President of the Assembly, Planet of the Apes

[jessica]

I'm painting one of the casts of Pete. It came out better than the first one. I've added a thin film of mold material where the unwanted tear was, and put it back together, so it's drying now. I'm just taking a break from the painting, which will probably take a couple of days.

I also want to start another sculpt, but you know how that goes. You start with a lump of clay in your hand and a lump in your throat, wondering will the magic still be there?

[Meule]

Oh, I'm sure the magic is still there. In fact, the magic keeps growing with every new sculpt

[TrueDave]

Don't freak out guys...everyone knows I'm an apes fan...now that Christmas is just around the corner, why not an ape angel?

Tadah!!

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/1738/dsc02261y.jpg

oops I freaked out. Too much APE?

[jessica]

oops I freaked out. Too much APE?

NEVER!!! BWA HA HA HA HA!!!

[jessica]

Rough paint job. Not happy with him. No point in finishing this painting. His head is too small for 1:6 so I need to grow him. :(

You think it's a great sculpt until it's got paint. Then you see all these imperfections. *sigh*

[alex]

I see what u are saying, its not bad, it could be better, the paint makes the sculpt look flat, I reckon if u added some more depth, more detail to hair, some contours on the face etc., it would really lift it, but hey, its always a pleasure to look at your work, and I couldnt do better.

[jessica]

I see what u are saying, its not bad, it could be better, the paint makes the sculpt look flat, I reckon if u added some more depth, more detail to hair, some contours on the face etc., it would really lift it, but hey, its always a pleasure to look at your work, and I couldnt do better.

Yeah...need to put more effort into the detail, but because the head is already the wrong size there's no point to it. Can't wait for the chemicals to arrive so I can do what I have to do to make it work.

[Gorn Captain]

Rough paint job. Not happy with him. No point in finishing this painting. His head is too small for 1:6 so I need to grow him. :(

You think it's a great sculpt until it's got paint. Then you see all these imperfections. *sigh*

http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/3016/dsc02345x.jpg

Getting a good skin tone is very hard. It often takes a professional touch.
And indeed, it does bring out imperfections.

Practice, practice....

[Captain]

Would make a great Bill Bixby as it is!

[gaga4toyz]

One thing you can do if you piece is slightly small is make a mold of it from silcone (I've only tried it with dow corning HS111). After the mold is cured you soak the mold in mineral spirits. The mineral spirits will enlarge the mold. Take the mold out of the mineral spirits,dry it with a paper towel, and let it sit so the mineral spirits evaporates out of it. Make a cast. If the cast is still too small, soak the mold in the mineral spirits again. If the cast is too big, let the mold dry out and it will start to shrink. This isn't an exact science but I've had very good results with it. If you have a head for a 6 inch figure, you can do the same thing. Make a mold, soak in mineral spirits, cast the head in proper scale. I hope this helps. It's very easy. I don't know what this will do to your mold long term, it may weaken it. I only do this when I'm just making the mold to enlarge the head, then I throw the mold away. Jason

[jessica]

Thanks for that tip! I'm so going to try this out...Where do you get mineral spirits?

[gaga4toyz]

Any hardware store should have it. Home Depot..It work like a champ.

[jessica]

New project...Fire Genasi. Nothing really to copy so I'm just making him up from scratch. He's not for me to keep but he's been fun to make. He's far from being done though.

[Meule]

Don't know who that is, but I really like it, love the way you tackled the hair. Is that glue?

[jessica]

Yes, Thomas, hair is glue. I'm going to be painting it soon, but after I smooth out his paint job. I don't know who the heck it is either. Your guess is as good as mine. I guess it's some kind of Dungeons and Dragons character? Not really sure--it's definitely out of my realm.