Repainting head sculpts to match body (updated with Part III)

Thank you so much for this! Much needed.

Theflyingman wrote:Thank you so much for this! Much needed.

You're very welcome, I hope it is helpful.

Part III

Remember that VTS Furiosa head?



It was neither perfect nor the most iconic look, but more to the point I wanted to repaint it to fit the skin tone of a TBLeague seamless body. Keep in mind this is primarily a skin tone matching experiment and while I am working with a Furiosa head and tempted to imitate some (not all) of her signature make up, I'm not actually trying to make Furiosa or any specific Charlize Theron character.

I began by painting over the head in a dark reddish brown color as an underlayer and proceeded to apply several thin layers of watered-down paint mix (Vallejo cork brown, ivory, iraqui sand and Liquitex ultra matte medium).



This time I didn't manage to keep the surface as smooth as in Part II, although some of this is due to the head actually having a more textured surface. I glossed the eyes, applied their make up (as in the film), and repainted the lips. The only thing I did to the hair was dry brush a little bit of Vallejo matte varnish (which isn't really matte) onto its raised parts to both liven it up and to approximate the greasy look in the film.



I think she gives off some Annie Lennox vibes...





I'm not necessarily done tinkering with this head, but I think the skin tone color match is about right.

What do you think?

The skintone does seem to match very well! Great job, you transformed that head and made it useable!

skywalkersaga wrote:The skintone does seem to match very well! Great job, you transformed that head and made it useable!

Thank you very much, I'm glad you agree.

As "promised," I couldn't help myself from tinkering more with it. I decided to tone down the partial (and therefore pointless?) Furiosa reference and to accentuate a little bit the Annie Lennox vibes by changing the make up a bit. The handy display bust corresponds to TBLeague's pale skin tone, and my re-paint matches the suntan skin tone as in the earlier photos.

Annie? Is that you? Nice job, Ian. I agree, it's hard to get a smooth look unless you start from absolute scratch, especially with a roughly textured sculpt.

That turned out very nicely!

Yes man, great job, it's a completely new character. Reminds me of our instagram koreans. Great to see that hairstyle combined with a dress and fancyness, I don't think I have seen something similar in 1/6 yet.

Ovy wrote:Yes man, great job, it's a completely new character. Reminds me of our instagram koreans. Great to see that hairstyle combined with a dress and fancyness, I don't think I have seen something similar in 1/6 yet.

I like it, too, it's quite striking!

Then I am really biased towards purple.... my fave colour...

Great Work ! You not only nailed the skin tone of the bodys.... Your painted Headsculpts looks better than the originals

Stryker2011 wrote:Annie? Is that you? Nice job, Ian. I agree, it's hard to get a smooth look unless you start from absolute scratch, especially with a roughly textured sculpt.

Thank you very much. I wonder if they had that in mind (in part) when they designed Furiosa's look. The lack of smoothness was partly my carelessness (these acrylics dry fast and I did not want to introduce yet another variable by adding glaze medium) and partly the actual texture of the underlying sculpt -- independent of the original paint, which I did try to remove, though without much success.

skywalkersaga wrote:That turned out very nicely!

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it.

Ovy wrote:Yes man, great job, it's a completely new character. Reminds me of our instagram koreans. Great to see that hairstyle combined with a dress and fancyness, I don't think I have seen something similar in 1/6 yet.

Thank you Ovy, it does look like it, doesn't? Or maybe Charlize Theron did not have a chance to grow out her hair before getting to the Oscars.

skywalkersaga wrote:I like it, too, it's quite striking! Then I am really biased towards purple.... my fave colour...

Oh that is a very refined, royal taste in color, Sky. One of the things I picked up in the recent Toy Anxiety sale. To be honest, the dress could fit better at the top but, short of a wire, I'm not sure how they would have made it work, so I suppose I shouldn't be too critical.

Ephiane wrote:Great Work ! You not only nailed the skin tone of the bodys.... Your painted Headsculpts looks better than the originals

Thank you very much, Ephiane. I was just hoping that I wasn't ruining the heads in a failed attempt to match the skin tone. Very relieved I managed to achieve the latter, and that you are all too kind to point out if I messed up the former.

GubernatorFan this thread, and the comments within, has again been super informative! It has helped inform my own painting of heads for my figures that I hope lives up to expectations!

I was wondering if I may ask for your (and others of course) opinions on what I am attempting to this end?

Here are two photos, both taken in the natural lighting of a west facing window at roughly noon EST. The lighting is about as natural and non-overbearing as I will get. They were shot with Auto White Balance (for consistency) at f4.2 and 160 shutter on a Canon 70D. The body is currently coated in baby powder of course.

