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

Just started painting these heads today to work on different Min-Me's (my wife claims they look like me -- 30 years ago; not sure if I should be flattered, or insulted, 'cause I sure as hell don't look like that now; maybe that's why she added the caveat: "30 years ago..." to compliment and insult me at the same time. ).




The one in the middle was my first attempt and was started by itself. Using GubernatorFan's Tutorial (https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t310-head-conversion-tutorial-updated) on removing a neck from a head sculpt, I was able to cut down what I wanted gone. Then I started trying to lighten the hair, as I was a towhead as a kid/younger man. Blonde hair is always kind of difficult to do and not make it look like a bad Ken doll. Blonde hair (at least naturally blonde) isn't yellow, but I did try to lighten the hair more as it gets closer to the top of the head -- and added a bit more yellow to the paint on top; as a kid my hair was so blonde, almost white, I could get lost in a snow-bank, as I got older, it started to become more brown-blonde, or dish-water blonde, much like it's supposed to be on these heads (now, of course, it's mostly grey -- what there is of it).

I tried to give the heads a hint of the goatee that I've had forever. The other two heads I started working on at the same time, after I pretty much finished the first -- figured since I already had the paint mixed, I better make backups while I had the opportunity. The one on the right in the photo was the one I painted second, and as you can see, by the time I got to the one on the left I was getting my usual impatient self and the beard is a sloppy mess (that'll probably be the "stunt" head sculpt -- if I do anything drastic).

Already have two of the outfits mostly ready to go, but I still need to see if I can add a couple tattoos to the shoulders/biceps (I'd like to use a TBLeague body, but not sure how well they'll take decal-style tattoos).

Still working on my wife's Mini-Me, and I don't have an accurate head sculpt for her -- but I do have a stand-in, until I can either find one, or get one made.

I think these look great. At least from the distance and clarity of the photos, the goatees turned out very well, even the one you say is a mess. You are right that blond hair is very difficult to paint, and I am no expert in it, but the expert advice appears to be to avoid mixing any yellow in it. That said, it doesn't show, and it certainly is no worse than my own best efforts. The combination between the "highlights" and the "lowlights" in the hair might possibly convey the impression of an artificially bleached look, but nevertheless I think it looks well and makes it interesting. If you keep working on those you might end up with enough mini-yous to take over the world or at least put out for sale. I hope this means we'll end up seeing some more of the adventures of Darth Stryker that I started...

OOh, they are looking good! Even the 'stunt double', lol. And that's such a smart idea to make all your back-up heads at the same time, so they have the same colour palette. Looking forward to seeing the completed figure, and I'm sure even a WorldBox style body would look good and be more compatible with the tattoos. Also interested to see how your wife's mini-me turns out! : )

I meant to add that, depending on the intricacy of the tattoo, this might be something you could do mixing silc-pig (silicone pigment, they sell relatively inexpensive sample sets) with some silicone glue (which you can find in an ACE Hardware or similar store). I used to do this to paint the nipples on TBLeague bodies. It works great for small things (but if you wanted to repaint a whole body, you'd be much better served by oil pastels), and if you make a mistake or decide to remove it anyway, you could peel it off later (though it stays on pretty securely otherwise).

GubernatorFan wrote:I think these look great. At least from the distance and clarity of the photos, the goatees turned out very well, even the one you say is a mess. You are right that blond hair is very difficult to paint, and I am no expert in it, but the expert advice appears to be to avoid mixing any yellow in it. That said, it doesn't show, and it certainly is no worse than my own best efforts. The combination between the "highlights" and the "lowlights" in the hair might possibly convey the impression of an artificially bleached look, but nevertheless I think it looks well and makes it interesting. If you keep working on those you might end up with enough mini-yous to take over the world or at least put out for sale. I hope this means we'll end up seeing some more of the adventures of Darth Stryker that I started...

Thanks. I did mix in some yellow, but also brown, and white. And don't worry -- Darth Stryker will rear his head once again!!!

skywalkersaga wrote:OOh, they are looking good! Even the 'stunt double', lol. And that's such a smart idea to make all your back-up heads at the same time, so they have the same colour palette. Looking forward to seeing the completed figure, and I'm sure even a WorldBox style body would look good and be more compatible with the tattoos. Also interested to see how your wife's mini-me turns out! : )

Thanks. I do have a WB body that I could use if the tattoos don't work on a TBL, but I've seen someone did managed to do it using the Dwayne Johnson-style water-slide decals that a guy on eBay makes. Not sure how mobil the figure is now, but it does look cool:

GubernatorFan wrote:I meant to add that, depending on the intricacy of the tattoo, this might be something you could do mixing silc-pig (silicone pigment, they sell relatively inexpensive sample sets) with some silicone glue (which you can find in an ACE Hardware or similar store). I used to do this to paint the nipples on TBLeague bodies. It works great for small things (but if you wanted to repaint a whole body, you'd be much better served by oil pastels), and if you make a mistake or decide to remove it anyway, you could peel it off later (though it stays on pretty securely otherwise).

Thanks for the tip -- I'll look into that.

Oh wow, that does look nice -- especially with that added body hair!! :O

Fantastic paint Job ! Great Talent

This is my wife's Mini-Me (the head sculpt is just a fill-in, as I said, but the body and everything else is done); the hair I cut as close to her normal hair-style as I could get it without the scalp seam showing, and it should be more strawberry-blonde.

Your wife's Mini-Me WIP looks pretty great and fairly complete, too, and works nicely with that ride. I think when you get one of your looks ready, you, she, and the bike can be the subject of a new photo for your signature avatar. Either that or Darth Stryker with your wife's head on Slave Leia's body.
By the way, that tattoo on a TBLeague body photo looked very impressive; and was that a modified Henry Cavill head sculpt? What is the source for that pic?

Your 'wife' is looking amazing! Love the outfit, and you did an excellent job on the haircut....I just gave a headsculpt a hair trim recently, and it was definitely a bit tricky making sure that seam didn't show through. It may only be a standin , but still impressive job on it all the same. : )

Ephiane wrote:Fantastic paint Job ! Great Talent

Thanks, Ephi.

GubernatorFan wrote:By the way, that tattoo on a TBLeague body photo looked very impressive; and was that a modified Henry Cavill head sculpt? What is the source for that pic?

Yes. That is a modified Henry head. It was posted on the Facebook page of the guy who makes the decals: Bad mother customs & decals

skywalkersaga wrote:Your 'wife' is looking amazing! Love the outfit, and you did an excellent job on the haircut....I just gave a headsculpt a hair trim recently, and it was definitely a bit tricky making sure that seam didn't show through. It may only be a standin , but still impressive job on it all the same. : )

It actually took a long time to find that vest (she has a jacket to go over the vest, too); I’d been searching for a couple years, hoping someone would eventually make one, and only found it about a month ago (my wife had one like that years ago — but we somehow never got out of the house every time she tried to wear it. Hehe!) getting those skinny jeans on wasn’t bad until I got to the hips and buttocks— then it was a pain.

Ah... must be nice to have FaceBook (I refuse)... I saw this on an eBay listing (by either the same guy or someone who sells his stuff): "Waterslide decals may work on soft rubber (ie phicen) but are intended for and work better on hard surfaces. Use them on soft rubber at your own risk."

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-6-Custom-Tattoo-Decal-12-inch-figures-The-Boondock-Saints-tattoos/143110382308?hash=item21520b22e4:g:FV8AAOSwTPBa7vkA:rk:11&frcectupt=true

GubernatorFan wrote:Ah... must be nice to have FaceBook (I refuse)... I saw this on an eBay listing (by either the same guy or someone who sells his stuff): "Waterslide decals may work on soft rubber (ie phicen) but are intended for and work better on hard surfaces.  Use them on soft rubber at your own risk."

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-6-Custom-Tattoo-Decal-12-inch-figures-The-Boondock-Saints-tattoos/143110382308?hash=item21520b22e4:g:FV8AAOSwTPBa7vkA:rk:11&frcectupt=true

Yep. That’s the same guy. I’m not on Facebook, either. But I was able to scroll thru and find the picture after he mentioned it in a pm of mine he responded to.

You must be one cool dude in the flesh!

CHEERS!

