I just had a new idea that could be a solution to an old problem, and make easier the sculping of figures, at least in some cases... or at least save most of the work and time necessary to prepare a metal wire skeleton and build a base body on it.
I called them Touchy and Fishy... because I can't get out of my mind the latest funny GIF about cats
It's nothing really new, it works and is not unusual in bigger scales, but (at least for what I know from my own experience and what I hear from other sculptors) apparently it never worked properly on figures below 35 mm...
There are some 28 mm, some 1/72 and even 15 mm base skeletons and articulate bodies available casted in metal, but their thin joints tend to break too easily and this is a big problem for the sculpting.
So I thought that perhaps... an articulate resin body with an internal metal wire as support could works much better!
The metal wire sure allow to bend the joints dozens times with no risk of breaks... and it gives strength to the thin resin parts keeping them straight as they should (another usual problem of the metal base skeletons available)
This is the first version...
And the second also with articulate hands and feet!
Perhaps too delicate and fragile parts to allow much work on them, at least for many but not for who's used to work with 1772 resin figures!
Besides, we are talking about 1/72 figures, so even in other ways, such fragility is something to deal with anyway.
The first step of sculpting: put in position and block the joints with a drop of superglue and a bit of epoxy putty.
Another interesting feature allowed by the internal metal supports... is that with a little care is possible to cut one part off, or even pull it off completely, while the metal supports remains, this allow to replace heads or any othe part of the figure... just find the replacement and drill a little hole, like the hand in this case for example.
But as in most things there are pros and cons, this in some cases can be a problem, hands and feet can be pulled away by mistake unless not handled with care or fixed with glue.
Of course it's a challenge with the small size, I can forget a "button on their backs" to make the karate punch!
Another good thing is that the arms or legs can be used separatly on other figures too... it can be useful for sculpting, and help for the basic conversions when we can't find an arm or a leg in the right position!
Of course it's a new thing that need to be tested and improved to get the best out of it, and discover all the pros and cons, when and where is worth and convenient, and eventual further possible developments.
I already noticed that probably along the backbone is better a 0,5 mm thicker iron wire, while in arms and legs is better a thinner and softer 0,3 mm wire.
One of the limits is casting such base bodies... before to cast them, the metal support have to be done for first, it should be precise to be placed at the right place in the mold before the casting... something not so easy, it takes a much longer time compared to normal resin castings... and during casting, further than usual eventual problems sometimes the support may also moves out from the right place.
However is something which may help especially for special tasks, such as very difficult poses... despite in most cases is probably more practical and sure much cheaper to use the other usual traditional ways.
I will update with some more test of sculpture when ready... and I'm already working to make an articulate base horse body in the same way... that's another thing which we often need, and a bit easier !