Now THIS is a strange one...

[Marty1967]

Ok, this is a strange one... but you know Revell's Visible Woman kit (ex-Renwal) that has been issued so often that the dies have worn so much that a new kit won't go together exactly right?

Well, I wanted something a little more visually appealing, so I ended up taking apart 2 old Barbie dolls to provide the head and poseable limbs for a 1/6-scale "visible fashion doll". I learned a lot about working with styrene resin, fiberglass and Kevlar cloth, and PETG in the course of working on this doll so far.

First, I built her torso out of the resin, with Kevlar in the neck and 2-oz fiberglass cloth for the rest. I added some dry pigment which I mixed to match the doll's head and limbs---the torso is colored, not clear. Next, I placed the hip and elbow joints and the neck anchor in the torso and glued it together.

Next, before cutting away the front of the torso with a Dremel tool, I took an impression of it with plaster of Paris for the next step. After baking all the moisture out of the plaster negative mold, I used solder to pour a positive. FYI solder works much better for this than straight lead!

Now came the front panel. Most of us who know about RC know about making canopies out of PETG (don't try to skimp by using PETE from a 2-liter soda bottle; it will shrink too much to be practical), but I dopped my doll's metal torso front mold onto a dowel rod using a hot-melt glue gun, then used 3/32" PETG to form a perfect front torso cover. Testors glue in the red tube will not stick to PETG, so the doll's clear front shield had to be mechanically fitted to the torso.

At this point, all I have left to make are her internal organs and put them in. Most will be easy to shape out of small blocks of cast resin, while her rib cage will be made of a second piece of formed PETG. The twists and turns of her small intestine will be made out of oil-based modeling clay in a plaster mold, and the plaster will be coated with polyvinyl alcohol mold release so that her intestine can be cast out of resin.

In the same way some model car builders add wiring harnesses to their cars' tiny engines, this doll will have very detailed internal organs when she's complete.

Stay tuned...

[HOLMES]

Marty,

Hello and

WHOA!! You certainly have gotten the know-how on how to scratch build and use different materials..Kevlar,How on earth did you manage to get hold of that?{ I did not know that it was so readily or easily avaialble }

I am SO intrigued by your description of the Build that I cannot wait to see the pics...you must try and post some work in progress pics .

I think it is going to look quite a different , strange build indeed but I am sure that the finished look will be superb.

Will be back for more..

HOLMES

[ChippyWho]

Always good to see something different going on...please tell me you didn't dismember anyone for reference? :blink:

[Marty1967]

Marty,

Hello and

WHOA!! You certainly have gotten the know-how on how to scratch build and use different materials..Kevlar,How on earth did you manage to get hold of that?{ I did not know that it was so readily or easily avaialble }

I am SO intrigued by your description of the Build that I cannot wait to see the pics...you must try and post some work in progress pics .

I think it is going to look quite a different , strange build indeed but I am sure that the finished look will be superb.

Will be back for more..

HOLMES

Kevlar cloth is available from www.aircraftspruce.com... with help from a little polymer chemistry over the years, I taught myself a lot about different plastics, mold-making materials, and their compatibilities.

The doll's head is from a Fairy Enchantress Barbie (it has a closed mouth, not the typical shark-like grin) and the poseable limbs are from a Colorado University cheerleader Barbie from about 10 years ago---these were some of the few that had flat feet and could be made to stand on their own. FWIW, Mattel makes its Barbies in 6 or 7 different standard human-looking colors.

Always good to see something different going on...please tell me you didn't dismember anyone for reference? :blink:

Didn't have to. I already had a Visible Woman kit for reference. My doll, however, is not going to be as voluptuous as a run-of-the-mill Barbie (whew!).