PSA: if you use liquitex matte sealant for custom dolls make sure it hasn't gone bad before using it. Idk if it's age or the lid not getting closed properly, but what was in the old bottle had turned thick, and dried sticky. Liquitex matte should have the consistency of milk, not syrup. Watering it down did not help, still dried sticky.
Don't make my stupid mistakes.
Fresh bottle I bought is fine, so it's not the brand or type. Plus old repaints I used it with are also still fine.
I had to re-repaint the body I'm using for Fluttershy bc my decade old bottle of sealant finally went bad, and I stupidly figured it'd still be ok to use if I just watered it down. That was the devil talking. I know we all hate wasting things, but love yourself and your work and throw out rotten materials or you'll get rotten results.
Here are the progress pics of Tyrant's journey! I've been trying out different baby types for a while. Quite by accident I came upon the idea of using the Trading Arts Minis. But they didn't make the character I wanted. Time to get busy!
(Customizing tips are bolded for easy skimming!)
1. I started with an Ace figure. His hair is the flattest, and he's in low demand, so it wouldn't feel like a crime to destroy him. I sliced off all the points and bangs to have a clean slate. It's easier to cut the plastic if you soak it in hot water - or leave it out in the car all day. It goes without saying, but never cut toward your fingers.
2. After cutting away everything I didn't need, I superglued bits of milliput to his head and shaped the hair into Tyrant's dorky little bowl cut. This took several rounds. When you get a part just perfect, let it cure before you add more. That way you won't accidentally squash it when your attention is on another part.
3. With his hair perfect and his weird little muffin-shaped crown in place, I tackled the body. Holy eyestrain, his body is 1.5 cm tall. Fortunately I had no plans to make a show-accurate Tyrant. I wanted the baby onesie from my comic version. All I had to do was cover up the details and make him more or less symmetrical.
4. I'm terrible at sculpting thin layers of detail, so I didn't even try to make the bib with milliput. Instead I cut a piece of cardstock, covered it on all sides with paint, and glued it onto his body. With that, baby Tyrant was complete! When you have bits of leftover putty, you can shape them into generic things for later use, like balls, cubes, and branches. This time, I made a save point!
5. I've had all this baby furniture for a thousand years, and never had an opportunity to use it in a photo! Re-Ment and Sylvanian Families are great sources for small-scale furniture/food/etc, but it's fun to bring in personal touches, too. The giant pillow behind Tyrant is a Rose Petal Place costume piece, and the cabinet is a dollar store knockoff I've had since I was a kid. Not sure what it's a knockoff of, but possibly Fisher Price.
Every time I finish a custom I vow to take a break and enjoy what I've got. But there's a whole drawer full of unfinished - even unstarted projects! I can never stay away from them for very long. Who or what will the next project be? Even I'm not sure anymore!
Someone on the Zoids Discord wanted to know if you can clear coat chrome or if it would dull the shine. I had a spare chrome runner from the bootleg D-Style Bladey and was fairly interested in the result myself (also I really love doing experiments eheh), so I gave it a try.
The result: I literally cannot see nor feel a difference, at all. The chrome has definitely not been dulled one bit. I reckon you could even apply a second coat for an even more “wet look”.
This is honestly pretty awesome to know, especially for kits that are prone to having the chrome flake off over time, e.g. OJR Zoids or the infamous chrome plated D-Style Blade Ligers that lose their paint from just looking at them.
Though for the latter and “colored” chrome in general, it should be kind of self-explanatory that they can be clear coated - after all, the “color” is a clear coat on top of the chrome and should logically be able to be clear coated itself as well.
However, as usual, experiment on a runner first! The clear color coat might be acrylic and could react with an enamel or lacquer clear coat.
Also, this most likely applies to electroplated (factory) chrome ONLY. Chrome powders or paints WILL be dulled by a clear coat (however you *might* be able to clear coat them after giving them a generous coat of hairspray - but that I yet have to test).
