Attn: Custom Artists!! Newbs, ask Questions here!

[Dr.FeelGood]

Hey folks couple of quick questions...

1) how do you "pad" out a figure to make it look like it has more muscle under the clothes?

and

2) how would you go about extending a BBI body so the finished figure would stand 13-14 inchs (equal to real life 2 meters)

 

[knucklefunger]

blpphantom
Use spandex & make a padded skin tight suit, like the fat suits, just for muscles instead. The nice thing is under clothing, it will bunch up a little & look like the muscle is flexed

I'm doing a mod on a Soldier Story to make it taller for Sammy from Supernatural. Gonna cut the legs mid thigh & mid calf to keep proportions correct. Glue in a piece of plastic in the appropriate length. Then putty over with 2 part epoxy putty, smooth out. Done

I plan on using old bodies that are broken to cut down to make the shims

Hope this helps

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

Thanks Knuk, will give it a try...if i can find some "Spandex"...lol...for some reason it isnt a easy item to get from my local hab

 

[drod26]

Hello Artist,

What color mix do you recomment to paint Luke and Anakin face? I am having a difficult time getting the correct light tone.

 

[Anzik]

Most everyone is going to tell you that they kind of 'eyeball' colors they mix. I generally use Model Master warm skin tone lightened with white for a base tone, then add some more layers of different shades including some with more red for highlights and then top it with thin coats to even it out.

 

[DRESSUOUT]

Hello,
I gotta couple questions about painting headsculpts
1) Do I really have to remove the original paint . . .or can I leave it on as a primer ?
2) I dremmelled out a headsculpt and got all this powdered resin all over the head. I've tried to wash it off, but she just keeps comin' back.
Can I paint over this or should I get rid of it first . . and how do i do that ?

Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[knucklefunger]

blpPhnantom
Old cycling shorts or some jogging or even yoga clothing

Dresssuout
Get rid of all the powder, it will give your sculpt a zitty look, get a brush used for cleaning dentures, scrub with warm water & dish soap

I usually strip the original paint because to much paint chokes the detail

 

[DRESSUOUT]

Alright, Thanks a million Knucklefunger.
I really apprecaite the advice.

 

[knucklefunger]

No problem, always love to help. I've made more than a few mistakes & wish someone could have offered some advice at the time. Would have saved me some time & money

 

[DRESSUOUT]

No problem, always love to help. I've made more than a few mistakes & wish someone could have offered some advice at the time. Would have saved me some time & money

Thats what makes this thread so awsome, a first timer can get lots of help from people who have alot of hard earned expierence doing all of this.
Thanks again.

 

[KingGrayskull]

Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

Ok, I painted 2 heads now (Both Ada's Peter Venkman/ Bill Murray). With the method DA introduced on the first pages. My first better got about 6-7 layers and came out very nice. I even tried to add some gray stobble to the paint but did not really suceed. It is there but yo have to know it. Anyway I am happy as it was just a test paint. The second one is coming along nice too but I did a big mistake as I used the wrong color and his skin is too light right now. Unfortunatly I realized it about 24 hours later so it has completly dried. Should I restart from the begining? How can I get the paint off the sculpt? Any help would be appreciated. I will hopefully post pics In about a week, somehow my cam seems to be lost...

Further has anybody saved the pics from DAs tutorial on his computer as they are not shown anymore and step 3 really seems to be the step I have problems with... Again help would be appreciated.

Thanks for the tutorial DA! It has really helped me to improve my paints. I am completly new to 1/6 customizing (ok, 1 year now) and did paint several other thinks before but they always looked a little cartoonish which was allright as they were mostly comic figures. But this would not have workes for 1/6 heads. This way of painting heads gives a more realistic result...

And if anybody can give me a tip how to paint eyebrows I would be grateful too. The eyebrows on Venkman are heavily sculpted so I just did the same as I did with the hair (dark base and 3/4 lighter layers and a darker last one) but it looks like someone wears these eyebrows they always wear on carnival...

Heres the explicit part of the tutorial that I would love to see the pics of... Again BIG THANKS to DA for this awesome guide.

Ok, finally...

PART 3:

When last I left you all we were working on skin tones. It's a really tricky thing, skin. You have to take into account the actor's skin tone, or the characters skin. You then take a lighter shade and a darker shade and alternate until you have the desired shade. At least that is how I do it. We all have different methods and ever tutorial out there has said something new... So just experiment until you are happy.

After the skin is resolved and I stop ripping my hair out... I can start the base hair.... First you find good reference for the character you are trying to represent. In this case it was Mustafar Anakin and Episode 3 Obi-Wan. So Anakin will have very dark hair to simulate the sweaty mop he had while fighting Obi. Obi-Wan will have a reddish-blonde hair set... So if you go from dark to light, as you should... Obi will have a dark red base and Anakin will have a very dark Brown base. This sets the tone and lets you have fun with layers upon layers of lighter shades to give it a nice realistic look....

