Hello,

In the ongoing discussion on Dragon's G2 figures latest relase, "1st Cavalry Division", some comments were made as to the suitability of Dragon figures as starting material. I initially placed this post there, but I have been suggested it would be better to start a new topic. You may like to refer to the above mentioned thread first.

Let's see, I'll put an example of what I mean when I say Dragon gigures are a good starting material, that with extra work can give excellent results.

Here you have some figures I made for a diorama:



All began life as Dragon figures, and not G2, but the earlier ones. All were subject to various degrees of improving, superdetailing and converting. Heads were substituted by better equivalents, as was some of the equipment.

Here is how one of them looked at its initial stages:



As you may notice, I reworked the pelvis/crotch and left arm insertion to get a better, more natural and eye-catching pose (I scratchbuilt the right arm too, but this was due to special requirements for this particular scene). Of course I had to remodel these areas next, restoring creases, parka opening, etc.

The figures were superbly painted by my friend Jaume Ortiz.

Curently, I have a couple of projects in progress, with G2 figures as a basis. Generally speaking, these are better than the earlier ones, hence the "prime material" is certainly better - but they still require a good deal of effort. And, BTW, non-G2 figures are still perfectly useable; there are not that many G2 references at present to suit all our needs.


Regards,

Daniel

Dani.....

excellent topic, I always love to see "in progress" shots. I have some Americans that I now describe as "doing a Calvin" on; Namely Dragon figures that are reworked to improve and slightly change in the process.
I often buy Dragon figures with the intention of doing what you've done here. Plus of course some inspiring artwork as well

Thanks for sharing

Hey....you should write a book!

Rob

Greetings all,

I'd like to ask a question here.

What's the best material to use when re-working figures?

Nice work BTW.

Cheers

Al

Alan - I have used a number of different products to resculpt figures but by far the best product I have used is Magic Sculpt.

Not just Dragon figures are "prime material", even less desirable ones such as the older Tamiya, and many others can serve as a base to work with. You can sand all the poorly molded details off leaving yourself with nothing more than a human shape as a base to create whatever you like.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for that.

Cheers

Al

Daniel,

That's amazing work. Your conversions and sculpting is complimented by Jaume's masterful painting. Do you have any pictures of the full dio?




Paul,

I agree with you 101%. While the quality of DML figures certainly does make life easier, with a little bit of blood, sweat, tears, conversion heads, putty, and foil even the most mediocre of figures can be transfored into masterpieces.

All you need to do is look at the stunning figures turned out at the Tamiya Figure Remodelling Contest, held annually. Still not convinced? Try this one on for size... apparently figure maestro Bill Horan's favourite point of departure for his beauties are (or were?) the Airfix 54mm (1/32) multi-pose figures!

My 0.02ZAR

Rudi

Hola Dani,

It is indeed a great platform to start your own creations from. I have found the folds are usually very well presented and much crisper in the G2 figure sets. I have never put one together, only looked at them on the sprue, so I cant comment on that.

The good thing about DML is that they are cheap, good value for the money and you get awesome artwork which is great stuff for reference.

Id love to see more of your conversions, it is always inspiring to see how a mediocre figure is turned into a beauty with some work.

So how about it?

Al,

I used to work with Milliput - the superfine variety - the figures in the dio were reworked with it. But I have recently switched to Magic Sculp, and now I regret not having done the change earlier!

I find M.E. to be more consistent, and more "plastic" than Milliput; I feel more comfortable with it when modelling creases, etc. Also, it seems to "feather" better, which is good when you want to blend it on its surroundings. You can work on it with water more insistenly than it is possible with Milliput, which disgregates easily. When dry, M.E. presents a smoother surface, too, so not much "cleaning" is necessary.

This said, there is not a thing as THE best material. Different modellers make the most of different materials.

