#captain marevel

[muramakesmesses]

Some post holiday updates

So, for Captain Mare-vel, I'm going to have to skip the sash. It has to be wrapped behind the wings (doesn't hold right in front of them) and by that point the fabric is small enough that the fabric glue that I have to use to keep it from fraying covers the entire fabric and distorts the appearance.  Maybe some day in the future I will make a nice one and add it, but for now, no sash.

I found my old desk lamp!  This means once I obtain the correct bulb, I will be able to correctly style the hair of both my pony heroines (I need the directed heat source for drying).  Hurrah. Jess is gonna be a pain though, because I need to do part thatching on her so she doesn't get that weird bald spot between rows of plugs.

I did major work on Secret Pony #1.  First thing learned: A white coat of paint over a base white plastic is still going to require multiple coats. The base plastic on the Design Your Own pony that I'm using as an experiment is this weird violety white and I needed something a little more opaque and even.  It took 4 coats to fully cover even when using the sponging technique - take make-up sponge and keep rapidly blotting the paint while applying, like applying foundation but while on speed; it gives better coverage, doesn't slide the paint around and gives a nice texture to the coat.

I am THRILLED though, with how the cutie mark turned out on Secret Pony #1 and would absolutely plaster this post with pictures if it weren't still a secret.  Once the gift has been received, I'll put some up. I used an awesome technique I found for anything that has been laser printed -

tape image face down to flank of pony

use a xylene based blending pen on the back until paper is see through

try not to pass out from the massive amounts of fumes that a xylene marker puts out

use bone folder to burnish the image in place and let dry.

Remove image and touch up where needed

It's not a perfect transfer, but it's enough for me to put the rest of the image in place.  One side turned out much better than the other, so I know which one will be prominently displayed when I take photos.

[muramakesmesses]

And I am finished with rooting! Hurrah!  The glue is currently drying inside of Captain Mare-vel's head and I can move to cut and style tonight and address the little bit of fabric additions they need to be fully complete.

I would also like to get the base white coat on Secret Pony #1 done tonight, but we'll see based on levels of tired and the like.

[muramakesmesses]

Pictures upcoming, I promise!

I *may* have gotten a hang on rooting the hair onto the pony heads and did Spider-Mare's mane last night. I'm letting the fabri-tac glue dry for 24 hours before I even attempt styling the mane.  So, I just need to finish Captain Mare-vel's mane at this point because the bodies have tails and the neck plugs have been glued back in, yay.

I promise I will take pictures tonight.  Also because I want to post about the ridiculous amount of supplies I now have in my bedroom.

I have also begun work on Secret Pony #1. By which I mean I pulled out all the old mane and made my fingers cramp up by doing so.  Because Secret Pony #1 is a gift, pictures will be limited.  I don't think the giftee reads this Tumblr yet, but I'd rather be safe.

[muramakesmesses]

Captain Mare-vel now has a tail.  I've been working on the mane.

There are strands of blond nylon doll hair EVERYWHERE.

[muramakesmesses]

Woo, the paintbrushes might be able to take a break!

I just applied the satin finish to all costume pieces (including Spider-Mare's mask). I think I got everything, but I won't be able to fully tell til it dries.

If I was successful, I get to put the tails in and start the maning process.  I'm actually pretty sure I did get everything on the heads which means maning probably starts tomorrow either way, but tails may or may not be delayed.

Still, eeeeee!

[muramakesmesses]

Today's progress

So, I applied Matte finish to the rest of Carol's head and to Jessica's mouth. Also, did more touch-ups on the Spider-Mare costume which is proving to be more difficult than I would have thought.  I really expected the Captain Mare-vel costume to be the hard one.  Go figure.  I am learning many important lessons about black paint right now.

[muramakesmesses]

Third level details!

So, I've been doing some tweaking all weekend and have proceeded to third level detailing.

Let's start with the heads:

I managed to get Captain Mare-vel's eyes even AND managed to get the pupils even on the first try.  All that's left for her head painting at the moment is lashes (which will be done using a pen I have) and the reflective spots.

I finally started the black outlining for Spider-Mare.  I'll need to do some clean up on it later as some of the lines are way to thick.

More black outlining on Spider-Mare's body.  Letting it dry before I start putting painters tape boundaries on the legs for the outlines. Some clean-up still needed as well. (Picture is fuzzy because no flash, the flash whited it out too much)

And now, what I'm most proud of.  One of the things I acquired for the fabric level part of events is a very fine black pen that writes on fabric and acrylic and pretty much everything.  Which made it perfect for the very fine detailing on Captain Mare-vel.

The flash kind of obscured the front detailing on that first pic, but the overall effect is there.  At this point her body just needs the little gold buttons on all the boots.

[muramakesmesses]

FINALLY! Second level details!

Finally I can start with the next level of details

So, let's start with Captain Mare-vel's body:

Holy shit, it's actually starting to look like Captain Marvel's outfit! I'm also experimenting with overlaying tracing paper, putting the outline where I want it, and then cutting it out to use as a template. It's not perfect yet, but it did help keep the yellow V even where it meets the red. Where it meets the blue...eh, that will get corrected later.

The yellow stripes on the wings are tricky, I'm having to fit them to contour while still making sure they define the feathers well.  Not bad so far though.

Spider-Mare's body gets a break on this round, but the heads got new details too!

Spider-Mare gets the mouth-hole for her mask. And in the background, the beginning of Carol's eyes. And man, FUCK EYES, I'm glad you can't see the other one in this picture because it's going to take some correction to get it to look right.  It would be easier if Pegusi had the same eye indents as unicorns.  Some day in the future I will test what removing a horn does to the plastic.

And finally, some of what came in the mail for me today:

So, I ordered like 9 swatches of red fabric. 2 were too small to really use without ordering more and honestly, not as good of a red as I wanted. The others either had weird thread patterning or the color wasn't quite right. These two are the final candidates. I'll have a better idea which I'm using when the body dries enough to actually hold them up.