Toy Design.

I've been wanting to make a toy for a long time.  A vinyl-type figure, but one that can be customised.

A little like those Munny figures, I guess.  But my own design.

I figured that a little bloke would be the figure that would suit my design style best - either that or some huge monster, but I don't have enough wire or Milliput for that.

Side note, I'm not a huge fan of Milliput.  I have yet to use it with Vaseline to keep my sculpting tool from sticking to it, so it may work out better than Greenstuff.  My favourite sculpting medium on a small scale.

Now, I have a hard time working on projects that won't get finished the day I start them, so I'm really pushing myself to work on this, and to work on this in steps without rushing into the next phase and ruining the thing.  So it's a great practise of patience for me.

Here's the process that I've been working through:

First off, I made a super-rough paper model to visualise my initial idea.

Got a few angles because art and such.

Then using the paper figure as a template, I created this wire form.

The things I like about this phase:

- Once I had the basic shape, I could move it around and adjust it pretty easily.

- I could make the various parts (arms, legs, torso and head) separately and keep it from being one continuous wire frame.  This was good because if I had messed one part up (which fortunately I didn't), I could have simply started over with that one piece without compromising the whole thing.

- It's one step closer to the next phase - blocking it in with Milliput.

Now the hands are not at all formed.  Not in any way.  I've left the wrists with a little more wire to stick out so that I can sculpt some hands and add them on.  I may well do this separately from the model entirely before attaching them; sanding both sides down flat before pinning the hands into the wrists.

My plans for the hands are relatively simple - the left one will be open and the right one will be sculpted to hold something.

What thing?  I'm not sure.  I'm going to aim to sculpt it around a 1/8th" dowel rod or brass pole section.

The mods.

My aim for the figure is that it will be a standalone figure that has nothing added to it.  A standard figure; nothing more.

Once I've created the mold for the figure and sorted out the details to get the cast right, I'm going to use it as a base to form my additional items and mods on.  So far, these are my plans:

Cut off an arm and use the cut as a base to create a prosthetic/cyborg arm.
Use the back as a base and sculpt a backpack.
Use the back of the pants as a bas and sculpt a tail.
Use the back as a base and sculpt some small wings.
Use the right hand as a base and sculpt a weapon.
Use the left hand as a base and sculpt a shield.

These are my ideas so far, and I'm sure further idea will include another figure entirely at some point.

But I'm doing my best to do this step by step.

Peace.