One of the things I love to create is sculpture, even though I haven't done a lot. In the last few years, my sculpting has been mostly done while customizing Star Wars toys and figures. It was then that I discovered "Sculpey", a great substance to use on small pieces. It cured when heated, either in an oven or by submerging in hot water. One of the largest pieces I sculpted at this time was a creature from the "Expanded Universe" of Star Wars (non-movie character). The Krayyt dragon was modeled from the cover of a children's novel:
I started out by making a wire frame, bulking it out with aluminium foil, and then layering sculpey over that. The dragon ended up being so large (about 8 inches tall and 10 inches long) that I had to "cook" him to cure in a roaster filled with boiling water. Mmmmm....roasted Krayyt !
Tessek the Quarren, from Return of the Jedi. This 12" version of Tessek was created from a Jar Jar doll. I cut off the head and replaced it with a hand-sculpted head for the Quarren character. Wire was used to help support the tentacles, and I left enough of the neck so that the new head still moves, swiveling back and forth, up and down and left and right. The hands of the original doll were shaved down and sculpted properly. I hand and machine sewed the clothing for the new character and used a tin can with washers painted gold for his belt. Reference for this doll was taken from movie stills and Hasbro's 3.75" action figure:
