Wobble Head Needs Help - and Matching Skin Tone

Hi - I'm new to the 1/6 world. I have some wonderful heads, but they don't fit and wobble/fall off. So I saw they sell neck adapters, but I'm not sure how they work and which would fit. I vaguely recall reading also that someone used unbaked polymer clay. Of course, I can use Magic Sculpt but then it will never move again.

Also, what is better for matching skin tones, airbrush or pastels? The seamless "skinned" figure I have seems that it would work better with pastels given the soft skin, but I'm also going to get a few jointed bodies.

Thanks!

Beatha wrote:Hi - I'm new to the 1/6 world. I have some wonderful heads, but they don't fit and wobble/fall off. So I saw they sell neck adapters, but I'm not sure how they work and which would fit. I vaguely recall reading also that someone used unbaked polymer clay. Of course, I can use Magic Sculpt but then it will never move again.

Also, what is better for matching skin tones, airbrush or pastels? The seamless "skinned" figure I have seems that it would work better with pastels given the soft skin, but I'm also going to get a few jointed bodies.

Thanks!

Hi Beatha,

Do not use anything that would immobilize the head or make it non-removable. My recommendation is to get some thick foamie sheets, cut out some small rectangles, and use them to line the opening in the head so that only a relatively small void is left; since the foamies are a bit flexible, the neck peg would be able to slide in and stay fairly securely in place. It is not as secure as some conventional neck connectors, but more than enough, unless you plan on holding your figure by the head and tossing the body about while doing it. There is an illustration of this in this tutorial.

If you are trying to paint the seamless TPE (not silicon, yet) bodies, I don't think airbrush would work (at least acrylics don't). I would use (non-water-soluble) oil pastels. It is probably easier to repaint or tone the head than the body. For body coloring, see this tutorial; for repainting heads see this tutorial.

I hope this helps.

GubernatorFan wrote:

Beatha wrote:Hi - I'm new to the 1/6 world. I have some wonderful heads, but they don't fit and wobble/fall off. So I saw they sell neck adapters, but I'm not sure how they work and which would fit. I vaguely recall reading also that someone used unbaked polymer clay. Of course, I can use Magic Sculpt but then it will never move again.

Also, what is better for matching skin tones, airbrush or pastels? The seamless "skinned" figure I have seems that it would work better with pastels given the soft skin, but I'm also going to get a few jointed bodies.

Thanks!

Hi Beatha,

Do not use anything that would immobilize the head or make it non-removable. My recommendation is to get some thick foamie sheets, cut out some small rectangles, and use them to line the opening in the head so that only a relatively small void is left; since the foamies are a bit flexible, the neck peg would be able to slide in and stay fairly securely in place. It is not as secure as some conventional neck connectors, but more than enough, unless you plan on holding your figure by the head and tossing the body about while doing it. There is an illustration of this in this tutorial.

If you are trying to paint the seamless TPE (not silicon, yet) bodies, I don't think airbrush would work (at least acrylics don't). I would use (non-water-soluble) oil pastels. It is probably easier to repaint or tone the head than the body. For body coloring, see this tutorial; for repainting heads see this tutorial.

I hope this helps.

Thank you, I'll look for those foamie sheets. I won't be playing with the figures or moving them around a lot, so that would likely work well. I do love oil pastels, so I'll see about getting a few. Thank you!

Beatha wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:

Beatha wrote:Hi - I'm new to the 1/6 world. I have some wonderful heads, but they don't fit and wobble/fall off. So I saw they sell neck adapters, but I'm not sure how they work and which would fit. I vaguely recall reading also that someone used unbaked polymer clay. Of course, I can use Magic Sculpt but then it will never move again.

Also, what is better for matching skin tones, airbrush or pastels? The seamless "skinned" figure I have seems that it would work better with pastels given the soft skin, but I'm also going to get a few jointed bodies.

Thanks!

Hi Beatha,

Do not use anything that would immobilize the head or make it non-removable. My recommendation is to get some thick foamie sheets, cut out some small rectangles, and use them to line the opening in the head so that only a relatively small void is left; since the foamies are a bit flexible, the neck peg would be able to slide in and stay fairly securely in place. It is not as secure as some conventional neck connectors, but more than enough, unless you plan on holding your figure by the head and tossing the body about while doing it. There is an illustration of this in this tutorial.

If you are trying to paint the seamless TPE (not silicon, yet) bodies, I don't think airbrush would work (at least acrylics don't). I would use (non-water-soluble) oil pastels. It is probably easier to repaint or tone the head than the body. For body coloring, see this tutorial; for repainting heads see this tutorial.

I hope this helps.

Thank you, I'll look for those foamie sheets. I won't be playing with the figures or moving them around a lot, so that would likely work well. I do love oil pastels, so I'll see about getting a few. Thank you!

You are welcome and good luck with your customization. And feel free to show off here.

whenever i've had a hollow vinyl head that doesn't quite fit, i wrap the neck peg in PVC tape until the head seats firmly in place...

Thank you everyone, I got some foamie stuff and she looks great! I can't figure out how to add a photo, but I will once I figure it out.

I'm glad it worked out!
Here are a couple of threads that might be helpful if you're having trouble posting photos:

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t1767-how-to

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t24-help-needed-with-forum-tech

In general, if you are using any photo hosting service and that has a "direct link" you can copy and paste, that tends to work best here, inserting it either with the "Insert Image" button (which appears at the top of the text box you type in, looks like a little image frame with a small green circle with a white plus in the lower right corner) or in-between (no spaces) [ img ] and [ / img ]

I really love *chalk* pastels for staining TPE. And I do mean staining... That stuff is hard to get rid of unless you have a kneaded eraser. And even then it just smudges. I've never used it to fully repaint a body but its good for blushing and touchups. Scrape some powder off the stick and use a soft bristle paintbrush to lightly dab it on to the area you want painted I use prismacolor but I'm sure any chalk pastel will do!