DrumDude Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 Totally jaw dropping fantastic!! What are the dimensions of this? Wow! Hi! I'm Bill, Sue's friend and (very) junior partner on this project. I joined this forum just to respond to some of the questions. My original idea way back in April was to ask Sue if she'd oversee a figure I wanted to paint for a friend's birthday coming up in July. It was going to be Reaper's "Jade-Dancing Girl", and I wanted Sue's guidance it making it something special. When we discovered the dancer in question was a mutual friend, those plans went right out the window as Sue wholeheartedly jumped on board as much more than casual consultant. The figure we ultimately chose is the 10-inch resin figure "Asha-Belly Dancer Vol. 21" by JJ Models of Italy (www.jjmodels.com) We started in the latter part of April and the finishing touch was added at 2:00 PM this past Monday, just in time to be presented at a post-performance/birthday party Friday night. Oh, and thanks to Sue, I was able to break through a mental barrier I've had for the last 3 or so years concerning large figures. I've always read that you JUST HAVE to use an airbrush if you want to achieve high quality results. Sue proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that's not true. This baby was painted totally with brush in hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastman Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Welcome to the board Bill. Always good to see more IMMPS here. based on how good the pictures look, I would expect the reaction when you presented this to her was all that you had hoped for. Did you get the scrapbook/photo album done in time? Not only did you 2 do a great job on the conversion and painting, you got it completely finished on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haldir Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Is that thing real??? very nice, love the eyes, they really capture the look for the mini Randy M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumDude Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Welcome to the board Bill. Always good to see more IMMPS here. based on how good the pictures look, I would expect the reaction when you presented this to her was all that you had hoped for. Did you get the scrapbook/photo album done in time? Not only did you 2 do a great job on the conversion and painting, you got it completely finished on time. Well, I had my doubts, but Sue promised we'd get her finished in time and she was right. Whew! Mona's reaction was wonderful. She was dumbfounded, speechless and almost in tears. It really meant a lot to her, and it meant a lot to me to see she really appreciated the effort we made. Scrapbook isn't finished yet, as I have those birthday photos to add to it yet! I kept joking all week that I was going to keep the figure for myself. But what I really have to admit is that, if I'm to learn anything from this project, I'd better put it into personal practice and do one from start to finish. I'm now beginning work on my own Asha (Mona?). Expect to see me coming down to Illinois once a month or so to work out the "kinks". At least I've got an outstanding photo reference standard to go by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastman Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 After seeing the finished pictures, I'm tempted to get one too. We could have multiple Ashas being done at IMMPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper User Vaitalla Posted July 24, 2005 Reaper User Share Posted July 24, 2005 Phenomenal work, Sue--when the gang up here told me this was up I bopped on (on the weekend, yet!) to take a look. I know how much you admired your old teacher and how much Bill loves drumming for her, and I'm glad you decided to go ahead with the Asha instead of the Jade--though I'm still bugging Ron about doing a pack of traditionally-styled dancers. Out of curiosity, did you use actual cloth for the added cloth bits, or did you do it the hard way and use greenstuff? --Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumDude Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Phenomenal work, Sue--when the gang up here told me this was up I bopped on (on the weekend, yet!) to take a look. I know how much you admired your old teacher and how much Bill loves drumming for her, and I'm glad you decided to go ahead with the Asha instead of the Jade--though I'm still bugging Ron about doing a pack of traditionally-styled dancers. Out of curiosity, did you use actual cloth for the added cloth bits, or did you do it the hard way and use greenstuff? --Anne Hi Anne! That back skirt? Sculpting putty! Sue told me she had to mold it on in 3 separate sections to make it work. Anne, two favors, please? One: come to GenCon and bring Sophie with you. Two: if Ron does do a group of "traditionally dressed" figures, make sure the sculptors know what the "traditional dress" really looks like. Actually, there's a wide variety: the two most common, Egyptian and Turkish cabaret, have very stylisitically different looks. (When most people think "belly dance", they're thinking Turkish cabaret.) Bill - who's already dreading the 2-3 weeks of filing and sanding on yet another Asha, in part just to remove those stupid garters... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bleujenna Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 though I'm still bugging Ron about doing a pack of traditionally-styled dancers. --Anne Please please please! As a dancer myself- I know of many that would snatch up dancer minis with good costuming... This is just beautiful. The skin tone is magnificent! ~Jenna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintminion Posted July 25, 2005 Author Share Posted July 25, 2005 Phenomenal work, Sue--when the gang up here told me this was up I bopped on (on the weekend, yet!) to take a look. I know how much you admired your old teacher and how much Bill loves drumming for her, and I'm glad you decided to go ahead with the Asha instead of the Jade--though I'm still bugging Ron about doing a pack of traditionally-styled dancers. Out of curiosity, did you use actual cloth for the added cloth bits, or did you do it the hard way and use greenstuff? --Anne As Bill said, it was greenstuff, that hardened too much before I could smooth it out, so it's milliput AND greenstuff. I thought I was prepared to sculpt something that big...but nope, it was huge and Bill never said a word about it not being exactly as we wanted. You know what a perfectionist I can be! Still, I now am a believer in Milliput Superfine, am thankful to Jeff for suggesting I use a wet sanding method, and looking for a small cordless Dremel. Asha was as much a learning experience for me as it was for Bill. And I know I didn't let him do nearly as much as he wanted to, but next time he wants to do a project that big, he needs to leave more time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niloc Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 Outstanding work Sue, love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumDude Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 As Bill said, it was greenstuff, that hardened too much before I could smooth it out, so it's milliput AND greenstuff. I thought I was prepared to sculpt something that big...but nope, it was huge and Bill never said a word about it not being exactly as we wanted. You know what a perfectionist I can be! Nope, never said a word. Like I had a choice in the matter? Initially I thought that the figure would be given a much wider, fuller back skirt, but, once I saw what Sue had done, I really liked the overall effect. It certainly left the sides and rear much more revealed than I was originally expecting, but, given the omission of the "busy" tassels of the original kit, plus getting rid of the garters, the thinner back skirt really accented the smooth, clean line of the figure's lower body, especially the legs. It definitely worked for me. Apparently, it works for everyone else too. (Let's see...that's 3 smilies so far...) Asha was as much a learning experience for me as it was for Bill. And I know I didn't let him do nearly as much as he wanted to, but next time he wants to do a project that big, he needs to leave more time! Way ahead of you, Sue. Already spent part of yesterday outside in that miserable heat, sanding away the mold lines on the upper torso of my Asha. Yuppers, I can take all the time I want on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rex_lyver Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 WOW! Absolutely stunning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pogre Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 What a cool project - kudos to you two! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumDude Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Asha was as much a learning experience for me as it was for Bill. And I know I didn't let him do nearly as much as he wanted to, but next time he wants to do a project that big, he needs to leave more time! Ah...Sue? I'm afraid the project isn't finished YET! Seems someone <ahem> took the liberty of sending your pics to JJ Models. In response, today I received an email requesting a step-by-step assembling and painting article for publication in the JJ Models website online magazine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanite Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Just amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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