SW Neimoidians: (LACKY STARTED) Nute Gunray & a lacky WIP

Oh wow, neat to see the acetone method here! I used it myself on some lekku from an Ahsoka doll a while back -- unfortunately, the end result still wasn't small enough to work for my needs, but it DID shrink considerably and didn't ruin the plastic at all.

GubernatorFan wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:Because no one else has a clue what i'm doing?
It's my usual rigorous method of: no idea what I'm doing either, what happens next might work... keeps it interesting for me at least.  

Well, I thought I knew, but at this point I am confused whether the acetone bath shrinks or increases the size of the pieces.

Zes wrote:Yeah, I agree. This whole acetone technique is lost on me.

Aside from stripping paint from some robust materials, i.e., metals, I'd never want to use it. I'd be afraid of the acetone eating through plastic.

Well to answer both of you simultaneously it does both but in order of making the vinyl bigger then smaller, always finishing with smaller. Think of the vinyl as a partially inflated balloon, the added acetone causes it to 'inflate' more but as the acetone leaves/evaporates, it takes all the original air with it too so the balloon is now completely empty and is as small as it can be (this is sort of a mixed metaphor so I don't know exactly how a balloon would react to acetone IRL).

skywalkersaga wrote:Oh wow, neat to see the acetone method here! I used it myself on some lekku from an Ahsoka doll a while back -- unfortunately, the end result still wasn't small enough to work for my needs, but it DID shrink considerably and didn't ruin the plastic at all.

At least someone knows what's going on! LOL! I wonder if I have that Ahsoka hs too, is it from the "designed for girls according to Mattel or Hasbro line of toys"? I've built a few figures from using that line as a base already. I can't remember their names, it's too early or I'm getting too old!! Need coffee.

Yes, it was from the Forces of Destiny line of dolls from a while back (circa 2018 or so). I have few others as well that I've sourced parts from. Pretty much all those dolls are good for from a 1/6 perspective.... each one has maybe a handful of spare parts that can be 'debarbified' so to speak. ;p

shovelchop81 wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:Because no one else has a clue what i'm doing?
It's my usual rigorous method of: no idea what I'm doing either, what happens next might work... keeps it interesting for me at least.  

Well, I thought I knew, but at this point I am confused whether the acetone bath shrinks or increases the size of the pieces.

Zes wrote:Yeah, I agree. This whole acetone technique is lost on me.

Aside from stripping paint from some robust materials, i.e., metals, I'd never want to use it. I'd be afraid of the acetone eating through plastic.

Well to answer both of you   simultaneously it does both but in order of making the vinyl bigger then smaller, always finishing with smaller. Think of the vinyl as a partially inflated balloon, the added acetone causes it to 'inflate' more but as the acetone leaves/evaporates, it takes all the original air with it too so the balloon is now completely empty and is as small as it can be (this is sort of a mixed metaphor so I don't know exactly how a balloon would react to acetone IRL).

Ah, I see. I think my confusion was from my miniature painting days. Acetone would eat through polystyrene models with ease. I have not worked with vinyl models before, so I assumed it would react similar to acetone as polystyrene.

Nice, I liked the Neimoidians in SW and its strange no one ever did them in 1/6 (or maybe they did and I just forgot) I look forward to seeing how they end up looking, also that part with the face flat on the surface reminded me of that face transplant they did some time ago.

skywalkersaga wrote:Yes, it was from the Forces of Destiny line of dolls from a while back (circa 2018 or so). I have  few others as well that I've sourced parts from. Pretty much all those dolls are good for from a 1/6 perspective.... each one has maybe a handful of spare parts that can be 'debarbified' so to speak. ;p

Ah that's what the line was called, I just called them 'build fodder'! lol.

Zes wrote:
Ah, I see. I think my confusion was from my miniature painting days. Acetone would eat through polystyrene models with ease. I have not worked with vinyl models before, so I assumed it would react similar to acetone as polystyrene.

Yeah it'll eat through polystyrene immediately! ABS takes a bit longer. You only want to use it on rotocast type vinyl, like old 1/6 DID, BBI, Hasbro, Mattel etc.. heads and stuff like Vinyl Pops(?)

