Kasumi (DOA) Custom

Hey everyone! So as you maybe saw a week or two ago I posted my custom Ayane from the Dead or Alive series of games. Well, it turns out (and was alluded to in her thread) that she was preceded by my favorite character in the series, Kasumi.

I could talk way too much on this whole process, and would love to answer questions on how and why I did what I did. Simply put, Ayane took 2 weeks to do, but only because Kasumi took two years. Kasumi was my first real project, the reason I joined this forum, and is a direct result of the answers to numerous questions so many of you have provided. When I succeeded at doing something with her design, I have been (and still am) elated. When I failed at something, I nearly threw the whole thing across the room. However, I stuck to it, and learned a ton along the way, and now she is the pride and joy of my collection!

She is not perfect, as some things were either beyond my skill level (and still are) or I opted not to do it. For instance, her wakizashi has no tassel on it. The wakizashi I used has a metal tsuka/hilt. Reallllllly tough to drill a hole in, even with a drill press (mine is a yard sale find on top of that, so maybe not the best for really delicate work). So for my own sanity, and safety as I have been hit by broken drill bits before (which is NOT a fun time), I opted not to do this.  

I also tried some new things, well, at least new to me. Her eyebrows are the same material as her hair. The color match therefore is perfect. Her eyelashes are actual hair, and are not painted on. While the process can be improved, the depth and detail I feel was well worth the attempt.

Some other random details:

• Like Ayane, she is in a scale a little larger than 1/6th. She actually is in 1:5&13/16th scale. This allows for a number of things to match the character in the game, from the usual BWH measurements to the most important one: height. Listed at 5'2.25" she scales out to 5'2.75"! More interestingly, thanks to blender and some other techniques, I was able to confirm that the head sculpt I bought of her was the exact size for that scale. This dumb luck influenced Ayane and will influence the other characters I make for the series.
  

• It took 2 years because I was not wanting to settle for anything less than perfection. Turns out I learned a lesson on self sabotage. That is why Ayane took far less time, I just ran with it. Both are near and dear to my heart as a result, and I am happy with both.
  

• I did pre-order the Super Duck sets (yes, all three) that were announced, not so I could compare, but more so she could stand there looking awesome and perfect, while I posed and did the more action-y things with the SD ones. I will do the same for Ayane, just so mine can stay safe and I can pose and do action stuff with the SD one.
  

• I am working on a diorama for her specifically. It is taking some cues from the games, but will mostly be a Japanese inspired dio inside a display case. I will post that one separately once done, but it is a few months out yet as I am still planning what all I want to do with it.
  

My photos are here on Flickr as it is just easier for me to use. I go into some detail on my process there as well, and have photos kinda looking back at where she has been and where she is now. Here is a sample though, my favorite photo I have of her.

Wow! Custom made… well… EVERYTHING! Really awesome project. Very well done.

That's an incredibly intensive custom figure, and she turned out impeccably! I'm so happy for you that you finally completed your dream project. Believe me, I understand that sometimes these figures can take years and years to complete, it is usually the only way one can create a custom the first time 'round, as you have to teach yourself all these various skills. I always consider these figures to be multi-media art projects and yours in particularly impressive! The photos of the process and the figure herself are beautiful.

And the 'real' eyebrow thing is an extremely creative idea, thank you for sharing!

I'm glad you were able to make such a great custom figure of your favorite character, with such results and loving attention to details.

I really enjoy seeing someone with a passion like this for any given character. I’ve experienced that before myself. What I haven’t experienced is putting this kind of time and effort into learning so many different art forms. Two years. That takes a lot of willpower and perseverance. I usually stop at the “I nearly threw the whole thing across the room” point.

Very well done! You should be proud!

Stryker2011 wrote:Wow! Custom made… well… EVERYTHING! Really awesome project. Very well done.

Thank you! Your suggestions on many other members' posts for kitbashing and what could work in certain situations helped me run head long into making it all by hand. As such I learned early in the process that if I didn't like something, I could just do it again until I did. I have at least 2 other attempts at the outfit in with the rest of the 1/6th clothes I have that I just wasn't happy with for some reason. Makes for a good cosplay session lol.

skywalkersaga wrote:That's an incredibly intensive custom figure, and she turned out impeccably! I'm so happy for you that you finally completed your dream project. Believe me, I understand that sometimes these figures can take years and years to complete, it is usually the only way one can create a custom the first time 'round, as you have to teach yourself all these various skills. I always consider these figures to be multi-media art projects and yours in particularly impressive! The photos of the process and the figure herself are beautiful.

And the 'real' eyebrow thing is an extremely creative idea, thank you for sharing!

Thanks Skywalkersaga! The "real" eyebrow idea came from me just messing around with a test head sculpt. I put down some clear Elmers glue and thought "I wonder what it would look like..." I liked it, and so long as I put my varnish on right, I could reset it as many times as needed until it was what I wanted. Definitely try it out!

