Hot Toys – MMS257 – Back to the Future: 1/6th scale Marty McFly Collectible Figure

[parrasmaniac]

interesting! good work!

 

[Username]

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

interesting! good work!

Thanks guys. I don't know how this happened, but i wrote that post this morning before heading to work...
I was thinking "those guys took a while to reply to my earlier post", but i checked the time and it only just hit the forum.
In any case, i did a little rough hair work today at work. Keep in mind it's only a little "sketch" in plasticene. Nothing final, and i know i am not the best at sculpting hair. I was going for his PT2 hair(And certain scenes in PT1 where his hair is lower than others).
It's not perfect(And is only temporary as i intend to scrub this one and try again just to see if different looks are better than others). It's easy to photoshop on a different hairstyle, but it's nice to be able to turn it and see the different angles.
Keep in mind the original sculpt here has been given a very this skin of latex so the plasticene won't leave any marks on it so i can re-use it for multiple attempts. Also, this is just plasticene, and not the correct colour as a painted sculpt would be.
Comments welcomed, even if you think it's rubbish, lol.

I was thinking after looking at the previous images, this time, the hair was too flat, so i decided to raise it up a bit:

Then, a few seconds blast from the hairdryer to take the sharpness off the sculptlines:

 

[HAL9000.]

I think that's looking good.

How do they normally sculpt hair detail? Each hair is rounded somehow. Could you apply that technique?

Are you going for the Pinheads audition looking hair?

 

[Username]

I think that's looking good.

How do they normally sculpt hair detail? Each hair is rounded somehow. Could you apply that technique?

Are you going for the Pinheads audition looking hair?

Kind of. He has hair similar to that a few times in the movies, and also the Clint Eastwood hair. No product, lol.
As for hair sculpting, it's easier with sculpting compounds, but they sculpt in the waves first, then sculpt the single hairs out of that shape. It's just hard to do with plasticene!

 

[HAL9000.]

So, they have some sort of half moon tool for the hairs? It's very clever. That's not out of clay?

 

[Username]

So, they have some sort of half moon tool for the hairs? It's very clever. That's not out of clay?

It's more like refining the shape from rough to smooth and then adding the hairs. You make the rough shapes in the clay and keep refining the shapes until the general loo is correct, then finally add detail. The following are from an online sculpting tutorial but should give you the gist.

 

[HAL9000.]

Ah, yeah. fig 12-14. Thanks, Dude. Always wondered how they did it.

 

[Username]

Ah, yeah. fig 12-14. Thanks, Dude. Always wondered how they did it.

Most professionals use a material called castilene. It's a hard wax material. You have to heat up your tools to work it, but it means(Unlike what i have been using), it quickly goes hard again when no heat is on it. Which is a good thing for casting.

 

[HAL9000.]

Yeah, heard of that before. I've tried my hand with various clays, but not wax yet.

 

[Jameson Rook]

That's crazy work Barry! I love it! Can't wait to see it finished!

 

[earthdog]

I love posts like this. I learn so much.

 

[The Jerker]

so finally a friend helped me out and we started using bad mother customs decals.

Small details, big difference. Pretty happy

What do you think of them? I just got a set and haven't put them on yet. I'm not into the whole coating them with clear coat thing for durability and now wondering if I should have hit up evilface for the sneaker decals.

 

[parrasmaniac]

the decals are great.

- The nike logo on the shoes is neccessary, that's not a choice... you gotta do something about it, decal, paint, or other shoes... the decals work fine for me.
- The skateboard decals are easy to put.
- The trickiest ones are the decals for the video camera. The backpack one is also tricky, but the camera is the most difficult to put of all.

The figure looks much better with them, only the camera as I said, is tricky, and I think they are worth the money and the effort, putting them on, coat with clear matte coating for the shoes, skate.

 

[parrasmaniac]

and thanks to Barry for the pics on his work (awesome!) and the background info on hair sculpting....

It is amazing how a different hair piece can change the overall feeling of a sculpt.

 

[The Jerker]

Cool, thanks much. Yeah, the shoes is a no brainer for sure. I might give it a go tonight.

 

[Username]

and thanks to Barry for the pics on his work (awesome!) and the background info on hair sculpting....

It is amazing how a different hair piece can change the overall feeling of a sculpt.

View attachment 288452

Thanks. At the moment, i have stripped off that test hair and the sculpt is now bald again. I am going to try and get a hold of some of that wax sculpting compound. At the moment, it's only available in the US, so i will have to try and find a way of getting some.

 

[HAL9000.]

Could you not use Super Sculpey? Then you would just put some cling film on him like a skull cap, and sculpt as much as you want, then bake when you're happy.

 

[Username]

Could you not use Super Sculpey? Then you would just put some cling film on him like a skull cap, and sculpt as much as you want, then bake when you're happy.

if I used sculpey, I couldn't use cling film. The head is not an even shape and the resultant hair would be forever Keyes to the head and would crack if I tried to remove it.
I have considered this. I've done a lot of sculpting with sculpey and I know it's properties very well.

 

[HAL9000.]

if I used sculpey, I couldn't use cling film. The head is not an even shape and the resultant hair would be forever Keyes to the head and would crack if I tried to remove it.
I have considered this. I've done a lot of sculpting with sculpey and I know it's properties very well.

Sorry, was just an idea/possibility.

Plenty of heads come with detachable hair and I thought you could cut the head back more etc.

Edit: Also, if you're going to do it out of wax, wouldn't you just have the same problem? You'd have to remove it anyway to then cast etc. or are you just leaving it on? Painting the wax?

 

[Username]

Sorry, was just an idea/possibility.

I have been considering everything. Ideas are a good thing. But i had already discounted the sculpey one. Like i say, i have been using Sculpey since before The Phantom Menace came out(My first 1/6 sculpture was of Darth Maul). It's too brittle to harden and be removed. It could be hardened and left in place, but my idea here is to make a sculpture and remove it so i could cast it. But i will try and get some castilene and see how that goes. If i clayed it up right, i could potentially still cast something done in sculpey too.
Some of my projects from way back when with Sculpey: