#GameToysSephiroth

[the-enzyme]

Some repetitive photos of my GameToys Sephiroth on his default Remake body. I am super happy with how he turned out. I don't love how shiny the fixative dried this time. I have added one layer of gloss and two layers of matte in the past, with decent results. To my other 1:6 repaint attempts, so I am not sure why this one didn't dry as "matte" with a bit of "skin-texture-shine." I'm not too bothered, but I might try to fix it some other time -- it's not as harsh IRL, as it appears in some of these crappy photos. I am not quite satisfied with the irises either, although I am super happy of how bright and glowy they look this time. I messed them up with the gloss -- I need a better brush for dropping the domes, and a steadier pair of hands, I wonder where I can get some of those... Lol!

Sephiroth is my favorite character of all time, for as long as I've known of his existence (back when OG FFVII was released and I played it multiple times, when I was in my mid-teens!), I always wanted a custom figure based on him that gave him justice. I feel this figure is pretty close, although my ideal would be an OG Crisis Core key are version. This one is quite beautiful as well and had the factory paint apps matched the actual release, I would have been completely in-love with this figure. I know my repaint work will never be clean nor precise, so I can only do the repaint in my own personal style, trying to aim for a misture of Crisis Core Sephiroth and Remake, since the sculpt is based on that and they are a slightly different version of Sephy (I'm not talking about the hair and coat/belts).

I am pleased with him for now, and the terrible paint work I've done on him. So I'll be keeping him like this for a while, until I start to question my life choices once again and decide to repaint him once agian. LoL! That's the weirdo that I am. (:

[the-enzyme]

I cleaned my GameToys 1:6 scale Sephiroth’s figure lower-eye-lids a bit further, once again. I know I could have just wiped the whole thing, but I am scared of re-repainting the irises. I have terribly shaky hands, and the way they are now is not too far off from what I want. They could be cleaner of course, as I said, my hands are shaky! I have tried all the tips for shaky hands people doing miniature re/paints, I have been an acrylic on canvas artist my whole life now. So, yes, that’s as good I can get. I am in-love with this figure nonetheless so, so much! My ultimate all-time favorite video game character is Sephiroth! That’s why I have so many dolls representing him (none of them will ever do him any justice, and I would adore a CC version that was accurate, but never happening). However, out of the box this figure was a huge disappointment. I know a lot of GT fan-boys didn’t mind the less than stellar paint apps on this figure out of box. However, for the cost, it was quite the letdown for me because HT figures are licensed and sometimes cost less than this one did but have much more precise and accurate paint apps. Not like I love HT, but they do have better paint apps in general, for what their figures retail for (no Japanese video game ones from them ever again, sadly or fortunately?).

Long rant longer, I am happy with him for now! I wish I could redo the lips and be satisfied with them as well. I removed a lot of the gloss, and they do look better (to me), but far from what I wanted them to look like. Not only are they uneven (due to my shaky freaking old-person hands!), but they are also a lot darker than I wanted them to be. I will attempt redoing those once again, another time. These are all repetitive extreme close-ups because I am “showing off” his newly cleaned lower eyelids, and there are a thousand photos of his, already in his full-set elsewhere. I was lazy to remove his body from his box (I don’t have display room for massive 1:6 figures right now, or any figure for that matter), to take photos of him on his default Sephiroth outfitted body. 

I took these with my older than dust cell phone’s camera, because it takes more accurate photos (light, color, ambiance, shadows etc.) than my newer cell phone’s camera (with all and its fancier settings). However, the older one has trouble now not taking ultra-blurry photos. I also need a tripod for my cell phones. I was never into the idea of taking photos with my cell phone, so I never got one and the one for my camera won’t work. Unless I have an adaptor, and I am not sure which one will be more costly. I might “splurge” on one or the other, when I am feeling extra fancy. lol! DX

[the-enzyme]

I finally repainted my already repainted GameToys Sephiroth's irises for the third time. I am super happy with how bright and glowy they look. Although, most of the crappy detail I managed to squeeze in there, got lost with the terrible doming/glossing job I did. Story of my life! T___T;;;

Despite the crapfest my paint work and glossing are at any given time, at this scale. I am really happy with him, thus far. I took some of these while the fixative was still drying (as usual!), so he seems particularly greasy in some of these, but I don't feel he looks as terrible IRL. I took a bunch of repetitive close ups, because besides that being the thing I love to do, I wanted to see how he photographs from most angles, with any amount of light. I want his eyes to truly glow, from every angle from any lighting because my previous irises were so dark, and they didn't photograph as glowy. I'm finally happy with the glow, not I jsut need to not suck, so I can get in as much detail as I want. Or at the very least, as much as I had them the first time, I repainted his irises when he still had his default factory paint going on, and I only partially repainted his face.

Now that I have fully repainted him, I don't fear ruining anything however, so it's much easier for me to just go in and redo certain areas, without any guilt. Which makes me feel freer to do as I please, instead of worrying about ruining him. We're well past that! (: The last image is the un-glossed irises before sealing everything. I sealed him again because I lightened his skin-tone, I thought I had colored matched him to his default body, but he looked way too red toned in comparison. I might have matched him to the optional loose GameToys Sephiroth's body, which might actually be red-toned compared to the default one... I have never compared the two, so I don't know for sure.

[the-enzyme]

I decided to fully-repaint my GT 1:6 scale action figure Sephiroth. I had planned on just cleaning up the lower lids a bit more. I thought that the default paint was strong enough that 90+ percentage isopropyl alcohol wouldn’t remove it, but I was wrong. I had an extremely hard time removing the paint on the lips, so I thought I would be able to only partially remove my heavy pastel shading with alcohol without damaging the factory paint, but that turned out to be a miscalculation on my part. It was just the gloss they used on the lips. They did give this head a few top layers that were easy to remove and damage with alcohol alone, the sad part is that it got into my gloss damaging my repainted irises. 

That was the whole reason why I didn’t want to fully repaint this head, because I was okay with the eyes, just the lower eye-lids looking heavily make-up-looking, was what bothered me to no tomorrow.  Just as I dreaded, I wasn’t able to get the irises as bright and cyan/blue as I got them last time. I also wasn’t able to get them as detailed, but I also f-ed up the right one with the doming/glossing bit. Which I also dread to do, because I know how it’s supposed to be done, I just can’t seem to get it done right. DX

Regardless, I am happy with him for now! He doesn’t look like he’s wearing a thousand pounds of eye makeup, so that’s all that really matters to me. The fact that I have no fear now, of damaging the irises anymore (because they turned out like crap!), is kind of freeing in a way. I can always try again as many times as I feel like it, because I know I painted the whole thing myself. I don’t have to fear I’ll ruin something. I was okay with the factory paint minus the lips and eyes, which are the most important to me, as far as character accuracy goes. So now, I just have to keep trying and try to improve along the way! This is only the second head sculpt I paint in the 1:6 action figure customizing style, with acrylics alone, so I think I can hope to improve some. (:

My aim was never to mimic the prototype, because there’s no way in h3ll I’ll ever have that level of precision at that scale, my hands are just not steady enough to paint such clean sharp lines. As can be seen from my crap-lashes. However, I didn’t like the factory done mass-produced final product, it wasn’t close nor “pretty looking” to me. So, that’s why I wanted to attempt repainting mine some, to look more accurate to Sephiroth and less like a mass-produced figure, that failed to reach the perfection that was the prototype’s painting style. I included the last comparison photo just to show what he was supposed to look like, what he looked like out of package, and my partial and full repainting attempts so far. As well as a progress photo. I sealed this only twice, which is why I love not using pastels. BX

[the-enzyme]

My GameToys Sephiroth on the optional nude GameToys Sephiroth’s body. I am a bit disappointed that the shoulders are as narrow as they are. I knew the arms looked a bit thin, as I mentioned when I posted photos of when I received the body. Now with its intended head on it, I can see the shoulders are not broad enough. At least, not for ideal proportions, which Sephiroth is a proud owner of. DX They kind of gave him what I call “old-man-shoulders.” Lol! I sincerely wish his arms were more muscular overall. 

