Re: Opening a torso and other newbie questions

by **poncho** Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:51 am

ooh i think i finished my luke. cheers for giving me the inspiration from your customs lads :-) its crude but from a distance doesnt look out of place

by **Commander Clint** Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:51 pm

poncho wrote:ooh i think i finished my luke. cheers for giving me the inspiration from your customs lads :-) its crude but from a distance doesnt look out of place

Glad to help. Do we get to see it? popcorn

by **ourchickenshack** Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:49 pm

poncho wrote:ooh i think i finished my luke. cheers for giving me the inspiration from your customs lads :-) its crude but from a distance doesnt look out of place

All of our 1st customs were crude Chris but the more you do the more you'll learn and get better cheers

Did you post pics of it yet ?

by **poncho** Fri Mar 03, 2017 12:05 am

ourchickenshack wrote:
poncho wrote:ooh i think i finished my luke. cheers for giving me the inspiration from your customs lads :-) its crude but from a distance doesnt look out of place

All of our 1st customs were crude Chris but the more you do the more you'll learn and get better

Did you post pics of it yet ?

Luke Hoth : Redux PVC001 is now up ha ha Smile

by **poncho** Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:14 pm

What's Milpitas like? Anyone used it for scuplting detail onto a torso?

by **ourchickenshack** Mon Apr 09, 2018 12:05 am

poncho wrote:What's Milpitas like? Anyone used it for scuplting detail onto a torso?

I haven't heard of Milpitas , although after googling , I found out there is a city in California called Milpitas .

I use Milliput putty :

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this is a example of what I have done with it and I have no sculpting experience at all ...

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It's easy to work with and , after mixing the 2 part epoxy together , you have about 3 to 4 hours working time before it hardens completely . It takes a little practice but it really isn't difficult at all . You obviously have artistic talent so I am sure you could do it man cheers

by **poncho** Mon Apr 09, 2018 11:15 pm

i meant milliput. phone auto corrected it. so its like playdo in away. except it hardens onto the subject after a few hours cool

by **ourchickenshack** Mon Apr 09, 2018 11:59 pm

Here's a few tips I found ...

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by **Commander Clint** Tue Apr 10, 2018 2:38 am

poncho wrote:i meant milliput. phone auto corrected it. so its like playdo in away. except it hardens onto the subject after a few hours cool

I thought that I posted a picture of the stuff that I use, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Anyways, I can't get Milliput in Canada, so I use "Aves Apoxie Sculpt". It's a lot like milliput. It has an "A & B" part that you mix together and has a couple hour working time.

by **poncho** Tue Apr 10, 2018 12:26 pm

thanks boys

by **poncho** Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:19 pm

mmm i did a paint test today it was awful. i thibk it was because i was painting on paint. strip the original paint first yes? ive read brake fluid any cheap alternative around the home i could use? i ive used make up remover a while back and it coroded the plastic

by **poncho** Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:24 pm

does plastic primer help when painting vintage plastic?

by **Commander Clint** Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:24 pm

poncho wrote:mmm i did a paint test today it was awful. i thibk it was because i was painting on paint. strip the original paint first yes? ive read brake fluid any cheap alternative around the home i could use? i ive used make up remover a while back and it coroded the plastic

I've never stripped the original paints. But you might want to give them a "primer" paint coat first. Brake fluid is only good for stripping the chrome finish on C-3PO, DSD & R2 heads.

What type of paint are you using? Enamel or acrylic?

by **poncho** Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:37 pm

i dont know it was a spray paint i think il stick to model paints for this new droid i think. cheers clint

by **Commander Clint** Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:43 pm

Both enamel & acrylic come in spray cans. Enamel paints work great on the hard plastic torso's, but are awful on the soft limbs plastic. They remain sticky on the limbs.

Acrylic paints work better on the limbs, but will need a clear coat finish when you're done. Because the paint is soft and will mark easily.

I use a primer paint on a lot of the stuff that I do. Even on the parts that I cast.

You can find some tips here.

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by **poncho** Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:44 pm

cheers clint everyday is a school day :-)

by **ourchickenshack** Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:19 pm

I prime all my figures before I paint them and only use acrylic paints .

I've never needed to remove the old paint off of regular figures but have found that the details show up a lot better on the droid figures if the chrome finish is removed before priming and painting .

by **poncho** Sun Apr 22, 2018 9:34 am

mmm just wondering any vintage figures have any flesh moulded arms 3 3/4 size from the 70s80s i cant think of any from the starwars line..

by **Commander Clint** Sun Apr 22, 2018 3:42 pm

poncho wrote:mmm just wondering any vintage figures have any flesh moulded arms 3 3/4 size from the 70s80s i cant think of any from the starwars line..

Rancor Keeper

by **ourchickenshack** Sun Apr 22, 2018 7:20 pm

The Diver figures from Fisher price Adventure People have flesh arms and I used one to make a custom of General Kahn .

Here is a bit of the info from the post I originally made here : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The arms were by far the most challenging part (way harder than the hair/beard) . Although the tattoos weren't easy they aren't what made the arms hard - I decided I needed bare skinned arms for the figure and had the bright idea to use a Fisher Price Adventure People Diver figure - one of these ...

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I thought that since they were the same scale the arms would be fairly easy to swap ... I was dead wrong . Although the have the same type of post coming out the shoulder with the round discs on the ends as Star Wars figures , the Adv People figures posts and discs are much , much larger and would not fit the holes in the Bespin Luke Torso .

I had to remove them completely and rig the arms to work . Basically I just glued a dowel rod through the torso to create pegs and then drilled holes in the shoulders to fit the pegs . The next problem was that the shoulders did not align properly with the torso , once again , just way too big . I carved them with a exacto blade and then sanded them smooth to get the proper shape (I also shaved off the watch that was molded on the right arm) .

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The next step was to paint them that nice pale Englander flesh color to be as authentic as possible Wink

by **Commander Clint** Sun Apr 22, 2018 7:58 pm

ourchickenshack wrote:The next step was to paint them that nice pale Englander flesh color to be as authentic as possible.

LMAO

by **the89thchris** Sun Apr 22, 2018 8:18 pm

That is pretty grand! It really deserves its own lavish photo shoot in various scenes, ideally with Sy Snoodles. rofl

by **poncho** Sun Apr 22, 2018 8:32 pm

cheers james il look into the fisher price range. love your customs very clever and they must take you along time! i duft my cap to your skills

by **poncho** Fri May 18, 2018 11:22 pm

armour like on bib fortuna and 4 loms harness. what kinda material could i use to make an accessorie. im thinking a rubber matt maybe?

by **Commander Clint** Sat May 19, 2018 12:19 am

poncho wrote:armour like on bib fortuna and 4 loms harness. what kinda material could i use to make an accessorie. im thinking a rubber matt maybe?

Crafting foam, sheet vinyl, felt, elastic bands. I can think of all kinds of things. If you use felt. Cover it in glue to make it more rigid.