Visisonor's conjectures of grandeur (updated 2024-05-05)

Beautiful way to photograph. I'm looking forward to seeing how you get your taste for 1:6 figures.

Theboo-bomb wrote:Very nice! I like the lightning.

Ephiane wrote:Beautiful way to photograph. I'm looking forward to seeing how you get your taste for 1:6 figures.

Thanks! Light is the hardest part of photography, and I still have a lot to learn.

---

Accessorize! (Part 2: sparring outfits)

With 1/6 scale I can't really afford having multiple figures per character as I do in 1/12 - too much space, and heads I need are too rare. So I have to resort to swapping clothes. Which is, of course, realistic, but not convenient.

One of the looks I consider iconic is the training/sparring attire. Here is the reference in 1/12 scale:

(Kate and Vera, obviously a composite image)

components:

How easy can it be to replicate it in 1/6 scale?
There are options.

I started with BOX Studio, mostly because they've used S22/23 in their promo pics (though what I have in hand differs from those pics).
But the result did not meet my expectations. The material is stiff and not stretchy, any attempt to strain these pants rips some seam or the other apart. Moreover, I am obsessed with covering joints, and my favourite way of hiding the ankle joint is letting the pants drape over part of the foot, as seen on the twelfth scale photo above. These pants end with a cuff, making it hard to achieve:

I was able to fidget the ankle eventually to make it look better:


And the top is actually quite nice, also seen in an earlier post. But I needed something better.

Next up: the Yoga Sportswear Suit Set, unbranded, as far as I can tell:

I've only tried the pants, and they are made from much stretchier material than the BOX Toys set.




Even if they are shorter than BOX Toys pants, they work so much better in general, and I could declare victory with these if I didn't find a better option.

This better, and final option is called CJG-049:


and it resembles my 1/12 scaled reference the most:


The lower part drapes over the foot the way I want to, covering the joint in the most natural way. The pants are long and stretchy:

Even a full split is possible (not easy, it can take up to an hour, but possible):

on the subject of splits:

The only downside, at least for the black version, is the abundance of lint. Even after two washes, the top from this set leaves fibers on the body - not staining, but they are a pain to remove (the pants are OK after two washes, however).
So the top on the photos above is not from this set - it's from CJG-044 by the same manufacturer:

Kate would like to remind you that these CJG clothes require Stryker's vinegar wash to prevent staining!

Curiously, lint is not an issue for the white version, and Vera wants some spotlight too, so here is the complete CJG-049 suit in white:


(and yes, it's Vera, not Villa in this outfit; just my mental model, really)
White also tends to accentuate all the details that are now being censored. But this is because the pants are quite high here as I was planning this shot:

Splits? What's the big deal?

Normally they would be a bit lower to better cover the ankles - because doing the split and covering ankles at the same time is a stretch (literally).

But I also wanted them to have identical outfits in different colors, and actually a bit denser too. The crop top I like the most, judging from product photos, is this item by FireApple (if I read it right):

I've ordered it in black and white, but what I actually received looks more like this:


I guess eBay is always a gamble.


Kate: oh come on, posing again! I want action!

I have to leave action for another post though, this one is already too long.
Sorry for the long read, hope it may be helpful.

It is a sensible strategy and I think a winning one, by the looks of it. They look good. As for the lint... one time (it is documented somewhere here as an unexpected discovery) I came across a pair of black athletic pants or shorts that left so much lint that they provided a viable solution for making male bodies look hairy. I was so intrigued with this "fix" that I ordered a second pair, which was for some reason remarkably reluctant to produce anything near the same amount of lint.

Really great pictures, and as Ian said above, a good idea to swap heads, change clothes and keep costs down. I think you've made them look just as god as their 1/12th versions .

While the white version looks a little too transparent for my liking I can ignore that because the overall look is great! I am totally with you on your choices among what you've tried. They look great!

GubernatorFan wrote:I ordered a second pair, which was for some reason remarkably reluctant to produce anything near the same amount of lint.

Ah, good to know that these things are not consistent. It wouldn't hurt to have another CJG-049 set in black (I may already have it even, just didn't open it yet).

BAMComix wrote:Really great pictures, and as Ian said above, a good idea to swap heads, change clothes and keep costs down. I think you've made them look just as good as their 1/12th versions .

Thanks.
They are definitely better articulated than their 1/12th versions.
As for swapping heads - the biggest downside is that I can't have both sisters in the same photo (though it makes sense story-wise) - at least without blending them in post-processing. So I'll keep hunting for another head, and try to make a custom one. It's way over my skill level, but the only way to learn anything is to try.

Diana wrote:I am totally with you on your choices among what you've tried. They look great!

Thank you, and I'm glad you like these results.
I'll also try to make the white one less revealing - should look better in dynamic poses, and perhaps in neutral ones too, with some adjustments.

Girls fight (part 1)

The first more or less serious attempt to shoot a sparring sequence - which is pretty much what the outfits from the previous post are for.
A couple of kicks, punches and something that's supposed to represent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osoto_otoshi.


















Also pictured are pale fists from Frontline Maid Eliza. They kind of work but nail polish is visible in some photos, I may need to paint it over. But I'm waiting for another set of hands with fists, so maybe I won't have to.

Overall, despite better articulation, it seems harder to pose these figures than their 1/12 scale counterparts: they are larger and require longer hand motions.

Nice sequence of pics. There are a couple that look like real people. Pretty cool.

Very nicely posed. I agree with Mark, in some of these they are very realistic.

You captured the movement really well!

What a cool sequence!! Nice attention to detail. Have you ever made a stop motion film?  

How was it to create this in 1/6 as opposed to 1/12?

Stryker2012 wrote:There are a couple that look like real people.

GubernatorFan wrote:in some of these they are very realistic.

Thanks! That's the goal, make them look like real people, at least to untrained eye

BAMComix wrote:You captured the movement really well!

Thanks! I'm trying to capture key poses which hint at some motion.

As for stop motion, though...

Diana wrote:Have you ever made a stop motion film?

It will require a decimal order of magnitude more shots in between, with minuscule adjustments. I haven't tried that.

Diana wrote:How was it to create this in 1/6 as opposed to 1/12?

I've mentioned that in a post - articulation is better than that of 1/12 scale seamless figures, it does not limit poses I want to achieve. But working with larger figures is harder. I am somewhat used to figures fitting within my hands so I can get my figures around them and adjust them with small movements. With 1/6 scale, however, I have to move my hands around much more.

Wow very nice! Getting real martial arts vibes from that sequence!

Also liking the backdrop fits nicely into your world even though it makes the eyes not catch the scale of your figures. It could be 1/12 after all.

Valiarde wrote:Also liking the backdrop fits nicely into your world even though it makes the eyes not catch the scale of your figures. It could be 1/12 after all.

The central part of the backdrop is actually made of floor panels from 1/12 floor pack. Though these panels are generic enough to work as walls too, in both scales.
But box-like things seen on the left (parts of Sector 6 diorama) are more obviously out of scale.

As for catching the scale:

(Pictures like these are usually titled "don't talk to me and my son/daughter ever again" on various action figure subreddits, though they also evoke recursion memes featuring Xzibit.)

Yeah I'm quiet a meme guy and know the xzibit stuff. lol Thanks for the usual titles.

These doubled up figures 1/6 and 1/12 look so nice and fun in one picture.

Adaptational Modesty

One thing that somewhat bothers me with the 1/6 scale version of Villa is the deep décolletage of her suit.
If you remember how the 1/12 figure looks, without scarf,


the cleavage is not as deep as on the large version:


(and since the smaller figure was released later, the adaptational modesty concept was applied on transition to 1/12).


And even the scarf of the larger figure is comparatively shorter.


Generally I don't mind revealing outfits and prefer them in certain cases. But I don't find them compatible with military (or pseudo-military) style of this character (or at least how I envisioned her in my setting).

So I decided to dress her up a bit


I've got another crop top specifically for that, in grey to match the colors of the suit (though black would work too):



Complete look with scarf and glasses:


Anyway, this looks closer to the 1/12 scale look which I consider iconic. Not exactly the same, but I don't mind slight differences. And it makes more sense to me now.

Your solution seems to work nicely, well done, it works and looks great

I agree, it works very well, and helps your figure look more serious and credible. Not to mention, match her mini-her.

BAMComix wrote:Your solution seems to work nicely

GubernatorFan wrote:Not to mention, match her mini-her.

Thanks.
Now I need to make cross-scale photos with updated look (I thought I did that but apparently forgot).

Good way to adapt it to look more authentic.

The fight scene is posed expertly! Excellent work!

I also like the addition of the top to Villa's outfit. The big bust on the VC body is so exaggerated that it actually hurts the overall look of the figure.

Stryker2012 wrote:Good way to adapt it to look more authentic.

Thanks.
Do you mean authentic in the sense of plausible/realistic? Or original/unique?
Either way, I sometimes add these little custom touches elevating figures from their stock look. Not for all figures, but for those I particularly care about.
She now needs a sidearm holster - her mini version has one.

Randam Hajile wrote:The fight scene is posed expertly!

