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boolean263 — When good ideas go bad
Published: 2006-02-13 02:48:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 154; Favourites: 0; Downloads: 3
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This was an attempt at making Laura, formerly from the Labgoats webcomic (drawn by a friend of mine, Petie), in the style in which she'll appear in an upcoming webcomic of his. Another female, this time a human. I did a lot better on the anatomy this time overall, from the shape of her legs to her chest and hair.The figure turned out really well overall as I was making it, except for a slight tendency to fall over. I stuck a few strategic paperclips inside, and tried to brace her up with an external one which I would remove once she cured. Well, her legs gave out on her in the oven and she crumbled into the wreck you see here. ~Dragonfeelers tells me that she'll have a piece crack on her from time to time in the oven, but this is the first time I've really lost a Fimo work. It's disappointing, particularly given how happy I was with it before I tried to cure it. But life happens, and now I know for next time what not to do. For instance, flesh-coloured Fimo is a bit more rubbery than the other kinds.
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Comments: 11
Boo, that's awful, especially when you put so much hardwork into her. Kao, how could you be so unsympathetic? She probably took Boo hours! I can see why she broke but I'd never have expected her snap. I thought she'd just bend out of shape. Are those pieces stuck to each other or can you glue her together?
Her anatomy is more accurate and it's a real pity that this happened but it probably wasn't preventable. I've found that with Fimo, you can put it in the oven for less than 5 minutes and if you decide you want to move a limb last minute, it's not possible. The outer surface hardens real quick.
I hope you'll give her another go. If it's any consolation, we all have pieces that go wrong (look at poor Changjiang!) so we have to make another but the second attempt tends to be a definite improvement. Just look at the difference between Rynnay and Laura. I admit the eyes are rather large but maybe she's meant to look like that.
The problem was her legs. I can help with that. Do you know what a double hair pin is? Most small chemists have hair accessories sections and the double hair pin is basically a thick stiff wire in the form of a very long U. The downside is that you have to buy something girly 
Make a base, quite thick, and stick the pin (you may want to widen the legs a little) into it so that the U is upside down. Cure it as normal and what you'll end up is a solid base and metal armature for Laura's legs. Mould the Fimo onto the metal and go from there. Note that I haven't precured a piece before but it works for Sculpey and my gut feeling is that it will work for Fimo. They recommend leaving fimo to cure for 30 mins at 130 degrees C but I tend to use 120 (fan assisted oven) for 20-25 mins. I have however left a piece in for 40-45 mins by mistake but it's been fine. I've read that you can cure for longer, just not at a higher temperature.
Give her another shot, Boo
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Thank you so much for the tips and the kind comments! She did indeed take me several hours to finish just right. She's not wearing a lot, so it took care to get all the joins (arms, torso, breasts, hands) to be smooth, and to get her clothes just right. She had some trouble standing, so I had stuck an external bracing paperclip under her, but it slipped off of the base and didn't support anything. I looked in after four minutes, saw her doing the limbo, and tried to fix her, only to have her crumble into what you see here. I finished curing her anyway in case I can glue her together, but at the very least, she'll need new legs. Such a shame.
Like I told Allethaen, her eyes are supposed to be big like that. I tried to match Petie's cartooning style. He told me I'd captured her scowl perfectly, which was flattering.
I've never heard of pre-curing Fimo before! What an interesting idea! And it doesn't crack when you cure fresh Fimo with it? Intriguing, I'll definitely have to experiment! And the hairpins are a great idea. I was thinking paperclips but hairpins might be better, since they're wavy and may hold the Fimo better. Thanks for the tips!
You've used Sculpey too? How did you like it? Do you prefer it to Fimo? How well do you think using both of them in one piece would work? I ask because I saw some stone-textured Sculpey at the art store the other day, and I thought it might be neat to incorporate into a piece, but since they cure at different temperatures, I'd assume it wouldn't work very well.
I'm of two minds of trying to make her again. On the one hand, I'd love to give it another shot and make a piece that doesn't fall apart, but on the other, I was so happy with how I did the first piece, that I don't think I'd be able to recreate it. I frustrate easily when something like that happens, when I do something great and then find I can't reproduce it.
Thanks again for the tips and the kind words! I appreciate it a lot.
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You give me tips and kind words too! Works both ways
I haven't tried Sculpey (if I had, you'd know!) but I've read a little about it. Apparently the length of time you put a piece in the oven depends on the thickness of the sculpey. I don't think you can use both of it and fimo but you can always paint over what you make with either.
You can pre-cure sculpey so I think you can do the same with fimo - it's worth testing. Note that pre-cured and fresh fimo won't stick together
Then take a break and make her again later. I find reproducing a piece impossible and frustrating. It's easier to just start from scratch with what you'd like to keep and what you'd like to improve in mind.
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Good plan. I think I will come back to her, but I'll do something else in between first. Maybe that'll help.
Thanks for the tips on Sculpey and pre-curing! Fimo seems a bit easier to work with just because it's the same amount of time to cure, no matter how much you have -- but having said that, it makes more sense for it to take longer to cure if there's more. Pre-curing sounds easier than all the various trebuchets and other paperclip contraptions I envision when wondering how to make a piece stay upright as it cures, so I'll definitely have to give it a shot. (:
Thanks again!
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AAAwwwww, was it impossible to salvage? It looks SO cool! The hair was fine but I'm specially impressed with the woman's figure and... err, chest, since the whole thing looks so real! Your modeling skills keep improving! 
Her bulging eyes kinda disturb me but since I have absolutely zero (worthy) recommendations on how you could improve that... thankfully I'm sure Asteria will give you some
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Thank you so much for your kind comments! I was really pleased with how her figure turned out too. And her chest, though you can't see it from this picture, was blended much better with her body than Rynnay's is. It's a shame the thing had to collapse and crumble. /: The legs are bent out of shape, and her hair won't fit back on smoothly as it is. Maybe if I filed the joins I could get a smoother fit, but I'd still be stuck trying to make new legs for a completed figure.
The eyes are supposed to bulge out like that, actually. (: It's the style by which Petie draws his characters, and I wanted to duplicate it. That's also the reason for the hairstyle and the tiny nose and mouth.
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Oh, I can see the way the chest blends with the body and it's definitely better than in Rynnay's case! (that's why I was so impressed: it looks rather natural man). And is the artist's style? Jejejejejeje then I wouldn't want to mess with a chick like that!
And you're improving very fast man. Keep up the good work! (my kind words are just the natural consequence to the coolness of the piece 
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Heh, you're catching on! Yeah, you don't want to mess with Laura. She's a scientist!
Thanks again! ^_^
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True enough. (: Next time I'll put paperclips in both legs. Or else I'll just have her sit down. d:
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