Brilliant fail

I came up with the, what I thought was awesome, idea to have my Metroids have recessed "innards" and then a bubble of acrylic on top to give the impression of the clear goopy insides.

Still a great idea, I think. However my first attempt wasn't so great. I need to redesign the structure of the "head" to be more recessed, so the doming acrylic doesn't try to flow over the bottom. I also need to create a dip in the head so the outer edge is slightly more raised--hopefully further preventing the acrylic from flowing over the side (Which was another issue I encountered).

And now, here is the failed attempt!

If you look, you can see the acrylic fell too far down, and went past the raised "lip" of clay that it was meant to stop at. Also, because of the leaked acrylic, it refused to full cover the red part fully, leaving some exposed. Not good.

Here you can see there is a drop where it kept running. Even after cleaning it up multiple times, it kept running so I just left it, knowing this was a failed attempt.

The paintjob should have been a lot better too, so I have no regrets at this being failed. I just know what I need to improve on. It's the process of designing new pieces to sell on Etsy. Slow and sometimes unsatisfying when you mess up, especially so horribly like in this example--but I've learned a LOT of things that I need to change for my next attempt. Which will hopefully be sell-worthy!

I wanted to post this, especially as an example of the process I go through, designing these pieces and learning when I do things badly. Because I don't ever want to create things that are done badly, and look sub-par and have them sold. Why should I sell second rate quality products? I shouldn't. Which is why this process can sometimes take a long time, but I think the end result is rewarding not only for myself, but for anyone who purchases my products.

As an aside, I'm currently working on..... Super heroes! Marvel at the moment, but I do plan to make some DC heads too.

Villains may come at some point also.

Just starting painting.

Curious what my pieces look like before they're fully painted? Here's a WIP R2-D2 charm with just a base-coat of silver and the start of detailed painting!

(What's that in the background?!)

And here's a bonus picture of a Darth Vader charm before any painting has occured:

These pieces aren't yet up for sale just yet--As soon as I have one of each all done and painted they'll be put up in my etsy store.

Teaser

Just finished painting my first Stormtrooper, to use as my listing image for my Etsy store.
So here's a teaser image taken from a cruddy phone camera--so most of the detail doesn't come through:

Star Wars WIPs

Today is already incredibly productive--a great start for the week. I've just finished designing Yoda, C3PO, and Chewie in clay, ready to be recreated and sold. I haven't gotten an example painted yet, as they're currently baking. Looking to do that either today or tomorrow, just depending on how busy I am/how much time I have. I'd like to get them up in my shop as soon as possible.

I'm currently working on an Ewok design! Or rather, if I weren't writing this blog I'd be designing it.

In somewhat related news, I think I'm going to start putting felt fabric (or some other thin, soft fabric) onto the backs of my clay charms for an extra finishing touch. I'm not fond of the plain clay backs, so I think it will be a great improvement. Adding that to my shopping list.

Darth Vader is officially painted, and so is Majora's Mask. Boba Fett is... mostly painted. Jango Fett, R2D2, and the Stormtrooper have their base paint coats on, but no further detailing yet.