Question for all the customizers

[Cap Backfire]

Hey guys, it's me again. Just wondering if there was a way to customize/ scratch-build joints (no jokes here, I mean for articulation of action figures, not dis-articulation of speech patterns.. ) Anyway, there are a few projects I am working on and I wondered if anyone had any advice in this area. On all the web pages I have visited showing 'behind the scenes' looks at figures sculpting facilities, they use metal-presumably to allow baking of the figure's clay body or some such... Anyone have a more in-depth idea of what they use?? I am not averse to using metal, but have not, as yet, found a system that really works. After dissecting 3 Marvel Legends figures I am no closer to an answer. I have some ideas, but they seem very labor-intensive to me... And I'm incredibly lazy. Not a good match-up, I know...

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[The Count]

Tell us what specifically you want to do... and I'll bring it up with my customizing one-man crew the next time we speak. He's done some work before with adding more articulation to the base figures he customizes, so I think he'd be a good person to talk to about this.
Hope this helps and have a good day.

 

[Cap Backfire]

Thanks Count...

Well, if and when I actually start trying to scratch build some OTHER penguins (I'm wanting to get some different species muppetized in the near future, when I have that... what's it called again... Oh yeah, FREE TIME)

Anyway, that's not important for joints as I dont intend for them to have any, but when I do Droop, he's kinda small and I don't wanna have to buy another Rizzo to do him in, and the experiments with Stikfas have gone horribly awry... So like, scratch built or purchased items that would create ball joints and such at a kinda small scale. I have been scanning my Home Depot for months now, trying to find what I can in metal to use for Muppet Creation purposes... To no avail. So find that one man customizing crew for me, and I'll post a shot of my Joker/ Gonzo. Deal?

 

[Gwen]

What I have seen used and have even tried myself once was to use Super Sculpey Flex (also known as Bake and Bend). You can use a wire armature and cover it in a thin coat of the Super Flex. After you bake it, you can paint it and then pose it. With the armature it stays in place, otherwise it would just go back to the original baked position. Detail is hard to get before baking, but you can carve into, sew through, sand, and even superglue this stuff once it's baked. It's great stuff! Good luck on your customs!

 

[WiGgY]

Have you had problems with sticky paint using super flex? I just complete a custom and it's still sticky with no sealer.

 

[Gwen]

As long as you use the paint that doesn't have the sealer in it then you don't have the stickiness. I have changed to using the Apple Barrel paints. The only way I have found to get rid of the stickiness of something that you already painted is to either take all the paint off with rubbing alcohol and then repaint it (which is a big pain) or coat it with Sculpey Sealer. It might be shiny, but at least it isn't sticky and getting stuff stuck into the paint.

 

[WiGgY]

Dang, I need new paint then. Too late to start over though.

 

[Cap Backfire]

That's at least KINDA doable...

I could produce my own BENDIE figs!!! OK, that's doable on at least 2 of the figs I have slotted... Guess I better keep looking for cheap figs with good poseability that I can hack and slash.
As far as bendie sculpey, I haven't had much luck even getting it set around a wire armature yet. Back to the drawing board!

Thanks for the info guys and gals!!!

PS, on that bendie sculpey, do you ahve trouble when you repose... like with the paint cracking or something??? I would think that would be paramount on the list of problems, but I hope not. Sticky paint would eliminate this problem, but hte dead spiders stuck to Droops arms would be totally uncool.

 

[The Count]

Well... you could always go to the Palisades Toys forum and contact Uncle Deadly. He submitted a custom figure of Boober Fraggle he made himself, and he said he used that bend & flex sculpie.
Hope this helps and have a good day.

 

[Gwen]

PS, on that bendie sculpey, do you ahve trouble when you repose... like with the paint cracking or something???

I haven't actually made a figure out of it, but on the test thingies I did the paint didn't crack as long as the layer of sculpey flex was less than about an eighth of an inch thick. The thinner the better!