Otherwise, I am happy with this body, the hands are super lightly shaded, which my cameras had trouble picking up. I was going to attempt blushing them some myself, but they are super soft rubbery plastic. I have never shaded or blushed hands using acrylics, on a plastic figure. I am not sure how well that would work, or how crappy of a job I would do -- the nails on them are glossed too, which is a first for a 1:6 action figure I own by default. I might still try someday, to blush or shade the hands in the future -- I doubt MSC would work though. Also, they are super easy to switch out; I was led to believe (by the instructions included with full-set Sephy) that they needed to be heated. However, it was rather painless switching these out, so I posed him with his Masamune since I could. Now I regret not trying switch the hands when I had him on his fully dressed body. Putting the feet on was an actual challenge, and those do need to be heated in order to put them on and take them off the body.

I took crappy photos, because I suck, and my cameras hate me. I felt awkward taking completely nude photos of this guy, I don’t know why. I am used to taking full frontal nudes of all my “anatomically” correct BJD, so I have no clue why it was awkward with Sephiroth. This body is smooth down stairs, so I have no reason at all. Other than, he is my all time favorite character of all time, and I was posing him in pretty stupid positions -- sword fighting stands, when I know zero of such. The body is pretty easy to pose, but because of the length of his hair and the Masamune, he is pretty top heavy. It was a pain in the gut-hole balancing him. I had to use the Masamune at some point to balance him. The body does stand pretty well on its own, just not with the head on. 

There was no need for me to censor the full shot ones, but I did it anyway, just in case. Regardless of any nitpicking and me loathing how the lips look more and more, I am in-love with this figure and glad I got the optional body. I am a huge fan of Sephiroth since I was a teenager, and as an old-fart-40-year-old-lady, that hasn’t changed one bit. I might have to redo some of my partial repaints sooner than later, because that’s just how obsessive I am. *acompletenutjob*

[the-enzyme]

More GameToys Sephiroth spammage! I cleaned up his lower eyelid a bit (the puffy, “smiley” lower-eyelid part, not the waterline). I am in love with this figure for sure, despite my shortcomings when it comes to repainting tiny things. He was a gorgeous figure from the beginning, just felt short due to what GameToys advertised his face apps would possibly look like (they never mentioned what pro-companies say to death, “prototype” not final product, paint might vary, partially done by hand, etc.), then the final product didn’t come close. It is because I struggle so much with my shaky-hands of doom, that I am not a fan of companies not doing the detailed work they advertise. 

I took these with a white background, so that my camera wouldn’t do weird things. The poor thing is on its last legs, and I love blackness, but I feel that my camera struggles more with dark backgrounds. I don’t have space for displaying him out of his box right now, so that’s why I didn’t take any photos with his “extra” parts, like his epic Masamune or wing (the latter which I’ll probably won’t use ever, because it seems some of them weren’t set properly and the dye bleeds). I didn’t want to switch out his hands for that reason as well, I will be keeping him in his box for a while and his other hands don’t fit inside the cut out he rests in, without possible damage. 