Thanks!

Randam Hajile wrote:I also like the addition of the top to Villa's outfit. ... The big bust on the VC body is so exaggerated

I think it is exaggerated by the stock outfit and its cleavage, the bust itself mostly matches the size of TBL "medium"... Which is still quite big tbh, and since the female characters in my setting are based on 1/12 version of VC body or on similarly proportioned T01, they all ended up having "Boobs Of Steel"

Accessorize! (Part 3)

As mentioned in earlier posts, there is a big selection of 1/6 scale female hands, but fists are quite rare and come in gloved sets most of the time. Up until February it was possible to stumble upon parted out fists from Frontline Maid Eliza or some earlier VeryCool releases, but they either don't fit TBL pegs without adjustments or have painted fingernails, or a subject to "sorry friend, this item is not in stock".
Suddenly a wild set of accessories appears!



I couldn't find the manufacturer's name, but these sets are called "Display of hands", and come in 4 colors: pale, normal, suntan, copper suntan.
I've bought all four.
Pale is a perfect match for TBLeague pale bodies. Suntan is not a perfect match but relatively close - so it's Vera's turn to demonstrate the hands and their color.

Fists! Finally!


Trigger fingers:


item holding hands (wider grip than stock or VS Toys hands):


Relaxed:


And an asymmetrical gesture pair (fingersnap of doom? or everyone comes back?)


No offensive gestures this time. It's also worth pointing out that these hands have longer (unpainted) fingernails - so they are probably meant for civilian/fashion use cases. Though with fists it's not too evident.

These hands were a relatively recent acquisition, but I was also hoarding other stuff in the meantime, to re-create Kate's agent look. Plus she started to show interest in Villa's gear in the absence of her own,


so I had to remedy that.

The first to arrive (and to be shown in earlier posts) was the XM2010 sniper rifle by Easy & Simple:


- Ok, Kate, I'm keeping it if you don't give my M4 back.
- Hey!

XM2010 was my ultimate choice in the quest for perfect sniper rifle, and I was pleasantly surprised by its availability in 1/6 scale (finding it in 1/12 was quite literally a quest).
Larger scale also allows for more details than the smaller model kit. The bipod is articulated, with real springs! The only drawback is that rails for acessories are quite loose. In the end I've ended up gluing the rail for the bipod as it became loose after each time it fell off.

Next up, the tried and true Colt M1911, by Soldier Story:


(also shown here is my final solution for the wrist wraps: it looks like several loops of cloth band wrapped around the wrist because it is, but the whole thing is held together with glue).

It features moving slide and removable magazine (though this, unlike articulated bipods, is common in 1/12 scale too):


Shown above with gloved hands from VS Toys, which are similar to Very Cool ones but with more variety. No fists though.

And the last missing piece to recreate the agent outfit, which is based on Catch Me figure is, unsurprisingly, the 1/6 scale version of this outfit.
Special thanks for BAMComix for confirming how it works:


Unlike the smaller version, which is a one-piece bodysuit, this one consists of two parts. Above is the "body" part, and the other is simple pants:


The boots are from another VeryCool set, Miss Spetsnaz IIRC:

(I have the Catch Me boots too, but I'm too lazy to untie their laces)

The finishing touches include the holster, the belt, combat knife (also the larger version of the twelfth scale one):


And the SVD, which pretty much completes Kate's look from the first chapters of the Diary:


This SVD is actually a model kit, my first in this scale. From FireApple, which also makes one of the tops mentioned here. This reminds me of this meme about

Hitachi:

But ultimately, I was aiming for this (even though she wasn't ever shown using the XM2010 in the story):


Or this - Kate's look from the last chapter:


And even this is probably not the end, I can't stop adjusting things here and there. Possibilities are almost limitless.
But the post ended up quite long again, so I'll stop for now. Sorry for the long read and thanks for looking.

Fantastic pick ups for your female agents! They seem to be making great use of them . Lovey posing to by the way

I second that, great choices, working very well for your continued upgrade/sixth-scale renditions.

BAMComix wrote:Lovey posing to by the way

GubernatorFan wrote:I second that, great choices

Thanks!
And yes, it is an upgrade in terms of articulation and details.
(It may not be complete, some pieces are missing but they can be added)

Girls fight (part 2)

This was photographed some time ago, not long after part 1.
Since these wooden dowels make decent Bo staffs, I wanted to put them in action:














It seems even harder to set the figures up with two-handed weapons, so the whole sequence covers only two strikes.

I like the new sequence. Naturally it is harder with two-handed weapons, but you made it work very well.

Great movement capture!