#doll kitbashing

[pandorkful-dolls]

Making a Ramus doll now lol

The victims: Drew Carey body from the mid-late 90's and a Devilock Char Aznable body from the mid 00's. (Idk why my phone camera makes the Devilock body look so much more yellow than Drew's body, they are slightly different shades but not by that much lol)

Man I love it when dolls and action figures are held together with screws. :3 Makes hybriding sooo much quicker when I don't have to saw off the bits I wanna use.

I took this pic mainly because I was amused that Devilock put some kind of wax in the tummy joint for added friction/stability. I mean honestly there are worse options! Whatever works XD

The hips had screws, but they seemed to also be glued together. No prob, I like the Devilock butt better anyway, so I'm just gonna trim Drew's butt off and stick his torso on top of the Devilock hips.

Armssssss. I shaved a slant into Drew's shoulder holes as evenly as possible and greenstuff puttied the Devilock shoulder joint pegs in place. (It's a sloppy job don't look too close XD but I managed to preserve as much shoulder articulation as I possibly could with the tools I had on hand.)

Test fit...

More greenstuff and he's all stuck together! \o/

As you might be able to tell from the leg stance, I came up against a small issue with actually joining Drew's belly to Char's hips: both bodies were made before 3d sculpting and printing was a common part of toy engineering, so they're not perfectly symmetrical and have little quirks and imperfections from the master mold having been made off of handsculpted pieces. (One of those quirks is Char's legs seem to be slightly different lengths, and his buttcheeks are two different sizes. XD)

So I prioritized lining up the front over the back...

Eh, so it goes. I can live with it.

Next I need to find where I stowed all my little sample sized jam and honey jars so I can mix up some acetone goop to smooth the transition and cover the greenstuff. :3c

Then I gotta find a head to mod into Ramus, or start sculpting one from scratch...

Ahahahaha. The dangerous part of konmari-ing stuff but not getting it out of your life fast enough; I pulled both these bodies from my destash bins. ^^;; I pulled a couple more for other Lunar character dolls at the same time, actually.... >:3c

[titleknown]

So, I bought this broken down Monster High doll a while back, and I decided to make her into a biomechanical horror-woman inspired by Phyrexia from Magic The Gathering!

IDK much about this design a s a character except she's from a world that has the whole terrifying body-modification schtick and aesthetic like Phyrexia except more morally varied and not an aggressively imperialist death-cult, and she's almost certainly Izzet colors! 

Regardless, I know I am not a particularly good doll customizer given I am more an action figure guy, and I know there's a lot of them out there passionate about dolls who could do this design way better than me if they got a whack at it, so knowing that, this design is free to use under a CC-BY 4.0 license as long as I, Thomas F. Johnson am credited as the creator.

Have fun!

[boreal-sea]

It's really interesting to me...

I'm currently getting into two related but distinct online crafting communities.

The first are folks who make miniature models of things, usually nerdy things, often through using model-building techniques and kitbashing and trashbashing. The painting techniques I see the artists use remind me most of what I learned when I was beginning to paint Gundam models and TTRPG miniatures, which includes base layers, flat color layers, airbrushing, dark washes, drybrushing, and aging effects. I see a lot of use of foam, interesting pieces of trash, popsicle sticks, and polymer clays. There's also sometimes resin pours for water effects. When there are characters made, stages are often designed.

The other community are custom doll makers. Priming is still an important step, though the materials used for priming are usually different. Also, these artists usually use colored pencils for detail work and only use paint for certain things. The other main coloring tool are crushed pastels that are dusted onto the dolls. I see air-dry clay used here much more often than polymer clay. Some artists really get into designing elaborate stages for the dolls. These builds can also include resin for underwater effects. Also, depending on the artist, there may be clothing involved, but not all of them do clothed dolls.

What's fascinating to me is the very different techniques used for coloring the models. The folks making the miniature models and characters use almost exclusively paints; the doll makers use almost exclusively colored pencils and pastels (with many layers of a matte sealant between layers).

I'd like to get involved in some kind of crafting once I get to my new job and get all settled in. I wonder how cross-compatible some of these techniques are. I'd imagine the dark washes, weathering, and drybrushing techniques could be applied to dolls. Of course, the whole purpose of those techniques is to create very textured surfaces, which perhaps is not desirable to some of the doll artists, who might prefer a softer look.

[starfallsoup]

little guy corner. look at my tiny son in progress he is only one days old and has not a thought in his head

[dynamoe]

I've thought about buying the BifBangPow Billy Mego doll and taking it apart . Then I could reassemble it on one of these 14 cm/4 in Nendoroid bodies so he'd be closer to the right scale.

But I don't want to ruin a mint-in-box toy (or pay for it) and I've never seen a loose Billy toy on Ebay.

So I guess I have to sculpt my own head— either with clay or digitally + 3D print for the body and make my own clothes if I wanted to do this.

[renkorama]

Weird Ohs- Mama B Chassis

Part 2!

