kyoshinheiThis build dates from a few years back but I though I'd share it here.
Everyone knows this feeling, there's always this one character that you REALLY like but that there is no figure of (or not in the line you want). For me that character was Neco-Arc Chaos from TYPE-MOON and since there was virtually no hope that he would ever get his own figure, I decided to build one myself.
I've seen a good number of people here creating custom figures (usually Figmas and Nendoroids) by modifying existing ones but it always bugs me that this method means sacrificing one (or several) perfectly good figure(s) in the process. Sure you can buy a duplicate and work on that instead but that goes against my OCD ^^
There's always the possibility of using bootlegs as a base but this is also not something I'm very comfortable with for obvious reasons.
So instead of modifying an existing figure, I prefer to duplicate its parts by molding them and working on that. This is what I'm gonnna show today. For this build, I used the two regular Neco-Arc Nendoroids (ITEM #1613 and ITEM #1614) as a base since Neco-Arc Chaos is basically just a palette swap.
Nendoroids #000 and #001. Yup, piece o' history there m'am
First I took them apart and molded all the pieces I needed with silicon paste.
Careful not to scratch the parts when cutting them out of the mold.
I then cast PE resin inside the molds to create the new parts. This was my first time working with resin and I had to do a few takes before the pieces came out right.
Well not exactly "right" but with sufficiently few defects that I would be able to correct them later with sanding and putty.
At the time I was working on this project, TYPE-MOON released the Carnival Phantasm OAVs and introduced some new Neco-Arc variants to their universe. Since I already had the molds, I thought why not also make these characters.
So now it's Project Chaos, Bubbles and Destiny. I skipped Neco-Arc Evolution because he hadn't been introduced at this point and with all his accessories, he was much more work than just a palette swap.
After molding. it's time to sand the parts and glue a few of them together. Since this was my first experience, I decided to make them static instead of articulate to not push my luck too far.
That Loctite gel is crap, I'm never buying it again. The Citadel glue is okay but takes forever to set.
Then it's time to put some primer on the parts.
Getting an airbrush is quite a investment but the result is so much cleaner, especially if you've got huge shaky fingers like mine.
Once he first coat of primer is applied, it becomes much easier to spot irregularities on the surface.
I could stop there and pretend they're in black and white ^^
Now I apply some putty into the holes and then sand it.
Rinse and repeat until I'm satisfied.
In the end it was not perfect but still good enough. If I were to do it again today I'm sure it would look better
Now that the parts are ready, next is the painting. First a bit of mixing to prepare the colors I will need.
When working with colors, I use "white" (or "daylight") light bulbs instead of regular "warm" light bulbs to see what the real colors are like.
Then comes the painting.
Notice the paler skin tone for Chaos' parts.
I add a bit of shading with the airbrush and make some adjustments with a regular brush.
Mainly the tip of the hair and the inside of the ears.
Now some top coat, flat or semi-gloss depending on the part.
The parts are now almost ready.
I check that nothing looks out of place.
Startin' to look good.
For the eyes and mouths I printed some decals since I'm absolutely terrible with a brush.
I had to do a few takes before figuring out the right scale and printed everything in double in case I messed one decal.
Then I apply the decals.
At the time I was not familiar with water-slide decals so these are sticker decals but today I would rather use the former.
Finally, it's assembly time!
Balancing them was a nightmare due to the weight of the heads. If I were to do it again, I'd definitely hollow them out after casting.
The family is now complete and I still have my original Neco-Arc figures \o/
Great Cats Village, assemble!
In the end this takes a lot more effort and requires more tools and materials than the usual method of direct modification but I find it immensely rewarding that no figure got hurt in the process ^^
Does that give you some inspiration?
Would you have done it differently?
See you in the comments.
Everyone knows this feeling, there's always this one character that you REALLY like but that there is no figure of (or not in the line you want). For me that character was Neco-Arc Chaos from TYPE-MOON and since there was virtually no hope that he would ever get his own figure, I decided to build one myself.
