Pointer needed: Sculpted on "fabric"

[In Rem]

So I made this guy some time back with spare parts. The main thing I'm not too keen on is the elbow area. The funky ball joints from the Ask Aak forearms fit OK in the sockets in the Plo Koon upper arms, but the look is awful. I was thinking of taking strips of paper towel, newspaper or maybe even shreds of tissue and dipping it in a solution of elmer's glue and water, then wrapping the area to build up the upper sleeve over the lower arm. Anyone ever try this?

I's also like to create half shoes for the ankles and perhaps a scarf to fix the so-so marriage of the Ask Aak neck and Koon shoulders...

Depending on how this works this guy will be a Jedi or a thug... right now he's more of a thug.



Does this sound like it would work? Other suggestions?

[Famine]

If possible, pop the arms and feet off. Then take some sculpy admake a slight fold just a little bit farther off the sleeve to cover the weird arm area, and then repeat with the ankles. Pop them back inonce it's cured.

As for the neck, sculpt a collar or make a softgoods scarf.

Kevin

[Jesse James]

if you're looking to retain articulation, I think fabric/softgoods may be the way to go...

For instance, depending on what you use, the right thickness of fabric could build up the figure where you want "bulk" just right and add a flexible "sleeve" or whatnot to it.  I'd glue it in place of course at each spot since it's covering something you don't like, so you wouldn't want to remove it.  Some 2-part adhesive would work well for a permanent glue-on.

You could really cover it well with fabric though at the various areas you wanted to.  Like make maybe a "bell-bottom" to the pants by sewing a conical shape that you glue up towards the bottom of the knee joint, and the fabric sort of lays on the foot...  You'd have to paint the legs to match the fabric in color but that's not as huge a deal really.

Something similar could bulk up the shoulders, and a wrapped scarf with a thinner fabric could be made any color you wanted and would hang on the neck well while moving with all joints on the figure itself.

Just some thoughts from my end, but I'm a fan of using cloth on figures to retain poseability too so I'm biased.

[In Rem]

Well, the elbows don't actually move much. He has a pivot there, but not much else. I'd be willing to give it up to achieve a certain look.

Great ideas, though. I'm going to keep them all in mind.

Thanks!

[darth_ripley]

i'm a soft goods lover myself whenever at all possible. i've been experimenting with a bunch of scrap fabric that i had lying around the house. i like the different textures that i can achieve with fabrics like suede and leather, along with some hasbro materials like the cotton jedi robes/skirts etc. i got a huge bag of scrap leather/suede pieces at a local leather shop for like $5 several years ago and i came to the conclusion that it is A) an endless supply and B) has endless uses for a TON of projects. 

just some alternative fabric ideas for soft goods if you decide to go that route.

p.s. there's no reason why the tissue paper dipped into elmer's solution won't work, it would be a lot like paper mache on a pinata if you ever made one in school. rather stiff but realtively strong.

[CHEWIE]

I don't know how much this will help, but here's what I would suggest.

(1) Drill just a bit into the hole/socket with a dremel where the bicep is to let the elbow knob fit in there deeper

(2) Take some thread or really thin yarn and wind it around the upper forearm and the shins to make them thicker - you can dry brush the thread afterwards and it helps give it a good blend to the plastic, but you'll probably want to repaint some of the figure too (at least his clothes)

The thread is a method I used on my Quinlan Vos -



 

[In Rem]

(2) Take some thread or really thin yarn and wind it around the upper forearm and the shins to make them thicker - you can dry brush the thread afterwards and it helps give it a good blend to the plastic, but you'll probably want to repaint some of the figure too (at least his clothes)

The thread is a method I used on my Quinlan Vos -



 

Darth Ripley - Thanks for your response. I'm a real fence-sitter when it comes to soft goods. Sometimes I really dig them, other times not so much. On this particular figure I want the "material" to sit relatively snug to the body underneath the robe, so I'm thinking something wrapped and glued will work better.

Thanks for your response too, CHEWIE. This is more the kind of effect I was looking for. Good stuff.