Gamera
Wow! Despite your questions about the skin tone it looks like the spitting image of Arnie to me. And the special paint on the leather looks great!
Thank you! This was a neccessity. If you could see how the two colours compare, you'd see that this was needed desparately to make his skin look like he was actually alive. The camera changes the colour considerably in some photos, especially ones with the flash turned on. It also makes Arnie look wider than he is in person. When you see him on the table, he looks very thin, but on my 19" inch monitor he also looks a little wider.
The paint I used for the leather is supposed to be sprayed thick, as this causes it to wrinkle. I used it to make this easy to replicate the look of leather because it has a thick body that causes it to be more resistant to drying, so I can rub this lightly while still wet with a paint poslishing compound that will actually dull its' appearance, and give it the dull gray look that real leather has to it, but isn't noticable, except from closeup. This was sprayed very thin, and fast to keep the paint from actually wrinkling the way it was formulated to. You can do this, but only once, and in thinly sprayed layers, as this paint wrinkles once repainted over.
Thank you guys for your comments, and your compliments. I appreciate your insight! All others are welcomed. Questions, comments, compliments are always welcomed, as this makes me feel that I'm not wasting my time.
This picture is out of order, but I wanted to show the leather like grain this has. This was painted from a spraypaint can very carefully. This is formulated to make much bigger wrinkles than this. I had to do this lightly to keep these lines in scale with this figure.
In the home stretch. This is almost done, but the trigger guard still needs to be attached to the grenade launcher tube.
The tab at the bottom of the barrel is a strap mount. There's another one at the other end. There are small grooves in each one that I drilled with a 0.15" Thousanths of an inch drill bit in a straight line until I could cut through each hole to the one next to it. These are intentional. They keep the strap taut.
This is the curvature of the handle that I sanded into it. I wanted to show this before I permanently glued it to the rest of the grenade launcher.
Another shot. This is a closeup, and it's the best I can get with my camera at the moment.
The light is weak with this one. This looks brighter in person that it does on film.
I know that these look the same, but they're the finally finished form with no further touchups neccessary. I applied clear gloss coat to the areas that are supposed to be red, and wet, and this is dry in the areas where it's supposed to dark, and dried blood from being so thin. The shirt has a wet look around the open wound as a real shirt would. I did this by rubbing my hands over it with a little gloss coat to make it look damp without looking glossy. All the open wounds, and even Arnies' left eye have gloss coat to make it look evermore realistic. I just need to add a little black washcoat to resemble eyelashes. I glued the gap between the jacket,and the pants in the back to add structural integrity. This is by the beltline where no one will ever see,and by the pockets. This can't be seen from the top,or the sides.
THE JEWEL OF MY EYE
I wanted something that would look like a true Terminator eye,but I didn't want to route a wiring channel with an aircraft drill bit through one of his legs. I thought that this needed something that would be durable, and not have to be serviced like a fibreoptic, or need batteries, or possibly burn out like an LED.
This is a rhinestone that I superglued to a styrene rod, then shaved down with an emeryboard while turning it on a drill. This ensures perfect symmetry. I was lementing how I could've used these at the time I was at the local sewing store, but I was there to buy materials for another project that is on the backburner for now. When Roy consigned me to do this, I remembered these, and went back to the sewing store, and bought a box of over 100 rhinestones. These came in multiple colours, red,blue,light blue, green, gold, yellow, purple, white, and pink. OOOOOOHHHHH pretty!!!!
I wet sanded this with 320, and 600 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper. Then I buffed it with Brasso, and plastic polish to make this shiny. I originally thought of making an eye of each of these colours, but it's very difficult to insert this eye as it is to remove it. I permanently glued this in so that it won't fall inside his head when handled. Arnies' head is hollow inside,but this doesn't make it easy to retrieve, or insert without a lot of difficulty. This works perfectly in bright light, as this is made from chrome backed solid red acrylic.
I waited to show this last, as it was to be a surprise. This is the first thing I did when I got this figure,even though I'm showing it last. This was the only modification to this figure, but a highly neccessary one! This wasn't polished yet, as I was only testing the fit before deciding whether this needed more work, or not.
This a chip out of the back of the jacket from the fill plug. Someone tried to fill this with woodfiller before I got it, but an edge like this isn't a place where this stuff will be durable. I replaced it with superglue, and baking soda. This makes a rock hard mixture.
I sanded this smooth after giving the entire figure a hot soapy bath in antibacterial dishsoap to remove finger oil, and mould release agents. I sanded this down with 320, and 600 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper. I then took my Exacto blade, and shaved the edge of it, then I made a couple of small creases to match the rest of the jacket for a seamless repair.
This is what I used to recreate the yummy gooeyness that covers the red bloody areas.
This is a lot harder to see the detail on now. This is only the initial coat of primer. I sprayed this to see any tiny imperfections that I need to remove before I can call it done. But, it doesn't matter, as this is the wrong damn grenade launcher. I'll have to make a new one, unless you want this one anyway, Roy. At this point in time I still have yet to glue the grenade heads onto the canisters, and attach the strap.
This is the correct one. Forgive the poor quality of this picture - I stole it off ebay too! Now that I don't the video, I have to resort to all kinds of ridiculous means to exemplify my intentions. Look closely, and you'll see that this is what was actually used in the movie. My version is based off a military grenade launcher - the kind that shoots explosive grenades.