While preparing for Muriel’s checkup today, I received a message from the 3D designer creating my custom “Angels in Chains” figures: they were ready to share their work and solicit feedback. Tweaks were made before I approved the finished product, which will be printed in the coming weeks.
The image I’ll share here this evening will be removed after a couple days and reappear later this year in a post about the creation (or attempted creation) of my odd potato passion project and the related shower diorama. First I’d like to explain a little bit about 3D figure design for anyone as clueless about it as I was until just a few months ago.
If you’ve ever seen the old detail books used by police to crudely assemble facial composites, a lot of 3D design for figures used in hobbies (including tabletop gaming) is a modernized version of that. Templates of generic cowboys and sheriffs might be slightly tweaked — or left unaltered but painted differently — to approximate characters from The Dukes of Hazzard, Smokey and the Bandit, and countless other films or TV series.
This economized way of doing things often means sacrificing realism (unless you have the digital and artistic skills to DIY it). If money was no object, one could commission a toymaker to craft bespoke action figures or pay thousands for Angels Barbies beautifully painted by Noel Cruz.* I settled for an option that will cost tens of dollars per figure, and in all likelihood I’ll never learn how to paint them properly. But I wanted this project to be fun, not just for me but for readers.**
Without further ado, here are the gals and special guest star Mary Woronov. This was the first draft and differs from the final version.
As you can see, imperfect, but it made me unreasonably happy. The first thing I did upon opening the image was laugh.
* Cranky readers will be unsurprised to learn the Sabrina doll fetched the highest price at auction, going for more than twice what winning bidders paid for Kelly, Jill or Kris.
** If anyone wants their own (unpainted) figures, please let me know and I’ll look into options for hooking you up. It must be with the understanding that it’s only for individual hobby use. Also, they’re small resin figures meant to fit in a miniature scene. They’re not like dolls or action figures with movable joints. I’ll post a photo of them hanging out in the cottage for scale once they arrive.