I do want to thank you for answering with what you did in the hair styling thread. The idea of using floor wax actually sprung up some ideas in my mind of things to do to fix the hair on the third character in this series I am doing (Honoka). Her hair was everywhere. I never found the floor wax (or I did and I never noticed, floor wax isn't exactly something I am familiar with in any sense), but it got me looking at other waxes, from hair to beeswax to craft specific sealant. I actually found some of the latter in the house that had never been open. Tested it out on Honoka and it worked perfectly! I was so impressed I decided to very carefully try it with Kasumi. It also worked perfectly! She now actually sports the correct let down hair style she should have, without it being all over or too full. So thank you for that suggestion, it put the final touches on her!

GubernatorFan wrote:I'm glad you were able to make such a great custom figure of your favorite character, with such results and loving attention to details.

Thank you sir! Many of your suggestions back when I started this and joined the forum helped me not to settle on my earlier attempts. I saw I could do more if I just attempted it. I.e. the fun of customizing! I am very glad I did not settle here, especially looking back at the very first attempt. *whistles* Wow did that turn out bad. lol. Your catalogue threads have also been a HUGE help in picking the right bodies for any of my projects.

Xavion2004 wrote:I really enjoy seeing someone with a passion like this for any given character.  I’ve experienced that before myself.  What I haven’t experienced is putting this kind of time and effort into learning so many different art forms.  Two years.  That takes a lot of willpower and perseverance.  I usually stop at the “I nearly threw the whole thing across the room” point.  

Very well done!  You should be proud!

Thank you! You misspelt "willpower" and "perseverance" by the way. They should be spelt as "insanity" and "stubbornness." Time, patience, and lots of prayer to God for ideas/thankfulness for ideas and successes are a big part of what made this possible. Combine that with all the help from you guys and gals and it is clear that no one does this stuff on their own, regardless of the willpower or insanity!

You mentioned many different art forms. The one I was most intimidated by was the painting! I kept seeing the incredible work of these professionals on social media, I would see the clarity of the really good mass manufactured figures, and I was intimidated. Searching YouTube for tutorials only added to it. The thing that helped me the most with painting was actually Warhammer miniature painting. I saw countless videos talking about colors, shading, products, techniques, lighting (natural vs object source), and everything in-between. All of them encouraging and easy to follow. One of my fav podcasts is actually called "Paint Bravely"! It is one of the best lessons I learned for all this. It is why her eyes came out the way they did. I just painted bravely, knowing I could always try again.

Thank you for the kind words. I'm very happy we have all been useful, and have made some indirect contribution to your customs.

You're most welcome for the wax idea! I'm so glad it was helpful to you!  

And yes, any kind of wax that is water-based can work just fine. The reason I go for the floor wax is because it gives a higher glossy 'shine' -- I'm using tibetan lamb hair which can become somewhat 'dulled' by other types of waxes. However, if you are using synthetic hair, then it won't lose its shine nearly as easily as the lamb's wool, so there isn't as much need to add more shine back into it, if that makes sense.

skywalkersaga wrote:You're most welcome for the wax idea! I'm so glad it was helpful to you!  

And yes, any kind of wax that is water-based can work just fine. The reason I go for the floor wax is because it gives a higher glossy 'shine' -- I'm using tibetan lamb hair which can become somewhat 'dulled' by other types of waxes. However, if you are using synthetic hair, then it won't lose its shine nearly as easily as the lamb's wool, so there isn't as much need to add more shine back into it, if that makes sense.

You know, your reasoning just now made it click in my head why some early hair attempts didn’t work. I tried using some nice mohair for her that was dyed a nice copper, but it did dull a lot when I tried to style it. I want to do the ponytail version of the hair as well, so I may give that a shot now that you explained that and it clicked!

Speaking of which, you may know the answer to this. Is floor polish (like the Pledge floor polish) the same thing?? I’ve seen a number of reviews on youtube (because the all seeing Google) for Pledge floor polish as a clear coat for models and minis. Internet searches don’t seem to like differentiating between the terms “wax” and “polish”.

Very nice, looks great.

Oh! Yes, I think it must be a UK vs US English issue. The stuff I'm using is definitely intended for polishing floors. So I presume it is the same thing. As long as its clear , liquid, and has wax as an ingredient, should be ok.

Theboo-bomb wrote:Very nice, looks great.

Thank ya!

skywalkersaga wrote:Oh! Yes, I think it must be a UK vs US English issue. The stuff I'm using is definitely intended for polishing floors. So I presume it is the same thing. As long as its clear , liquid, and has wax as an ingredient, should be ok.

Ha! No worries and thanks for the clarity! I went to college with a guy from Britain. He would always laugh when I’d say certain words because of the different meanings!

Funny thing is I am pretty sure we have both over here in the States. When I think about it, I have been finding the “polish” has always been clear and liquid and with cleaning supplies, while the “wax” has never been clear and has always been with the paint and stains for wood. Sounds like I may have a new clear coat and hair styling medium!

