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Converting a 130mm resin female figure into a TOS Star Fleet officer.

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  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Converting a 130mm resin female figure into a TOS Star Fleet officer.
Posted by mach71 on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 9:01 PM

This will start out as boarderline. Sorry.

 

I've wanted a 1/12 scale female figure to go with my

1/12 Spocks, Kirk, Horta, and Mugato but I can't find one available. CultTV has one listed,

but its been out of stock for about a year.

 

Searching Ebay I found some resin female figures from China. They are listed as 1/12

but 130mm are a bit small. 

And here is the issue, they are all nude or topless.

Mods please delete if it crosses the line. If I had thought in advance I would have

put tape over her breasts for the photos.

This is what I got in the mail:

 

 

I wanted to repopsition the arms and the 1 leg to make her a bit less provocative.

I then rough sketched the uniform on her.

 

 

I started to build the skirt and neckline with epoxy putty.

 

Now we get safe, The 1st cut of the full uniform.

 

 

I let the putty start to set and then started to smooth it with alcohol. I've had good luck with this before.

 

 

More to come.

 

 

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Thursday, March 10, 2022 8:21 AM

Hi. 

I usually start this with a figure from the Classic american Pin-Up collection. At least they do have some clothing on. Provacative poses, Oh well, carpenters skills come in then

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Thursday, March 10, 2022 9:01 AM

Cool! Easier to start with a nude or bathing suit wearing figure since there's less stuff to cut and sand off. Nice that she's even got a '60s looking hairstyle so you don't have to do a lot of surgery on her hairdo.

BTW: You might want to check AliExpress- lots of Chinese resin figures- generally cheaper than Ebay. Just enter 'resin figure' in the search box and boatloads of stuff will come up.

Good luck, looking forward to seeing her come together.

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: USA
Posted by keavdog on Thursday, March 10, 2022 9:05 AM

Nice job!

Thanks,

John

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Thursday, March 10, 2022 10:34 AM

Thanks Guys!

 

Since the thread is still up, I guess things are ok.

 

Gamera,

 

I'll check out that site!

 

I started to cut out the soles of her boots.

 

 

 

I'm not really sure I like them, but I think they will work.

 

Next up was filling out her uniform. I made the bust line more natural.

 

The tape is where her sleeves and boots will end.

 

Speaking of sleeves:

 

 

Boots next.

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Thursday, March 10, 2022 7:54 PM

I glued the soles to her feet.

 

 

Then added the epoxy putty. Working with my fingers, sculpting tools, and alcohol.

More work needs to be done, but over all I'm happy so far.

 

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Friday, March 11, 2022 9:19 AM

I like where you're going here!

She just needs a tray and some coffee to bring her captain!

 

I'm assuming you're going with human for her? I think it's the hairdo I see as Andorian- just add some antenni and toss out the pink paint for a nice sky blue... Stick out tongue

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Friday, March 11, 2022 12:34 PM

Funny you should post that.

I'm considering going the Andorian route with her. Her face and hair do kind of look like it.

 

My plan is to have her a Lieutenant, not a Yeoman, so no coffee for Kirk.

 

If she is Andorian, what uniform color? Red, blue, or gold? What goes best with pale blue skin?

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Friday, March 11, 2022 6:31 PM

Lol, my bridge crew in Star Trek Online are mostly Andorian. I was going to dress them up in TOS uniforms and post them for you to look over. But it seems my internet connection is going to be so slow to take forever in patching... Huh?

Okay patched now.

Here's a screenshot- none other than Nimbus III, legendary planet of galactic peace for the heck of it... 

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Friday, March 11, 2022 8:33 PM

Cool! thanks.

 

I like the look of the red uniform.

 

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Saturday, March 12, 2022 3:08 PM

Too late now, but, if you can find the original Star Fleet Manual, it actually has patterns for both the male & female uniforms for TOS.

Wait, everything is on the interebs:

Now, from memory the pantyhose are specified in "nude"--a black hich is not black sort of color.  How that would appear on an Andorian is a fascinating qestion.

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Saturday, March 12, 2022 7:12 PM

Thanks!

 

I did consider going that route, but I want her to match the plastic and resin Spocks (3) Kirk, Mugato, and Horta. I want a "hard plastic" look. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Saturday, March 12, 2022 7:15 PM

Not much to show, but a bit more progress. Starting the fine putty work.

 

 

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Monday, March 14, 2022 1:17 PM

Excellent project!

I agree with Gamera, using a mannequin is a good way to start a project like this.  It's the classic way; it's how most figures start out, whether you use a commercially-available mannequin, or make your own from scratch with an armature.  If you know how to cast, you can also make one as a master, then cast a bunch as you like.

The German maker Preiser has male and female mannequins in its catalog, too.  They're 1/12 scale, if I remember correctly.  Verlinden had them in 1/35 scale, too.

One caution about buying from eBay or any Chinese sites-many of the pieces you find are pirated/unlicensed copies of copyrighted products.  If you don't want to buy an unlicensed copy, you need to check the listing carefully.

 

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Monday, March 14, 2022 8:39 PM

Mach71: Looking good, the boots are coming along well. 

