Phicen/TBLeague or similar seamless body buyers guide for 1/12?

Hi guys, sorry if this has been posted before but was wondering if anyone can point to a good guide to what is available in regards to seamless bodies in 1/12 scale?

I know Phicen/TBLeague seems to be the most popular in this field but having trouble finding a comprehensive guide on what is available, I have heard that Jiaou do something similar but not sure if that is only in 1/6 scale?

In any case as far as I can tell with Phicen there are 4 body types and 2 different skin tones?

T01 has a more toned body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCI63nWCePY

Not sure if there is much difference between T02 and T03 other than the head sculpt, both are less toned and muscular than the T01.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfG4SLrhJgU

And as for T04 it seems to have a more plump fuller figure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9z5B6MZqVI

Is there any I am missing or is this it in regards to the range of 1/12 figures? Of course I know there are pre-made kits like Vampirella and Red Sonja but really looking for just the base body to customize myself, basically my initial goal is to create a 1/12 scale (or in her case full size ) Arrietty but also kind of want to experiment a little with 3D printing parts and doing other custom figures, just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction, recommend any alternate brands I should keep an eye out for or if Phicen is the way to go.

Also wondering what the market is like for replacement heads? It looks like there are a few more options than when I looked last time but still not quite as popular as the 1/6 scale stuff and generally all the pre-made and painted heads are for the pale bodies? Has anyone had any experience with 3D printing face sculpts and wigging?

Hello Queen Skadi and welcome to the boards!

I'm not aware of Jiaou bodies at 1/12 scale, but here is an overview of the TBLeague bodies so far:

T01: athletic/muscular (used for Red Sonja, Vampirella, Imperial Guardian, Arhian)
T02: anime body
T03: less toned, unpainted head (This is the one recommended for Tifa by Super Duck.)
T04: curvy/"plump" (brunette)
T05: a little curvier than T04 (blonde)

They are all available in pale and suntan, except for the anime body, which is only available in pale.

Fire Girl has beautiful head sculpts. They fit on the T01 and need some adjustment for the T03. I never tried it on the T04 since the T04's head is gorgeous.

I can't say much about other brands. I've tried a couple and lost my nerves with them, since they are so fiddly and have open joints, which I don't like. 

I did get the VeryCool "Villa" and "Catch Me" releases, since they are fully covered so the joints don't bother me, and while they are more fiddly and I did detach the shoulder and hands when first handling them, it was easily repaired and I appreciate the different slimmer body type. They fall over much more easily though.

I have the ByArt King of Sparta, which has a seamless body that is extremely stiff and quite limited in articulation.

You'll find quite a bit of information about wigging in the General and the Tutorials sections. They are all for 1/6, but the techniques should be applicable to 1/12 as well. It'll just be more fiddly. ^^

Some here have 3D printed heads, too, but I can't remember who or where. It might be worth asking that question in the "Q & A: How to..." section, since not everyone will be checking the 1/12 section.

Have fun exploring and I hope to see what you come up with one day!

Hi and thanks for the reply.

As far as I can tell it seems Jiaou only do 1/6 scale but that said I am having trouble even finding information on the range of bodies they sell even in 1/6 scale, I know they have a larger range of skintones but there does not seem to be as comprehensive guides as people have put together on the phicen stuff. Still thought I might check see if anyone knew any more on this.

That said I do also want to get a 1/6 scale as well mostly for reference as if I do start creating 3D prints I do want to make 1/6 compatible versions as well, also having a bigger figure on my desk to reference for drawing and 3D modeling seems like a nice thing to have.

But yeah had a quick look at the tutorials section and it looks like there is a lot of good information there, will need to sift through it when I get a chance.


But just out of curiosity what is the figure in your profile pic? Looks gorgeous.

A little bit late, but I'd like to outline it in a systematic way and also keep it succinct.

T01: athletic body, medium bust

• A: pale
  
• B: suntan
  

T02: anime proportions (narrow waist, longer legs), large bust

• A: pale
  
• B: also pale
  

T03: less muscular, medium bust

• A: pale
  
• B: suntan
  

T04: plump, medium bust

• A: pale
  
• B: suntan
  

T05: plump, large bust

• A: pale
  
• B: suntan
  

ANT seamless flexible body: medium bust, narrow waist, large hips, described by manufacturer as Asian and available in pale and suntan colors (as of July 2024)

Heads:

• TBLeague heads from their box sets
  
• Superduck (these are actually boxsets with everything but body): SDMINI001, SDMINI002
  
• Fire Girl Toys: FG076, FG077, FG078 (all 3 are available in 3 different hair colors)
  
• VeryCool heads from their box sets
  
• Various noname heads available from Chinese sellers (these can be exceptionally good, but not always)
  

More observations:

Most, if not all, TBLeague boxsets are suntan. But suntan color from boxsets might differ from that of body-only releases. Plus the shade of body-only releases varies throughout the years.