I've seen a good number of people here creating custom figures (usually Figmas and Nendoroids) by modifying existing ones but it always bugs me that this method means sacrificing one (or several) perfectly good figure(s) in the process. Sure you can buy a duplicate and work on that instead but that goes against my OCD ^^
There's always the possibility of using bootlegs as a base but this is also not something I'm very comfortable with for obvious reasons.
So instead of modifying an existing figure, I prefer to duplicate its parts by molding them and working on that. This is what I'm gonnna show today. For this build, I used the two regular Neco-Arc Nendoroids (ITEM #1613 and ITEM #1614) as a base since Neco-Arc Chaos is basically just a palette swap.
Nendoroids #000 and #001. Yup, piece o' history there m'am
First I took them apart and molded all the pieces I needed with silicon paste.
Careful not to scratch the parts when cutting them out of the mold.
I then cast PE resin inside the molds to create the new parts. This was my first time working with resin and I had to do a few takes before the pieces came out right.
Well not exactly "right" but with sufficiently few defects that I would be able to correct them later with sanding and putty.
At the time I was working on this project, TYPE-MOON released the Carnival Phantasm OAVs and introduced some new Neco-Arc variants to their universe. Since I already had the molds, I thought why not also make these characters.
So now it's Project Chaos, Bubbles and Destiny. I skipped Neco-Arc Evolution because he hadn't been introduced at this point and with all his accessories, he was much more work than just a palette swap.
After molding. it's time to sand the parts and glue a few of them together. Since this was my first experience, I decided to make them static instead of articulate to not push my luck too far.
That Loctite gel is crap, I'm never buying it again. The Citadel glue is okay but takes forever to set.
Then it's time to put some primer on the parts.
Getting an airbrush is quite a investment but the result is so much cleaner, especially if you've got huge shaky fingers like mine.
Once he first coat of primer is applied, it becomes much easier to spot irregularities on the surface.
I could stop there and pretend they're in black and white ^^
Now I apply some putty into the holes and then sand it.
Rinse and repeat until I'm satisfied.
In the end it was not perfect but still good enough. If I were to do it again today I'm sure it would look better
Now that the parts are ready, next is the painting. First a bit of mixing to prepare the colors I will need.
When working with colors, I use "white" (or "daylight") light bulbs instead of regular "warm" light bulbs to see what the real colors are like.
Then comes the painting.
Notice the paler skin tone for Chaos' parts.
I add a bit of shading with the airbrush and make some adjustments with a regular brush.
Mainly the tip of the hair and the inside of the ears.
Now some top coat, flat or semi-gloss depending on the part.
The parts are now almost ready.
I check that nothing looks out of place.
Startin' to look good.
For the eyes and mouths I printed some decals since I'm absolutely terrible with a brush.
I had to do a few takes before figuring out the right scale and printed everything in double in case I messed one decal.
Then I apply the decals.
At the time I was not familiar with water-slide decals so these are sticker decals but today I would rather use the former.
Finally, it's assembly time!
Balancing them was a nightmare due to the weight of the heads. If I were to do it again, I'd definitely hollow them out after casting.
The family is now complete and I still have my original Neco-Arc figures \o/
Great Cats Village, assemble!
In the end this takes a lot more effort and requires more tools and materials than the usual method of direct modification but I find it immensely rewarding that no figure got hurt in the process ^^
Does that give you some inspiration?
Would you have done it differently?
See you in the comments.
Comments27
With stickers you only get one attempt. If you don't position it perfectly on the first try and want to correct it, you often end up tearing it apart or worse, damaging the paint.
Water slides on the other hand are much more forgiving. You first slide them into place (as the name suggest) and when you're satisfied with their positioning you gently rub them to purge the water underneath. But as long as there is water under them you can freely move them until you're satisfied. There's also less risk of trapping a bubble under a big decal because you just rub it away along with the water.
Also while stickers have a layer of adhesive, water slides adhere with suction only (i.e. void) so they usually are thinner too.
I haven't had any problem with the silicon paste yet.
I had a problem recently with liquid silicon though (not featured here). It was on a Play Arts and the paint faded a bit on the piece. That was probably my fault, I must have messed up the mix and put too much catalyst in the silicon. Or maybe Play Arts don't have enough coating...
I plan to make some more tests on this subject in the future in order to identify the risks more precisely.