Getting into the paint details also used apoxy to give her sharper finger!

adding her shirt! I sanded the exposed area and glued the piece on with rubber cement, the overall shape was improvised, but I'm happy with how it turned out!

[rukafais]

i understand the struggle of "i can't draw how do i visualize this OC" and its like, okay, picrews and dollmakers have limited options (and are often limited by the artist's imagination). Heroforge perhaps not your style. You're broke as hell, so commissioning someone or finding someone who can do it on the cheap is hard. Certainly it's hard to find someone to just Do It For Free and that's a huge imposition. And learning to draw is [come back in ten to fifteen years lol]

What is also an option that I think has fallen out of fashion as programs have gotten more advanced but is still legitimate, though:

Kitbashing and editing sprites.

"but i can't draw" you don't need to. Get your hands on those game assets and edit them with your 1-px pencil or paintbuckets or whatever. Recolour them. Smash them together like dolls. You can do it in MS Paint or the program of your choice. If you want something more focused on pixel art (and still free) there's graphicsgale. Embrace the dots.

[axeylotl]

literally nothing on this earth is cooler than having a tangible version of a fictional guy*. Even if there's no merch, there's shrinkydink/acrylic charms, knit/crochet/sewn plushies, clay/wood figurines, kitbashing, customized dolls/toys, paper/cardboard standees, glass, metal, 3d printing. the sky is truly the limit if you want to bring your Little Guy* to life

*gender neutral

[carapacewreckage]

oh my gosh she's so gorgeous! this is some wonderful work

Heyy! Building shit! The kit is Power Dolls 2 PLD X-4+(PD-802) from Plum, plus gear from both weapon kits, as well as a whole huggy bunch of aftermarket decals.

[the-iron-shoulder]

Let’s do the fooka-fooka!

description in alt text

I finally did it! I made my Mallow plush! I didn’t have a pattern but i managed to do it! It was sorta-kinda kitbashed together from other patterns, but actually after some trial and error, there was only one part that was taken semi-directly from an existing pattern, and even that had some pretty significant mods before I was done, so I kinda made it myself? Kinda. Not entirely I guess. Shoulders of giants, maybe. But I basically never crochet freehand at all, so this is huge for me!

so story time! When I was in fourth grade, one day I decided that I Wanted To Do A Sewing Project. I had no plan, no meaningful experience, no pattern, and not really enough supervision to actually make anything come together. I made some sock dolls of Mallow and Geno (SMRPG had come out a year or so prior, and I was still obsessed with it… some things never change, I suppose!) by just stuffing old socks with polyfill, putting enough stitches in them to make them slightly shaped, daubing them inexpertly with fabric paint, and tacking on a few bits of felt here and there for details. This is exactly what you’d expect from an inexperienced 9-year-old with unmedicated ADHD, of course! They were the UGLIEST things you’d ever seen. Special in the way that all sincere handmade crafts are special, but hooooo boy they were ugly buggers, lol. I wish I had some pics of them… I hung into them for a couple decades but they were lost in a flood a few years ago. Ah well.

anyway, I started crocheting almost exactly one year ago, and my goal when I started was to make Nice versions of Mallow and Geno. I eventually found a pattern for Geno (though it took some drama and a lot of searching), but I COULD NOT find a pattern for Mallow! I even had a couple Fiverr artists bail on me as I tried to pay them to make it (I’ve had great luck in Fiverr for cross-stitch patterns, guitar tabs, and general art, but I’ve had awful luck with it for crochet patterns), and so I eventually just decided I would make my own. Or at least make my own plush if not my own pattern. I wrote down what I was doing for all the paired parts (boots, arms, cheeks) to make them consistent, but maybe not the rest of it. Perhaps I’ll be able to write it down enough to help the next person who wants a Mallow plush? Maybe?

anyway I’m so proud of the fact that I finally made my Geno and my Mallow! He’s super squishy and soft, and I used special alpaca yarn for his body so he’s just extra cuddly. Size 3 yarn, size C hook, except for the belt buckle, which was six-strand embroidery floss (the whole six strands, not just one) on a size 10 hook (1.10 mm, I think? Whatever size 10 is).

everyone look at my frog son! He’s perfect!

@shadoe-song check it outtttt :D

[puppetshack]

Autobot doll: Kitbash.

[radwolf76]

WH40K Homebrew Space Marine Chapter: Stormwolves — September 2024 Update

(Yes, I know it's the First of October)

It's been about a month since the Agents of the Imperium Codex was published by Games Workshop. In late September, they issued their PDF of FAQs and Errata for the book. That means time for me to update the army list for my Homebrew Chapter (last posted about here). I will detail these updates under the cut.

I've also been working in Hero Forge on creating some more supporting characters, taking advantage of their new kitbashing feature.

For example, here's my take on a Voidmaster to lead a Voidsmen-At-Arms unit, as viewed through the lens of the "1st Selene Contingent" Rogue Trader's elite guard concept I'd come up with for my homebrew. I particularly like how the artificer-built mastercrafted shotgun turned out on this.