Most third-party heads are pale.

Neck joint sizes are different. T01 used smaller ball, T03 (and, iirc, subsequent releases) have larger joints.

Hands from VeryCool are mostly interchangeable with TBLeague. Interestingly, T04 and T05 come with larger hands

All TBLeague female bodies lack upper arm / bicep swivel; even if some articulation in that area can be achieved with shoulder joints, this is still a limitation, and the biggest flaw of these bodies in my eyes.

I think the hardest part is I kind of want one of each but know it is probably wiser to start with one and go from there. Problem is which one?

Queen Skadi wrote:the hardest part is I kind of want one of each

I know this feel

Queen Skadi wrote:Problem is which one?

I really don't know how to approach the task of creating a figure of Arrietty, though. I am quite fond of Studio Ghibli's works (haven't seen Arrietty yet, however), but never  thought of translating this visual style into a figure form. It just seems like two different media to me.

I've seen anime-style heads, some with sculpted hair (bundled with T02), some with rooted (from Iminitoys).


None of them seems to be close to Arrietty.

Perhaps you can pick one of more realistic heads with matching hair color and and aim for something along the lines of "if she existed in real world, she'd look like this". Similar to what Hasbro does with characters from comics in the Black Series line. This might be too far off into "what if" territory.

Or do you just want to experiment with something not necessarily related to this particular character?

As for the body, it really is a matter of taste.
T01 seems to be a better fit for "action girl" archetype. But it may look too "plain".
The newer T04/T05 are curvier, could be better for older characters. Closer to aesthetics of Rubens' paintings but may be seen as too plump.
T03 is somewhere in between - not as muscular as T01 and not as curvy as T04/05. This can be interpreted as more realistic proportions, or not sufficiently leaning into either direction to posess a character of its own.
T02 is deliberately aiming for exaggerated proportions (and I don't understand why it is available in pale skintone only).

I wish there were more options but then the problem of choice would be amplified even further (see literally dozens of body types in 1/6 scale).

Best match I can find for what I would like to do is this



To get closer I would probably have to do a custom head and wigging, that said I do want to go for a more realistic depiction of the character rather than the anime style, same sort of styling in regards to clothing and overall appearance of the character Gibli film but in a more realistic style. Does not have to be 100% but just want something that resembles the character, can take a few creative liberties here and there.

Don't think the T04 T05 models would be the greatest fit for this character as gorgeous as those bodies look (might just get one regardless though) so I guess my options are more between the T01 T02 and T03, most of the heads I can find and the one I have posted are in the pale skintone.


Also in regards to 1/6 scale models from Phicen it looks like most of the bodies come without any head sculpt at all? So heads are bought separately for 1/6?

Queen Skadi wrote:Hi and thanks for the reply.

As far as I can tell it seems Jiaou only do 1/6 scale but that said I am having trouble even finding information on the range of bodies they sell even in 1/6 scale, I know they have a larger range of skintones but there does not seem to be as comprehensive guides as people have put together on the phicen stuff. Still thought I might check see if anyone knew any more on this.

That said I do also want to get a 1/6 scale as well mostly for reference as if I do start creating 3D prints I do want to make 1/6 compatible versions as well, also having a bigger figure on my desk to reference for drawing and 3D modeling seems like a nice thing to have.

But yeah had a quick look at the tutorials section and it looks like there is a lot of good information there, will need to sift through it when I get a chance.


But just out of curiosity what is the figure in your profile pic? Looks gorgeous.

Have you checked the guides on GianToy? They have one for Jiaou and one for TBLeague.

Drawing reference. That's how it started for me, too... But then of course I was quite happy to have multiple body types to draw from! And then why not get archetypally dressed figure box sets? I keep finding more figures that I might want to draw some day. 

The figure in my avatar is the TBLeague S29B. Still one of my favourites.

Visisonor wrote:A little bit late, but I'd like to outline it in a systematic way and also keep it succinct.

Awesome!! Thank you for taking the time to do this. This is really useful! 

Queen Skadi wrote:Best match I can find for what I would like to do is this

I think FG078 is a great choice!
I also think it would work better with less stylized body (i.e. T01 or T03).

Diana wrote:This is really useful!