Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel custom figures

2011-03-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

This is another set I made from the show "The Gift." Since I've made the scene where Glory takes Tara's mind, then the scene where Willow attacks Glory, and the 3-piece set from The Gift, I also thought it would be nice to have a scene where Willow gets Tara's mind back. Here are the parts I used: For Glory I used The Gift Glory figure, Vampire Willow arms/hands, and random cloak bits from Lord of the Ring figures. For Willow I used a Willow head, Dawn torso, Willow thighs and butt, Darla's heeled legs (not seen in this picture), Spike's jacket, two sleeves from a deluxe figure and two open hands from a Charmed figure. For Tara I used a Tara head, Fred torso, YW Cordelia thighs/butt, deluxe arms/hands and Buffy legs, and the boots from the MAC Faith (not pictured). For Glory I sculpted the underside of her chin. I cut away some of the back of her head so her head could tilt back more. I wanted her looking up. I also sculpted over the leg joints and make her pants a bit more "real" looking. For the cloak I had to super glue random bits together to get it to be the correct size. The original cloak would have been wonderful but after watching the show I noticed the cloak went down to the ground so I had to add more on. I also chose to use the Vampire Willow hands since those fingers look like they are in pain, being somewhat curled. The hair took quite some time to get right. Once I figured out how to make curly hair it was pretty easy. I had to go piece by piece and then I used a tool to indent some lines. I really like how it turned out.

For Tara I was a bit worried her head would not be in proportion to the parts I wanted to use. The original figure is so small. But it worked out. I think the long neck helped. Tara is a big girl and she has some very womanly curves and I don't think people portray that when making her. So I chose to use bigger parts. I had to watch a few shows to see how tall Tara was next to Willow. So once I had the parts, I had to cut them to size, which was quite a challenge. Then to add the feet added another level of complexity due to the way the shoes were made and how I'd attach them to my figure. Plus the figure needed to be able to stand on its own. I sculpted her chest and made it stretch some over the bust. Most of that got covered when I sculpted her sweater (bummer...). I sculpted over the entire legs to make the pjs. I then sculpted the sweater. I had made a hood over the figure's head then moved it off to make the hood look at realistic as possible. I then sculpted the ears (which are a bit big but I love how they turned out), and the hair. I then sculpted on the pony tail which I like how that turned out as well! Finally I added the arms. I used a towel to press into the sweater to give the sweater texture.

Here are some in progress pictures of Tara:

Willow was a tricky one to sculpt. I had to figure out where the hands had to be to make it look like she was plunging them into Glory and Tara's head and make it look as real as possible. I had to do this in many stages. Plus it was super tricky to sculpt around the arms in that position. I ended up cutting away some of the jacket so it looked more stretched since her arms are out reaching forward. I also saw that Willow had on high heels (luckily before I got much sculpted) so I traded her bottom legs for Darla's heeled legs. I then sculpted the jeans and gave her more of a bubble butt. I had to add some details on the jacket. I also sculpted the hair to be blowing back somewhat.

The Trio, in progress and finished sculpted pictures.

For the set I wanted to do something unique but not too busy to distract from the main event. I had a much smaller base but I had a hard time getting the pieces I wanted to use to fit. The only thing I had was a super large plastic base from something. I ended up cutting that into a smaller square. I then screwed down some of the plastic bases for the walls. I used foam board for some of the walls also. The is a window piece from the charmed set, a fence, garbage can, rat eating from a Chinese container, pallet and wood scraps, roll of fence, and some other random bits that looked somewhat true to the original scene. I also used a sheet of Styrofoam (with lines scraped in it, and glued) for the back wall. I painted it to look rusty. I love how that turned out. The floor is painted with sand in it to give it a rough look. I also used foam board glued to the outer plastic base to cover the cut edges. Here is a picture from the show and my version (along with different angles to show all the details):

Painting Glory I knew would be a challenge. At first I thought her cloak had black marks on it but in other scenes it was just shadows. Her cloak is very shiny. I had bought some copper paint and I mixed that with red and it gave me a wonderful, perfect color. I mixed in some gold paint as well and just painted the outer cloak with swirls of many colors. The hair was quite unique as well. I started out with some darker shades and I was going to add in some highlights but it didn't work quite right. I kept adding colors and blending in spots and somehow it came out looking very natural and true to Glory's hair color. I doubt you can see all the texture in the pictures but I do like how it turned out. I'm not totally satisfied with her face but for the most part it looks like her (I think the thing that bugs me is her chin/neck area which seems to be huge). Here are some pictures.

Tara gave me some troubles as well. Painting the sweater and shirt was easy. The design on her pants was not easy. I had it done at one point but noticed I did the moon wrong so I had to repaint the pants. Then I tried using a marker to draw on the moons/stars. This wasn't as effective. So my third attempt is what you see. I do like how her face turned out. She lookes shocked and confused so that was what I was going for. Here is a picture from the show and my version:

Willow was the last to get painted. It was hard mixing paint to match her crazy clothes! I really like how it all came together.

Here are pictures of all three figures on the base. I painted some spider webs (that you may use during halloween) first with glue to harden the fabric, then I painted it with shades of blue. I think it makes a nice effect for the magic spell that is happening:

Here you can see the details in Glory's hair.

Here is a picture from the show where I got my inspiration from. And then I tried to mimic that picture with my figures.

2011-01-25T18:47:00.000-08:00

Season 2, Episode 20: Go Fish
When several members of Sunnydale High swim team are mysteriously skinned alive, Buffy and the gang take it upon themselves to protect the remaining members, which results in Xander revealing a side of himself rarely seen.

I made Gage from the episode Go Fish. I've wanted to attempt a Wentworth Miller character and the particular scene when he rips off his skin was one that I've always liked. While junk shopping I came across a locker and this set my mind in motion to recreate this scene.

Here are two scenes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

The locker system was something I think from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I ripped out something inside which left a hole at the top. I decided to invert the lockers so the hole was on the bottom. It still worked. I glued a piece to the bottom of the locker so that I could screw it to the base. For the base I used a Lorn stage piece. I was originally going to use this cool tile looking floor (which you can see in some pictures) but after watching the show I noticed the floor was cement so I sadly had to scrap that idea (after having to cut up the tile piece to fit into the Lorn stage.)

I had this John Cena figure with the mouth open so I started with that. It was about a 7 inch figure so I knew it would be tricky to find other parts that would be in proportion to this figure's head. I went with a demon Giles body since it had that bumpy texture like the creature in the show. I also used the Leo's (from Charm) lower torso, legs and one arm. This was originally used to make my Grooslaugg figure. Since I redid that figure awhile back I recycled these parts. The size was what I needed. I started out using both of Leo's arms but I ran into some problems. I also used a Spike jacket and an alien's hand and a spider man hand.

Here are some before pics:

I had to cut away some of Gile's body and then I super glued that to the top of Leo's torso. I also drilled a hole in the top of Gile's body and used a plastic dowel to hold up the head. I tilted and angled it some to make him look at his hand. I used a lot of clay for the stomach to fill in the huge gaps. I then sculpted the stomach and the ripped open chest. Next I sculpted the legs. I am extremely happy how the folds in the jeans look. It's very real looking! I'm not sure if the detail is easily seen in the pictures.

I then sculpted the arms. Most of the forearm is the Leo arm. I took off the hand are replaced it with the demon hand. I sculpted around the arm to make it look like one piece. Then I super glued the Spider Man hand to the demon hand and sculpted that in place to appear as if the demon hand is ripping through his human hand. Here is a picture.

For the rest of the arm it didn't look right to have anything attached. I tried gluing parts of other upper arms but it looked too bulky. I decided to just sculpt the rest of the arm and the shirt. I am also very pleased how all the folds and how the rolled up sleeve turned out!

Then I was going to have his other hand supporting the ripped hand (like in the show) but every time I attempted the arm looked super long. For risk of it looking silly I had two options. One was to have his left hand hang down and rest on his leg...which looked great. Option 2 was to have his hand on his ripped open chest area. You can see what I decided was best. This one was super difficult to sculpt. Most of the arm is my own sculpting. I used a different hand (not Leo's) and part of Leo's forearm. The shirt was also tricky to sculpt but I love how it all turned out. The jacket I cut away a large chunk off the bottom to make it not hang so low. I cut away a large chunk from the shoulder areas and sculpted that in to make it appear less rigid and more real. Take a look!

Here are some finished locker pictures. I spray painted the lockers with a metallic silver paint and then sealed it with a matte spray which gave it a really cool look. I painted rust on the bottom. I used a Wesley jacket and an arm from a figure (minus the hand) for the jacket. I only did one side since I glued it to the top of the locker. I sculpted it to look like a letter jacket. I included a bag, cell phone, and shoes that were left over from another figure. I cut part of the blanket from a Spike figure and there is also a mirror glued inside.

Here is the finished painted piece. I do like how the flannel turned out. It was a learning experience how to paint flannel material. I think it looks good. I gave the jeans a textured look. I'm not totally sold on the facial likeness but I think it'll work. It was so darn hard painting Wentworth's eyes on a figure with squinting eyes. There is dirty sweat marks on his head and I used hot glue for the slimy strands on his new demon hand.

