Mini-Mes (Myself & Wife) (30 years ago!!!! Not so much now... )

These turned out great! And I will never believe you again if you declare you are not good at painting. The custom mini-you sculpt is excellent! Nice and unusual choice of outfit parts for the both of you, too.

Thanks, Guv. But, it’s not as unusual as you might think...everything Mini-Me (aside from the belt buckle), is what I wear; the vest was the last piece of the puzzle — I have one just like it (though mine has a few patches on it). And yes, I’m always legally armed...

The Mini-Wife... well... she doesn’t dress like that anymore (claims she’s “too old”), but she used to — belt color is wrong (but they came with the pants).

More WIP Mini-Me's:

Private Security Contractor:





Darth Stryker (updated slightly -- but probably done as a figure):





The next two (as you will see, are still in need of a lot of work). My wife (sans head, as I don't have it yet) still has a bit of work to be done, and "Me". Both of these are based on a fantasy story I wrote for my wife as a wedding present... what seems like a life-time ago (hehe). It has a weird history, as I was really into the fantasy art coming out surrounding the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games, and I even enjoyed the short-lived cartoon series based on the games. After my career in the stressful and dangerous world of Security Contracting came to an end, I decided to revisit the short novella (it was only about 98 pages typed) that I had written for my wife. I decided to base it very loosely on some of my experiences in the "real" world, and the D&D cartoon series "characters" (or at least the archteypes represented by the characters in the show). So, I expanded the story significantly, and it became a 1500 page tome -- where she and I were "transported" to an "other" fantasy world, along with some of our friends (not real people, of course), just as the cartoon characters were. She became a "Thief", and I became a "Ranger", the others were similar to the characters that were represented in the cartoon series (I might like to go back and make those characters in action figure form, as well). The cartoon series, some of you old enough may recall, had a Ranger, Thief, Barbarian, Cavalier, Acrobat & Magician. I changed a couple of the characters to fit the story (Cavalier became a Bard, and Acrobat became a Warrior -- still female, though).

Thief still needs straps, or belts, to hold the scabbards for her daggers, and I have a short, hooded cloak (maroon, like her jacket) already.
My character still needs a quiver and arrows (though I have the arrows), and I'm working on the sword (and scabbard) that will be strapped to his back. The sword plays a small, but significant part in the 1st part of the book, and makes a final appearance in the last part. As you can see, Ranger already has a long sword, and a short sword; the long sword that I'm working on that I mentioned cannot be drawn by Ranger at this point. Thief, "found" it (stole it really) and gave it to Ranger, but due to the warning of the Runes on the scabbard, no one dares draw the thing (basically, Ranger isn't "worthy" of using this Magical Weapon until the end of the book, when it's used in the final Epic Battle -- doesn't every fantasy story need an Epic Battle?).

Anyway... enough prattle.

All of these are really nice -- even the WIP ones. Security Contractor You looks both suave and unassuming, but also like you wouldn't want to mess with him.   Darth Stryker still looks awesome [of course I'm biased to like him, haha]. And I'm enjoying your fantasy mini-me figures so far-- excellent use of all those various steampunk elements on your wife's outfit. Curious what headsculpt you will be using for her, since you had mentioned the one in the original pics was only temporary. Are you still panning on commissioning one? 

You can tell a lot of care has gone into these, and it's really lovely to see. Also inspiring for those who want to eventually do their own mini-me's. Thank you for sharing, both the figures and the backstories!

Thanks, S. At some point, I’ll get my wife’s sculpt made — unfortunately I’m in a queue with the sculptor, who has other commitments to get to first. Once their done, I’m hoping to get outside to get some shots — but not while it’s freezing-@$$ cold out.

Oh wow these are fantastic!! Very creative. Thank you for sharing.

As for the tattoos... Not sure how intricate they are, but what about creating stencils and applying Rit dye with a sponge? I just bought three bottles (chocolate, orange and yellow) in the hopes of mixing the right colour for a TBL Black Widow body. Sadly... holidays are over so it'll have to wait. -.-

Those are some cool looking mini-me's.

Thanks for sharing the progress on the mini-yous I like them all, and although I don't know exactly what you were going for (lacking your knowledge and imagination), they seem to have come together very successfully. Since she has a better grasp on such things, perhaps your wife is the person to ask (not that you're asking). And of course there will be the huge risk when it comes to finalizing her looks... But while looking at your fantasy mini-me, I'm struck by a certain resemblance... could it be Mark is actually... Fabio!?

AerynDiana wrote:Oh wow these are fantastic!! Very creative. Thank you for sharing.

As for the tattoos... Not sure how intricate they are, but what about creating stencils and applying Rit dye with a sponge? I just bought three bottles (chocolate, orange and yellow) in the hopes of mixing the right colour for a TBL Black Widow body. Sadly... holidays are over so it'll have to wait. -.-

Thanks. Unfortunately, as far as the tattoos are concerned, the ones I wanted to use are pretty complicated at this size. If I really want to use them, I’ll probably have to use a hard body that I can pose the arms without the skin stretching.

Theboo-bomb wrote:Those are some cool looking mini-me's.

Thank you.

GubernatorFan wrote:Thanks for sharing the progress on the mini-yous I like them all, and although I don't know exactly what you were going for (lacking your knowledge and imagination), they seem to have come together very successfully. Since she has a better grasp on such things, perhaps your wife is the person to ask (not that you're asking). And of course there will be the huge risk when it comes to finalizing her looks... But while looking at your fantasy mini-me, I'm struck by a certain resemblance... could it be Mark is actually... Fabio!?

Thanks, Guv. You sound like you have questions. Feel free to ask.

Wheeey, I missed this thread back then somehow! Nice job, cool clothing choices and nice haircut on that familiar blonde head. Can't judge if your character looks accurate, but I trust you and your wife on that.
And you wrote a 1500 page book? Was it published?

The Darth is fun too, he would stryke down he Empower with all his power.

Btw, your epic blonde Prince Stryker reminded me of this alternate Game of Thrones ending scene:

AerynDiana wrote:Oh wow these are fantastic!! Very creative.
Thank you for sharing.

As for the tattoos... Not sure how intricate they are, but what about creating stencils and applying Rit dye with a sponge? I just bought three bottles (chocolate, orange and yellow) in the hopes of mixing the right colour for a TBL Black Widow body. Sadly... holidays are over so it'll have to wait. -.-

Ye I think stencils are what one will need to do precise tattoos...I thought about rolling Oil Pastels over a stencil, but haven't tried it yet.

Thanks, Ovy. Ahh, Safety Dance; I still have all the Men Without Hats LPs.

HT's Han Solo (from the Solo movie) arrived today, and I decided to play around to cheer myself up (my wife and I had to put down our 14 year old Italian Greyhound late last night, and I've been super depressed ever since). Anyway, here's the continuing adventures of Darth Stryker before he was a part of the Dark Side (or maybe after he converts to the Light...?) -- Han Stryker:

Darth-Stryker-in-the-making looks great. Probably better than Impostor Solo ever did. Nice photos and backgrounds, too.

Great Work and thanks for the entertainment. I´m really sorry for Your loss. Sometimes Pets can be loved like children, especially dogs.

I’m so sorry, Stryker! * hugs to you *

GubernatorFan wrote:Darth-Stryker-in-the-making looks great. Probably better than Impostor Solo ever did. Nice photos and backgrounds, too.

Haha. Thanks. It’s funny some of the pics I’ve seen of the actual head sculpt, and the prototype pics, the face seemed more square — the one I have seems a bit more narrow. I don’t really know if that’s good or bad. By the way, the standard edition head also has the removable hair (held in place by a light magnet) — even though it doesn’t come with the accessory to justify it. Sorry I didn’t take a pic of it — might use it for a Western Era character — not sure in what capacity though.

Ephiane wrote:Great Work and thanks for the entertainment. I´m really sorry for Your loss. Sometimes Pets can be loved like children, especially dogs.

skywalkersaga wrote:I’m so sorry, Stryker! * hugs to you *

Thank you. My wife and I never had children — so he was the closest we ever got. I’m man enough to admit I haven’t cried this much since I was a little kid. I’m absolutely heart-broken — we both are.

Mark this is so hard, I know. When the mighty white Warg passed the rainbow bridge years ago, we felt the same. I try to think in that way... there are so many years he gave so much to me, so many memories .... is this worth that one moment you have to say goodbye ? Now, some years later, I would say yes it is.
He was so friendly to all and took care in contact with everyone. One day in the woods he stood some inches away from a squirrel, that had absolutely no respect for him. It looked like the squirrel would cuss him out. But he just stood before it and smiled.