I included some full-shots this time, as well as a not too close, close up of his closed eyed sculpt. Which I was contemplating repainting, but they did the lips a lot nicer than on the opened head sculpt, so I won’t do anything to it (for now). It is not as detailed and precise as the prototype either, but because the eyes are closed, it’s not a huge deal (for me). He doesn’t stand all the well without his included stand, but I didn’t want to build it due to the reasons I already mentioned above. I had to use a heavy glass bottle to prop him up, so he might look a bit odd in the full-shots for that reason. DX I love him nonetheless, and I’m quite glad I pre-ordered him around a year ago, despite what was obvious even back then. He is a beautiful rendition of Sephy. (:

[the-enzyme]

I’m finally done (for now!) with my partially repainted GameToys 1:6 Sephiroth action figure. I might attempt making the lower eyelids a bit less “make-up-like” in the future. I realized I don’t have tiny enough brushes for shading tiny headed figures. I could have definitely done a much cleaner job all around, but I’m okay with how he looks for now. He looks so much nicer IRL, but I suck even worse at taking photos and setting up lights, than I do at repainting anything, let alone tiny things. 

I took a lot of photos, but sadly my camera’s battery is dying, and I am not going to be replacing it, because my camera is also dying -- there’s no point in it anymore. Some of these are more horribly blurry than others, but I am keeping a few just because I liked the darkness/light. Most are repetitive close ups from a few angles, because I repainted his face and nothing else. There’s plenty of GT Sephiroth full shots anywhere else. That’s not why I took these. DX

I wanted to try making his irises a bit more cyan with yellow centers like OG Sephy, but I ended up leaning more towards AC/Crisis Core on accident (not because I suck, of course!). Regardless, I am happy with him (for now), despite the kind of not so clean lower lid. Which I’ll blame on my lack of tiny brushes for shading, I’ll need to get some for sure and maybe try again. Hoping I won’t ruin the irises but probably will leave for a lot later in the year. The last image is a comparison of the GameToys “prototype,” the actual final figure as I received it, and my partial repaint. Because just from the craptastic quality of my lighting/photos, it might not be obvious which is which. Lol! (:

[the-enzyme]

I decided to go ahead and attempt repainting the lips once again, instead of putting it off, until whenever. I am quite happy that I decided not to wait. I also went and “enhanced” the eyes a bit further, and once again I am happy that I did. He doesn’t look as clean and perfect as the prototype, but I’m an old-fart, with super shaky hands and I don’t take decent photos to save my life. I can continue to make a thousand more excuses for sucking at repainting tiny miniature faces, but I won’t! I suck, I have said a million times if I said it twice. I suck!!!

I’m happy with how he’s turning out, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. I can complain all day, about how crappy and not-clean my paint apps are, but I’m not going to be staring at him through a microscope. Nor taking a million photos of him, once I am done and feel satisfied. I rarely take photos of my other 1:6 figures, even the ones I painted fully myself. So, I know I am just venting because I suck, but that’s alright. I can get frustrated, and as I said before too, it’s only going to get worse. DX

I took these before I seal the work for the second time. I will more likely than not, attempt adding detail to his irises a bit more. I will probably screw up, but I can always try again... T___T;;; I kept some rather dark shots in here, to show the lovely factory texture they added. It’s kind of hard for me to photograph (I’m not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination). That’s why I didn’t want to do a full repaint. I like the subtleness of the factory paint; I just wish it was a lot closer to what the “prototype” looked like, even if not as detailed or as precise (soundlikeabrokenrecordmuch?). 

[the-enzyme]

More of my GameToys Sephiroth! It seems I am currently obsessed, with completely ruining him for no reason. DX I just want him to photograph a bit better, I know I suck at taking photos, amongst other things. However, I don’t really like how “smudged” or eyeshadow-like the blushing under his eyes looked, once I was “done’ partially repainting him. He looks a lot more precise IRL, but my photo and light setting skills are just none-existent. 

I took a million extreme close ups to see if any would turnout semi-decent, but no luck. He still photographs like he has makeup or like maybe he needs some serious night-sleep (a bit racoon-eyed, coming from an actual insomniac who doesn’t suffer from those, I am not happy about it!). I tried placing my lights at a few varied distances, and angles, but nothing helped. I don’t own any pro-lighting equipment, and I don��t plan on getting any. I hoard too many toys to want to lose space for things I don’t really need nor use often to justify space.

