Graduation Gift

I'm hoping my roommate doesn't look at this site because I'm going to post pictures of a gift I made for him. I'm not sure what he'll do with this--maybe he could use it for a good paper weight! It was a challenge for me to make because I had to make this in small steps when he wasn't home.

Here are the parts I used. Peter Parker (spider man head and legs from knees down) and Oz chest, arms, and legs to top of knee.

And here are the photos:

This is the base. I used two grass stands from the Darla figure. I made a cast of a stone looking hedge trim (outdoor landscaping trim). I filled in the gaps with clay. This piece I did bake in the oven. The glue I used to hold it together melted and it was quite the mess but after it dried and the clay hardened, I re-glued in the holes and it turned out quite nice!

Here is the figure. I made him wearing a University of Wisconsin sweatshirt that he likes.

And here is the finished photos. I found a picture of the campus and printed it off to fit on a plastic stand piece.

Hush

Season 4, Episode 10: Hush Original Air Date: 14 December 1999. The creepy demons "The Gentlemen" capture the voice of the population of Sunnydale, to steal human hearts without scream. Giles find that in accordance with a legend, the creatures will be destroyed if a lady screams, but Buffy's gang plus Riley must fight the monsters voiceless.

This is the last of my older pieces I've made that I need to blog. Future blogs will have newer or the newest things I've made...

I started out making this set because I had these Gentlemen action figures. I also had a Willow figure that wore the same outfit she wore in Hush, and I also had a Tara figure. I wanted to create something with these two girls to go along with the whole set. I plan on doing the background for the Buffy/Riley/Gentlemen scene better. I want it to look more like an old clock-tower with the parts of the clock showing. For now this scene is good.

I decided to make the scene where Willow tries to push the vending machine, hurts her leg in the process, falls to the ground, and Tara comes down next to her. Tara then slowly interlocks her fingers with Willow's fingers and together they push the machine with their magic power. This was the first glimpse we get at thinking something more is happening between Willow and Tara than just being friends. It was a nice scene to recreate.

I started off making the Tara figure. I used a Charmed figure and a cast of a Tara head. It was a cast I made out of clay and it wasn't the best for details. I also used a jacket from a Spike figure since she was wearing a coat over a sweatshirt. When I was done with the figure I didn't like how she was sitting and she looked HUGE with all the clothing.

The tricky part was trying to figure how how she was sitting on the floor (they didn't show her sitting in the show). She was in a squatting position but with one knee up. I actually had to get myself into this type of position to figure out how to sculpt it.

One I realized this figure was not going to work, I scrapped the whole thing and started over. I used a Faith body and arms (since the arms had sleeves that looked like a jacket. I used the same legs--just the bottom parts. I used a lot of clay to hold the legs into the position I wanted them then sculpted over that, the dress. I like how this figure turned out. She is sitting on one of her feet and in a crouching position. I used a cast of a Tara head this time which was a better idea. The jacket/sweatshirt still looks large on her but it looked big on her in the show. Here are some before pictures.

It was quite the challenge painting Tara. I really had a hard time figuring out how the bottom of the dress would look if was in this knealing position. I'm very satisfied how it turned out.

For Willow, I used the same figure the manufactures made. Since it was not a deluxe figure she could not sit without looking really silly, so I had to cut up her legs and re-sculpt them in a type of sitting position. I then repainted her pants, and shirt. I like how these things turned out. I could have switched a Willow head for a different one, but I decided to keep the smiling Willow head.

Here are finished pictures of the two girls. For the background I used two plastic bases and glued them to a tile. I added some bumps and dings to the plastic bases to give them a dented, old washing machine look. I painted them white and added some rust spots.

For the vending machine I used the three plastic blocks that came with each of the Charmed Warrior figures. I glued them together. I sculpted the coin slot. I had to cut out a square in the top of one of the boxes. I wanted to create the machine so light could shine through the top picture part. I took a picture of the vending machine from the show. I printed it out and laminated it in thick plastic. I then glued this to the opening I cut in the box. I had a small set of Christmas lights I glued inside this. When the lights are turned on, it looks like an actual vending machine. I don't think my pictures show this but it is really cool! Here are some pictures of the whole set.

For the next part, I made the scene where Buffy is held down by the Gentlemens' sidekicks and she is trying to tell Riley to smash the box to release their voices. Riley has his gun ready to smash the box.

All of the sidekicks are in a squatting position and I needed one to be standing up holding Buffy. I had the Master's legs as extra parts and they worked perfectly. They were made in this awkward standing position but it totally worked for this figure. I did have to sculpt some of the straight-jacket to cover up where the two parts were glued together. I then painted over that figure. It worked out nicely.

I don't have any finished close-ups of this.

For Buffy I mostly used the Buffy Bot figure (torso) and Cordelia legs (from the Slave Cordelia). I had to sculpt the jacket some, and under shit. I used a cast of a Buffy head from clay. I wasn't originally going to keep this figure. I was going to re-do it, but it didn't look so bad after it was painted.

Finished:

For Riley I used a Lord Of The Rings figure, I don't remember his name. I sculpted his army vest, hair, pants and shirt. I also sculpted the parts that are on his belt.

I made the jars on the table from a mold that I made. I put hot glue in the mold . Before I sealed the mold, I put in a painted heart.

Finished:

Here are the pieces together:

Here is the whole set together!