Dan C. Real Person

2011-01-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

Dan is one of my on-line buddies that I met less than a year ago and as I was showing him my work he wondered if I could make him. He had many different pictures to choose from but he said he liked the one of him on the porch the best. I told him I'd make it for him.

Here is the picture I recreated:

The hardest part making this particular piece was the bench. I tried looking on ebay for benches but none really looked like the bench he was sitting on and I try to get as detailed as possible. This was tricky because I had to make it to the correct size so when the figure sat he wouldn't have dangling legs. The legs are still dangling a bit but it's not bad. For the sides of the bench (and legs) I used a plastic part from maybe a Barbie table. I had to cut that up a bit to get it to size. Then I used the plastic piece from the top of the table for the seat of the bench. I then glued Popsicle sticks to the top of that. I also used some smaller Popsicle sticks to make the back of the bench. It was quite a task to master! I then used some foam board for the decorative front of the bench. The bottom of the base is two floor boards from a Charmed set. I had to cut away some extra plastic pieces and fill in the gaps where walls were. You can see that in the pictures below. Originally it was going to be a wood floor but then Dan said it was actually on concrete so I painted it gray with some grit in the paint to give it a rough texture.

Here are the pieces I used to make Dan. I used a hockey player's head (Salo from the Oilers), A Harry Potter's torso, Claude's (from Heroes) legs , a Xander arm/hand (bent), and a Spike arm/hand (open).

I had to cut a lot off the top of Claude's lower torso to allow for the Harry Potter torso to fit on it. Then I had to figure out just how bent over it needed to be for the arms to rest on the legs and be able to reach up to the arm sockets. The arms were a bit short so I had to sculpt most of the upper arms/shoulders. Here is a picture without arms--torso not glued yet.

Then I sculpted around the legs. I had to cut a lot from the under thigh area. Plastic figures don't squish like real people so in order to make the figure look like it's sitting on the bench and not floating, I had to cut away the bottom of the thighs and then sculpt around it. You can see on some of the side shots where the pants are flat against the bench. I sculpted the crotch area to make it look more natural and I also sculpted over the knee joints. Here are some pictures.

When I attached the Harry Potter top torso there was an awkward gap in the back. I used a lot of clay to fill in that part. In order for the figure to look "normal" I made it so it looks like his shirt is hanging low in the back and his jacket is above it. It seemed to do the trick and cover any irregularities. You can't see that in these pictures.

For the head I had to sculpt the ears, hair, and beard. I am still trying to perfect my ear sculpting. It is not perfect but I think what I did is better than earlier attempts. I then sculpted over most of the Harry Potter torso. Then I sculpted on his jacket.

Finished sculpting:

The background is the wall. I glued Popsicle sticks at an angle on a piece of foam board. It was quite the task to cut and place the sticks but it was worth the effort. I do wish I had slightly wider sticks but it still worked.

And here are the final pictures!

I know the super sized version of these will look sooooo bad since you see every detail and the eyes looked messed up. I just wanted to show some close-ups of the face.

2010-08-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

Season 3, Episode 22: Graduation Day: Part 2
Original Air Date: 13 July 1999

Buffy forces Angel to drink her own blood to rid his body of Faith's poison. With Buffy in a severely weakened state, the gang decides to rally the masses of Sunnydale High to defeat the Mayor once and for all.

I found this really cool skull head and it got me thinking about making the mayor when he transformed into the demon at the Sunnydale graduation. It was quite a fun piece to make but very time consuming. I used a plastic piece for the bottom of the demon and screwed that to a circular tube. I then screwed an arch piece that I had to the tube and also the top of the skull.

Here are some pictures of the parts I used for the demon.

I used so many random parts for this that I don't even recall. It was quite fun using parts that were basically useless. I then taped on cheese cloth. I didn't even want to imagine how much clay I would have to use for this so I opted to use Plaster of Paris. I used to have the stuff they use for casts (which is essentially the same thing) but I got rid of it. So I ended up cutting up strips of cheese cloth and dipping it in the plaster and then covering the parts. It was painful and messy and it took many days to complete. I am very happy with how the head turned out. I got the eye area looking very reptilian looking and the mouth area. It's quite impressive considering what I was working with and how quickly this stuff dries! For the eyes I cut a balloon (for the Prom Buffy) in half and then covered around it with cheese cloth/plaster. It has a see-through look to it and it is extremely creepy if you peer into it but I couldn't get a picture of this. Here are some in-progress photos.

Finished with the plaster of Paris, unpainted.

The demon stands about 17 inches high. I'm also a pretty detailed person and in the show the demon has these scales on the back. I originally started with scales on (as you may notice) but I decided it was not something I wanted to keep, plus it was hard to keep the pieces glued to the plaster. I also decided to add a snake-like tongue. I don't think there was a tongue in the show but I just decided to add it.

The scene that I decided to make was where the demon is getting ready to eat the principal. I wanted to make this scene since I've always wanted to make the principal and I just thought it was a cool part of the show. For the principal I used a X-Files Molder (?) body and a Nicki (?)from Heroes head. I used a screw for the neck and filled it in with clay. I was a bit worried using a female head for the old guy. Plus I had to sculpt ears which I'm still working on. I have to say I love how it turned out. There are no traces of female that I can see and the modifications I made to the head aged the head.

The base was a challenge but fun. I wanted to make the stage area (since that is where the show took place). I started off with a piece of foam board (but I should have used a thin piece of wood since I ended up screwing the demon to the base) and I mixed in some cut up cheese cloth to green paint for the grass. I added fine sand to grey paint to make the sidewalk and I had this cool brick material I used for the sidewalk. This is real to the show. Most of this is covered by the stage, however.

Here is the thing about the stage. In the show the demon does not crash through the stage. But for this huge thing to be on a tiny stage it would make sense for it to break. So I decided to make the stage look like the demon smashed through it and took the diploma table and podium with it. For the stage I used a large table (?) from maybe a Barbie thing. There are random bits of wood around the demon to make it look like it is busted stuff. I used a heat gun to melt the stage and the plastic (Iron) bars that hold up the stage. I'm not sure if you can see this in the pictures. I also had some really cool velvet paper that matches the library carpet so I covered the stage with that. I then used some plastic paper and made the decorations going around the stage. I cut up some cylinder items and put them in a box for all the diplomas.

Here is a picture of the stage.

From the show:

The demon was a digital cartoon in the show so it was very hard to try to paint it accurately. I painted the demon using greens, blacks, blues and then dry brushed with with a lighter green. It was my hope that it would pick up on the cheese cloth texture and appear to look like scales, and it did!

I also love how the principal turned out!

(Show picture of principal)

Here are the final pictures!

(Show picture of the demon)

Convictions--Eve

2010-07-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

Season 5, Episode 1: Conviction
Original Air Date: 1 October 2003
Angel and the gang adjust to life at Wolfram & Hart, while Angel lets loose the shocking contents of a package from Sunnydale.

I originally saw a figure of Sydney Bristow from Alias on ebay and I thought it would make a great Eve head that no one has done before. When I got the figure I saw she was way too big and it sat around waiting to be turned into something. I decided to make this particular Eve figure for a challenge on the Buffy Figs Forum ( http://btvsfigs.proboards.com/index.cgi? ). I had all the spare parts I needed laying around and since this figure is about an inch taller than regular figures, she had to be in a set all by herself...so it all worked out.

For Eve I used the Sydney head, torso, arms, and one hand. I used another hand from a wrestling diva figure, and the legs from a Six figure from Battlestar Galactica.

I wanted to make the scene where we first saw Eve. Angel just took over the Wolfram & Hart office and he goes into his office and sees Eve. I like the part where she introduced herself as Eve and then tosses Angel the apple (a little Biblical irony). Here is Eve on the desk, most of my motivation for the scene I wanted to make.

I think the hardest part was trying to figure out how to get the legs to stay crossed without having to super glue them. I wanted them to be rather secure. I tried screwing them but each time the legs would shift and it wouldn't look right. I also had sculpted both legs but knew better to not boil the clay (or it would crack as I was screwing them in place). I did manage to get the legs screwed together, and then screwed into the body. Here are some pictures.

Here I was just seeing how I wanted to position the legs.

One leg is sculpted:

Legs. I did have to cut away a bit on that top leg (the bottom thigh) and then resculpt the bottom of the leg so it looked like it was being a bit smooshed when rested on the other leg.

I then sculpted her butt and molded a dress around that. This part worked out easier than I expected. The way she is leaning back, with legs crossed I had to think about how her butt would rest on the desk. I then sculpted the apple. I decided to not fight with her hand to make it look like she's holding it with a few fingers, but instead I put the apple in her hand (which did squish the apple some). Her other hand is glued to the bottom of the jacket and I sculpted a little of the wrist. I also sculpted her shoulders and hair.

I am very pleased how she turned out. This is one of my better paintings on a face. It was slightly easier since it was a 7 inch figure, not a 6 inch.