I’ll add one comparison between what he looked like when I originally repainted him, and now. Probably hard to tell the difference, due to my craptastic photos, but you can definitely tell by the lashes. They are way crappier now! The ones on the left eye turned out particularly messy, which was something I was dreading, thanks to my shaky hands. They also photograph way darker than they are IRL, which is another annoyance, but for now, I think I will keep him as is. Maybe later, I’ll remove all the partial work on the lower lid and pray I don’t f-up the irises. Then I can have a “clean” canvas and try again, much later in the year, I am hoping. I’m a bit burned out right now. I love how he looks now, more than when I first received him, but maybe I should not try to aim for perfection, when I own the shakiest human hands on the face of the planet. T___T;;

[the-enzyme]

My GameToys Sephiroth’s body arrived today! I am super excited to be able to take photos of Sephy shirtless, to recreate the last part of the OG game. Of course, I won’t be able to take full shots, because Sephy is wearing pants and boots in the game, and no shirt -- he is not completely nude. However, GT didn’t offer the option to purchase pants and boots separately, which I would have loved even more. I really hated that the Soldier belt and suspenders were sculpted onto his body that came with the full-set figure, but that wasn’t mentioned anywhere (I didn’t know about it before I paid for the figure). I wasn’t going to remove his coat anyway, because the ornamental belts appear to be quite fragile, as they themselves suggest. However, I was a bit upset that the inner belt was sculpted onto the body, because that limited the figure to be displayed or photograph as a full-set only. I kind of want to recreate Square Enix’s statue of Sephiroth they had at their cafe in Tokyo. 

I am glad, that they offered a loose body for purchase separately. But, just as I had feared, his arms are rather slim compared to Sephiroth’s actual arm musculature. I kind of understand why they made them so slim, but I would have preferred more accurate proportions. This is a lovely looking body nonetheless, but I do hate that they gave him the gaping hole on the back, to accommodate the wing, which I have no desire to use on either one of my bodies. I can’t wait to take photos of both head sculpts on this body and I absolutely love the gloveless hands they’ve included. I’m a bit tempted to blush them a bit further. They have light shading, but I love blushing hands, so we’ll see. (:

[the-enzyme]

This is what I want my partially repainted GameToys Sephiroth to photograph-like all the time, when I take photos with my camera and not my crappy cellphone camera. Because I suck, and my cellphone adds a gazillion bits of pixelation. I’m not sure what I do wrong, when I take photos with my old dying camera, or if it’s just the light placement. I’m not a photographer as I have said a million times before -- my dying camera just takes clearer photos, with little to no pixelation. They are blurry as the dickens half the time, because I broke the lens and it takes time to adjust, but they are still far clearer than the cellphone ones. That’s why I tend to prefer it when I take or want to take “decent’ clear photos of my customized toys.

I took these when I was partially cleaning up his lower eyelids, with my cellphone, just to be able to magnify everything as much as possible while doing the “cleaning up.” To me, he doesn’t look like he’s wearing make-up, and looks just as he does to me IRL, just as I hold him in front of my eyes as opposed to through a camera lens. However, in the clearer photos taken with my camera, he looks like he has some amount of make up on his lower lids and a touch harsher in terms of facial features. Or at least, that’s what I see, and it bothers me to know end. Because I feel I sound like a crazy person saying nonsense, when I say he looks nicer IRL. Lol! I just wanted to provide a better visual of what my eyes see, and yet what he photographs as. I know taking photos in the sun, can make a world of difference, but it’s snowing here, and I have no plans to go out and do that anytime soon -- I love snow, and don’t mind shoveling a ton of it, I just don’t want to stand in it while taking photos of my toys. Nor will I try ever, because no snow means bugs around here and I’m not into going into their territory. ^_^;;

The acrylics were still drying in these, so that’s why the inner corners look particularly glossy and not nice and matte.