Theboo-bomb wrote:Nice, I liked the Neimoidians in SW and its strange no one ever did them in 1/6 (or maybe they did and I just forgot) I look forward to seeing how they end up looking, also that part with the face flat on the surface reminded me of that face transplant they did some time ago.

I certainly can't remember even an obscure little company making them, yet Hasbro did give us some really nice Gungans. They are a subspecies of Duros and we've had a few 1/6 Cad Banes so far.

Head shrunk perfectly, just rebuilding it using part of a DR Who Dalek Sec hs to do it. Found a beat up Frankenstein's Monster body from the Van Helsing movie toy line I had lying around used in some previous build at some point, it has the height and mass required for Nute Gunray but needs quite a bit of work for articulated hands, feet and neck/head. Also found a random abandoned empty suitcase today outside the house and think the red material has a cool texture which could work for Nute. Also had some broken kids jewellery inside that could be useful too.









Repaired OS feet from Hasbro Kylo Ren (was going to use on a Vader build so they were cut up)





Assembling the head











Obviously it's not as simple as this, will need plenty of sculpting to hide seams etc..









compared to regular 1/6 Duros head











Small suitcase I just found







Junk inside, mostly broken plastic reinforcement plate.



But some 'jewels' too, could be sci-fi buttons and even LOTR Silmarils  for my Morgoth build..

Fascinating watching that head get built.

Glad the head shrink worked out!

And ha, yeah, I only know the name of the line because I had to look them up on Ebay so often...

Stryker2012 wrote:Fascinating watching that head get built.

skywalkersaga wrote:Glad the head shrink worked out!

And ha, yeah, I only know the name of the line because I had to look them up on Ebay so often...

Cheers!

Some pics of my mods to the body so he can have articulated feet, hands and head, need to get the hot glue out. I'll mod the top of the Dalek Sec head to fit in and cap off the Neimoidian's head, if you watch the species video by Metanerd you'll understand why (about 1:27 minutes in but the whole video 20mins is well worth a watch, very interesting species). Still plenty of hacking and filing to do just to get the base body ready.

Got a bit of catching up to do info wise on this build, the hs is done, so are the hands and feet, started painting the skin areas with a lot more paint to go...





Decided to use the Sec brain part as it fits well and Neimoidians are classed by their intelligence levels for machinations and survival, their size too it seems looking at Nute.







Lots of hot glue later, not trimmed yet







Frankenstein's seems even more appropriate now lol







Hot glue and connectors cut back for better articulation and aesthetics.













Latex casts I made before for other builds, using leftovers to create his neck while keeping the articulation











Black primmer paint











Base coat started













More layers





Shading started









Green sponge work, sepia line work and washes to follow etc..

Ref pics







Quite mottled amphibian looking skin here.





More 'patchy' here





I'll probably do a mix of both.

Wow! Genius level work. I like how you add your own touches (like the exposed brain) to make your creations not just unique, but your own interpretation. Excellent stuff, Alex.

Stryker2012 wrote:Wow! Genius level work. I like how you add your own touches (like the exposed brain) to make your creations not just unique, but your own interpretation. Excellent stuff, Alex.

Cheers Mark! I think it's just me being lazy this time lol, I should really have rounded/smoothed it out but his head-dress will hide it anyway . Materials like milliput need to be used sparingly now a days with economic issues too...

Can't see the wood for the trees right now, been looking at his ugly mug too long! lol probably needs some blue and grey in there but I'll sleep on it for now, doesn't help that like my Twilight Witch King build, the reference pics have the colours all over the place!





Looks very heavy handed but a lot of paint will be going on top..





First green





Second green, mix of sponge and brush with water rinses..



No flash







Hands are a mess but so are the character's lol.

Wow, you've been busy and this complex build has continued in full force. Frankensteinian indeed. But coming along beautifully. Currently watching the video you linked. Strikes me as both incredibly informative and remarkably retcon-based. The exposed brains are a cool creative departure, and I suppose if you wanted to match the canon look, you could easily hide it under the headgear.

GubernatorFan wrote:Wow, you've been busy and this complex build has continued in full force. Frankensteinian indeed. But coming along beautifully. Currently watching the video you linked. Strikes me as both incredibly informative and remarkably retcon-based. The exposed brains are a cool creative departure, and I suppose if you wanted to match the canon look, you could easily hide it under the headgear.

Thanks Ian! Looking less like a 'Mars Attacks!' reject now, could be darker not sure I'm bothered to be honest, need to paint his eyes that have no pupils to worry about! YAY!













After looking at these pics on the big screen (my TV as a monitor) I see he could do with a wash of grey ink which luckily I still have loads of from the last build.

Looks remarkably good to me. An additional wash or even thin translucent coat might make it even better, perhaps softening the contrast with the underlying darker lines just a tad.

Looking good. I agree, perhaps a wash of gray, or some mottling of gray could tone done the blue (perhaps a bit of gray/green?)

GubernatorFan wrote:Looks remarkably good to me. An additional wash or even thin translucent coat might make it even better, perhaps softening the contrast with the underlying darker lines just a tad.

Stryker2012 wrote:Looking good. I agree, perhaps a wash of gray, or some mottling of gray could tone done the blue (perhaps a bit of gray/green?)

And I agree too lol. Only took a few minutes but makes a difference, no clear yet, eyes first.

WET gives you an idea of a gloss finish





That stupid round section at the top of his temple refuses to blend! The head dress should hide it.









Dry so like a matte finish









Closer to the lighting he'll actually be under













Stuff bugging me, as well as matte or gloss? Too bloody early! 5am just woke up lol!

He's really coming along now isn't he?

Looks very good. I think you need to make a contrast between the very glossy eyes (when you're done painting them) and the palpably less glossy skin.

GubernatorFan wrote:Looks very good. I think you need to make a contrast between the very glossy eyes (when you're done painting them) and the palpably less glossy skin.

Thanks and agreed, although I need to be careful of the black I used in the eyes, not sure it will survive gloss.

So used a hard brush instead of a sponge for mottling this time and it works much better on a smaller area.
They eyes were more complex than I'd remembered needing swirls of metallic over the metallic red, I used used green and orange. Not crazy about the black but unless you get a magnifying glass out it looks fine.

Reference for eyes





After repaint



Again, after seeing the pics on a large display the black slits are annoying me!



I'll use a magnifying glass and 'interrupt' the black a bit making it narrower and more zig zag like with the other colours covering it a bit. It's always something! lol





Could be greener but I'm not going down that road again!!



I'll make the other guy greener lol.













I used liquid metallic pens for the eyes mostly but could only get one black Micron pen to work and none of my stupidly expensive Gundam markers to work! And I have loads, waste of bloody money for me at least!

BAMComix wrote:He's really coming along now isn't he?

Thanks man! Sorry I missed you there, it's still early here! lol painting in my sleep!

Redid the eyes (sound familiar? ) just need to add some pink/purple around them, to what we might think of as eyelids, these look more like sphincters! lol

That's quite an interesting creation!

I think they turned out great and using those metallic markers was a very good idea. I hope they take gloss without running, or maybe you don't need it.

Zes wrote:That's quite an interesting creation!

Cheers Zes!

GubernatorFan wrote:I think they turned out great and using those metallic markers was a very good idea. I hope they take gloss without running, or maybe you don't need it.

Thanks! Yeah I'm worried about clear on the eyes, for the black only but if it smudges the eyes are ruined..
Done the sphincter bits, a little bright, might tone them down when they dry. Decided to paint the 'brain' black and just have it as part of his head dress that I also painted black, got a bit carried away with the grinding wheel on the plastic oops.. my need to remake it from scratch or just patch it up a bit..

This'll do paint wise, made duplicate head dress pieces out of pleather, we'll see how that goes, crown bit is a little floppy but nothing I can't fix.







I've got red ribbon to do the edges.

It's really nearing completion now.

Yeah, looking good! I would maybe push the glossiness of the eyes a bit more. They appear a bit flat still.

I'm looking forward to seeing how you incorporate that red suitcase into the outfit!