I had to make the desk. A 12:1 scale dollhouse desk would not be the correct size. I decided to use two plastic back walls base pieces. I got a mini saw from my dad which really help in my motivation in making this. In the past I would boil the plastic and cut it with a razor blade. This was so much nicer. Still hard to cut since heated plastic melts, but better. I also used a hockey player's stand for the top of the desk. I needed it to have that angle in it. The way I fit the piece together to make it look like seams was very cool. I then added some cardboard to the top to give it that edge look and also to the front so there would be like a panel in the front of the desk. I used 4 handles from an axe and glued that to the panel part. I also glued some nubs (actually plastic bone pieces from a game) to the bottom of the desk for the feet. Here are some before and after.

I painted the desk to have a wooden look which looked great. I then used scenic water to put a shiny coat over the desk. With this shine the pictures look really bad. It does not photograph well.

I also wanted to make some desk pieces to make the desk look official. First I used a Barbie chair for the office chair. I covered only the top part with clay to make it look like the expensive office chair. The rest is still pink and left undone. It is not meant to be seen from the back side so I didn't see the point in taking the time in making this look like a real chair (other than the top).

I also used a Cordelia box-like purse for a stand up piece. I used the bottom of a trophy and a piece from a weapon to make the pen holder. I also used a match box and another weapon piece to make another pen holder. For the lamp I used parts from the Kurt Kobain figure's mike stand and music stand for the lamps. I glued some bits together to make it look like lamps. I also used a piece of cardboard to make the place mat on the desk. Here are the final pictures.

Redo of Me

2010-06-29T19:16:00.001-07:00

Awhile back I attempted to make an action figure of me. I figured how appropriate when I have made other people and many, many scenes. The first attempt was not terrible, however the painting is what ruined it. I applied the paint on the face too thick and it got bumpy. Since then, I wanted to make a new one of me since people always ask, did you do one of you (and I would sort of kick my old one aside and say....well, yes but I want to redo it.)

A guy on the BTVS figs forum, MasterPizza suggested I use a John Quinn from Stargate, I think, figure's head. It did have some potential but it wasn't quite fat enough in the face. I'm more round and his head was more long. I decided to give it a go. So I paired that with a Grave Spike torso, You're Welcome Cordelia arms (since my arms are on the small side), the top part of a Kurt Kobain figure and the bottom part of a Harry Potter figure. I chose the Kurt Kobain figure only for the chair. I needed a swivel chair and I didn't want to make it and the dollhouse chairs were far too expensive on ebay. Plus I got to use part of the figure anyway.
Here are some of the parts:

The pants sculpted:

I also used a plastic piece for my table top and I made the legs from parts of something else.

I had to cut away a lot from the Cordy arm since I didn't want the sleeves to be so low. I also cut off the bracelet on one of the hand. I then sculpted over all of that to make some smooth arms.

I was going to paint the shirt white but I decided it didn't look right so I opted for one of my favorite dark blue shirts. I then painted "Old Navy" on the front instead of "New York" that is really on there. I also painted the pants to look like my favorite dark pants. The shoes I like the most. They look exactly like my shoes!

The table items were easy to do but difficult to paint. There are so many details. I wanted it to look like I was at my computer with some pieces laid out on my desk ready to assemble, sculpt and paint. I was going to drop hints what my next project is on the computer screen, but I decided I liked the main screen page better. Plus I sculpted that piece that is on the screen and it turned out really well. So basically I used a Willow laptop and repainted it to look like mine. Then I added the picture of my main screen. I used the trophy from Cheerleader Buffy and turned that into a Heroes Claire figure, no head. I then sculpted the legs/dress from an Illyria figure, a Cordy top, and an arm. I painted a VHS tape you get with the YW Cordy figure to make it look like my Super Sculpy box. I also used another VHS tape and a book to make a mock of a stand you get with Buffy figures. I used two bottles and painted them to look like paint bottles and I painted some tubes to look like paint tubes. I used hot glue to in a mold of a cup to make my clear cup I used to rinse my brushes. I also covered a wooden shelf with clay and pressed a rag into it to make it look like my carpet. I'm not sure if you can see that in the pictures. One final touch that is important to me is my dog. She has a certain way she lays so I sculpted her in that way and put her under my desk. I really like how it all turned out. The side shots look the greatest, and it looks like me. The full-front shots don't, due to the size of the head and the longness. Anyway, here are the final pictures of the table items, my dog, and me.

This one is a good angle.

This could be my favorite picture of them all. I like this shot of me at my computer with my dog laying by my side.

And here we are!

Fool for Love

2010-05-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Original Air Date: 14 November 2000
In a routine patrol at the cemetery, Buffy fights with a vampire. Buffy has the upper hand, but when she attempts her killing blow, the vampire turns her stake around on her, and she is stabbed in the abdomen. She tells the incident to Giles and decides to research how the previous Slayers were killed. She does not find any information in the watcher's journals and decides to seek the information from Spike. He tells that in 1880, in London, he was a bad poet and a shy good man in a non-corresponded love with Cecily. When he meets Drusilla, she bites and converts him in the evil vampire. Later, in the same year in Yorkshire, he meets Angel and Darla and is challenged to defeat a slayer. In 1900, in China, he is well-succeeded and kills his first slayer. In 1977, in the subway of New York City, he kills his second slayer. He advises Buffy that she must never be reckless and keep her death wish to survive.

Reference pictures from the show:

I recently made a cemetery for my collection. I wanted to make a scene for the cemetery that was pretty important to the show. Thinking back the one show that took place in a cemetery was from the episode, "Fool for Love" when Buffy got staked. Other customizes have made Buffy before so I knew I wanted to make it different. What I attempted to do no one has done before but I thought it was key to the whole show. To me, it is ridiculous to have a Buffy figure with her mouth closed when she got a stake in her gut. If someone is in pain their mouth is open. I wanted to sculpt a Buffy with a mouth open. In addition to that, I wanted to make the vampire to go along with this scene.

It is risky to cut up a figure and re-sculpt certain features...especially a 6 inch figure. I decided on using a Buffy Bot figure that way if it didn't work out, I wasn't wasting a good Buffy head. I first tried cutting the mouth open (after being boiled) and I pried it open to make it look like the mouth is open. This didn't look right and from experience I knew that upon boiling it again, the plastic would return to the original form, ruining any work I did to it. So I cut off the jaw completely.

To be completely honest the sculpting was rather easy to do. Once the clay held onto the head I could sculpt the jaw, and then mouth parts. For some reason uncured clay looks different from cured clay. I thought what I sculpted looked great but after boiling I noticed the jaw/chin was WAY too big. Here is a picture (and some funny pictures of Buffy holding her old jaw).

I didn't want to redo the face since it was pretty good so I used a scalpel to shave down the chin and cheek area. I made several more changes along the way (even after I painted the face and still was not happy). I think the final painted piece, when you see it, is good. It is rough in many spots due the shaving down in some areas. But, I am happy with the final product.

For Buffy I used the hole body (minus head and one had) from the Stargate figure, robotic Samantha Carter. I removed the jacket. I used a closed fist that comes with the newer deluxe figures.

For the vampire I used a Vamp. Xander head, and the torso from a Stargate figure (Colonel John Sheppard) and the legs from a Spike figure. I used the jacket as well, but cut it open and glued it to stay open.

Here are some pics of the parts:

For Buffy I sculpted over some of the joints in the legs. I then sculpted the sweater and sleeves. I realize the sweater looks a bit big on Buffy, but it was a big sweater in the show. I then sculpted her arms into place and the scarf around her neck. I then did the hair. She does have braided pig tails but it's hard to see. Here are some unpainted pieces.

Painting her was easy except the face. I really tried to mask some of the marks on the chin and for the most part I think it's pretty good (for being my first face sculpt). I'm not happy about the eyes. They don't really look like Buffy's eyes, but the Buffy Bot figure's head is not a really good face, either. I did make her face look like it's in pain but I'm not sure how it'll look magnified when you click on the picture.

Here is the painted Buffy (OH, the tongue looks really red in the pictures, it's not that red in real, the flash just highlights all the nooks and crannies!)

Some face close ups (I'll put my vanity aside and show you these)...

I didn't do much for the vampire. I sculpted him with the wild 80s hair. I sculpted over the Tshirt. I also sculpted over the joints in the arms and legs. He was supposed to be holding Buffy's arm better but this just didn't come together as I had wanted--he would be standing in the way blocking Buffy which I didn't want.

Here are some unpainted pieces, and painted pieces:

Here they are together first with a plain background, then in the cemetery:

Season 6, Episode 2: Bargaining: Part 2

2010-04-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

Original Air Date: 2 October 2001
As a gang of demon bikers attack, the Scooby Gang is chased away from Buffy's grave thinking that the resurrection was a failure. They do not realize that the Slayer is alive... right where they left her. Buffy is awake but disoriented and afraid as she must claw her way out of her own grave. Buffy may be alive again, but the trauma she suffers is far from over.

The idea for this piece came when found a coffin while junk shopping. I couldn't believe how perfect to scale it is to the 6 inch figures. My idea was this. I wanted to create Buffy when her friends bring her back to life. This figure has been made a few times by other customizers, so I had to put a different spin on it. My thought was to make Buffy coming out of the ground and have the coffin busted open and made to look like it is underground.

