Figmental's Collection and Customs

[figmental]

You boil it with the figure. This is also ideal for making customs as it softens up the plastic of the boiled figure when heated making it easier to remove joints, such as arms and heads. I would recommend doing the same for reattaching.

Best of luck with your nude Robin!

So, I just throw my figure in a pot of water and turn on the stove? Haha that sounds crazy but if it can pull off some of the stuff I've seen I better get some more pots!

 

[Dearth]

So, I just throw my figure in a pot of water and turn on the stove? Haha that sounds crazy but if it can pull off some of the stuff I've seen I better get some more pots!

Heating the plastic does make it a lot easier to work with.


But here are some things to keep in mind, from my own experiences...

For removing parts of figures, hot water works better than boiling water. Since the parts of the Palisades figures are made of different kinds of plastics, they react differently to heat. If you want to remove Scooter's head and you put him in boiling water, yes it will soften the more rubbery plastic of the head... but it will also warp the more rigid plastic of his glasses, giving him a wall-eyed appearance.

For curing Super Sculpey, boiling works better than baking. For one thing, baking certain kinds of Sculpey produces an odor which is reminiscent of dead fish. Whereas if you boil it, there's no odor.

It's also safer to the source figures than baking is. I've never really tried to sculpt something and boil it separately and then attach it to the figure, so my projects always require the figure to be heated, sometimes repeatedly, to cure each small sculpted area as I go. With boiling, there is a lot less risk of accidentally melting a figure. It never happened to me, but I know folks who left vintage Kenner Star Wars figures in the oven too long and returned to a puddle of plastic. Luckily they turned that bad experience into useful knowledge to pass along to me, for which I am grateful.

For reattaching parts once everything is resculpted and painted, heating the plastic again does make it easier to push the posts in... but a hair-dryer sometimes works better than hot water for those cases. Whichever part has the hole needs a little heat, but the part with the peg can stay room temperature.

And yes, you show good intuition because it is a VERY wise idea to get some extra pots just for your custom projects. It wasn't immediately noticeable, but I have one pot that I've used for so many years now that its interior surface is basically nothing but a very thin layer of Sculpey, so I can assure you that boiling the customized figures DOES leave some permanent residue on the pot, and I would not recommend ever using that to cook food again.

I also had one pot that I used just for dye. One morning my wife grabbed it by mistake and cooked scrambled eggs in it... and they turned a most unappetizing charcoal grey from the residual black Rit dye which had previously been absorbed into the metal. So I dremeled the words "For dye only" into the handle. Eventually, wouldn't you know it, the handle broke along the spots where I had weakend it, so I threw the whole thing out. I don't use dyes as much anymore, so I haven't had a need to replace it yet.

I probably need a bigger pot for curing Sculpey, though. The one I was already using was fine for Star Wars figures (4" tall) but Link Hogthrob can barely fit in it.

Dearth

 

[figmental]

I just had the best idea today.... Haunted Mansion Muppets! I've been screwing around with a pulley-like system I created with a shoelace.... and an Uncle Deadly figure. How cool would it be to have Deadly as the Ghost Host/Master Gracey? Kermit and Fozzie could be visiting the mansion....

I'll try and set up a diorama and post pics.

 

[Gelfling Girl]

I just had the best idea today.... Haunted Mansion Muppets! I've been screwing around with a pulley-like system I created with a shoelace.... and an Uncle Deadly figure. How cool would it be to have Deadly as the Ghost Host/Master Gracey? Kermit and Fozzie could be visiting the mansion....

I'll try and set up a diorama and post pics.

Ooh...That sounds cool.

 

[figmental]

OK... forget anything I ever said about my next project. I found an old Cranky Kong action figure (Donkey Kong's grandfather from the video games) and believe it or not... from the neck down he kinda has the same body shape as Sal Minella! So, I popped off his head and hopefully soon will start on a Sal Minella CUSTOM! Cranky is brown, but I'll paint him gray, and his shirt (which looks a lot like Sal's) is gray, so I'll paint it tan.

Johnny might get his stinky monkey!

 

[theprawncracker]

OK... forget anything I ever said about my next project. I found an old Cranky Kong action figure (Donkey Kong's grandfather from the video games) and believe it or not... from the neck down he kinda has the same body shape as Sal Minella! So, I popped off his head and hopefully soon will start on a Sal Minella CUSTOM! Cranky is brown, but I'll paint him gray, and his shirt (which looks a lot like Sal's) is gray, so I'll paint it tan.

Johnny might get his stinky monkey!

Amazing! ! ! I can't wait to see what you do with it!

 

[figmental]

Has anyone ever thought of making a Ghostbuster Fozzie from a Patrol Bear Fozzie? I think it's as simple as repainted him and removing a few minor details.... then giving him a proton pack.

 

[GonzoLover85]

Has anyone ever thought of making a Ghostbuster Fozzie from a Patrol Bear Fozzie? I think it's as simple as repainted him and removing a few minor details.... then giving him a proton pack.

I really like the sounds of that idea! I think I'm going to have to find me a cheap Patrol-Bear now.

 

[figmental]

I really like the sounds of that idea! I think I'm going to have to find me a cheap Patrol-Bear now.

He has nowhere to go right now.... so I threw him in with the Swinetrek... but if I make him a Ghostbuster, he could go with the Muppet Ghost!

 

[j3h]

Nice job Figmental on your projects! I like the sound of your Haunted Mansion muppets and Ghostbuster Fozzie (all together could make one neat display)
Good luck and I look foward to seeing your updates