Save the Planet of the Apes!!! - PIX ADDED!!

[Ironman1188]

Thats great Jess!
I so would have loved to have been able to be a gorilla in full gear for Halloween. Alas, I was relegated to a mere biker dude whilst walking around the neighborhood with my 9 yr old.
Took a break from painting as my patience was getting raw. Keep getting hair paint on the face and vice versa. AHHHHHHH!!!!!
Lots to do. Hopefully pix soon. Also working on a few surprises that may wind up either being cool or just garbage, depends on how well idea transforms into reality.

 

[Jessica]

Paul, I know that you were curious about shrinking down headsculpts. Here is my Sideshow Zira shrink. I don't exactly remember how long it took to shrink from 1:6 scale to 1:9 scale, because I had put the items away and forgot all about them. I didn't think the substance would shrink anymore, so I was halfway through another mold to repour the shrinking substance. Months and months later, I did find the project again. The shrinking substance encased in the rubber/silicone experienced a weird chemical reaction and liquefied. Zira's face was still exposed to air, so the material shrank to Mego scale without me doing anything to it. I had to completely resculpt the hair and smooth out all of the pockets/bubbles that appeared on the surface as it shrank.

Here is a closeup of the bubbles that just are there because I don't use a pressure pot. These bubbles, if they are near the surface, eventually create pock marks everywhere and need to be filled in on your cast.

Bruce Lee had no problem shrinking down to Mego scale. Zira and Cornelius, just because they were bigger due to the hair, took a lot longer to shrink down. I think they would have been able to shrink down to Mego scale if left alone long enough. I was more concerned with shrinking down the face than anything else, since hair is no biggie. The picture below shows how much the material shrank after a few days.

Also, the shrinking down is not absolutely perfect. For instance, SS Zira has eyelids. The shrunken material did not have that. I suppose I could go in there, armed with a dremel and resculpt the eyelids--but why? It's so damned tiny nobody would notice anyway. You would probably not have to worry about that since you would not be shrinking your sculpt to such a small scale.

Here is another comparison shot, and it was obvious at this point that Bruce Lee still had more shrinking to do.

 

[Ironman1188]

Your work always amazes me Jess. I so wish you lived closer. I'd love to see you work and maybe pick up a few tips along the way.

Has anyone here ever enlarged the Medicom or Mego apes to 1:6?

 

[Jessica]

I so wish I lived closer to someone who is as obsessed about apes as me, IM. Ian (Mr. Shrinker) has enlarged Medicom to 1:9 and I have not seen any of the Mego apes enlarged to 1:6. I think that the Mego faces are actually pretty good--it's the hair and the horrible paint job that sucks and gives Mego that "Mego quality" that I do not like. I want all of my figures to look real. I hate when they look like dollies.

Hydrospan is too expensive for me to try to enlarge anything. I tried with Pink House Studios chemicals to enlarge Burke but that came out like crap. I have had a higher success rate of shrinking than enlarging. I've only managed to shrink Bruce Lee and now Zira, but theoretically I should be able to shrink anything to Mego scale if I have bothered to make molds of it.

 

[Ironman1188]

Ok, thanks Jess.
Ian's not an option any more. I did find one guy over on the MM that offered but nothing is finalized.
Would anyone else here be interested in Mego or Medicom enlarged heads to broaden their collections?

 

[stickman]

Jess, I really like what you did with your head sculpts. Have you attached the Zira heard to a Mego body yet? Just wondering what she looks like all dressed up.

Keep up the good work.

 

[wax murderer]

Thanks for the mini-tutorial, Jess. Definitely gives me something else to think about(just what I need-another project!)
There is a thread in the Star Wars customs section dealing with trades and wants. One of the posters has HT Ursus parts available(armor, collar, gauntlets). Figured someone here might be interested...PS

 

[wax murderer]

Bump! Check my previous post...PS

 

[Jessica]

Oh! I didn't see that about the Ursus HT parts..!!!

I was wondering how the SS Cornelius would look with a new hairstyle. I was just staring at him today and that thought popped in my head.

 

[The_Darkness_Predator]

...sorry if this is a goofy question, but has anyone tried to convert a 1/6 scale wig into an ape hair style?

When I get back home, I was thinking about getting this one to try it for a custom chimpanzee:
https://cgi.ebay.com/Sunnys-World-1...998?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4394e8593e

or this one for an orangutan:
https://cgi.ebay.com/Sunnys-World-1...486?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f11df3fe

Thanks.

 

[Jessica]

Wow that dark brown wig is most awesome! I really want to try that one! Actually, the person to ask would be Matt Sotis. He has haired up Snick's apes, but I don't know his methodology. I prefer sculpted hair myself...but you know how curiosity gets the best of me. I still want to try hairing up one of the orangutans I did...using that lion fur I used for Link. The color is perfect I think...I just have not worked up the nerve to paint up the orangutan face. I have a cast of just the face, ready for this...just haven't found my nerves yet.

 

[Jessica]

OMG she's so cute and awesome! I need to fix the back of her hair, but she's almost done, and ready for an official portrait. Yay!

Here she is next to the Sideshow Zira:

 

[Ironman1188]

Once again, GREAT work Jess. Its like what would've been had Zira and Cornelius had a daughter.
And those wigs show great possibilities. Are they available elsewhere than Ebay? I'd like to be sure that they are 1:6 enough for the apes before I even think about buying them.
Jess, here is one of the one off heads you sent me that I painted up. I don't know why the flat sealant has such a sheen to it.

 

[Jessica]

Hey IM! Wow...poor gorilla finally has some paint on him. His head had been rolling around unloved for quite some time. Glad to see him painted up.

Those wigs are most awesome...I need to see how one of my orangutans hair up before I invest in such a wig, since I was a bad girl and just bought an outfit for my samurai on Feebay. The chimps definitely need dark brown--not sure if that orange wig is too bright for the orangutans...I think they need more strawberry blonde. But I would love to see someone take up the challenge and see how it works out!

 

[Ironman1188]

Thanks Jess!
Goes to show, never destroy a sculpt. There's always a good use for it. This particular gorilla has a particular place in my collection now as Warko from the Marvel Terror series.

 

[Jessica]

Ironman--forgot to tell you that from my experience, the flash will always bring out the shine no matter what type of matte you use. Just hit your figures with bright lights and turn the flash off of your camera...or just take your figures outside and that will minimize the shine. If you turn your flash off, you have to be super steady or your pictures will blur--just prop your camera against something if you don't have a tripod handy, to keep it steady.

 

[Ironman1188]

Actually, the pix are less shiny than the head actually appears to be in real life. I noticed it as soon as I was done spraying it. I just have no idea how to take it "off" and as I like the head so much don't want to do anything that may damage it.

 

[Jessica]

IM--I will send you a packet of my matte makeup that is clear that I use for when I go ape, and you can dust it on the gorilla face (not the hair) with a paintbrush. That will further mattify him and it won't be permanent.

 

[Jessica]

Hot damn, guys! It's a perfect Nova body! I'm sure it will be pricey. I'm betting a longer 1:6 wig would almost make her a perfect Nova. The eyes are moveable, too.

 

[Ironman1188]

How much does SHE cost?