Phantasy Star Universe - Tiffany Firebrand WiP

[Poo Fly]

Heya!

I\'m keeping track of progress on this figure for a forum i visit frequently, and as its very much a mini WiP i though you guys here would like a look see and of course all comments and criticism will be welcomed.

First off, I am attempting to recreate my character from the Newish Online RPG, phantasy star universe, some of you might have seen i had a go at the same character, in the previous game, phantasy star online. if not then thats hidden away in my gallery

Tiffany Is the pointy eared girl on the left of this picture i\'ve done, the only thing not shown is a weird face mask type shield on her left arm ( think Gw\'s harlequin jetbike front)

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3637/tiffpinklungalc2.jpg

So.... here we go!

here are the two models i am to be using, if you know what anime theyre from it might help out later on, when i try to find more

The one on the Right is the one i\'ll be making Tiffany with, The clothes on her are already quite similar to those of tiffanys upcoming Cowgirl outfit, so sculpting the details there is all thats needed. Gloves can be added easily too, and then the right pointy ear, i think i can get away without a left ear as the hair should cover it up.

The one on the Left Is a lot more awkward to convert, not only is there no skirt like that in psu, i wouldnt want one revealing panties like that on a figure ive made anyways so that\'ll have to be removed. this model has a more special purpose, and will not likely be followed along with in this article, just a tiffany for you

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Good morning all! *gets to work*

EDIT: ok, been working at this for a little while, i\'ve modelled on the details needed on it all, except the left arm, which has a weird face mask sort of shield to add to it, i\'m just trying to figure out the best way to go about it.

Pictures a little bad, but it\'ll do, i have added the ear, the weird collary thing, a belt buckle, the wrist part if the glove, and trouser details, which also cover up a point of articulation perfectly, big gaps were there

Had a little accident with the head, the join on it snapped as i tried removing it, so unfortunately it\'ll have to be glued on in the one position.

 

[Poo Fly]

Sorry for the double post, but the first seems long enough as it is

heres the shield thingy, along with the arm it\'ll attach to, needs a good clean up once its hardened.
I am unsure whether to sculpt on a grin like it would have, paint on teeth afterwards, or just leave it blank.

 

[gaspode]

This is looking interesting. I like the idea you have for this and using a poseable model to do it is bold and brave, so will keep an eye on this as you may just encourage me to give this a try...

 

[Gilvan Blight]

This seems like a silly question, but where did you get the original action figures, those are way nicer then any I have seen around here.

PSO/U\'s a cool game so looking forward to this conversion.

 

[Arma]

Resin / Garage Kits I assume? I keep meaning to pick some up here in Japan >_<

I want some Guilty Gear ones!

 

[Poo Fly]

Gaspode: hopefully it\'ll turn out at least a little decent just worried about paint layers clogging up articulation, or scrathing off once its done...

Gilvan & Arma: These were Gashapon/capsule toys that originally came in a ball out of a vending machine type thingy, pretty much blind packed for collectability, but i managed to stumble across them in a display cabinet at my local model/toy/figure shop, and just snapped a few up after realising how perfect theyd be for this ( shop was Who, Blackpool, UK for anyone close )
Unfortunately nobodies been able to tell me what they are from, with that info you could probably pick them up really cheap on ebay, i swear i\'ve seen them there before already...


Anyways, i may have to postpone this a little, i have ran out of paint, and wont have any until early march, by the looks of it :S and shes about ready to start painting now. maybe i\'ll try starting work on the other one now.

 

[Arma]

I could go into Super Capsule here and pick them up for a few hundred Yen (few bucks / pounds).

Super Capsule is a shop here in Osaka (and Tokyo possibly) that opens up those boxes and displays the contents but sells it on for a little more - this is great since you don\'t end up with 20 of the same figure in a collection!

 

[Gilvan Blight]

Those must habe been bloody big capsules. Capsule toys here are like an inch and a half diameter, max. And usually contain nothing more then some plastic or pvp model that it totally horribly painted and unpossable.

 

[Poo Fly]

I\'d love a shop like that! theres so many i\'d love to recreate, and also just collect like i believe theres phantasy star universe gashapon out now in japan, of the main story characters, i\'d love those.

and the Capsules would be about the same size, maybe a little bigger, but the figures come in peices, you just have to push it all together upon opening :3 the only annoying thing is if it has a long weapon, like a spear or something then it\'ll more than likely be permanently bent, not fitting in the ball and all.

speaking of that, the model i\'m working on came with a large katana (zanbato?) in its case, although there isnt much like that out yet on PSU, it\'ll look pretty fancy with the finished peice

 

[rockman18]

If you have a weapon that is bent try running some really hot water and holding it under it till it softens up, then just straighten it and hold it in position till it cools.

 

[Poo Fly]

Aaaah cheers rockman, simple solution

I managed to get some black paint yesterday, so i have at least managed to undercoat tiffany, shes looking a lot less messy now ^^ but i\'ve hit a problem, due to its flexibility, the joint around her waist scrathes the paint off, you should be able to see it on the picture, this reveals the skin colour underneath again, the right arm also has this problem, as it grazes Her breast. i think i can get away with these though, as the skin colour should be more or less the same as the plastic before, so shouldnt be very noticeable

It\'s looking promising ^^ *waits for the other paints*

EDIT: oh and if anyone has any ideas, that doesnt involve a pin vice, for retaining the heads articulation, that\'d be great, seems a little weird having her posable, but only ever looking one way

 

[Gilvan Blight]

Perhaps a spray coat of primer would help? Some good strong primer, perhaps even automotive primer as a base. That may prevent paint \'sratches\' due to the articulation.

Another though: varnish. I know I\'ve done it, varnish at various times during the painting process.

 

[WingZ]

maybe yo could put the head on a ball joint like barbies

 

[Poo Fly]

gilvan, great idea, but that might make it too thick, not being able to move it through it all...
theres two places where it\'ll scratch off, but if i\'m careful it shouldnt be much of a problem now

Wingz, again, nice idea, but i cant see how i\'d be able to ball joint it easily enough

however...
my paints came yesterday! so i\'ve spent a few hours this morning getting her painted up, heres how shes looking so far ^_^

still have her eyes, hair, top, gloves, shield and pants to finish, most likely sometime tonight, i\'m happy with how this is going

those eyes are going to be a huge pain though, i can tell >.o

now, time for a break to go play psu!

 

[Poo Fly]

Finished her!

i\'ve left off her line shield (thats the whitish and metallic strip over her breasts in the cg picture above) as i feel adding it would ruin it, and its entirely optional ingame anyways

I\'m very happy with hows shes turned out, looks great and still maintains all the posability of the original, besides the head which is, for now, blu tacked on ;3

I have submitted her for voting and will post up the link either here or in the discuss submissions board once shes online

whatcha think?

EDIT: oh yeah, the submitted one has her is lots of poses, hopefully showing all of it off, we\'ll see :3

 

[lono]

It looks cool. All in all a good job I\'d say, although I think that it would have looked better if you had chosen a pose and fixed it in it, then filled the gaps. The right arm in particular just looks a bit odd right now.

The paint scheme suits the style nicely though.