Season 2, Episode 8: The Shroud of Rahmon
Original Air Date: 21 November 2000. When Gunn's cousin becomes involved in a plan to rob a museum, it's up to the gang at Angel Inc. to help him get out of it. The robbers are after the Shroud of Rahmon. Going undercover with the demon thieves, Angel and Gunn are soon in over their heads. The Shroud has magical powers that turn people crazy. Soon it's infecting all of them, even Angel. Angel's relationship with Detective Kate Lockley is both bettered and worsened when she intrudes on the heist.

I'm not sure what prompted me to start making this scene years ago. I think it was that fact that Kate Lockley was a big character in the show and I was upset they did not make her into an action figure. My early attempt at making this scene was quite bad. I'll post some of those pictures.

For Kate I used a Darla head and a Faith (white tank top/boots) figure. I did sculpt her coat which didn't turn out so bad.

Here is the reference photo (and my figure):

For Angel I used a deluxe 50s Angel figure. I sculpted the button-down shirt, and the sport jacket. I also added some volume to his hair to try to get the spiky look.

For the Shroud of Rahmon I used cardboard and formed it into a box. I used some of the plastic that comes with the figures--the bubble covering for the window.

And the two of them together:

I knew I wanted to redo this piece at some point in time. After seeing a Kate figure that a member (Sasha) on the BtVSFigs forum site created, it gave me an idea of what head I could use to make my Kate. Here is Sasha's figure (from the distance it looks just like the person):

My fear in making Kate was that it would not be as good as what Sasha did. People would be comparing the two. I didn't let that get into the way and I went ahead and made my figures.

For Kate I used a Heroes Claire head, and a deluxe Kendra body. I also used part of Leo's Kilt from the Charmed warrior figure to make the coat. Here are the unpainted pictures:

Here is my painted version of Kate.

For Angel I recycled the old figure that I made. I broke off most of the old clay. I cut off the hair. I then re-sculpted the hair, bare chest, and button-down shirt. I decided against trying to re-do his sport jacket. I instead used one of Wesley's jackets (the Bad Girls figure).

The painted version: There were a couple of tricky parts. In the show his jacket is much darker than his bright blue pants. It is hard to tell in the picture, but it should be two shades of blue. The other part that was tricky was boiling the figure enough to harden the clay and allow me time to open up his closed fingers (without breaking the clay). I managed to get them as open as possible, then I ran it under cold water to harden the plastic. Some of the finges are crooked looking but it was the best I could do considering how careful I had to be. Angel had these really cool greenish-yellow eyes (almost like his shirt). It was hard painting the eyes to make it look like the show (and real looking). It was hard painting this because Angel's eyebrow bump is so close to his eye that it doesn't leave a lot of room to paint in the details. I think it turned out better than I planned.

For the beast I started off using this figure from, I think, Lord of the Rings. I realized that the feet would need to be cut off and the fingers would have to be opened up. So, to save that work, I decided to keep the head since it allowed the most flexibility in adding clay and the chest.

I then decided on using these parts:

I decided to use a basketball player's arms since it was the right size and they were extra parts sitting around. I also had this figure's legs (but I'm not sure what figure they came from). I did add a wooden doll between the bottom and top parts to make the figure taller. Angel stood at about chin level to this figure.

I didn't like the mouth being opened so I cut that off. My attempt at making new lips didn't go as I wanted, but I kept it. It was only after I painted the figure that I realized that the lips were way to high on the face and I should have made them lower or cut off some of the chin. All in all I liked how he turned out. I also had to sculpt the backbones that were coming off his head and down his back. You can also see them raising the material on the back of his shirt.

The problem I had with this guy was some cracking issues. You can probably see some cracking on his leg and on his right side shirt area. I did use some hot glue to rub over the crack before I painted it. I decided that if I sculpt hair it would probably look dumb and unrealistic. I used some long, white hair from a stuffed animal, glued that on after I painted the head, then painted the hair a light shade of gray.

And here is the painted version:

I decided to put Gunn (and Wesley) into this scene since they were all somewhat part of the drama. I made Gunn clutching his head (because he thought there was flies in it) and I made Wesley behind Angel--because he was warning Angel about the Shroud just as Kate arrived to carry on her cop duties.

For Gunn I used a cast of the basket ball player's head. I use the figure of Jamison #4 of the Wizards. I also used Spike's spare deluxe arms and an Angel body. I sculpted Gunn's hooded sweatshirt. This is also the only figure I made a stand for. I made him leaning up against the concrete block wall.

The painted version:

For Wesley I used a Bad Girls figure. I used a smaller jacket (from a different Wesley figure) for his jacket. It is all repainted. I did use the glasses that come with this figure. I repainted the rims black since his glasses were black. They look ridiculous on him as I have not figured out how to to make glasses look "normal."

To make the new Shroud box I used foam board. It is also covered in thick paper-cardboard for the design on the outer part. I did cut out a spot for the glass window. I used a CD case cover to make the window and i cut into it to look like the crack. The Shroud of Rahmon (not picture I don't think) is the same piece I used from my old box. I tried using a cloth and repainting the face but I liked the old thing I made--(just a piece of clay with the demon etched into it, then painted).
Here are some before and after pictures. I also took pictures of the old box and the new box together.

And finally here are some pictures of the characters all together. The first one is a before look of how I wanted the pieces arranged.