A quick update on this, and there will be a more detailed post coming with my process of making it (I have 120 photos to go through!) and the lessons learned, but here is a video showing her off in her new diorama home!

This was my first time shooting video like this on my iPhone and editing in iMovie (let's just say I miss the higher end cameras I had access to at my old job, as well as Adobe. Say what you will about phones, but nothing beats an actual camera with an actual lens and a good editing suit). An interesting experience on that side of it for sure.

Either way, I hope it turned out well! And yes, it is age restricted (caution is king with YouTube I have learned). Oh, and if the music doesn't quite fit I apologize, I was putting this together very quickly and very, uh, free and not Copyright infringing.

Fantastic work!

Not sure why the video should be age-restricted, but in any case: HOLY COW! That is one gorgeous diorama!! Well done!

That's a impressive, great work on that dio for her, great job on her clothing too.

BAMComix wrote:Fantastic work!

Thanks! Means a lot coming from you!

Diana wrote:Not sure why the video should be age-restricted, but in any case: HOLY COW! That is one gorgeous diorama!! Well done!

Thanks Diana! I don't think it should be age restricted either, but I am new to posting to Youtube, and have seen a number of things get flagged for really dumb reasons, so I didn't want to take a chance. lol.

Theboo-bomb wrote:That's a impressive, great work on that dio for her, great job on her clothing too.

Thanks!

Update to this project as of 12/2022: Thanks to the Han Solo head painting thread where Gub and Stryker talked about decals for eyes, I took the plunge and used the interwebs and photoshop to make my own decals and update Kasumi's eyes. This was a scary experience as it felt like performing eye surgery! I also used UV resin to add the reflection/top coat and, well, the results are, IMO, impressive. My apologies for the not so sharp photo comparison, and the different lighting. My camera is making me want to throw it into traffic right now, and her dio does not play nice with direct lighting.

On the left is the new version as described above. The right is the original eyes I hand painted. I am not a pro for sure, but I think it worked out well

To be honest, I think the original eyes were fine. But the new ones are probably more precise and certainly pop more. Eye decals are a big pain to use, but theoretically promise better results. I've only used them once, on my custom painted Viggo/Aragorn head.

Of course I can't be sure the photos offer a true comparison, but the smaller pupils, additional black border around the iris and the added gloss is definitely an improvement so worth the effort!

That’s pretty cool that you made your own eye decals. Nice job. I never would have tried doing that myself. So much easier to purchase those decals.

Very creative to make your own decals for sure. And I also like to put an extra layer of thicker gloss over my eyes, makes them seem more three dimensional.

GubernatorFan wrote:To be honest, I think the original eyes were fine. But the new ones are probably more precise and certainly pop more. Eye decals are a big pain to use, but theoretically promise better results. I've only used them once, on my custom painted Viggo/Aragorn head.

In some ways I agree that original eyes were fine, but they were in the back of my mind whispering "eye could be better" *pun intended*. Eventually it wore me down. I am just glad it worked out    You are right though, decals are a ROYAL pain to work with, especially cutting them out! Thankfully I have a ton of test heads, so I was able to get a process worked out first. I used the UV resin over them because I had really bad luck with the gloss varnish overall, and frankly I think the effect is superior.

Diana wrote:Of course I can't be sure the photos offer a true comparison, but the smaller pupils, additional black border around the iris and the added gloss is definitely an improvement so worth the effort!

Thanks! Even though it's not a 1-1 comparison, the impact is still clear, so I call that a win. I can't recreate the exact lighting situation anymore either, but it isn't necessary.

Stryker2011 wrote:That’s pretty cool that you made your own eye decals. Nice job. I never would have tried doing that myself. So much easier to purchase those decals.

Thanks! I did purchase originally, but I didn't like paying $10-$15 a sheet with only a couple colors I was going to use. Orange, red, magenta, and purple are not easily found colors where I looked. When I got the sheets I did order, it didn't take long to figure out how to make my own. I bought a PDF of high resolution eyes on etsy for $4, then used photoshop to change the colors up (color change tool for the win!) and adjust the sizes. Made a new image and copy/pasted a whole lot as I knew I would screw up often putting them on. Printed it out, and lightly sprayed on 3 coats of Testor gloss coat. Once dry, worked like a champ. I think my final sheet has about 500 eyes in 5 different colors and 4 sizes ranging from 2.0mm to 2.6mm or something like that. Kasumi here used the 2.4mm size. Hitomi and Honoka use the 2.2mm. Kokoro when she is done uses the 2.2mm as well. Ayane I haven't tried yet, but 2.4mm is my guess.

skywalkersaga wrote:Very creative to make your own decals for sure. And I also like to put an extra layer of thicker gloss over my eyes, makes them seem more three dimensional.

Thanks! That 3D glossy look was why I wanted to do the UV resin. My first test head showed that being how the UV resin cured, so I ran with it. All it takes is a paint brush, light strokes, and a UV flashlight. I have never gotten eyes to look that shiny that fast.