Post by alternatecoppa on Nov 2, 2006 0:24:48 GMT -5
For the most part I like the job Mattel has done with its Avatar figures. However having read about their approach to the toy line from the reports on these forums you can easily see that they intend it to be a young boys line. Any collector knows what that means…
We’ll get a billion different versions of Aang with odd accessories of varying goofiness and one or two supporting characters here and there if we’re lucky. Don’t get me wrong, that’s cool if you’re someone in that target demographic who just wants to bang Aang’s air bazooka thingy on Zuko’s fire launching whatchamajig.
But if you’re like me, then you’d rather see all the supporting characters being produced along with meaningful variants of the main characters.
Case in point, I would have loved an exclusive Sokka with his warrior’s face paint. But the chance of seeing production on a variant that appeared in only two episodes is next to nill for a toy company that has bills to pay.
So I decided to try and modify Mattel’s® Watertribe Sokka™© but with an extra challenge thrown in-
Not to ruin the original toy… At least not completely. So I thought I'd try to make it into a figure with an interchangeable head. I’ve seen lots of Japanese figures with this feature before (Dragon Ball Z being one of the most notable).
So the first step was to chop off poor Sokka’s noggin’ using an exacto blade & being very careful to cut directly on the line where head meets neck.
To maintain the head articulation we’re going to need that little bit of left over plastic from the head joint that’s left in the neck socket.
The next thing I needed to do is make more than one head. The best way to do that without going broke buying a dozen more Sokka figures is to make resin copies. After all, I only need the heads what am I gonna do with a bunch of decapitated bodies?
For those who might not know, making resin plastic castings first requires a silicone mold to be made of the master object and in this case a two part silicone mold. It really is a cool process and rather than take up tons of space explaining it to you in detail, you should check out Dan Perez Studios’ awesome step-by-step guide if you’re interested in how it works:
www.danperezstudios.com/workshoppages/molding_casting.htm
www.danperezstudios.com/workshoppages/molding_casting2.htm
www.danperezstudios.com/workshoppages/molding_casting3.htm
Once the mold is made we can start mixing and casting our resin duplicates.
Kinda creepy isn’t it?
All the extra plastic that you see attached to the heads gets chopped off, sanded and then cleaned for painting. I used regular hobby store Testors brand enamels and mixed colors to match the Mattel paints. Working from a screen reference I painted it with an extra fine-tipped brush. For the pupils I used a toothpick with a drop of paint on it for the detail. This was a monumental pain to get it looking decent. I can see why the manufactured original has printed eyes.
The one thing I had to change on the original that just didn’t sit well with me was Sokka’s hair color. It’s NOT black. If you watch the show you’ll see that it’s a sort of dark grey-brown.
Once that was dry (much patience required not to touch it right away) it was time to add or in this case, replace the neck articulation. I trimmed small lengths of steel rod and glued them into holes I drilled into the bottom of the heads. Another hole was drilled into the neck stub on the body being extra careful to keep it centered.
And there we have it! I can still display the original Sokka figure (with corrected hair color)…
And whenever he’s ready to don his battle guise, just pop out one head…
And replace with the other. The head remains firmly in the socket due to the rubbery nature of the plastic that the neck stub is made of. It can also turn and hold a pose just like the original did too.
My next challenge is to make new sculpted expressions and other details. I’ve already started on a “Friendly Mushroom Sokka” and after that I might try a “Hair Down Sokka”
After that? Who knows maybe I’ll find something better to do with my spare time… Hopefully not though.
We’ll get a billion different versions of Aang with odd accessories of varying goofiness and one or two supporting characters here and there if we’re lucky. Don’t get me wrong, that’s cool if you’re someone in that target demographic who just wants to bang Aang’s air bazooka thingy on Zuko’s fire launching whatchamajig.
But if you’re like me, then you’d rather see all the supporting characters being produced along with meaningful variants of the main characters.
Case in point, I would have loved an exclusive Sokka with his warrior’s face paint. But the chance of seeing production on a variant that appeared in only two episodes is next to nill for a toy company that has bills to pay.
So I decided to try and modify Mattel’s® Watertribe Sokka™© but with an extra challenge thrown in-
Not to ruin the original toy… At least not completely. So I thought I'd try to make it into a figure with an interchangeable head. I’ve seen lots of Japanese figures with this feature before (Dragon Ball Z being one of the most notable).
So the first step was to chop off poor Sokka’s noggin’ using an exacto blade & being very careful to cut directly on the line where head meets neck.
To maintain the head articulation we’re going to need that little bit of left over plastic from the head joint that’s left in the neck socket.
The next thing I needed to do is make more than one head. The best way to do that without going broke buying a dozen more Sokka figures is to make resin copies. After all, I only need the heads what am I gonna do with a bunch of decapitated bodies?
For those who might not know, making resin plastic castings first requires a silicone mold to be made of the master object and in this case a two part silicone mold. It really is a cool process and rather than take up tons of space explaining it to you in detail, you should check out Dan Perez Studios’ awesome step-by-step guide if you’re interested in how it works:
www.danperezstudios.com/workshoppages/molding_casting.htm
www.danperezstudios.com/workshoppages/molding_casting2.htm
www.danperezstudios.com/workshoppages/molding_casting3.htm
Once the mold is made we can start mixing and casting our resin duplicates.
Kinda creepy isn’t it?
All the extra plastic that you see attached to the heads gets chopped off, sanded and then cleaned for painting. I used regular hobby store Testors brand enamels and mixed colors to match the Mattel paints. Working from a screen reference I painted it with an extra fine-tipped brush. For the pupils I used a toothpick with a drop of paint on it for the detail. This was a monumental pain to get it looking decent. I can see why the manufactured original has printed eyes.
The one thing I had to change on the original that just didn’t sit well with me was Sokka’s hair color. It’s NOT black. If you watch the show you’ll see that it’s a sort of dark grey-brown.
Once that was dry (much patience required not to touch it right away) it was time to add or in this case, replace the neck articulation. I trimmed small lengths of steel rod and glued them into holes I drilled into the bottom of the heads. Another hole was drilled into the neck stub on the body being extra careful to keep it centered.
And there we have it! I can still display the original Sokka figure (with corrected hair color)…
And whenever he’s ready to don his battle guise, just pop out one head…
And replace with the other. The head remains firmly in the socket due to the rubbery nature of the plastic that the neck stub is made of. It can also turn and hold a pose just like the original did too.
My next challenge is to make new sculpted expressions and other details. I’ve already started on a “Friendly Mushroom Sokka” and after that I might try a “Hair Down Sokka”
After that? Who knows maybe I’ll find something better to do with my spare time… Hopefully not though.