Baron: Yeah, a lot of the Chinese figures do look like knock-offs/recasts. So far what I've bought I think are original, or at least I've never seen earlier versions of them. 

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 9:27 AM

Thanks!

 

I'm at work for a few days so no progress for the next week.

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 10:07 AM

Gamera

Baron: Yeah, a lot of the Chinese figures do look like knock-offs/recasts. So far what I've bought I think are original, or at least I've never seen earlier versions of them. 

 
Yeah, it's a minefield for folks who want to avoid pirated copies.  I've got some myself, because I bought a figure and only learned later who the maker was, and that the figure is still in production. 
 
The Chinese are ripping off the Girls in Action series, for example.  They were originally sold under ZLPLA, and the line was picked up by Tori Factory. 
 
That's an example; it's relatively obscure, and someone new to the hobby probably wouldn't know.
 
Another would be the various MaK figures, from Brick Works, Tonerico, and other small manufacturers.
 
It's tricky to learn to tell what's what.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 8:12 PM

Baron: Yeah, noticed several of those, and a bunch of Valkyrie tank crew figures too. 

I bought a bunch of figures from Yufan, I think they're all original and the molding is top notch. Beautiful figures, both the molding and the poses. They did um 'borrow' a few intellectial properties though- bunch of Star Wars, DC, Marvel, and video and computer game characters etc that I really doubt they paid Disney or whoever the rights to use them.

Mach71: Okay, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the paint go down!  

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Wednesday, March 16, 2022 6:48 PM

mach71
I did consider going that route, but I want her to match the plastic and resin

Ah, to be clear, I mnat only usign the patterns to cut the thin putty sheets, so as to get the unifrom lengths and proportions a tiny bit faster.

Your build has turned out marvelous.

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Friday, March 18, 2022 11:09 AM

CapnMac82

 

 
mach71
I did consider going that route, but I want her to match the plastic and resin

 

Ah, to be clear, I mnat only usign the patterns to cut the thin putty sheets, so as to get the unifrom lengths and proportions a tiny bit faster.

Your build has turned out marvelous.

 

 

Thanks!

 

I did think of going the route you sugested, but I did not think I had the skills to make it work. 

What I ended up doing was a version of what I did on my Mugato kit, time consuming but I felt comfortable doing it.

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 3:47 PM

I got back to her today. 

 

I started on the heal and sole of the boot. Her legs were off a slight bit due to my repositioning of her leg so I had to build up the sole of her left boot a bit.

 

The putty is drying now.

 

I got this bridge chair off of Shapeways for her, but It's too big.

 

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 4:49 PM

Hi!

      Question, Is she a Teenage Cadet? because Kirk looks too big. You can fix the chair by grinding the edges down equally down and shortening the base.If you need an edge afterward add some H.O. or N scale 2"x 4" strips.They bend easy as well.

      Or is Kirk's head to large?

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Thursday, March 24, 2022 6:57 AM

She is what she is. 

 

When I bought her from Ebay she was listed as 1/12 scale but she is obviously too small.

She will be displayed by herself. 

 

The chair was listed as 1/12 scale, but is more like 1/8 scale. 

It fits the DST charecters very well.

 

I ordered some 1/18 chairs from Shapeways, I'll see how those work.

  • Member since
    April 2009
  • From: Longmont, Colorado
Posted by Cadet Chuck on Thursday, March 24, 2022 8:53 AM

You need to run Kirk through the Transporter, and shrink his head a good deal.

(I had a Kirk vinyl figure whose head was way too small.  Fascinating.)

Gimme a pigfoot, and a bottle of beer...

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Thursday, March 24, 2022 11:28 AM

Like how the boots are coming!

Sad that she is weirdly off-scale. It's another thing I've noticed about the Chinese figures other than the bootlegs The Baron pointed out is that they often get mislabeled to scale.

All I've bought were nicely detailed and well cast but some are just - off. I bought a Japanese WWII pilot labeled as 1/48th but he's closer to 1/32nd. Or else he's just nine feet/ three metres tall...

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Thursday, March 24, 2022 3:06 PM

I put the 1st coat of primer on her today.

 

 

 

Looks like I still have a lot sanding and some filming to do.

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Thursday, March 24, 2022 5:49 PM

Gamera
It's another thing I've noticed about the Chinese figures other than the bootlegs The Baron pointed out is that they often get mislabeled to scale.

It's almost as if they are starting from a premise that a "standard" height is around 60" (150cm) rather than 68" or 69" (175cm)--which is an entire "head" taller or shorter, to scale.

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Friday, March 25, 2022 8:43 AM

Mach71: Yeah, a little more sanding but looks like she's in the ballpark. You did a great job on the uniform and boots.

Capt: Makes sense. I'd just assumed it was sloppy labeling or just an 'I don't care' attitude but that makes more sense.

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Friday, March 25, 2022 9:57 AM

mach71

 

Excellent progress!

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Boston
Posted by mach71 on Sunday, March 27, 2022 9:17 PM

Thanks!

 

I've done some more sanding, priming, sanding, filling.

 

But no new photo's. 

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