I feel the shotgun looks the part better than the one carried by the official GW mini for the equivalent character:

And here's a better look at the Hero Forge Kitbash-built Laspistol at her hip.

As for the new Errata document, unfortunately, it did not make the Corvus Blackstar a dedicated transport as it should have been. Also, it didn't even fix the obvious error that lets the Imperial Rhino transport any other model from the Imperial Agent Army Roster, not just the intended infantry, letting you stick other vehicles inside like a Russian Nesting Doll.

What the errata did change involves the limited number of units you can take when using Imperial Agents in other armies. There are different categories of units: Character/Retinue/Requisition, and you're very limited in how many of each that you can ally in to another force.

However, there were two Retinue Units that under the rules as originally published, didn't count against the limit if they were attached as Bodyguard to certain Character Units. This got changed so that you don't have to attach them any more.

This was nice, because I preferred to have my Rogue Trader attached to an Imperial Navy Breachers Bodyguard instead of just the free Voidsmen-At-Arms. But my previous Army List was already maxed out on Retinue Units, even with the Freebie.

So, Instead of using Deathwatch Kill Team (formerly Deathwatch Veterans pre-codex) to represent my "Control" command squad, I switched to using Sternguard to free up a Retinue Unit slot. This was an idea I'd considered before, but rejected since the current statblock is supposed to be for Primaris Sternguard and Control is supposed to be Firstborn.

However, Sternguard Marines existed years before GW introduced the Primaris, and they say if you have the older models just use the best statblock that fits, so I decided to just roll with it as is.

Sure, the current Sternguard statblock has a keyword that prevents them from riding in Rhinos and Razorbacks, but I'd taken their Rhino away in a previous army list revision anyway. Gave them a Repulsor Executioner instead. And switching to Sternguard let me give them as many Combi-Weapons as I wanted again, bringing them back to my original vision.

I also finally got a chance to look over the new update to the Boarding Actions Rules. While the Space Marines got three different Boarding Patrol options, I was disappointed that Phobos Armor was restricted to just one Patrol, and you couldn't just mix it with the other types.

But I found a loophole. The Boarding Strike Patrol list didn't prevent you from taking Phobos Armored characters. So I snuck one in.

I was also a bit disappointed to find that unlike the seemingly more freeform Boarding Actions rules from the beginning of 10E last year, the new rules expect you to stick to all Chapter specific restrictions if you include marines from any particular Chapter. This meant I could no longer put Apothecaries into a Space Wolves Boarding Patrol. But it wasn't worth it to even try anyways, as they took all the useful bits off the Apothecary when you use them in a Boarding Actions game.

Even with the changes, it's a fun way to get a more Space Wolf flavored version of my Stormwolves homebrew chapter, to contrast with the Imperial Agent Allies version.

I've also been exploring another facet of my Stormwolves, the fact that a company of them is supposed to be assigned as support for a Rogue Trader's fleet.

While I could have represented this with one of the Detachments from the Imperial Agents Codex (and still might), I realized that there were a lot of suitable units from the Imperial Guard Index and Legends Sheets, that would make good rules proxies for an army of Void Troopers serving under my Rogue Trader character.

Picked a lot of 4+ Armor Save Units comparable to the void armored troops from Imperial Agents (and a handful of 5+ to round out the list). Since I was shooting for a 1K list for this, I could only ally in one Unit of Marines, but overall, I'm happy with the list.

[reliquarian]

multitrack drifting on trains of thought: drawing a sphinx. thought about how placing their hair is like placing a mane on a horse. thought about how fun it is to reroot my little ponies. wondering if you could possibly make an attractive looking sphinx doll kitbash. you'd probably be better off just sculpting an art doll from scratch and making yarn wefts.

[renkorama]

Weird-Ohs - Mama B Chassis

My first kit!

Plunging into a new hobby! Gonna try my best to document and share.

Found Mama at a local used toy shop on a high shelf and really dug her vibe! Her face sculpt and hair are so fantastic!

Admired the box art for a couple months before deciding to actually assemble her. Got right into painting her with no prep, which is a typical pattern when I make art. I gotta make a shitty attempt in order to appreciate the patience it takes to make a good attempt!

annnnd I got bored when it was time to paint the car lol.

A couple more months pass, I decide it’s time to do it FOR REAL! This time with PLANNING!

I come up with a whole new look for her (and the car). Good a time as any to mention that I don’t rly have much painting or sculpting experience, but I’m excited to learn! (Also her shirt is gonna be blue fur!)

First step was to remove the paint and add new embellishments with 2 part epoxy

Then got into painting her with actual nce paint and not the stuf from the 90s she came with. I'm particularly fond of the hair color!

Already a HUGE improvement over my first attempt. More to come in an additional post!

[sleepytoycollection]

currently committing human sacrifice to the chaos god

(cutting up a barbie doll to steal her joints for my Discord kitbash lmao)