I was eager to get this project started. I first had to find a box to put the underground pieces in. A regular box would not work because it would warp. I had a few plastic shoe boxes but I wanted something more boxy. I finally found a small plastic crate. I over turned the crate so the bottom would serve as the top. I had to cut off one of the sides and some of the ends so it wasn't so deep. That was not easy to do! The fun part was going through all my scrap junk parts and seeing what I could use for the underground. After finding many scrap bits I screwed them inside the box. There were a lot of gaps in between pieces so I also had some old FEMO clay that I broke into rock-ish chunks, boiled the pieces, then hot glued them throughout the inside of the box. Here are some pictures.

With coffin:

Without coffin and with all the pieces screwed in place.

Here are some pictures of the broken chunks of clay. The coffin is in the pictures as well. I used my heat gun to soften the plastic (it is made from really hard plastic--like CD case plastic). Then I used some clay to sculpt over the top where it said the name of the game that used to be inside the coffin.

Here is a picture of the top of the box. I also had to use the heat gun to soften the plastic enough to cut a hole in the top.

For Buffy, I was originally going to use mostly a Buffy bot body with a OMWF Buffy head. That didn't work since her shoes in the show were high heels. There were two figures I could have used. Princess Cordy, or OMWF Anya. Since the shoes were closed--no toes, I opted to use Anya's legs. These things were dang hard to detach from the skirt. I ended up cutting them out! Since I lost some of the length in the leg, I cut up part of an Angel arm (since you can't really use those arms with him holding the stakes for anything else.) I then attached that to the knee area of a Buffy Bot bottom. I decided to sculpt over the dress to save clay. I also decided to use Gift Dawn torso since her top looked like Buffy's dress (and 1 arm from Gift Dawn with a different Dawn shoulder part) . I used a YW Cordy arm for the other side. And the OMWF Buffy head. Here was my Frankenstein.

I didn't notice that she looked too long in the leg area. I even stood her up against another figure just to check for proportion. See if you can notice something with her length (that is if you didn't notice it from the earlier pictures)....

A good friend who also makes custom figures, Nathalie, pointed out to me that she looks way to long. After really looking at it, she was right. I'm not sure how or why. I sadly had to rip off all the cay (but I did end up using it for scrap dirt chunks in the display). I decided to cut off the Buffy Bot dress, and I cut down some of the legs. Once I got a new dress sculpted it looked much better.

Here are pictures of the underground, painted and the newly sculpted Buffy.

The next thing I did was cover the outside of the crate with foam board. I also covered the front part with foam board because you can see gaps where the pieces didn't fill in. I had a lot of fun painting this part of the set. I mixed sand and tiny chunks of broken clay in with paint. I also mixed in some green spongy plant stuff. I only used this to paint the outside to make it look like the underground. I just used plain paint for the inside of the box. You will see in later pictures the outside of the box. I also had to use the foam board to cover the top. There were ridges in the "top" part of the crate and I didn't want to use pounds and pounds of clay filling in the gaps to make the grass (look back at earlier pictures of the gaps on the top of the crate). So I painfully cut out pieces to fit inside the gaps. Then I covered that all with a lot of Premo sculpy clay. (Thank you Nancy Hagen for all the clay you gave me--was that your way of saying you now want a personalized figure of yourself?!?!) Here are some pictures of the top:

The next step was to sculpt Buffy. She was relatively easy to do. The hair was a little tricky. I tried to make it fan a little forward since she's leaning a bit, but that wasn't working how I wanted it to. I think the hardest part was getting her in the position I wanted, glue some rocks where her feet should go, then get the arms positioned correctly. Luckily (but barely) she could slid in and out of the hole so I could paint her and make any minor changes.

Here is Buffy, nearly sculpted.

For the casket I wanted it to look more authentic. I used a long piece of plastic for the bar for carrying the casket. Then to make the hinges I used 3 Cordelia bags and cut off the shoulder straps. I used the part closest to where it connected to the bag. I also used two double blade axes and used each blade for the spot where the hinge attach. Here is the picture I used to help guide me with making this:

Here are my before and after pics:

I did take a piece of white fabric and glued it into ridges. Then I glued that inside the casket. I cut some of it away to make it look like Buffy ripped it. There is dirt on top of the casket and inside since she had to dig her way out.

I did also have a board I used for the bottom. I glued clay to it and painted it. and it is hot glued to the crate. Here are some pictures with Buffy not yet painted:

Painting Buffy was easy. I tried to give her an expression of worry and shock. I think the figure looks much better in person than in pictures. I just couldn't get a good picture! I had a hell of a time painting what was on her grave stone. My brush wasn't cutting it and I didn't have a paint pen. So I did end up painting with the brush, but it's a sloppy job. You can make out some words, but really, it's an unimportant detail.

Anyway, here are the rest of the pictures! Oh, I did realize that I didn't paint blood on her hands so I did fix that!

Cemetery/Graveyard Playset--(no figures yet)

2010-03-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

When I first started collecting Buffy action figures I wanted to have a graveyard as part of my set since that was a huge scene for the first few seasons. I started off with the huge plastic clumps of grass that came with Moore Buffy figures. I used felt for the grass. I knew I didn't like this since it looked so fake and unauthentic. Over the next two years I collected parts and pieces that I could possibly use in a graveyard. I had trees, walls, steps, benches, plants and the grave stones that came with the figures.

Here are some pictures of the early cemetery. These are old pictures!!

I then ditched the whole scene when I found some fake grass they use with train sets. Normally it's expensive and I would have not gotten it, but I found it at the place where I find most of my junk and scrap parts for my sets. Then I started finding more and more things and soon the cemetery started coming to life. I knew I wanted a fountain of some kind in my cemetery. I think fountains are aesthetically pleasing to look at. So this was the actual first thing I made for my new playset.

Here is what I used. For the bottom I used the bottom of a yogurt container and the top rim. I turned the rim over and glued it to the inside of the bottom of the container. (You can see what I mean in the picture). I then had a plastic (maybe Barbie??) bucket. I over turned that and screwed it to a turned over what looks like a rock pile and a huge wooden spool. Clay normally won't stick to wood and when it gets wet it expands. It somehow worked enough and the cracks add to the "aged effect." To that I had a scrap piece from a Stargate figure. I then sculpted over another screw to make a little stand. To that I attached another scrap part from I think a Stargate figure. I boiled this in pieces (but not the very bottom part or it would ruin the plastic). Then I glued them together. I had some old junk clay which I broke and I boiled the pieces and then glued them onto the bottom of the container to make it look like rocks. It looked very cool. Here are some before pictures:

Finished (with flash and without)

This was sort of my inspiration picture.

This (and all the other parts) sat staring at me for the longest time. I knew it was going to be tedious painting all these parts. What's another "FEW" months when it's been on my list to do for years? Now that I'm on break, I had no excuse to leave it sit.

Here are some before pictures of the cemetery:

In this picture(s) I used 4 plastic wall pieces. I don't know where they came from (what action figure--there is no label on it.) There is a fake pine tree, a wooden bench and some small wooden trees (that were in that green circle), there is a Barbie shrub in a planter. You can see two Harry Potter pieces--I ended up gluing them together and then gluing that on top of a Buffy grave piece. The steps in the back I'm not sure where they came from. I also found these neat plants in a pot. The sidewalk is cardboard but I ended up using a sheet of cork to give it that concrete look. There is also a water pump.

In this picture(s) I found these two Church statues. One is Jesus and the other is a monk, I think. I thought they would be perfect in a cemetery. The larger monk I mounted on a couple of graves and Jesus I mounted on the green disk with one of the crosses you get with Spike. There is another bench, a cool, creepy tree that I don't know where it came from and some grave pieces. I collected MANY fence pieces and painfully glued them together. I found a tree top and glued that to a chess piece. I used some other chess pieces as graves (not pictured).

I really didn't sculpt a whole lot with the graves. I had to cut off the flower parts and the vines that were on the side. I like the rough look it left when I cut off that stuff so there was no need to sculpt over it and make it smooth. I did sculpt on the bumps at the bottom of the huge monk grave. I did that because of this grave I saw:

I started painting one of the graves and I tried to blend in some other paint while it was wet and it just didn't have any "depth" to it. On a whim, not sure what told me to try it, but I painted my first grave dark gray. Once it dried I used a lighter gray and with a little on the brush I swept it over the grave shown below. It worked out brilliantly!! It hit the high parts and left the low parts dark. I was truly blown away at how it looked like real stone!! Check it out! (In real life it looks so much better, it's hard to capture the coolness on camera.)

Once I finished that piece I got a bit obsessive and I did the entire graveyard in this way. Everything has a stone look to it. Here are some more close ups and the completed playset:

Left side

Through the eyes of a hidden vampire...

Middle

Right side

This wall had bricks in it so I had to go back and paint in the bricks. I did it the first time in my old set, but I make it look more real this time with different colored bricks.

The whole playset. I want to make a Buffy figure with a vampire to put in the cemetery, so it's not so empty. That will be coming sometime....

