Figure Conversion – A Step-by-step Guide

Introduction to the Project

Figure 4C.

Step1.  Preparing the Figure

With a hack or hobby saw, remove the quiver, the head, and the right arm from the figure.   Be careful, here, to cause minimum damage to any of these parts!  It’s better to slice the figure ‘frame’ (body), because the torso will be rebuilt in this project.   Once removed, place the head and the quiver in a container or zip-lock baggie so that you won’t lose them.

Using a Dremel7 tool and the sanding band/grinding post fixtures, remove the belts from the figure.  Don’t be shy, here; it’s time for the ‘butchers’ to really shine!

Once the belts have been removed, super-glue the arm into the position illustrated in figure 5A. and figure 5B.

Figure 5B.  Prepared Figure (back)

Now that the figure is prepared, it’s time to get the technician prepared.  Continue on to Step 2.

Step2.  Preparing the Technician

What a mess!!  Take a look at the butcher job you’ve just produced … you’ve just ruined that figure and wasted your  $$ !!  Bummer!!

But wait, all is not lost.  This figure can and will be restored to a work of art that will beautify any NKE unit on the table.  The restoration will be accomplished by two means; (1) green stuff and (2) an understanding of the torso Bib.   Green stuff (or similar) will be the restoration medium; the ‘torso Bib’ is the design guideline for this restoration.

The torso Bib - a stylized approach to torso design.  The author is a firm believer in the following concept:

If ya can’t ‘see’ (visualize) it,  ya can’t sculpt  it!

Hence, the ‘torso Bib’ and the ‘flat design dummy’.  Torso Bib Is a term that the author coined several years ago to provide conversion ‘wannabees’ with a starting point to visualize and design a stylized shape that surrounds the upper torso.  This shape starts from the lower pectorals (front), up and around the shoulders (top), and down and around the shoulder blades (back).   figure 6.  Illustrates the simple geometry of this shape in one dimension.

Figure 6.  The torso Bib and the flat design dummy

Viewing this flat design dummy ‘from the front’ yields the illustration in figure 7.

Figure 7.  Front View of flat design dummy

It is the author’s firm conviction that any serious conversion technician must master this basic shape to be successful with most intermediate-level conversions.  Look at this shape; visualize it; go onto the astral with Shirley if that helps; meditate on it, sleep on it; whatever it takes, put this shape firmly in your mind!

Working with the ‘Green Stuff’.  It is beyond the scope of this article to provide a tutorial on the many aspects of this common design medium.  However, if you are relatively new to using this ‘stuff’, the following practice exercise, which has proven helpful to others in the past, may help you as well.

1. Trace the following form onto a piece of hard styrene plastic (.040” thickness or-so), and cutout the form.  Cutout the shape of the head and glue it in place.  See figure 8.  You have just produced a flat practice dummy.  What you are going to do is to use the ‘green stuff’ to build up this dummy to include all of the features and stylized ‘contours’ illustrated in figure 7.
   
                                      Figure 8.  Flat Practice Dummy
2. Cut off equal amounts of yellow and blue from the dual ribbon of green stuff and, using your fingers, mix the colors together until you obtain a single piece of green putty.  How much should you mix up?  Don’t know.  Trust the force, Luke …
3. Separate some of the green stuff from the ‘mixed mass’, roll it into an oblong shape, and stick it onto the dummy diagonally, from the lower right (facing) side of the dummy, up and over the left (facing) shoulder, and down the back to the skirt  See figure 9.
   
                                  Figure 9.  Stick on the ‘green stuff’
4. Take your index finger and wet it with saliva.  Using this finger, spread the green stuff evenly over the entire torso.  When necessary, use the stick (item #8, page 7), making sure that it has been wetted with saliva as well.
5. Once the green stuff has been distributed over the figure, experiment with your tools to obtain a smooth surface.   The finger is the best ‘tool’ to obtain this, although you might want to experiment with the ‘spatula’ (item #3, page 7).  Work from the front to the back, displacing any excess green stuff onto the back skirt.
6. Using the flat end of the stick, mark out the shape of the Bib and of the Belly.
7. Begin ‘contouring’ these shapes onto the dummy.  You have about 30 minutes of work time to complete the contours.
8. Repeat this entire practice exercise until you can produce a ‘near flawless’ result at-will.
9. Now you are ready to try the ‘real thing’ in three dimensions.  Continue on to Step 3.

A note on the Green Stuff.  In the author’s experience, the working time for this medium is 30-to-45 minutes.  The author applies and smoothes the stuff in the first 10-to-15 minutes and then adds the detail about 20 minutes after mixing.  The setup time is 24 hours, although this can be accelerated to about 5 hours if you place the figure under a 100 watt lamp for that time (heat speeds up the cure time).

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