Is nobody making custom figures anymore ??

[Bilbo Skywalker]

I‘m working on Nien Nunb, cad Bane and Tam Posla (Rogue One)

Would love to see Cad Bane!

 

[Cagoda]

That is NUTS how good that Amanaman sculpt is.

Better/bigger pics please!

To keep air bubbles from getting trapped in tight spots such as horns you can make small canals out from the tip of them, so the resin has further to travel and then you just trim the excess off.

Though, since they are in difficult positions to do that, I hear dusting talcum powder into the mold and brush and blow it out as much as possible before molding can help too.

Lastly, get a pressure pot or rotocast setup.

Thanks so much for the advice Too Much Garlic! I'll have to check those out.
TaliBane, thank you so much! I'm currently out of town but when I get back and make some more progress I'll definitely share with everybody!

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Another option is to concentrate on the horns first using a syringe to pour the resin in, before casting the whole thing.

Or check for a slow setting resin with a long pot life.

 

[boinkffd]

Amanaman and Nikto look great.

 

[ajp4mgs]

I made several castings of my Nikto sculpt, and all of them had serious problems with air bubbles/pockets and incomplete (or missing) horns. Major bummer for me. But, I took the best one and filled in the missing stuff with Apoxie Sculpt (which is air-dry and very sturdy when cured). Here's where I'm at with it now, after applying some paint to it.



More work than I bargained for, but at least I can move on to making the head gear and finishing the costume now.

 

[millertime]

Very nice work bro, he looks spot on.

 

[Chakaman]

Man, that looks nice! Well done.

 

[ajp4mgs]

Very nice work bro, he looks spot on.

Man, that looks nice! Well done.

Thank you to both of you. And Chakaman, your thread has been one of my favorite sources of inspiration for customizing these SW figures. So, another thank you for sharing your amazing work that has long set the bar (a very high one) and inspired others to try to come close to emulating.

 

[Stryker2011]

That Nikto looks fantastic! Too bad about all the problems -- you could have made some good money making castings for folks like me.

 

[D.R.37]

Awesome job Ajp4mgs! I highly agree that Chakaman’s thread is a great source of inspiration. Thanks again Chris

 

[Chakaman]

Thank you to both of you. And Chakaman, your thread has been one of my favorite sources of inspiration for customizing these SW figures. So, another thank you for sharing your amazing work that has long set the bar (a very high one) and inspired others to try to come close to emulating.

Awesome job Ajp4mgs! I highly agree that Chakaman’s thread is a great source of inspiration. Thanks again Chris

Well thanks guys, that means a lot. I really, really appreciate it.

That Nikto looks fantastic! Too bad about all the problems -- you could have made some good money making castings for folks like me.

I totally agree. I would love to have that sculpt on one of my future Nikto guard customs. It is beautiful.

 

[dls712]

A lot of spreading the love going on here... let me add... agree on the inspirational value of the Chaka thread - it's my main go-to for stealing shots for future reference for my own custom stuff!

And... ajp4mgs - really nice job on the sculpting and paint up on your Nikto. Wish I had sculpting skills like yours!

 

[Cagoda]

Ajp4mgs, awesome job on that Nikto! He looks great. Which Nikto character are you planning on making from that? The head I sculpted is based on Lathe (I think that’s his name, but he’s the one with the blue and tan colors lol).

 

[ajp4mgs]

Thanks a ton for the kind words, guys. As far as producing better castings, all I can say is that I already have plenty of incentive to get better at the molding/casting process (because I want to try Klaatu, Barada, and Ree-Yees sculpts after finishing with the Nikto figure). I'll be keeping my original Nikto sculpt intact, so revisiting better castings is not completely out of the question.

Which Nikto character are you planning on making from that? The head I sculpted is based on Lathe (I think that’s his name, but he’s the one with the blue and tan colors lol).

I'm going for the Vizam version below; but if it goes well, I'd like to make a Lathe version too. Even though Niktos probably show up best on the sail barge, they do show up quite a bit in shots near the barbecue behind Jabba in the palace. That's what I plan to to use them for in a display. And if I wanted to be really lazy, I could even skip making the headgear in order to match the second shot below (under the red arrow).

 

[Stryker2011]

That’s a great idea using them in a Jabba display — that’s exactly how I’d use them, too, if I had them.

 

[LOPIE]

Great looking sculpt. ajp4mgs have you tried to cast using a pressure cooker? I use one for all mastings, and it works great.

 

[xipotec]

Great looking sculpt. ajp4mgs have you tried to cast using a pressure cooker? I use one for all mastings, and it works great.

I use mainly silicone, could you educated me on your technique and materials.



Sent from the inside of a giant slug in outer space.....

 

[ajp4mgs]

Great looking sculpt. ajp4mgs have you tried to cast using a pressure cooker? I use one for all mastings, and it works great.

Thanks, LOPIE. I never got a pressure pot or vacuum chamber because I haven't really minded patching up the flaws in my castings (using either Apoxie or sanding). But I probably need to start using at least one of those. If nothing else, it would save me some time.

 

[TaliBane]

I made several castings of my Nikto sculpt, and all of them had serious problems with air bubbles/pockets and incomplete (or missing) horns. Major bummer for me. But, I took the best one and filled in the missing stuff with Apoxie Sculpt (which is air-dry and very sturdy when cured). Here's where I'm at with it now, after applying some paint to it.

View attachment 451937

More work than I bargained for, but at least I can move on to making the head gear and finishing the costume now.

Very nice, ajp! Love it.

 

[ajp4mgs]

Very nice, ajp! Love it.

Thanks a lot, TaliBane. Here's how it looks so far on a very early draft of the costume. I don't know how much of these costume components I'll end up replacing (since it looks pretty crappy right now), but when I've finished the entire build it could change my outlook. Without the chest armor and headgear, it's hard for me to evaluate things properly.