"Buffy Power" Sarah Michelle Gellar on a RollingStone magazine

2010-03-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

This was the other RollingStone cover that I saw that had Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) on it. I liked how incredibly difficult it looked and I was eager to get a start on it. Here was the problem. I needed a car in scale to the figure. I bought a model car from a craft store that was a 1:24 scale. I knew it would be a bit small but the box looked larger and the car was PERFECT and it was on sale so I took a risk. When I got it out of the box I was very disappointed. The figure would have been sitting on pretty much the entire front end of the car--in other words, the car was way too small. I knew I needed a 1:12 scale car and I was not going to pay $100 for a model car. As luck would have it (and many months later), I came across an old Ghost Busters car that was in perfect size for a 6 inch figure. Here was my plan. I wanted to just use the front end of the car for the display, for space reasons. So I have this really cool heat gun and I heated the car where I wanted to cut it apart, and I did just that. Here is what I ended up with.

The only modifications I made to this car was the bumper. I had to make the bumper larger so Sarah could have a spot to put her feet. I used some foam board paper and tried to seal the rough spots with some sculpy. It was tricky getting the sculpy to stick to the paper but I think it eventually did.

The next challenge was figuring out what parts to use. I know I was going to use and EOD Buffy figure. I ended up using that, plus both arms from the Vampire Buffy figure, and the bottom of the legs from another figure--maybe a girl wrestling figure. I knew I was going to have to sculpt the feet. There was no way I was going to find feet in this position. As hard as it is sculpting feet I guess I don't mind the challenge. Here is a close up of Sarah's feet, and the parts I used:

I first had to hot glue the parts together just to make sure I had them in a good position to rest on the bumper (and look like her knees are in the air). Then I had to cut away at the shirt and the front part of her hair. I sculpted the top of her chest and neck area, and head. If you can see it I did sculpt in her collar bone.

I then sculpted the shirt. I had a few ideas in mind for the glittery shirt. My first idea was to sculpt her shirt so it was bumpy. I have silver, metallic paint and I thought that might give it the sequins look. I tested a spot but it didn't look right (plus as I was handling it my fingers would press down any bumps I made). So I opted to use glitter and worry about putting it on later. I did test an area just to see if the glitter would be in correct size and it was. Her shirt does have ridges on the side where it's bunched up (which I like how that looked) and I was afraid I was going to lose that adding the glitter but I think it worked out well. Here are some of those pictures:

Then it was time to sculpt the legs. I ended up cutting down the foot area a lot more than what the picture shows. I started up at the thigh and sculpted my way downward. The first foot was pretty easy to do. I just had to keep looking at the picture to see how the foot was angled and also make sure it would rest on the car's bumper. Here are some of those pictures. I was quite impressed with this foot.

(This one is my favorite foot picture)

Here was my next worry. Since the first foot looked amazing I was really worried I was not going to get the second one to look as good. It's like when I paint, I can get one eye to look exactly like the person, but the second eye is the downfall. I don't think the second foot turned out all that bad. The toes didn't show up as distinguished as the first, but for having done this from scratch it turned out really well!

The foot (toes) look good in this picture but when I went to paint them it lost the distinguishing features.

Once I had the feet sculpted I did the pants and then I started the arms. I cut away at the elbow and then I sculpted each arm, first off the figure, then I glued the arm onto the figure and sculpted the shoulders. I even figured that the way Sarah's arms are her shoulder blades must be sticking out some so on the back of the figure you can see I sculpted it that way.

Finally I sculpted the hair. I have learned to start at the bottom of the head and work my way up. The bottom wind swept hair wasn't too hard to do. I figured her hair in the back must be off her back so I managed to get that to look real. The hardest part was the top of the hair. It almost has a triangular shape to it the way it has to blow off her head. I think the hair could have been longer but I was also going for durability since this clay can break easily. I am overall very satisfied with how her hair turned out. Here are many pictures of that:

Here is the car, painted. I added some glitter into the green paint to give it that new car glitter shine. I also mounted the car to a piece of foam board and painted it. It was not cut evenly at all so that is why some of the back looks crooked. I had used hot glue to fuse the two pieces (car to board). If you also notice I had to put a stick on the bottom of the car so it wouldn't tip down. I used some metallic spray paint for the bumper. The car's color probably should have been a bit darker. I also put a coat of scenic water on the car to make it shine. When I did this it really made the glitter in the paint sparkle. If you also notice the hood of the car has a dent...that was my fault. I heated the car and tried to press Sarah into it so she would sit better. I made a slight mistake and then tried to fix it with sculpy which wouldn't stick and then I used caulk. I guess it is fine. You can't see it when Sarah is on top.

Sarah starting to get painted:

And the finished pieces: I am a bit bummed the face didn't turn out to be what I had imagined. Her eyes look sad along with her lips. I tried to paint her lips to have an up turn but it looked clownish. The paint was starting to get thick on the face so I didn't want to keep trying to fix the eyes. What you see isn't bad but it's not exactly like the picture, either. She looks sad, but overall I'm still quite pleased. I painted some watered down tacky glue on the shirt then sprinkled glitter. I then pressed it in place. For the shirt's straps I painfully glued each piece of glitter.

Keep in mind if you click on the pictures you're going to get a magnified verson of reality so any mistakes that you normally can't see will be seen in the pictures. I also realize that the pants have blue-ish swirls to them....that was due to the flash in the camera. Sarah's pants are dark, dark blue and so are the figure's pants, the flash ruined it.

(The next three are my favorite pics.)

Inside the magazine there is another picture of Sarah on the car but this one she is touching her face and her mouth is open. I have many Buffy Bot heads and I contemplated doing this pose. I wanted to again stretch my talent and make the mouth. In the end it would have been a much better head to use (easier to paint) but I decided against using that head due to time. I probably won't make this figure again unless I was commissioned to make the figure using this head. Anyway, here are some of those pictures...

Feel free to comment if you like what you see. You can also check out my posting on the Buffy Figs Forum found here: http://btvsfigs.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Customize&action=display&thread=16919

"Villains" Willow

2010-02-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite parts from the show "Villains" is when Willow dips her hands into the dark arts books and sucks them dry. I've been wanting to make the table for the magic shop as well and the scene I wanted to create helped pushed me to complete it. This particular piece took some time to create since I was collecting as many books as I could to build up a nice pile on the table. I am not sure how I could have done it differently but I'm not entirely happy with the end product (and by the lack of comments on two Buffy forums I'm thinking other people have to agree?).

Anyway, here is what I did.

I used a Doppelgangland Willow head, torso, and legs. I used the upper arms/shoulders from Gift Dawn, and the forearms and hands from a Charmed figure. I also used the largest book (I think it was a Pylean book from Angel). I needed a large book for Willow to dip her fingers into.

Here are the pieces I used for Willow (and the book I cut open):

For the table I used a Tupperware meat container (I think) and then to get it to stand the height I needed I put a yogurt container on the inside of it and cut it to size. You can see the container inside the meat container in the picture below. I went with this meat container because of the lip (which you can see on the side view picture). I then used white labels to put over the two containers to cover up the seam. Not pictured is the top. I used foam board and cut it to the size I needed.

I had made casts of various books awhile back and I used all the books I made on the bottom to bulk up the pile (plus I didn't want to paint all these books). Then I used every book I could find and started gluing them into a big pile.

For the sculpt I sculpted Willow's hair (to make it less rigid in the front), I sculpted her front, cleaned up the sleeves, and sculpted the tie in the back. I also altered the jeans for a more realistic look. I like how the side pockets turned out. Here are some pictures of that:

Okay, for the hands dipping into the pages of the book this was tricky. The hands were not perfectly flat. I got this cool heat gun from my dad and I used that to "melt" the hands. I heated them enough for me to smash the fingers a bit to flatten them out. I then super glued them to the book and sculpted the pages around the hands. It didn't look a clean as I wanted but I knew I'd be painting over it and wouldn't matter so much.

This is the part where I goofed. I wasn't thinking about the painting of the face until after I had everything already glued and sculpted. I didn't attach the books to the table (in the event I wanted to change the table and put in the light in the middle like the real table). But the hands were attached. I cracked the arm sculpted clay numerous times moving this thing around. The tricky part was tying to get close enough to the face to paint the tiny details. So in one hand I have my brush and in the other I'm trying to hold the figure attached by two tiny arms to a huge pile of books. It probably goes without saying, but I will anyway, that I am not happy with how the face turned out. Some pictures look worse than others due to the angle or the fact that the picture is magnified many times larger than what you see in reality. But anyway, here are the in-progress pictures and the final piece....

Show reference pictures so you all don't think I'm crazy why there is paint all over her arms/chest.

It is a nice addition to my magic shop scene (even though Anya/Giles in the Magic Shop don't match the show's scene). I may go back later on and make Anya standing by the counter looking at Willow in shock as she's sucking the info. out of the books. Add that to my list of figures to make, hee hee!

Baby #5 gift for Lisa

2009-12-29T13:57:00.000-08:00

I think the fates didn't want me publishing this blog. I had to redo it after my Internet stopped working right when I went to publish it. Then my dang sensitive mouse pad kept highlighting parts and deleting them as I typed the next part. HOLY MOLY!!

Anyway...

My best friend from high school recently had a picture on her facebook site and I was just in awe at the beauty of the picture. As an artist I wanted to capture the beauty in a way that I like to do--so I action figure-ized her and her man. She is giving birth to her 5th child and since I slacked on being a friend with baby 1-4, I figured it was about time to step up and do something special for her.

This project was not an easy task, maybe even my most challenging one yet. The hardest part was keeping this a secret from her and I trying to ask her for as much information about her picture without giving away the idea for the gift. My only question I asked her was how they were sitting. I'm sure she thought this was an odd question but she told me and that gave me at least a idea where to begin. What you see in the picture is what I had to work with as far as what parts to use and how I was going to do this statue. Here is the inspirational photo and I did get Lisa's permission to post it.

As you can see there was not much to see, and no color. So here is what I decided to use for Lisa: I used a Fred head, a Chandra (Rising Stars) chest and torso, Fred legs and "You're Welcome" Cordelia arms. The arms were not exactly like the picture but I figured they were a good place to start.

I was originally going to have Lisa sitting on her butt with one leg out-stretched and the other leg bent under it. As I was piecing Chad together I noticed she was sitting very low and I needed her to be almost as tall as him. I put a pillow under her but it still wasn't quite right. So I ended up breaking the legs and cut them so that they were positioned like she was on her knees and sitting on her feet.

Here are some (early on) before pictures:

This is how I changed it.

For Chad I used a Colonel Sheppard from Stargate Atlantis head, a "Graduation Day" Angel torso and arms, a Spike hand, an Oz hand, and the deluxe Angel legs. I wasn't sure if Chad was shirtless in the picture but I figured since Lisa was "in her pjs," I'd make him in his pj's, too. I had to cut up his legs as well and I put him into a kneeling position and then sculpted his bottoms. I cut away Sheppard's hair and resculpted Chad's hair. I then did my best at sculpting over the joints but I didn't do all of them since the clay was not smoothing out like I wanted it to and I didn't want it to look lumpy.

I think I did the sculpting at this point in the most difficult way possible! Of course I was not sure how else to do it. I had to join the two figures together to get the hands right among other parts. Some things worked out well, some things turned out not how I wanted. Lisa's hair turned out great along with Chad's. Lisa's belly looks great. The sculpting around her legs and around Chad's legs was hard and not all that clean looking. I knew I was going to paint their clothing black and I knew black covers some mistakes plus the bottom parts were going to be hidden for the most part. Sculpting Lisa's shirt was probably the hardest. I had to sculpt around their arms and I was using a stick to help me mold it into the correct position. Somewhere in the process of boiling and sculpting the figures, Lisa slipped a bit from Chad so his hands are no longer resting on Lisa's belly. Since I had already super glued the joints I decided to leave things the way they were. Also, in order to get his head close to hers he had to be leaning forward. In order to do this I had to have him propped up on pillows. I then used the pillows from the Charmed figures to build up behind him to cover up some of the back area. It worked out well. Here are some of those pictures.

I decided I was going to have the two on a bed. For the bed I used a plastic tray that maybe came with a watch. I attached some plastic parts to the bottom for the legs. It was a pretty solid piece of plastic and I assumed I could boil this without warping the plastic...wrong! The dang thing curled on me and you can see that in the pictures. It was too late to do anything about it so I let that go as well. After the mattress was sculpted (using yellow FEMO clay) I decided I wanted to build up some blankets around them. It serves a dual purpose. One is it really adds to the whole scene and makes the bed come to life, and two, it covers up some of the lower sculpted parts that were not done as cleanly. To harden this clay (since I couldn't submerge the bed into water or the plastic would warp more, I had to pour boiling water over it MANY times. The parts of the sheets hanging down didn't harden all the way so I used hot glue and filled in the area behind the blanket to make sure it wouldn't break...plus the heat from the glue did harden the clay. I didn't glue the figures to the bed yet. I did this so they could slip out of their spots which would make the painting so much easier. In the final piece I glued the figures to the bed.

Here is the bed. The legs of the bed looked hideous so I ended up using some of the foam board to construct legs and hide the original legs.

I figured for the base I needed to have something long enough for the bed to sit on and I wanted a wall. Lisa is a gifted artist and she likes abstract art. I did a google search for abstract art and I came across this picture. I thought it was very Lisa-ish and I had an old dollhouse frame that I put the printed off picture into. I used two Buffy wall bases for the wall and floor. I covered the floor with some wood looking contact paper and I used plain, tan contact paper for the wall. I then glued the picture frame onto the wall. This painting also gave me a little motivation for how I was going to paint the bedsheets since I have no clue what her bed really looks like.

Here is the finished bed. The extra purple shiny blanket is something I added at the end to mainly look like she's sitting on it--it covers the dead space under her butt. I have another piece hanging down on the side of the bed to make it look like she's sitting on the blanket and part of it goes over her leg and hangs off the bed. I did this to cover up some of that area.

Okay, and finally the love birds. It was very tricky painting the hidden parts (like Lisa's shirt when it is between Lisa and Chad). Every time I went to paint a spot out of immediate reach, I'd bump their arms or hands and get black paint all over them. I'd have to quick get a wet brush and try to get some of the paint off. What I couldn't get off I'd have to repaint with about 5 coats of paint! Chad's hair was tricky, too. I think he has dark blond hair and I tried to reproduce that. In the pictures it looks gray but it looks better in real life. I had a hard time painting his face as well. I have not met him to get his features in my mind and all I had was this reference photo (also off Lisa's facebook).

In the original photograph it looks like their eyes are closed but I wanted to make the figures looking dreamily toward each other. I do like how that turned out.

Here they are!

OH, and I just have to mention this again to put my ego at ease. Keep in mind that the pictures when you click on them are going to be magnified versions of the real deal. So if there is a tiny miss brush stroke, it's going to look really bad. In real life these are 6 inch figures and you can't see the mistakes unless you are staring at it looking for mistakes! So, yes, some of the pictures look sloppy and bad but it really is not bad at all (and if you haven't been able to tell, I'm blunt and honest about my work and I'm hard on myself)...so if it was was bad, I'd say so!

Here is my dear friend. She just got the gift and I think she was pleasantly surprised. Good luck with baby #5 Lisa!

Clem's Dream

2009-12-05T16:27:00.001-08:00

Have you ever had an experience where something happens in the real world and before you wake up, it happens in your dreams? Like before you realize your alarm clock is going off you somehow picture the music in your dream. I had this neat idea of making Clem (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) sleeping with all these cats on him and then above him have a dream of himself eating cats. In the show he is a demon that eats cats. So I thought it would be neat to create something with this in mind.

Here is what I planned. I had a plastic bed, it might be a Barbie thing I found at a junk shop. I covered the bottom with some FEMO clay. I was originally going to use a grave stone as a pillow but I ended up using two of Wesley's briefcases. I had to cut one in half and one corner out of another and sculpt clay around them so that they looked like the were being squished with the head resting on them. I also wanted an arm resting on the pillow so that is why I had to cut a corner out.

I have these Xander eye-patch heads and I was going to use one of those heads to sculpt over for Clem...but I figured it would be more work sculpting over that head. So I ended up using a cast of a D'hofferin head. I used scrap parts for the body of Clem. When I re-did my Giles figure (from the Primeval set) I had this body left over, so I used that. I was going to use his arms, but I came across some LOTR action figure's hands/arms which was bigger and that is what I wanted. Then I used some scrap arms and leg parts so that when I sculpted the blanket it gave the illusion of legs. I think I used a thigh part for a deluxe figure, a Master's leg, a LOTR lower leg and an arm joint from a Stargate figure.

Here are some pictures of what I was planning on (The second picture is more accurate to what I used.)

Then I drilled a hole in the D'hofferin head and attached that to the Giles body. I didn't attach the arm since that all was going to be covered by the sheet. I love how Clem's hand is up on the pillow and Willow's cat is playing with it.

I then sculpted over the head to give it more wrinkles. I also sculpted the ears, neck area and the top of the chest. It was rather easy to sculpt this character. He has many folds of skin and wrinkles. The hardest part with this was getting the clay to stick to the casted head. For some reason some of my casts turned out bad. I'm sure I mixed the plastic ratios wrong. So this clay doesn't' stick once it's boiled. But super glue is my friend!

I took a break at this point to start working on the Dream Clem. I had this Spike figure that had his mouth open and I thought it would be funny to have him eating a cat with only the tail left. I had to cut some of the vampire face off Spike since the eyebrow line had a mean look to it and I wanted to convey pleasure on Clem's face, so the eyebrows needed to be slanted upward. I also had to cut down the body/jacket so that I could attach it to a flat wall base. Here is what I used for starters...

This is a picture of a side by side comparison of the sculpted Clem and how the figure started out. I didn't actually use this Spike, it was one with the rubber coat figures, but you get the idea.

Now for the dream state I tossed around many ideas. I tried drying some scenic water with flakes of fake show in it. I liked how it turned out so I made more so it would be all around the Dream Clem. I then wanted to add some cotton fluff to make it have a smoky effect. Here is what I planned...

I did end up having to make a cat since I didn't have one that was sprawled out. I wanted a cat to be in his hands ready to be eaten after he finished the one he's got in his mouth. It turned out larger than I wanted, but I kept it. I also ended up using the Master's hands for this figure. They were big and they had the right look to them. The hardest part with this was having to make the cat separate from the end of the tail, the part in Clem's hand. I had to glue the parts together and it didn't quite fit together, but I had the cloud covering some of that part anyway, so it's ok. This Clem is attached to the base with a screw.