Both figures are coming out great! I have never been able to believably pull off painting blond hair, and yours looks perfect. So do the goatees, and I think the 3rd looks a lot better than you think. The figure of your wife is looks rad too. Great job on the haircut, as I know how hard it is to get a short cut that looks good on the type of hair they use on these heads. When you find the right head, let me know if you want to talk about wigging it with mohair. I think it would be perfect for that kind of haircut, and I did a head recently where I had an almost buzzed look to the sides, so I know you can get it really short with no scalp or glue showing. Also means you don't have to worry about hair color, so if there's a face that looks dead on, the hair can be pretty easily redone. Can't wait to see this come along, and some fun photo shoots when you're done!

Rogerbee wrote:
You must be one cool dude in the flesh!

CHEERS!

I don't know how cool I am in the flesh now, at least not to the "cool kids" -- but maybe when I was younger...?  Now I'm just the crotchety old guy, who walks with a limp.

ReverendSpooky wrote:Both figures are coming out great!  I have never been able to believably pull off painting blond hair, and yours looks perfect.  So do the goatees, and I think the 3rd looks a lot better than you think.  The figure of your wife is looks rad too.  Great job on the haircut, as I know how hard it is to get a short cut that looks good on the type of hair they use on these heads.  When you find the right head, let me know if you want to talk about wigging it with mohair.  I think it would be perfect for that kind of haircut, and I did a head recently where I had an almost buzzed look to the sides, so I know you can get it really short with no scalp or glue showing.  Also means you don't have to worry about hair color, so if there's a face that looks dead on, the hair can be pretty easily redone.  Can't wait to see this come along, and some fun photo shoots when you're done!

Thanks, Rev. I need to get one commissioned for my wife's head -- maybe I'll ask them to make it bald so real hair can be added. Just haven't gotten around to that yet.


I honestly don't know how I missed these comments. The site's usually pretty good about highlighting where posts are made that haven't been read. Sorry for the late replies fellas.

Finally gathered all the pieces for my Biker Mini-Me's of my wife and I (still need a different head for my wife, though). I tried doing tattoos on my shoulder/biceps with the help of ReverendSpooky (who went above and beyond to make up some tattoos similar to the ones I had in 1:1); unfortunately, they didn't work -- I think the area is too uneven to allow the transfer paper to work properly on these seamless bodies -- I flatter area might work better. So, I had to pass on the tattoos.

It's gloomy and raining out, but I wanted to try to get some natural light shots.










And a few more (these are for skywalkersaga who likes "couple's" shots) -- took my stuff indoors (the neighbor's were giving me weird looks).

Aw, you two look so cute there! Better than old photographs

These turned out great! Your paint job on your mini-me is amazing, and I think your wife's mini-me looks absolutely gorgeous! Though of course I'm curious to see the other headsculpt you are planning to use for her, too.

Bummer about the tattoos.... there really NEEDS to be a better way of colouring/marking these bodies! It's the most frustrating drawback of them, in my eyes. I hope you can find another way to do those at some point, even if it means having an alternative jointed body or something.

I love the garage photos...you angled those very convincingly. And I'm honoured you included some 'romantic' poses for my sake.....they are so sweet! :')

Peaches wrote:Aw, you two look so cute there!  Better than old photographs

skywalkersaga wrote:These turned out great! Your paint job on your mini-me is amazing, and I think your wife's mini-me looks absolutely gorgeous! Though of course I'm curious to see the other headsculpt you are planning to use for her, too.  

Bummer about the tattoos.... there really NEEDS to be a better way of colouring/marking these bodies! It's the most frustrating drawback of them, in my eyes. I hope you can find another way to do those at some point, even if it means having an alternative jointed body or something.

I love the garage photos...you angled those very convincingly.  And I'm honoured you included some 'romantic' poses for my sake.....they are so sweet! :')

Thank you, Ladies.

Happy to oblige, S.

The tattoo issue is a bit frustrating. I might try a different body, but many of the jointed ones have a break between the shoulder muscle and the bicep/triceps that makes putting tattoos there almost as problematic.

Stryker2011 wrote:The tattoo issue is a bit frustrating. I might try a different body, but many of the jointed ones have a break between the shoulder muscle and the bicep/triceps that makes putting tattoos there almost as problematic.

Ohh, gotcha, yeah..... originally when you'd mentioned the tattoos when you first started this project, I'd sort of thought you meant drawing/painting them on, but of course with having to apply them directly like that I can see it being extremely tricky on any 1/6 body...

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!