Working on a 1/18 scale Charlie figure to go with my Zeta Bumblebee and the upcoming Toyworld Freedom L... um... Tactics Waistcoat  figure.

[Edit] Completed!






Started with the Ashley figure from the Zombie Labs H.A.C.K.S. line and designed and 3D printed a new head and feet for her.

I designed the feet to be a straight replacement of the original figure's feet (they were high heels of all things - who the hell gets around in daisy dukes, a midriff T-Shirt, biker jacket, and pink freaking high heels?) so the articulation is maintained - forward/backward ankle tilt, as well as side to side. I'm going to try to sculpt the ankle portion of her combat boots by hand because that's easier than trying to get a super thin "sleeve" printed and then placed over her ankles and then I'm going to sculpt full length jeans onto her legs and also thicken them up a little 'cuz they're super skinny. Then I'll be painting her to look like her outfit near the end of the movie (weird green leather jacket with black sleeves and dark grey jeans). Unfortunately, her head articulation is only so-so due to her hair interfering with movement - it's actually shorter than it was in the movie and I've added as much clearance as I can to facilitate movement without completely compromising it. Maybe someday in the future, I'll see about getting some flexible filament and printing her head and hair separately (the figure's original head had soft rubbery hair).

Oh and please disregard the gaps in her upper thighs - once I put the legs back together, they're super difficult to get undone again so I just put them on partially for pictures.

 

Very cool

 

The Catch-22 of long haired action figures - realistically sculpted hair limits articulation, but doll hair makes it look like a doll.

I would say there's no winning - but i do dig your work so far & can't wait to see your progress!

 

Thanks! And yeah, I'm just gonna have to accept the limited head articulation It's a shame cuz the figure has some pretty damn good articulation otherwise. I'm particularly fond of how they did the feet and I'm glad it was so easy to lift out the original feet and make a new set that used the same articulation.

So modding is done. The last bit of apoxie is curing - I had her finished up last night but this morning I decided I didn't like the shape of her legs so I shaved them down which meant I had to sculpt new seams. I ended up printing her boot tops - I'm working from home right now so it's easy to 3d print things but I have to wait until after work to mess around with clay since I need to be able to drop what I'm doing and go straight back to working so I just figured I'd try printing them and see how it turned out. They turned out great so I just used them instead of sculpting them and just sculpted the jeans. Tomorrow, after this last bit of apoxie has cured, I'll disassemble her and hit her with primer and then I should be able to get her painted later that night or the next day.

 

Progressing nicely!

 

Well I primered her. Does anybody have any idea what paints stick well to soft vinyl? The primer is fine everywhere except her jacket which is a flexible rubber or vinyl material. On the jacket, it's not drying properly and is still tacky.

[Edit] wiped the primer off with a paper towel. Yup, just a straight paper towel. That's how unbonded it was. Then I tried putting acrylic directly on the jacket in a couple out of sight spots as a test and it seems to have gone on just fine and isn't coming off easily so I guess I skip the primer. I roughed it up a bit so hopefully that's all it takes to get a good bond. Now I just wonder how to go about keeping the paint flexible. Acrylic is already kinda flexible but I wonder if mixing in some fabric medium will help since that makes it so paint on fabric doesn't crack.

 

Aaaaaand done! More or less. Putting the jacket on did something to her shirt that I'll have to fix (probably missed a bit of primer when I cleaned off her jacket) and I'm going to need to print a custom waterslide decal for her shirt (can't remember which band's logo was on her shirt in this outfit but I think I'm gonna go with the Smith's shirt she was wearing earlier in the movie cuz I like the Smiths.



I wasn't sure I'd nailed the likeness until it was all painted up but I think I did pretty good. Someday when I have a resin printer, I'll reprint her head and see if I can get it to look a little nicer and cleaner.

I'll get some more posed pics in a day or so after the paint has finished curing. I really shouldn't have assembled her yet but I was impatient to see the results (her head isn't actually attached - just resting on the ball joint cuz I didn't want to press down on the hair that I had finished painting literally one minute before putting her together).

 

I'm impressed, buddy! Again! If I ever need a 3D printed human, I'm heading your direction.

 

Amazing work - so glad you finished!

 

Thanks guys! Glad you like it.

Got some posed shots using stills from the film as reference.






These close-ups really make it obvious how badly I need to switch to a resin printer. So many other expenses for now but hopefully by year's end if not sooner.

 

This is really well done. The likeness is spot on!

 

Thank you! I spent days tweaking and retweaking the face sculpt and was never completely sure until I drew on her eyes and eyeliner on the finished head. I wish the print quality were a little better and my hands were steadier when I painted in the eyes but I was very happy to see Charlie's face looking back at me (more or less) when I finished. Very pleased to hear you think it looks spot on cuz sometimes, when I'm working on my own art, I can't tell what mistakes I've made.

 

An artist's worst critic, is themselves.

When it comes to small details, often the easiest method can sound like the stupidest. Case in point, for fine details, where size is more important than shape - a sharpened toothpick, dipped into a small puddle, will give you a VERY tiny dot of paint.

That said, you have nothing to worry about - this looks awesome.

 

Great job! Spot on with the likeness

 

I demand this to happen in the Bumblebee sequel.

 

Holy shit man that’s epic. You got the likeness pretty dang well. I dunno what it is but zeta Bee suddenly looks more appealing.

 

Thanks, guys! It's always nice to see people liking your work.

Thanks! I actually used a fine tipped art pen to draw on the eyes. Much easier to work with than paint.

Thanks!

Sounds good to me. I really enjoyed Charlie as a character even if she was a bit of a brat.

It's a damn fine figure despite its inaccuracies to the character. Personally I like it more because of the inaccuracies - makes it look more like a Transformer imo - but I definitely understand people wanting to see the onscreen character.

Minor update: I got that resin printer a while back. I printed a new head for her a week or two ago but haven't got around to painting it yet. When I do, I'll take a new wave of pics. Maybe I'll get the shirt decal done by then as well. Also want to do an Autobot logo for Bee's head - I figure a clear backed waterslide doing just the shading for his recessed logo so his natural color can show through. I think that'd look pretty good.



Pic kinda exaggerates the nose, lips, and chin on the new head - thinner areas in resin prints come out looking whiter once the curing is done - should look normal when it's painted. Not sure when I'll get around to painting. I'd planned on doing it this last weekend but didn't get around to it. Been kind of focused on my Arcee project lately.

 

This looks awesome!

 

Wow!