Here is the painted Clem. The eyes look bad here but you'll see later on he's looking down at the sleeping Clem so I took these pictures at a weird angle.

At this point I made the bed sheet. First time it was too small and I was piecing the clay parts together and it looked awful. I decided I had to roll out the clay with a rolling pin in some wax paper. As I was finishing up rolling the clay the underside wax paper got wrinkly and when I took it off the paper it had creases in it. I loved the effect. When I positioned the sheet I did make folds in the sheet. It's easy to see in this picture but later on when I painted the lines on the bed sheet it is harder to see the folds. I don't paint shades on my figures and I'm sure that would have improved the 3D look.

Now I wanted to not just have the cats all over Clem. I had this cage in my clutter pile so I decided to make it seem like the cage opened up and the cats got out. There is a litter box (part of Xander's tool box) and a bowl of food and water. One cat is left in the cage. I used a piece of wood floor for this separate piece and what was left over from a carpet piece I used in the Willow/Glory sculpture and the Willow/Tara sculpture.

I did end up repainting the cats. I wanted them to look more natural and have better looking eyes. I like how it all turned out. Now, here is the whole set together. I tried to take many angled shots to give my viewers the full visual of this piece. I do love how it all came together.

I don't take many liberties in my work, meaning I don't stray away from the normal movie/show sculptures but I'm glad I took this risk.

Dollhouse Promo Picture of Echo and Mannequins

2009-11-25T05:58:00.001-08:00

I have wanted to make a recreation of this promo picture for about a year now. I liked the concept and I thought it was easy enough to do. Here is my inspiration. This came from the show called Dollhouse, Fox TV. I think the show has been cancelled which is such a shame.

The most challenging part about getting started was deciding on what parts to use. I have such a huge variety of things and I have a hard time letting these things go because I may want to make something else with the parts. Anyway, after I had my parts picked out the sculpting challenge started with how I was going to get this to work.

The mannequins were hard to sculpt. You can see that the one standing is about a foot taller than Echo. Generally there are 6 inch action figures and 7 inch. I knew I had quite a few 7 inch figures, and I settled on using my Six figure (from the Battlestar Galactica show). I used her arms, torso, and pelvic area. I didn't want to use the legs because she was standing in a way that I didn't want the mannequin standing. Plus, I needed bare feet. I have a few figures left with bare feet. I ended up using a Daena figure from I think Tarzan. I did have to shave off the sandals and straps on her legs and feet. Then sculpt around that to clean up the cut marks. I also had to use something to get the legs to connect with the pelvic area. I have many weapons from the Buffy figures so I used two handles from an ax and drilled holes in the leg and the pelvic area and glued them in place. Then I had to sculpt in the area around this--including her butt which can be tricky since mannequins don't have a lot of definition. I used a "The Wish" Cordy head since it worked with this figure. I did have to sculpt the ears. I knew I was going to have to sculpt 4 ears and I have not gotten that down yet. I think what I have is not bad, I need more practice but it's good. I realize they look big and they aren't quite in the right spot on the head but I think it's not that obvious. Here are some before sculpt pictures and after sculpt pictures:

The only problem with this figure was the cracking. I'm not sure why it was cracking in certain spots. I put super glue over the cracks which helps but it sort of shows up after it is painted.

For the second mannequin I used such an arrangement of pieces. I used a Fred head, Deluxe Kendra torso, hips, and upper legs, Illyria legs, one arm from the Daena figure, one arm from a Heroes figure--the cheerleader girl, and a piece of a shoulder from a Dawn figure. I used the selected arms because they were the right size, and position and I like how both hands/fingers work together. I did have to shave down the torso/chest of the deluxe figure to get a good sculpt of the mannequin's chest. I also have to shave a lot off the Heroes arm because it had a lot of extra junk on it. The hard part with this was getting the pieces glued and cutting enough away from the parts to make it look natural. The figure has a slight lean to it (to the left). Also nearing completion I saw both feet did not hit the ground. So I had to cut the leg and add some sculpy to get it to be the same. I was also going to keep this mannequin wearing the shoes but I decided since the other one was bare foot, this one should be, too. So off goes the shoes, and I sculpted on feet. It's not my best work because at this point I wanted to be done with the figure. It was a hard one!! Here are some picture of the parts, then with sculpy:

For Echo, I used a Faith deluxe head, a prom Buffy top, deluxe Buffy or Faith arms, Dawn's pelvic area and upper legs, and the bare feet from "The Gift" Dawn figure.

I sculpted the rest of the pants area over the legs. Then I sculpted her tank top. I sculpted around the arm which was very difficult. I had to try to hold all these pieces and at the same time to try to figure out how her arm should be aligned according to how it was in the picture. Then without moving much I had to super glue the joints. Once that dried, I sculpted the right arm first. This one didn't turn out too bad. The left was getting difficult to sculpt so I boiled the figure, took out the arm, sculpted it, then boiled it all again and while the plastic was soft, I put the arm back in. It was super difficult because if you move the tiny arm the clay would crack and if you put pressure on the figure, the clay would crack there. It worked out with minimal crackage (hee hee sounds like a low pants problem). I then did my best at sculpting around the rest of the arm but decided to not sculpt over her shoulder. I then sculpted the hair and I am so happy with how it turned out. It it true to the picture and it looks like it's blowing. Here are some pictures:

When it came time to paint it I was nervous it wouldn't look right. My other Echo figure I made looked good, but it wasn't painted the best...and I'm not great yet at painting faces. After I did my first eye I was stunned at how it looked, it's almost like a picture!! I started painting the second eye, when I took the picture below. For the life of me I just could not get it to work! But it is what it is and it's not too bad:

Painted Echo:

For the base I had an equally difficult time finding a picture of a few white mannequins with a white background. I did come across this picture and I liked it, so I went with it. I attached it to two base stands. I then covered the bottom with some shiny gray contact paper.

And here is the finished piece! As was setting these on the base I realized that super glue might not hold the squatting figure as best as I wanted, and I didn't want the clay breaking if it got bumped. So (skip this part if you have a weak stomach) I drilled a hole in the mannequin's behind. I then used the bottom of Lorne's microphone stand and painted it silver. Then I stuck the stand in her rear, I know, I know...to get her to be propped up. I don't know if this is how a real mannequin would be held up in this position, but I was not sure where else to put the stand. Anyway, it looks good!

RollingStone Buffy 1998

2009-10-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

I came across this old magazine with Sara Michelle Gellar on the cover. I thought it would be a nice break from making scenes from the show to attempt to recreate the cover. I was looking forward to this challenge, too. I struggled a bit with what parts I wanted to use. I know I wanted to use one of the MAC Buffy heads since it had that youthful look to it. I was planning on using a Chandra Rising Stars figure's torso since it looked to be what I needed for the torso. I was also planning on using Princess Cordelia legs.

I started sculpting the clay on the legs, boiled it, but then the clay started cracking right off the legs. I think this was one of the many bad "casts" I had. (Cast=I made legs using liquid plastic material. I pour this into a mold I also made using the original legs. The ratio of the plastic mixture was off so it makes the plastic greasy and it also makes the sculpting very difficult because the clay won't stick to it.)

Then I decided to find new parts to use. The action figure (head) I used to make Sierra, I used that body. The only problem was the legs were not right. Here is a picture of the figure I was thinking about using.

I ended up cutting off the legs and the breasts since they were too big for what I wanted. I then used the legs from the Chandra figure and super glued them onto this torso. I cut off Chandra's feet and glued on feet from a Tara figure. I then cut away the hair from the Buffy head. I had to drill a hole in the the head as well as the top of the body. I then used a stick to join the two pieces. I guess I should have made the head sit taller. This was one complaints/comments people said to me on the BTVS Figs forum. At this point in the making of this figure the neck looked fine.

I then sculpted clay over the torso just covering the rough spots and smoothing it out some. I used some wedding tulle for Buffy's stockings. (I had to paint it black before I put it on her because I knew it would be impossible to paint with it on her). I did test a sample of this in boiling water to make sure it wouldn't warp after I had attached it to her leg. I'm not good spatially so it was very hard figuring out how to attach this piece of tulle to her leg, and make it look like stockings. One side looks great, the other side I ran a little short of material but I had already super glued it so I just left it. (I'm not sure you'll be able to see the "oops" in one of the pictures). I then sculpted on Buffy's boots and clothing and chest.

Finally I attached the arms. I used deluxe Buffy action figure arms and I used the hands from a Jean Gray action figure. The positioning of the arms is a bit wrong. I guess I didn't realize until it was too late that when your hands are rested on your hips, your elbows stick straight out from your body. My elbows were slightly bent back. Most people would not recognize this but it's one of those details only the artist sees...

The hair and the upper collar on her suit was the most difficult. I tried to get that messy hair look down. Ever time I kept separating the clay to make the wisps of hair, it would rip the whole thing apart and I had to start over. I didn't want the clay to be sticking out too much or one slight bump would break the hair. What I ended up with is not what I envisioned. It looks too curly for my liking. So, I just decided I was not going to change it considering how much I struggled with it.

Here are completed pictures:

I know when you click on the picture it shows a huge blown up version. When these pictures are magnified you see many flaws. In real life you don't see the flaws, or not as easily. I like showing close ups of the face because these are 6 inch figures and painting faces is extremely hard--and getting it to look like the character is even harder! Using this head was probably a mistake. It really didn't look like Sara Michelle Geller, but I think I did a pretty good job at getting the likeness down and making her look youthful like the picture.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures. You can really see the details in the arms and clothing:

I decided to go with a very simple background. I thought about many different things but the magazine cover was simple and I kept it simple. It also looks like Sara is wearing some sort of a cape. I had no idea what it looked like (since you only see what is on the cover) I tried to reproduce this using that wedding tulle. Here is what I came up with. I have to do more tweaking to it if I'm going to use it--for now I'm not going to use it with my figure (unless I can get it to look better).

I contimplated redoing the head of this figure and using a larger Buffy head, one that is more accurate to her face, and fixing the neck, but I like how it looks and I decided to leave it alone. There are so many other great things with this figure--the arms/shoulder/armpit area, the clothing and shoe lace part. The boots.

There is one other RollingStone cover with Buffy I want to do but I'm trying to get a model car that is in scale with the figure (1:12) and that is so hard to find! If I have any luck you'll see it posted.

2009-10-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of the newspaper clipping featuring me in our local paper.

Dollhouse Promo Shot:

2009-07-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

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.

UPDATE--Groosalugg

2009-07-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

I ran across this action figure thinking the face would make a good head for Lindsey from the Angel show. At least the picture on the box looked like it would make a good use for the figure I wanted to make. Once I had the figure out of the box it struck me that it would make a great head for the Groosalugg. Mark (the actor) has a large smile and the same facial structure...so I decided to scrap my old figure and redo this one. He is finally done after sitting on my desk for months! Here are some pictures:

Here is the actor from the Angel show.

All I did was cut away the hair, and some of the chest area. Then I sculpted on new hair, and the upper clothing. I also sculpted out the arms covering the articulation. Here are some in-progress pictures, then the pictures comparing the old version to the newer version.

2009-06-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

Season 3, Episode 7: Revelations
Original Air Date: 17 November 1998 Gwendolyn Post, a by-the-book English Watcher, says the council sent her as Faith's new one, or rather to assess the whole situation in Sunndydale, looking down upon understandably stressed Giles and on his library. She takes charge of their next common mission: slaying the demon Lagos and destroying his weapon, the glove of Myhnegon, which is in the tomb of the von Hauptman family on Restfield cemetery. Angel, back to his tender self, gets it for Buffy, but is seen kissing her by Xander, who reports this to Giles, who is deeply hurt, especially with Post breathing down his neck, but doesn't tell her; later worried and -despite kissing Willow again- jealous Xander does. When Giles shows surprised Gwendolyn the glove Buffy brought him and the ritual he found to destroy it, her hidden agenda proves a huge problem for everyone, the gang only finds out when Faith is already on the wrong foot...

I really like this episode and I wanted to create a scene from this episode. I managed to get the glove of Myhnegon through a trade and I started making the figures. I used this figure's head for Gwendolyn Post.

After I started making this and the more I studied the actress I thought a better head would be Hermione from the NECA Harry Potter line. I only had one figure and she was in my permanent display so I didn't want to ruin this figure. It also would cost too much to try and replace her. So I stuck with other other figure pictured.

My challenge in using this head was I had to remove some of the hair covering her forehead. I've sculpted pieces in the past where I changed the face (see James as an action figure) and it just didn't turn out. I was very nervous this wasn't going to work either. After the hair was cut away, I managed to sculpt a smooth forehead and then the hair. Here you can see the forehead sculpt:

I then used a "The Wish" Cordelia body (minus the head). This body was perfect because she had the dress on, plus the shoes matched what was actress wore in the show. The only challenge here was sanding down the arms. The Cordy action figure had sleeves pulled up to the elbow. I had to cut away the sleeves and sand down the elbow area. Then I sculpted over both arms to make a nice, smooth arm.

Originally I wanted to make the part where Gwen is thrusting the glove into the air and the lightning comes through the roof window and is pulled toward the glove. I'm not sure why I decided not to go that route. I settled on the scene where Buffy picks up a chunk of glass and is ready to throw it at Gwen, cutting off her arm. Here is a reference photo:

The other challenge was getting the arms positioned like the scene I was trying to create. There is little movement in the arms to begin with so it was challenging getting them set in the position I wanted. Also, I wanted her fingers clutching her elbow. In order to get the fingers to bend I found that if you boil the plastic you can sort of mold it. Here came the challenge--you have to boil the clay to harden it but once you stick the figure in water, the fingers that were just bent into position will go back to their original position. I couldn't remold the hands or any slight movement in the arm--the clay would crack and break. I managed to get the fingers somewhat bent and I decided to leave what I could get. The figure's shoulders are a bit broad but not terribly noticeable. I also had to drill a hole in the glove so I could slip the arm (minus a hand) into the glove. Here are some before pictures:

Here are the finished pictures:

For Buffy, I wanted figure with a tank top on and flared pants at the bottom. I was going to use a Charmed Piper figure but her waist was too narrow and her legs were a bit awkward, and I didn't want to try to resculpt this part. I thought it would be easier to use part of the deluxe figure with some of the Piper pieces. Here is my Frankenstein figure:

I ended up using the EOD Buffy head and arms and thighs. I used the Piper torso and bottom legs. I then sculpted over the pants to make it look uniform, I also sculpted Buffy's Jacket and the back of her hair. When I glued the torso to the top of the waist, I had it arched back a bit to give Buffy the appearance like she was getting ready to throw something.

Here are some before pictures:

I'm wasn't happy with how Buffy's pants looked after I painted them. It looked sloppy especially in the crotch area. Though you can't really tell, Buffy's head should have been looking up more but now it just looks like she is looking at the glove, which is fine.

Here is a Buffy picture:

For the display I decided to use some foam poster board for the floor. I made Buffy standing by part of the broken door she and Faith smashed through. There is glass below her. (I just cut up a CD cover). Below Gwen is more shattered glass and wood pieces (from when the lightning blasted through the window). I also used silver glitter to show tiny shards of glass. I also painted the floor to look like Angel's mansion.

Here are the two figures together and the whole set:

UPDATE: Here some pictures!!

2009-06-07T11:46:00.001-07:00

I'm showing the whole school the award I made for Dr. Wood. Once the kids heard that I made an action figure of Dr. Wood they got really excited.

Dr. Wood after coming up and seeing the figure. She had no idea about any of this and she was just super excited and shocked.

Time to address the audience and express her gratitude and let everyone know she was totally speechless!

Dr. Wood and her action figure.

A Gift for My Principal

2009-04-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

I made this figure for the principal of my school. My school district is going through consolidation and they are closing the school I'm at. "Dr. W" I'll call her, came out of retirement to be the principal at our school (since the previous principal got transferred to a different school which left a vacancy).

This is a gift that I decided to make for her because I feel she did a great job at helping us get through this tough time. I have not given this gift to her and I sure hope she doesn't google something and this site pops up!! I am working out how to present this to her. I'll have to attach pictures when she does receive the gift.

Here is a picture of her:

I talked to many staff about what outfit Dr. W often wears. No one could seem to think of one. I did notice that she often wears this black sport-type jacket. She is also famous for her heels. That was a must for my figure. I decided to go with her school picture as the rest of my reference for what outfit to sculpt on her. Dr. W also wears a lot of skirts, but I opted to go for a pants look.

I used a Joyce head, torso, and arms/hands. I used a Vampire Darla legs (since this figure had heels on). I removed Joyce's hair, sculpted on ears (which eventually got covered when I sculpted on the hair), I also sculpted on the T-shirt, shirt, and jacket. I also had to cut off the butt off the previous figure because it was rather large and Dr. W is a smaller woman. I then resculpted the bottom. I should have shaved more off the knee area but it doesn't look so bad the way I left it.

Here is the figure with the sculpt process:

It took me a few tries to get the eyes just right. I am so pleased with how it turned out. This is my first figure I painted that actually looks like the person, only action-figure-ized.

I initially was going to go with black pants. After the figure was nearing completion, it looked like she was wearing pajamas or sweats. I wanted a more business woman look. So I painted the pants a dark grey. This is not a typical outfit she'd wear, but it's close.

For the background and stand I used a plastic stand that comes with DST figures. I sculpted the bricks on the back wall to look like a school wall (although our walls are more tiled--the style 50 years ago--since the building is turning 50 this year--our closing year, go figure). I painted the floor to look like a section of our floor. I etched in some tile lines to make the base look like tiles. After I painted it, I coated it with some scenic water to give it a shine. I also used 3 banner flags and painted them purple (with white lettering)--our school colors. On the banners I painted, "Star Polishers, Power Tools, and We Nurture They Grow." Dr. W. has these themes she talks about so I had to get that into the piece. That is why you'll see stars around the top of the wall, flowers at the front of the base, and a tool box full of tools.

Here is the finished, painted Dr. W. figure.

Like I said, this is a piece that I hope she will treasure. I know I am proud of how all this came together.