Dollhouse Promo Shot:

This is a high resolution picture of the 3 main characters I wanted to reproduce.


http://geekritique.com/__oneclick_uploads/2008/05/dollhouse3.jpg

I have this picture as the back-drop on my computer and I thought it would be a nice break from making Buffy/Angel figures and it would be a great challenge for me to sculpt and recreate.

Here are some pictures of the pieces I laid out to use:

For Sierra I used an Asian head from a warrior type action figure. I used the top torso from a Charmed figure (and I was originally going to use the arms as well--as pictured, but I decided on using Dawn arms from the Summer's 3-pack figures and a Deluxe Chosen Willow right hand). I also used one leg (and butt area) from a Gift Dawn action figure. The second picture shows the arms I ended up using.

For Victor I used a Lord Of The Rings action figure head and torso, and top part of the legs. I used a cast of the Graduation Day Angel bottom legs and feet and deluxe Angel/Spike arms.

For Echo I used a EOD Faith body minus the feet and hair. I then used the bare feet off an unknown action figure.

For the base I found this piece of plastic while out junk shopping. It was the perfect size for the floor and for the 3 figures. (I actually found this before I even thought about doing this project--talk about your luck!) It had some gunk on it so I sanded down the plastic. I did add side pieces using the foam board to make the boarder on the floor.

I started sculpting Sierra. I attached the head onto the Charmed body, and I attached the torso on to the legs. After sculpting around the legs I didn't like the positioning of her legs and how it looked. I decided to get rid of one of the back legs and just sculpt the pants. Since Sierra is wearing big pants I made the bottom look like it was around her back foot. It turned out well. I also originally used the breasts that were on the Charmed figure. When I was nearing completion I noticed the breasts looked rather large and not natural so I painfully had to cut away them and resculpt the breasts (I say painfully because once you have a figure that is near completion, it is dang near impossible to make big changes without something going wrong--breaking other parts, for example). It worked out well and I'm happy with the results. I then had to glue the arms into place and sculpt them. During the sculpting process I didn't really notice Sierra's left arm being so large. It wasn't until after I painted her that her left arm looked HUGE and not accurate. I could have busted off the arm and gone with a smaller arm but I decided it was a minor flaw and it would be facing away and in the background so I let it go.

Painting Sierra was not an easy task. I had many different versions of her eyes painted. I just couldn't pull off the Asian look. I think what I have now is pretty good. What was most frustrating about her face was all the paint I had to keep applying and it started to layer up too much that it looks blotchy and streaky. It's fine from a distance, but not up-close. At this point there was not much I could do so I let it go.

For Victor I sculpted the hair and I had to fix the ears since the original figure had pointed ears.

I then sculpted his chest, shirt and I sculpted over the legs to make his legs more solid--like he is waring pajamas. I then attached the arms and sculpted over the joints and I sculpted on his sleeves.

I was amazed at how easy it was to paint Victor. Part of it was just dumb luck I think. I was carefully painting his eye area and my brush slipped a bit and it came out looking just like his eyes. So I left it of course. The other eye was not that difficult either. His shirt does have a bit of a sparkle to it since I used the same color on Sierra's pants and I wanted her pants to look girly and glittery. I decided not to change his shirt--it makes it look more polyester or nylon spandex.

For Echo I sculpted her hair, her breasts, tank top, pants and I sculpted over her arm joints. The hardest part was the feet I used. I really should have gone with my extra set of Gift Dawn feet that I had. Instead I used another figure's feet. This figure's feet were arched back (or downward). I had to boil the feet to re-bend them into a flat position. They really didn't stay that well and I knew that if I sculpt around the feet and reboil them, they would return back to their normal starting position. (I just imagined myself trying to re-bend the feet after I had just sculpted the pants and boiled the clay and I was just visualizing the pants crack and break. I didn't want that to come true.). So what I did was sculpt the pants around the feet, then carefully pulled out the feet. Then, I boiled the pants. When it cooled, I slipped the feet back into the holes. The problem remained that she didn't stand on her own. I had to sculpt some support on the back of her pants to make her stand up. In reality if you look closely she's still somewhat on her tip-toes, but I tried to give the illusion that she is just standing on her whole foot. I was also impressed with how her hair turned out. I tried taking pictures of the back-side but it's not very clear. It is really pretty. Oh, and the other painful thing I had to do was get the action figure's arm and fingers correctly positioned. Wow was this difficult. Lots of super glue later, she is resting her hand on her hip and it looks pretty cool.

Painting Echo wasn't much of a challenge since I was using a Faith head (Eliza D.'s action figure). I worked at getting her make-up just right. It was hard trying to get all the details on such a small face. I think I pulled it off fairly accurately.

Here are the figures all together, unpainted, then painted.

Here are pictures to compare :

You're Welcome

Season 5, Episode 12: You're Welcome
Original Air Date: 4 February 2004 In the 100th episode, Cordelia awakens from her magically induced coma and returns to help Angel fight an old enemy who has reappeared even more powerful than ever.


Now that I am getting a bit better at sculpting figures and thinking "outside the box" as far as faces (and with the success of painting the Dr. Wood figure) I've developed a confidence to try new things. I'm starting to mix more parts to make more accurate poses. I'm using different heads and painting a whole new face on it to try to make it look like someone else (other than the original figure). Sometimes I'm good and it looks accurate with a good likeness, sometimes I'm off. I wasn't totally in awe over this piece but I enjoyed making it.

I made Angel and Lindsey during their fight scene from the episode "You're Welcome." I mainly made this episode to go along with the factory made Cordelia. I haven't found the right pieces to go with the Cordy figure so ironically she's not part of the finished set. I also debated how involved I wanted to make my base for the two figures. I decided to go easy and I used a illuminating disc that responds to touch or sound. I covered that with some cross-stitch board, painted black (this is not seen in the pictures below).

I used many pieces to make Lindsey. I'm happy how he turned out but the face isn't exactly how I wanted it to look. I also used a cast of a Graduation Day Angel figure and I had a heck of a time getting the clay to stick to the cast. It kept breaking off. So the chest area looks rough. There also was a huge hole in the stomach area that I had to fill in with clay and try to get the clay to match with the rest of the figure. Anyway, here are some before pictures.

Here is the recipe: I used a Lord Of The Rings action figure's head (not sure which one it is), a cast from the Graduation Day Angel figure's torso, Chosen Xander's right arm and legs, deluxe Spike arm, and Oz's left hand. I then sculpted the hair, open shirt (I like how the pushed up sleeve turned out!), and belt buckle. Like I said above I had to touch up the stomach area also.

Here are some Lindsey pictures from the show. Notice how the tattoo on his chest changes. It is facing in two different directions. A mistake on Joss Whedon's part and it screwed me up when I was trying to find the shot to use to paint my figure.

Here is my painted piece.

For Angel I used the Season 5 Angel since this was basically what he wore during this show. I just sculpted on the ends of the jacket so that when he was done being painted it gave the illusion he was wearing a jacket over his shirt--see the picture.

I painted him to look like what he wore in the show. I used a white charcoal pencil to make the lines on the jacket.

Here are some finished pictures of both the men during their fight scene. The light below them is a blue-ish light which isn't really like the show, but it does look neat and it represents what they were standing on during the show.