 smeagol the vile wrote: |
| I know a few of us use modded figures more then anything else (hans). So I was wondering if anyone has a tutorial or a guidlines or step by step, kind of thing for modding figures. Like... tools, materials, techniques, etc. Those kinds of things. My last attempt semi failed (body came out fine, head SUCKED) |
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If I can ask, why'd it suck? Did you have a poorly-sculpted head to start with or was it a neck problem? Necks can be a bit quirky if you're trying to save a collar and still show some neck... I build up the neck on mine by starting with a "spine" of a cut-off piece of straight pin... I drill a hole for it in the base of the skull, then glue the pin in, then drill another hole into the torso and insert the pin there, each time checking the length and nipping off a bit more of it until the head is sitting at the proper height off the collar or shoulders. Then I can turn it in the desired position and glue in place. I then build up the neck with small amounts of putty using a toothpick or knife blade, working the putty in unil the neck is built up to the desired thickness.
If the head was a POS, you ain't gonna get a good look no matter what you do... Might as well set the figure on fire at the collar and jam the head down onto the melted plastic (my original technique way back when, BTW)...
If you really need to, you can look lover this guy's project, some of this is universal to modding/posing figures:
http://www.f-15estrikeeagle.com/howto/william/william.htm
Overall, the best way to do this stuff is to stand infront of a full-length mirror and assume the pose you want, while paying close attention to the way your arms, legs, and feet are placed and turned. The next step is locate a figure that's as close as you want to the pose you want, in order to keep the amount of cutting to a minimum, and to always cut the arms, legs, hands and feet at the shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, and wrists. To cut a torso, it's best to treat it as two separate joints, rather then the articulated spine. One joint is just below the shoulders, the next just above the belt-line. On some, it'll be just one joint between the shoulders and belt-line. For a figure bent over at the waist, you'll want to cut a wedge-shape in the two halves, so you can get a more or less 90-degree bend... Don't worry about the missing detail at the front of the body, it won't be seen... Use the wire or straight pin to make the spine again, and glue into position. Once the pose is right, fill with putty and sand/file/grind to shape. Detail will added later, your main mission is get the position right and restore the "body"...
Keep in mind also that you may have to destroy two, or even three figures to get the one in the pose you need, by the way... That's why I buy (at least one) figure sets every time I go into the hobby shop... Sometimes there's only a set of boots or a head, or a hand that are useable from a certain figure, but anyway, buy it, and don't worry about the rest... Just pay close attention the extemities and thier positions. Many times I buy sets I have no intention of ever using as such, but the figures have arms that are bare, or sleeves rolled-up, or a particular pair of boots or a hat/cap/head I want... Obviously, you don't want to spend a lot of money on these guys, so if they're in the 15-20 dollar range, pass... Look for the old sets that are 5-6 bucks. E-bay's a great source for partial but cheap figure sets... I picked up a lot of 8 sets that were partials for 1.99 and 3.50 shipping and got about 30 figures...
Anyway, the Shep Paine book contains everything you need to know about modifying figures, so as Mike said, expand your library a bit... It isn't hard to do, once you've learned a few tricks... And don't be scared to CUT, Smeagol... It's a vile thing, so it should be right up yer alley... heh..
One more thing... Don't be afraid to set flame to the figures to do major joint attachments... I do that to torsos all the time, and saves time from cutting and drilling... "Welding" figure parts is a legitimate technique that you find in the books, but it works...