I have the formulas written down for both colors, but I am wondering what you guys think involving the comparison of head to body. I am using an air brush (love that thing) and the head is a 3D print from ebay that I have since cast in resin (I may have 20 other heads sitting on a shelf right now ).


Paint is Vallejo.

Colors (and number of drops per batch) being used in the first image are in order of adding: 10 Pale Sand, 1 Salmon Rose, 15 White, 1 Basic Skin Tone.

Colors being used in the second image are in order of adding: 12 Basic Skin Tone, 8 Flat Yellow, 1 Medium Flesh, 40 White, 1 Red.







Would you fine folks suggest any color changes/adjustments? Tips and tricks not already mentioned or should be reiterated?

I think the first one is closer in skin tone rather than the second.

Thank you for the kind words. And beautiful work! I agree with Stryker. Both of them are a pretty close color match (and I think passable), but the first one seems even closer. Removing the "scarf" might have helped comparing the colors.

Stryker2011 wrote:I think the first one is closer in skin tone rather than the second.

GubernatorFan wrote:Thank you for the kind words. And beautiful work! I agree with Stryker. Both of them are a pretty close color match (and I think passable), but the first one seems even closer. Removing the "scarf" might have helped comparing the colors.

You're welcome GubernatorFan! I have learned a ton from your experiments and projects!

In regard to the thoughts on this repaint, I am glad you both said the first one was the closest. That being said, "passable" is not good enough in my book for this particular project, so I tried something else entirely.

This photo says a lot. She's in her section of the display case. Details are literally in the censorship. I had another head painted roughly the same as in my prior post (same base color combo, different level of blushing and the like (still learning that one)) that I just took the color in this photo and painted over. Did not expect this result. Next step is to take another head (where the resin cures bright white) and do this to see what impact the paint over had compared to it being the only color.

From what I can see, the match seems exact. As for "passable," the degree to which things match literally changes with changing light. Moreover, apart from possibly variant monitor and photo processing settings, I am ever so slightly color blind, so I knowing that I do not commit myself to absolutes. And this is probably proof that I'm not a Sith... or a Jedi!

The colour seems to match in both types of lighting, so that's a good sign! : )


Do you mind me asking where you got the head? I'm always interested in bald female sculpts...

My guess is this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184809705509?hash=item2b07845025:g:X~UAAOSwk35gb7RA

Sorry for answering for MMI, but just a few days ago I ordered some unpainted heads and came across this one

Valiarde wrote:My guess is this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184809705509?hash=item2b07845025:g:X~UAAOSwk35gb7RA

Sorry for answering for MMI, but just a few days ago I ordered some unpainted heads and came across this one

I don't think that is the same head sculpt.

GubernatorFan wrote:From what I can see, the match seems exact. As for "passable," the degree to which things match literally changes with changing light. Moreover, apart from possibly variant monitor and photo processing settings, I am ever so slightly color blind, so I knowing that I do not commit myself to absolutes. And this is probably proof that I'm not a Sith... or a Jedi!

That is quite true, and something that I am quite careful about, which is why I included the shooting settings. Since that was taken in her display case, I am happy about it. After all this testing...a single color. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. :p I won’t be able to do much with natural light this week, but it’s hard to argue against either way.

skywalkersaga wrote:The colour seems to match in both types of lighting, so that's a good sign! : )


Do you mind me asking where you got the head? I'm always interested in bald female sculpts...

Right! And nope, don’t mind at all.

Valiarde wrote:My guess is this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184809705509?hash=item2b07845025:g:X~UAAOSwk35gb7RA

Sorry for answering for MMI, but just a few days ago I ordered some unpainted heads and came across this one

GubernatorFan wrote:

Valiarde wrote:My guess is this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184809705509?hash=item2b07845025:g:X~UAAOSwk35gb7RA

Sorry for answering for MMI, but just a few days ago I ordered some unpainted heads and came across this one

I don't think that is the same head sculpt.

The head sculpt is actually this one https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dead-or-Alive-5-DOA5-KASUMI-Game-1-6-Head-Carving-Sculpture-Model-Accessory-/313395145093?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286 I found a game accurate HS for my Kasumi figure, so I ran with it. It matches the game perfectly, and is the right size for the body, so wins all around! They have a ton of HS too from all manner of things. Good quality 3D print too.

Thanks for the link, MeMyselfandI. I'm glad you were able to find a sculpt that was so perfect for your figure.

skywalkersaga wrote:Thanks for the link, MeMyselfandI. I'm glad you were able to find a sculpt that was so perfect for your figure.

Thanks! It’s a generic enough sculpt though that you could easily use it for other characters. Can get real creative with molds