Tomorrow I will show you guys the next steps on the hair process, lightening and giving it depth. It's a tough process but in the end it produces wonderful results....

TBC

 

[drod26]

Yes, anyone with pictures for DAs tutorial will help out alot of people that are just starting to paint like my self.

 

[Amanaman]

For you guys who make 1/6 heads out of super sculpey firm, do you use aluminum foil to bulk out the core? I'm a little concerned that there would be air pockets causing the portrait to collapse.

Is a wire armature ever needed for a head?

 

[gdb]

Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

...

And if anybody can give me a tip how to paint eyebrows I would be grateful too. The eyebrows on Venkman are heavily sculpted so I just did the same as I did with the hair (dark base and 3/4 lighter layers and a darker last one) but it looks like someone wears these eyebrows they always wear on carnival...

Eyebrows are tricky as they are rarely 100% hair. You can usually see flesh bleeding through. The two main things are blending the colors and the shape of the brow.

For eyebrows I use a couple techniques as appropriate.

A dark base, a lighter layer or two touched up with an inking of the dark base again and maybe a light dry brushing with the light layer. The last thing I do is to take some darker than base-color and draw a thin line at the bottom of the brow to help define it.

I often like to lightly -- lightly -- dry brush the eyebrows with flesh to soften them. This is done with an emphasis around the edges of the brows as a blending tool.

An advanced technique I like to do is to paint a few light dark-base-color strokes in an up and out diagonal direction -- going with the grain of the brows. I sometimes have to follow this up with a light dry brushing or painting a lighter than base color strokes right next to them. The trick is to not look like I've painted on the brows.

I sometimes curb the eyebrows back with a few flesh strokes going in the same diagonal direction but working from the outside of the brow. The idea is to give a shape to the brow.

Also, a nice petering out to the side is usually what I like in brows.

I hope this helps. I've thrown in pictures for reference. I'm more of a Babe Ruth type of painter. I can't think too much about what I do when I do it.

 

[Odowankenobi]

I'm looking to bloody up my SSC AoD Ash a bit, and I'm wondering what I should use. I'm pretty new to customizing, so I'm not thinking of messing with the head sculpt. I'm thinking of maybe adding a gash on the back of his hand, but I have no experience there. Do I just cut a gash and fill it in with some paint? Mostly I want to rip up the clothes a bit and add some blood around the rips. Is there something special I should use that looks reasonably like blood when it dries on fabric?

 

[Anzik]

I'm looking to bloody up my SSC AoD Ash a bit, and I'm wondering what I should use. I'm pretty new to customizing, so I'm not thinking of messing with the head sculpt. I'm thinking of maybe adding a gash on the back of his hand, but I have no experience there. Do I just cut a gash and fill it in with some paint? Mostly I want to rip up the clothes a bit and add some blood around the rips. Is there something special I should use that looks reasonably like blood when it dries on fabric?

Dark Artist has some awesome examples to follow on tearing up figures and clothes and makes it look authentic. Scroll through his stuff and study.

 

[drod26]

What type of magnifying glasses are you artist using to paint eyes and where can I get one?

 

[abadguy]

Since this is for questions....

How much would it be if I wanted someone to make a Jordan Collier (from The 4400) head sculpt for me?

I just want the head, not clothes or a body or anything like that.

 

[KingGrayskull]

Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

Eyebrows are tricky as they are rarely 100% hair. You can usually see flesh bleeding through. The two main things are blending the colors and the shape of the brow.

For eyebrows I use a couple techniques as appropriate.

A dark base, a lighter layer or two touched up with an inking of the dark base again and maybe a light dry brushing with the light layer. The last thing I do is to take some darker than base-color and draw a thin line at the bottom of the brow to help define it.

I often like to lightly -- lightly -- dry brush the eyebrows with flesh to soften them. This is done with an emphasis around the edges of the brows as a blending tool.

An advanced technique I like to do is to paint a few light dark-base-color strokes in an up and out diagonal direction -- going with the grain of the brows. I sometimes have to follow this up with a light dry brushing or painting a lighter than base color strokes right next to them. The trick is to not look like I've painted on the brows.

I sometimes curb the eyebrows back with a few flesh strokes going in the same diagonal direction but working from the outside of the brow. The idea is to give a shape to the brow.

Also, a nice petering out to the side is usually what I like in brows.

I hope this helps. I've thrown in pictures for reference. I'm more of a Babe Ruth type of painter. I can't think too much about what I do when I do it.

Thanks for the great explanation. MEanwhile I started my second Murray and am almost done with the skin. So I think I will paint the hair/eyes and finally eybrows this week. I decided to leave the first one as it is in order to get a comparrison. I still did not find my camera...

 

[Anzik]

What type of magnifying glasses are you artist using to paint eyes and where can I get one?

There are racks of reading glasses available at most department stores and supermarkets with varying degrees of magnification.