streifen an der wand ideen
moin moin from the wunderland! i am sonja. i want to show you in a "do it yourself" episode how to create a special figure out of an ordinary one you can buy anywhere. for this project, i chose to create gandalf. why? for creating gandalf, you can use a lot of material you will probably find in your household. but in the end of the video, there will also be a shopping/ material list for you. just in case you want to rebuild my little gandalf. to modify a figure, you should look for a basic one
that has arms and legs sticking out from the body. just like this street worker. i don't need this position of the arms. i recommend to cut them off at the natural shoulder joint's position. i take ordinary liquid adhesive. this is how the liquid adhesive can thicken a little bit. the next step, while i am waiting for the liquid adhesive, is to create gandalf's hat. this is something you can find in any toy shop. it is very nice because i don't have to use rubber gloves.
the fine motor function can be preserved. first, i am forming a conical shape and push it on my figure's head. now you can pull the hat's brim with a toothpick. i am putting liquid adhesive all over the hat. the liquid adhesive seals everything and makes it easier to paint. in the end, gandalf is supposed to look up to his magic wand. so the figure's head needs to be pulled back a little bit in the neck. and the head is off - it will simply be sticked on again.
i will also fill it with liquid adhesive. i take an arm and dip it into liquid adhesive. to let the figure stand upright, i have prepared some masking tape with the sticky side on top that is put on double adhesive tape. meanwhile we can do something else and prepare gandalf's magic wand or rather walking stick. for the magic wand, i took a toothpick, but you could also use a match. i carve it to make it pointed the basic shape is ready, now i am cutting the stick to it's right lenght. i will keep these.
i want to simulate the light when the walking tick turns into the magic wand with glitter. i first dip the stick's point into liquid adhesive, then into the glitter. i will scrape it off again later and let it dry in my polystyrene first. the next step is making gandalf's clothes. i like to use a layer of a four-ply tissue. there are different reasons for that. it easily fits to the body. and it dries very quickly, which wouldn't be the case if i would use filler. i take a smooth piece
and cut the tissue into stripes of different widhts. this stripe seems to be small enough, i will put it over the arm and hold it, to fit it tightly to the body. then i take water to wet the tissue, so it will nestle to the figure's body. with liquid adhesive, i will fix the tissue at the shoulder. this is what i do with the whole figure. the underwear, trouser legs, sleeves and tunic first. for the cape, i cut out a semicircle and put it on the shoulders. with a toothpick and liquid adhesive, i pull it into pleats. now we can start painting him.
i recommend to buy a few brushes of the size zero. i have also taken out some of the fibres and trimmed them a little bit. i recommend to prime the figures with a white coulour first, so the basic coulour of the figure won't be visible through the painting. in this case, i don't need to do that because i worked with the paper tissue. i will begin with the bright tunic and continue with the darker cape. the basic coulour won't shine through this anyway. you might remember the little shreds i carved out of the stick. i want to place them on top of the stick, around the glitter, as you can see on the orignal picture.
i take some coulour and put the shreds into it. the shreds will dry faster if i push them to the side. i want the walking stick to look a little bit exaggerated, so you will also be able to recognize it from the distance. nevertheless, there is too much glitter on the stick and i will carefully scrape some of it off again. it doesn't matter if it is still a little bit wet, it will make the liquid adhesive dry faster. some liquid adhesive to the bottom part of the glitter... and then i carefully take some of the shreds with tweezers and let them fall into the glue. and... the last one.
while we are waiting for the magic wand, we can continue working on the figure. gandalf still misses hair and beard, i will create that with putty. you can create wonderful hairstyles with that. to make the putty stick better to the figure, i took some fine sandpaper with a grit size of 400. this is something i would also recommend for painting a complete figure, because the coulour sticks better, you just have to sand it a little bit. the putty dries extremely quickly and gets an outer skin. with a toothpick, i go into it and spread it on the head. carefully wiping it off...
to make the hair stick better, i also spread a thin layer of liquid adhesive on top of it. meanwhile, our magic wand should be almost finished. it has dried, so i will carefully bend the shreds' points around the glitter. i also pull it a little bit, maybe i can manage to create a grooved structure. the magic wand and gandalf need to dry now, so we can finally work on gandalf's hat again. my hat should get a blue-grey coulour, we will paint it now. when my figure slowly gets finished, it is important to paint the low-lying structures first.
in this case, it is the face. this can't be used undiluted, it is too thick and you won't be able to see the facial features anymore. i need to dilute it with some water. we are also removing the liquid adhesive's gleam and are again pulling up to the glitter. in the meantime we can place the hat on gandalf's head. there are still some small mistakes in the paint and putty. everyone needs to decide on his own on how perfect it should be. i will quickly remove them. to make gandalf stand better, i will sand his feet a little bit.
i want the figure to held the stick a little bit into the air. but this is difficult in the moment of sticking it on. this is why i have put a provisional polystyrene pedestal beneath it. now it is able to dry in his hand. in the end, i want to show you another important technique. drybrushing is good for highlighting the structures. i use a soft brush and dip it into the coulour. now the coulour needs to be taken out of the brush again. with the brush, i go over the high structures to highlight these pleats. it makes the structure look three-dimensional.
the figure is ready now, but we could still add any accessoires. to create the sword, i've got these 0,25x2mm broad stripes made out of polystyrene. if you don't have something like that at home, you can also use solid cardboard and strenghten it with liquid adhesive. and our gandalf is ready! in the end of the video, the shopping list will follow. (gandalf): you shall not pass!!! (drache): sorry! my mistake! that's it. have fun with rebuilding! tschã¼ãÿ! shopping list: figure (1:87) with free arms; acrylic paint (black, white, blue, 2 brown coulours, silver, beige); liquid adhesive; 4-ply tissue; toothpick; modelling putty; glitter; plasticine; polystyrene strip (0,24cm); sandpaper (grit size: 400);
mat (cutting mat/ cardboard); fine brushes (size 0.2.4); craft knife; scissors; little waterglass; tweezers; little, smooth wooden board; little box for small pieces; thin rubber gloves; magnifying glass; towel.