured all the pieces.  The head is loose so that it can be turned during posing.  

The head was entirely repainted, everything else just got detail paint-work and some color wash.  Final touches were gloss on the eye and claws, and matte sealant. Completed 2010

Pallas, the Mantis

Wow, it's been a while since I've finished a project.  This lovely lady had been languishing half-finished for upwards of six months.  Well, better late than never.


Character: 
Pallas is the head of security for the Faerie Court, and bodyguard to the Queen.  Her insect is a Mantis, I combined a few different types for inspiration.


Construction: 
Pallas started dollhood as a Twelve Dancing Princesses Barbie:

I chose her for her elbow joints, her calm expression, and her really nice auburn/red hair.

Her new outfit is entirely removable.  It consists of a helmet, gauntlets, boots, skirt and breastplate with attached wings.  In progress:

The armor pieces are all made with Kneadatite.  The helmet is built on a skullcap I had from a dollar store doll who had changeable hair, and the boots are built up from some cheap knock-off boots.  The breastplate and arm-guards were free-handed on the doll (over a layer of plastic wrap).  The antennae have wire inside, making them gently poseable.  Some of the details, as you may be able to see in the progress picture, was added with dimensional paint, then painted over.  The final color is an antiquing paste, sort of a paint-on metal leaf.  

The underskirt is hand sewn out of a fabric scrap, and the strips are painted silk flower petals.

Her wings are made from wired ribbon, which gives her some posing options.  The intent was always to have her wings form a cape, but I went through several possible designs before settling on this one.

  She also has a pair of hand weapons, made from metal beads and Kneadatite handles.

Once all that was almost done, I removed her glitter eyeshadow, repainted her irises and gave her a facial accent with a bit of paint.

I'm not perfectly happy with every aspect of this project, but overall I think she came out well.  She's finally moving out of the in-progress box and onto the display shelf to stand guard over her lady.  Completed 2010

Terracotta Sculptures

Haven't been doing much customizing lately, but that hasn't stopped me from:

Blogging about books,

Reviewing toys, sometimes purchased with an eye to future customization,

Taking a class in Sculpture, with live models and everything!  Pieces are all done in a type of terracotta. I've worked with similar clay before, back in the mists of elementary/middle school art classes, but not for a long time, and the hand technique is completely different than the polymer and epoxy clays I can use at home.  Still, I got better fairly quickly, as you'll see in the progression below.

Finished Products: 
Standing Female Figure, 10" including base.

Many more pictures (one technically mildly NSFW), different projects, after the jump: