Tough Love Glory and Tara

I wanted to stretch my abilities as a growing customizer so I wanted to recreate the scene where Glory sticks her hands into Tara's head, sucking out her brains. The only downfall was I needed to find a park bench that would be in proportion to the 6 inch figures (12:1 scale) and I needed to figure out how to make Tara with ears. I managed to find the park bench for a reasonable price on ebay. I also came across a Peter (?) figure--from Spiderman. His facial features are similar to Tara and he has ears!

Here are the parts I used.

I used a Glory head on a Charmed figure's torso/arms. I also used Cordy's legs (purple dress). The rest of her I sculpted. For Tara I used the Peter head and the Graduation Faith's body. I think that is a Buffy jacket also.

Glory was pretty easy to sculpt. Once I got the pieces to hold togher, I was able to sculpted the dress. I also had to sculpt her wild hair! I was going to redo the shoes but thought it best to leave that alone. (Again, I don't know why this blogger flips my pictures--I can't rotate them one they are being edited....grrr)

Tara wasn't all that difficult to sculpt either. Her jacket was longer so I had to add clay to the jacket to extend it. Here are some pictures of that:

Things looked like they were going to be good...that is until I started painting. I guess boy heads should be used for boy customs and likewise for girls. Or at least for me.

Here is what the painted pieces turned out to look like.

As you can see, as much as I really wanted this to turn out, it didn't. It looks like a guy wearing make-up. So as much as I didn't want to--I ditched that head and decided to try the only Tara head that was made (I used a cast of her head). I would just have to sculpt the ears.

Here is picture of that:

I think it's plain to see that the head just was not large enough compred to Glory's head and it didn't sit right on the body. (but darn it because I liked the hair sculpt with this figure)

So a woman (Barb) on the BtVSFigs forum told me that some people used a Daena (Planet of the Apes) figure before they came out with a Tara figure for customs. So I found a great deal on one on ebay and I decided to give it a go--since I've put so much time into this piece and I didn't want to trash it.

Here is the makings of the new Tara....

I also decided to just sculpt her jacket instead of using a manufactured one. It just looked nicer.

And now the finished piece. I wasn't especially thrilled how it turned out. It looks like Tara but the lips are making this monkey face which is throwing me off. They don't reflect the pain she is showing in here eyes. I did end up sculpting ears. I had perfect ears at one time--no joke, but go figure they were too low on her face so my 8th attempt after that, I gave up trying for perfection. I took pictures of her and the ears just looked huge. So I painted some hair over her ears so make the ears look smaller. I don't think I re-took pictures to show that. So if the ears look huge on her, it's not that bad anymore.

As far as the base, I used the back side of a base that comes with some figures. I filled it in with come cheap clay (FEMO--I didn't want to use up my good stuff). I also used two grass bases and filled in the gaps with the cheaper clay.

This sure has come a long way from my original idea to where it will remain now. I couldn't get Glory's hands to work to make them inside Tara's head. First off, her arms were too short. Part of this had to do with the way she was sitting (and she was sitting like this in the show) so I'm not sure how that was possible. I think if I had sculpted the figures more together--as one piece, not two, it would have worked. One of Glory's arm had to reach from behind and then her hand had to curve into Tara's head. There was no way I could make this work without making it super fragile. I think the end product gets the point across that Glory is going to attack Tara.

Pylea Scenes

I made a 4 part scene for the Pylea episodes. I have a Lorne figure that goes along with the whole Pylea episodes but I have not figured out what I want to make to go along with this figure. I was thinking his mom? Most of these pieces I made a few years ago.

Season 2, Episode 20: Over the Rainbow
Original Air Date: 8 May 2001After Cordy is swept through a portal, Angel and Wes are desperate to get her back. They come up with a plan to go to Pylea after her. Since it's Lorne's home dimension, they insist that he come along. Gunn is hesitant to go when Wes says that they might never be able to get back to earth. Meanwhile on Pylea, Cordy is sold as a "cow" and meets up with another portal refugee, Fred. Then Cordy has a vision and things become even more complicated for her.

I had a slave Cordy and I started out with her. I painted her clothing rags brownish to mimic what she wore on the show. I did not alter her in any way. I then used part of the Charmed warrior cage to support the back wall of the barn. I made the wood siding out of clay. I actually pressed the clay onto a piece of wood to get some of the texture. I had to alter it a bit to get some of the indentations deeper and to make holes. This is still one of my favorite backdrops I made for any of my figures.

Front and back view:

Season 2, Episode 21: Through the Looking Glass
Original Air Date: 15 May 2001 Wes, Gunn, Angel and Lorne find Cordy in Pylea. She's being hailed as a princess because of her visions. Now, she's the ruler of the kingdom. While, Wes and Gunn try to find a way to open another portal and return home, Lorne visits his family. Angel is becoming incredibly popular with the locals, telling them tales of his battles back on earth. He even rescues Fred from certain death. But things quickly start to go wrong for everyone. Cordy realizes some disturbing things about her new responsibilities. Angel begins to lose control of his vampire self. Wes and Gunn find themselves under attack. And Lorne is arrested for treason.

Since I had a princess Cordy figure I wanted to make something that went along with her. The only noteworthy part was when she (along with Gunn and Wesley) find these books that belong to monks. Upon looking at the covers, they see a wolf, a ram, and a hart. They figure out that there must be some deeper underlying meaning connecting the Wolfram & Hart evil law firm.

I had a hard time making the books but I love how they turned out. Then I bought a Lorne figure and darn it if it hadn't already been made. I ended up trading the manufactured books away since I liked mine better.

I made the table to look like the table they were at. For Cordelia I covered her gray bra and belt with cut up bits of sparkley paper. Actually it was a design off a Kleenex box--but it had the effect her jewelry had on the show. It worked out great!

For Gunn, I used a basketball's player's head--it is the best match I've seen so far! The player is Jamison #4 of the Wizards. I used an Angel body for his body. And I painted his clothes to match the show. I think I used a Wesley coat for his jacket. He is holding his famous axe that I made from a similar axe that I think came with a Wesley figure.

I didn't do much for Wesley. I added sculpy to make his shirt. I attempted to make his glasses but it is so hard to get the clay to stick to the face and stay without breaking. The end product isn't wonderful, but it works. Sorry the picture is tilted.

Season 2, Episode 22: There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb
Original Air Date: 22 May 2001The season two finale has Team Angel desperate to escape Pylea. Wes and Gunn join up with the rebel forces, Cordy tries to save Lorne, and Angel has to overcome the demon inside of him. If they're ever going to get back to LA, they're going to have to overcome their individual problems and work together as a team.

This final two pieces are from this episode. There was a figure made of Angel when he turns into a demon. I had this huge base that came with some Charmed figures I had. I thought it would make a great cave that Fred called home. I had to fill in the back wall where the tapestry hung and made it to look like the other rocks. I then painted on the symbols she had written on the wall. I made a small table, added some bits and bobbles to it. I also made a campfire. Along the walls are vines that were quite tricky to make and glue to the walls. I also overturned one of those Moore Buffy rock looking bases for displaying figures. I filled it in with hot glue (this was before I knew about scenic water). I then painted Angel's demon reflection on the water. For being one of my older paint jobs, I loved how it turned out.

I also had to cut open Angel's shirt and paint his tank top. (since his shirt was not buttoned on the show.

For Fred I used a Fred figure and just covered her in layers of sculpy to give her the poor-girl potato sack look she had going on. I did make snips along the seems of the clay to make it look tattered. I did do a face re-paint on her and it didn't turn out quite so bad.

For the final piece I wanted it make the throne area. I started making the chair, realized just how difficult it was going to be, and made a simpler version. I used the full chair from the Charmed set. I added a back piece to make it taller. I sculpted the top of the throne also. I glued felt over some padding to make the seat and back of the throne.

The steps are made from cut up bases. This was quite difficult to do. I think the effort was well worth the finished product. I also made a mirror and a table/food to add as fillers to this set. I also wanted to make Groosalugg. Groo's face didn't turn out quite right but it's not horrible. I used the Leo Charmed figure for Groo. For this being an older sculpt I liked how the clothing sculpt turned out!

It was only after I started making him that I realized that Cordy was wearing a different outfit when she met him. So I had to buy a new figure, alter it (necklace, back fabric piece, and jewelry.) For this jewelry I used some really small goldish sequins. It worked out great. The back fabric piece was difficult to sculpt but I think the finished piece was nice. Painting her head was fun. I think this is the first figure I painted that somewhat looked like the actual figure... (I know her eyes are a bit cross-eyed---not bad, though, right?) Here are multiple angles of Cordy:

I also made the monk guy since I had that hand pedestal thing. I glued two of those together to make it taller. I covered a Wesley figure with clay to make the cloak. He turned out neat as well. The cloak is rough--but it was an older sculpt that I did. I know he didn't really fit into the throne area but I really didn't want to make more pieces for this guy. I thought it would be cool to make the scene where Cordy is behind him ready to chop off his head. Maybe in the future or if someone wants to commission me to make it!

Dusted Vamps

I always wanted to make an action figure where there is a vampire getting dusted. When I first started out customizing I didn't realize that people use parts of figures to make new figures. I thought the customizers made the heads. I started out with some hard clay (FEMO clay) and I started sculpting a head. Needless to say, it didn't turn out. I even tried to make an imprint of a face in clay, bake it, then put new clay into that mold to try to get a face print. That worked out somewhat. I then tweaked the head a bit and I put it on an Angel figure's body. Here is what it looked like.

I also molded clay around the chest to show the vampire starting to turn into dust. For some reason I made a cowboy hat and I liked it too much to not use it--so I put that on this guy's head. I also made another vampire that was almost completely dusted.

I used one of those screwed up heads I tried making with a spare hand from a figure. I never painted the figures since I wasn't into painting yet.

A year or so later I was pouring the liquid plastic into one of my molds and some of it spilled over into a mold I made of a vampire Xander. When I was cleaning out the mold, some of the head was there--some was missing. It looked just like a vampire that was turning into dust. What a great accident!!

I forgot to take a picture of the front, but here is the makings of my dusted vampire. I used the same concept of my accident to make the other parts of the disappearing/dusting body.

Since this was a shirtless figure, I sculpted on a shirt and shoes. You can see some of the body is missing. Here are some pictures of the painted piece. You can even see through the figure in some spots!

It was tricky making the vampire look like it was turning into dust. I painted the whole figure black first. Then I used white and gray paint mixture and dry brushed it over the black to give it an ashy look. I think the finished pieces look neat--especially from the earlier work, and with this being an accident and all.

To make the nearly dusted vampire, I used my older version of this dusted vamp and added a skeleton upper body/arm/head. I put a piece of the Xander vampire head over the skeleton head to give it that vampire look.

I may someday make a different Buffy to go along with these vampires. For now, this is my display.