Thanks for the kind words, and the beautiful pic of the mighty White Warg. I always loved seeing those photos — such a noble companion and a great steed.

May i ask how You did the Han Stykers Background ? You masterd this technic. By doing pictures like this, i have 100 useless and 1 Useful pic. I use a TV Screen and there are always that terrible rays.

Ephiane wrote:May i ask how You did the Han Stykers Background ? You masterd this technic. By doing pictures like this, i have 100 useless and 1 Useful pic. I use a TV Screen and there are always that terrible rays.

Actually, it’s my iMac computer monitor. I searched for screen-savers of Star Wars environments, put a bunch of books on my desk to get the figure at the right height. Using a tripod, I held a tactical flashlight with 5000 lumens off to the side with one hand, angling the light to get rid of the screen flare, and then snapped the picture. I had to use Photoshop to crop the black edges of the screen saver image out of the frame — hence the reason you don’t see the figures legs.

Very cool looking Mini Me's figures and photos and indeed very sorry for the loss of your pet.

Thanks, my friend.

Damn man, I am so sorry to hear about your dog. As someone with 2 cats that are the center of my world, I know how much room they take up in our hearts, and how big a hole they leave when they're gone. And 14 is a good full life in dog years. But I swear, they're never with us long enough. I have a friend who once told me that because their time is so short, sometimes just knowing we filled their time with us with as much love and happiness as we could in the time that they're here is a small comfort in times like this.

And big believer in a bit of retail therapy as well. The Darth Stryker Solo shots look awesome, and the monitor background works so perfectly in these shots. Even the lighting looks like it matches well, and the shadows give it a lot of cool drama. Love it.

And I totally missed the fantasy figures before! Both look awesome. I'm anxious to see when you finally get the custom head for your wife. Always tough waiting for that last piece of a project.

ReverendSpooky wrote:Damn man, I am so sorry to hear about your dog.  As someone with 2 cats that are the center of my world, I know how much room they take up in our hearts, and how big a hole they leave when they're gone.  And 14 is a good full life in dog years.  But I swear, they're never with us long enough.  I have a friend who once told me that because their time is so short, sometimes just knowing we filled their time with us with as much love and happiness as we could in the time that they're here is a small comfort in times like this.  

And big believer in a bit of retail therapy as well.  The Darth Stryker Solo shots look awesome, and the monitor background works so perfectly in these shots.  Even the lighting looks like it matches well, and the shadows give it a lot of cool drama.  Love it.

And I totally missed the fantasy figures before!  Both look awesome.  I'm anxious to see when you finally get the custom head for your wife.  Always tough waiting for that last piece of a project.

Thanks for the kind words, Brother. It's definitely been tough on the wife and I; we miss the little guy a lot.

It was definitely a trick to get the background monitor and the foreground lighting just right to make those "Solo" pics look right. I just wish the monitor was big enough to be able to capture the entire figure. It would also be cool if I had the room for more dioramas. I definitely need to take a page from your book and make everything collapsable so I can actually do more story-like photoshoots. I have a whole stream of Old West style scenes I'd like to do; I'd do them outside if the goddamn mosquitos didn't use me as a pin-cushion every time I walked outside.

Getting the head for my wife's figure made is proving time-consuming to say the least. I need to reach out to the sculptor again and see when he can fit me in.

Well, it's been nearly 3 years since I first commissioned a head sculpt to represent my wife. I received 10 of them (1 bald so I could attempt, at some point, to add real hair), and had three of them commissioned to be painted. I just received them back today. I had one done with a lighter skin tone (my wife is fairly pale-skinned), and two (including the bald one) done with a darker skin tone (as you can see the "darker" skin tones do not match the current TBLeague "Suntan", so I will have to find a different body to match -- I do believe the earlier "Tan" made under the original Phicen brand should work, but I'll have to find one that I can use (removing the current head sculpt that resides on one of them). Here's a couple pics under different lighting situations to show off the sculpts.

Very cool. I'm glad they turned out so well. Now you and she and mini-you and mini-she (I know there are multiples of these) can have so much fun! No, that was not meant to sound dirty, get you minds out of the gutter, people!

Wow, that turned out absolutely STUNNING!!! Looking forward to seeing all that you end up doing with these....

Thanks! The wife was pretty happy when she saw the final outcome. It’s hard to capture, but there are some really nice subtle details that are pretty neat (like very fine extra strands of hair painted onto the forehead).

They look great Mark!