Paul, Rudi,

I agree other figures can serve as well as prime material, and some other firms do good figures, too. I want to remark, on the other hand, than one thing is to rework a figure, which has a minimum of quality, for a better result, making the most of it; another thing is to use whatever figure as just an anatomical model. This, for me, is scratchbuilding, and this is on a different league.

BTW, Horan's very early figures were heavy conversions of Airfix figures; but soon he just passed to use the pelvis and chest basic volumes of them, so we are again talking of another thing altogether.

Regards,

Daniel

A couple of views of the dio:





BTW, talking of using other firm's figures... all the humans there were based on Dragon references, but the horse began life as none other than one of the pair which came with old Esci's supply wagon - although, in the end, I remodelled so much of it that it amounts almost to a scratchbuilding job.

Dani

Hola Anders,

Indeed earlier Dragon figures are perfectly good for this kind of work, especially those made in the last 2-3 years or so. As I have said, I do not think we should just forget every stuff predating G2 figs...

G2 figures's details are, generally speaking, crisper. Regarding folds... it depends. For instance, whoever modelled the "Germania" soldiers apparently went too happy with this part, and a good part of it is overdone, and unapropriate to the kind of woollen clothig they are wearing.

As I have mentioned, I am working on new figures, and fear not, I plan to present them here. They are based both on G2 and not-G2 figures. The first ones will not be really "S-B-S", because I was unable to take detailed photos of the process - but I hope this will soon improve!

Cheers!

Dani

Hi DesertRat,

What did you use to make the right arm? I really want to try to do more customized dioramas, but I find that the figures available are just a little bit "stiff" as it were. I really like the Dragon figures (Having decided the Tamiya ones just dont have enough detail for my taste), and I'm dabbling with the Warrior figures, but this is new to me.

Hola Dani!

Indeed the older sets are not to look over. I have a ton of the DML sets, which I honestly buy for the art work, but lately I have been looking at the figures, seeing what I could do with them.

Today, after reading these posts, I busted out a set of non G2, the russian tank rider set (excellent figs) and put one together.

What I did was glued the legs and the upper torso, then I simply carved it down to a basic mannequinn. I switched the boots to my own and will proceed to make him into a late war German.

Maybe I'll post some pics. Im in Sweden at the moment so I dont have my digi cam but I think that I can use one here, if I can I'll post some pics.

Looking forward to your SBS! Always great fun to see others work, especially one whos great at it.

Hello Steve,

I agree that Tamiya figures, even the newest sets, are usually below standard as compared to Dragon's; and also that the stiffness in poses is not a sin restricted to plastic figures, and resin or metal ones can be stiff too.

If I have to made a complete arm from scratch, I cut a lenght of wire to the appropriate lenght, and bend it at the desired angle. You can compare with other figures's arms, or with anatomical schames, to make sure the lenght and articulation placement is correct. Then I first build the basic volume of the naked arm with 2-part putty, and over this, the sleeve. Refer to photos or look at other people, or at yourself in the mirror, and model the folds and creases. At least in your initial attempts, it is good to look other figures's arms (choose the best ones!) to see how this has been done. No need to do the entire arm at a time, perhaps you will be more comfortable going at it in a couple of sessions. Once fully cured, you can refine it , if needed, sculpting with files or cutters.

Some important tips: try to make a pattern consistent in style with the rest of the figure; and ensure the pattern is adequate to the kind of fabric the garment is made of. A heavy fabric, like in an overcoat, does not make the same pattern than a light fabric, like in a tropical tunic. Also, depending on how different is the new pose to the former one, you may be obliged to remodel the folds, and even the volumes, in the body, too! This is frequently ignored.

HTH,

Daniel

Hola Anders,

Interesting project the one you are presenting! Hope to see more of it soon... And I'm glad to know this discussion had something to do with prompting you to it!

Regarding my own figs, I have one from the G2 "Hohenstaufen" set, which is pretty advanced, and a couple more, from other Dragon sets. As mentioned, these I can not show in a SBS form. Nevertheless. I'm toying with some other projects which would do nicely for a SBS...

Saludos,

Dani