Modification Making my Lizard King (Iplehouse EID / SOOM Monzo hybrid) [Complete: 11/26/2016 - Pending revisions]

@Ellidyr It's supposed to have a pearly bluish-violet sheen. I'm hoping to use a mix of faint blue overlay with added pearl pigments in blue-red duo-tone. We'll see how that looks when I get a bit closer to that step.

 

After several more failures with the sword for various reasons, I talked to a friend who happens to do automotive customization and they agreed to send me some scraps of chrome auto vinyl wrap so I can test it with paints. I'll have more to say about that later, but so far I'm getting pleasing results, so I'll keep working with that. Thanks again for the suggestion, @Ellidyr! It may work out for me to use that after all.

In the meantime, I've taken a small break from the frustrations of finishing the sword and worked on his new faceup instead...


Mod project by Myuuchan, on Flickr


Mod project by Myuuchan, on Flickr

Finally, he's going back together!!
There's a process video for his faceup being done on my Youtube channel, too, just in case anyone is interested in that sort of thing.
Now I'm so close I can taste it. Just the last finishing work on the sword and the scabbard to go...

 

Though the vinyl wrapping didn't turn out perfect on the sword, what with not being able to overlap or seal the edges and the vinyl itself not being nearly as stretchy as advertised, it does look pretty darn good.

I put on a coat of metallic flake black lacquer, then masked off the center piece of the cross guard and airbrushed the rest of the hilt with black acrylic. I sealed it with Testors gloss lacquer, then set the rubies. The end result:


Mod project by Myuuchan, on Flickr

Experiments with the vinyl showed it took well to both lacquer and acrylic sealants. Enamel sealants melted it, but I figured they would. I used a misting of Testors gloss on the blade to give it tooth without dulling the chrome vinyl too much, then blushed it with pearl powder and sealed with a heavy coat of gloss. The end result doesn't show in indoor lighting, but in natural lighting, it gives the sword a very obvious pearly blue cast.


Mod project by Myuuchan, on Flickr

The chrome is quite mirror-like, it took some finagling to make sure my ugly self wasn't reflected in the photos! :P

So with that, his sword is done!


Mod project by Myuuchan, on Flickr

All that's left for this customization project is making the scabbard for it, then I'll be completely done.

 

Thank you! His blushing is a lot heavier than what I've used before but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm still sometimes tempted to dye him since he's a little fair for the character, but I'm pleased that his faceup does make him appear darker compared to my other dolls...

Thanks!
I found the rubies I used on eBay. If you search for lab-created stones you can find a huge variety of shapes and sizes for a dollar or less per stone... most of these were 50-75 cents each. You just have to spend a little time researching the seller before you buy. I used to make human jewelry, so I know from experience that some gemstone sellers on eBay coat their stones with oil to hide imperfections and bring out colors for photography, so when you get it and the oil rubs off, you're left with something not even remotely resembling what you thought you were getting. That's much less common with lab-created stones, though, since they tend to be more uniform and "perfect" from the get-go.

 

The scabbard for his sword was the last step to complete. I made it using leftover materials from this project, along with some scraps of craft foam to hold its shape. It required a slight deviation from the drawing in that I wanted to keep the slit in the scabbard's side. Since he wears his sword on his back more often than his hip, he'd need to be able to draw it from there, right? Not that I expect a doll will do much sword fighting, but you know.
The craft foam really helped the scabbard keep its shape, and keeps the edges of the chrome vinyl on the blade from catching on the inside of the scabbard, but it wasn't rigid enough to hold the scabbard in shape with that slit. So I added a strap around the top with an easy-to-open buckle. He'd be able to unfasten the strap left-handed while drawing with the right. The metallic cap at the tip and the plate at the top were made by wrapping scraps of the cream vinyl with scraps of chrome auto vinyl, then hot glued on. It worked pretty well:


Mod project by Myuuchan, on Flickr

And with that... he's finally done!

Mod project by Myuuchan, on Flickr

Here's a final comparison between the idea and what I have in the end.


Mod project by Myuuchan, on Flickr

There were a lot of small design changes and scale changes to make things work well in doll scale. Some were minor, like making the straps on his jacket longer to balance the front better. I also left off the studs on the arm straps of his armor, since the fabric I used for his shirt is so slinky and delicate I was afraid it would catch on the prongs of the little studs. His spats also received a lot of tweaks for shaping and placement of straps because in doll form, his feet are MUCH larger!
I'm also quite fond of how the trim and closures on the front of his shirt look. I feel like it adds the perfect hint of fancy he'd deny he sort of likes.

His sword evolved into a hand-and-a-half sword with more evenly spaced twirls on the hilt; it was easier to render that way, and since it's so slender, the handle looked weirdly stumpy when it was suited for one-handed wielding.

All in all, nothing is perfect, but I'm pretty happy with how he came together in the end.
The last thing I'll do for him is make a stand so he can sit out all the time without having to inhabit a chair. It'll be easier to enjoy him if he's standing, I think. He's quite solid on his feet now, but since he'll be on top of a 4-foot-tall cabinet, he should have a stand just in case.

Though he looks pretty good this way, too.


Mod project by Myuuchan, on Flickr

I created a video to show off his final look in closer detail, and also provide a quick recap of everything done since I picked this project up again back in the spring. I'll post it below. I've also put all the videos showing his customization into a playlist on my channel for easy access, so you can get there through the video below or the link in my signature.



Thank you to everyone who joined me along the way! It was a fun project and I learned a lot. I have a lot more dolls to customize, but they're going to be easier, I think...

 

Thank you for joining me along the way!

Oh man, it's so nice to finally see him done. I think the last couple weeks there were the worst, where he was almost there but still not quite! Infuriating, haha. Thank you! :3

It worked out better than I expected in the end, that's for sure! Thank you for your kind words ^^

Thank you, I'm glad!

Thanks for taking the crazy ride with me! I learned a great deal in this process and I'm looking forward to putting it to use in my future customization projects.

Thank you so much! It took so much of the year that it doesn't seem like as much work now as it actually was. At the same time, I'm not eager to repeat any of it for a while. LOL I think I'll allow myself a little break before picking up my next project!

 

Ahh, thank you so much ^^; You're too kind!
Yes, I absolutely still call my tools that XD If they have other names, I never learned them! Although I did finally notice they have numbers stamped on them, so one of them is "Number two smoothy spoon" and one is "Number four smoothy spoon" so that has to count for something, right?

 

Oh man, I forgot I had all these up on Photobucket!
Fortunately, I still have all the photos; I'll upload them to Flickr later this week and replace the images in the thread.

 

Whew, it's been a bit since I was here. I finally had a second to sit down and start moving photos to Flickr, so the oldest images are fixed and I'll work on the ones after the first 3 pages of posts when I have more time.

I'm sad to say that in the past few years, Rune hasn't held up well at all. I shared a little about it on YouTube at the beginning of the year, but you can see the exact segment of the video where I show the problems he developed by clicking here. It'll take you to the right spot in the video.

So later this year, Rune will be revisited once again. I may revive this thread when that time comes, but I think I'll practice first on my newest arrival... his little brother.

Sorry for taking so long to get the photos fixed. I always think I can fit more into a day than I actually can.

EDIT: It took a few more hours, but all the photos are fixed now!