The selection of new 1/6th figures on store shelves has been pretty lean, and I don’t foresee the dry spell getting better in the very near future. Also, my room has reached maximum capacity. (Truth be told, it has long surpassed maximum capacity.) As a result, I’ve been focusing on working with what I already have. I’m getting back into personalizing a few guys; flocking and detailing some of my 1/6th scale heads. I tend to use the military figures plain, but the “Adventure” themed ones get flocked – just my little way of organizing my collection. I figure, if that’s how Hasbro differentiated active duty soldiers from paramilitary adventurers, why reinvent the wheel? Plus, it lets me mix and match duplicate headsculpts into a variety of unique looks. And why limit myself to 4 hair colors?
I don’t use an electric flocking tool or box – I create the static charge by shaking the flock in a small dollar store plastic squirt bottle, and “puffing” it out in little bursts onto the glue-ready head. I prefer clear Gorilla Glue – it seems to hold better than any of the others I’ve tried. I usually have the head mounted on a dowel or screwdriver handle, but sometimes I leave it attached to the body (especially on the harder to remove ones,) or occasionally, I just hold the loose head in my hand, by the neck (though it makes it more likely to bump the wet glue, requiring a “do over”).
I thought I’d share my most recent completed works. I particularly like the way flocking looks on sculpted hair figures. The variety really lends itself to some cool experiments with color combinations and fiber lengths, and adds an additional layer of variety. I also experiment with flocking over different colors of painted hair, since a little of it sometimes shows through the lighter colored flock, affecting the final result.
Another way I like to “make it my own” is to occasionally add or remove a scar or tattoo. There are several waterslide decals available on Ebay, made by different companies. Tattoos have themes, like Marine Corps, Russian mafia, tribal symbols, Viking runes, and old style nautical (just to name a few.) Although the flash on the photo makes it a little more obvious, once it’s applied and coated with a clear matte varnish, they really are pretty convincing in person.
Have any recommendations for customizing your crew? Shoot me a message, or comment and share it with the group!
-Toph
Along the jawline of the head, I cut away the neck.
Inside the top on the head, I glued a rare-earth magnet. I’m not sure of the size – looks to be about 2mm think, and 10mm across. I used 5 minute epoxy, as I wasn’t sure of any other glues that would stick well.