Project OAF (Original Action Figure) – Part 1: The Clay Sculpt

I briefly mentioned this project in my last update of 2022, but consider this your official introduction to what I’m now calling my first major crafting project of 2023. While this might have started out as a sculpting exercise wherein I attempted to sculpt a five-inch scale figure with proportions similar to those an Eternia Minis He-Man figure, I found that it ended up with something I wanted to turn into the basis of an entirely scratch-built action figure project. More specifically, what I decided was that I wanted to turn this sculpt into a buck system, or a blank template body with interchangeable parts, for my first real series of action figures. Definitively check out the video I linked for more information on what a buck system is and what I want to accomplish here.

I’ll be taking you through each of the major phases of this project, with Phase 1 detailing the initial polymer clay sculpt (which you’ll probably see me refer to later as the “rough sculpt” or “clay rough”) of a basic body type and relatively blank head for what I hope will be subsequently modified and used for many different types of characters that I want to turn into action figures. Phase 2 will cover the initial round of molding and casting, with an emphasis on adding articulation, which I’m already well into but had to momentarily put on hold due to me having to be out of town for a couple of weeks.

But let’s turn the clock back to late December of 2022 when this project started out with the simple desire to create a 5-inch scale polymer clay sculpt inspired by a ~2-inch tall Eternia Mini figure.

Before I even considered breaking out the armature wire and Super Sculpey, I first had to create a series of reference images using an Eternia Minis He-Man as a model. I placed place the mini He-Man in my light box and took a picture of the figure at nearly every angle as I turned it 360 degrees. That part was something I picked up from a Udemy course on beginner sculpting that I’m slowly working my way through (I grabbed a few of those courses on the site’s Black Friday sale as a gift for myself). Then I took said pictures with my phone, uploaded them to my computer, and scaled them up to 5-inches in height in Photoshop before printing them out on my inkjet printer. Instead of basic office paper, I printed the reference images on cardstock instead because I knew I would be handling them a lot and I wanted the reference images to hold up without having to reprint them.

The next step was to create an armature (or wire skeleton) for the eventual sculpture using two pieces of 9 gauge (or 3mm thick) aluminum wire with one piece of wire for the legs and body and the other wire for the arms. I kept the wires extra-long and trimmed them down later as I progressed through the sculpture, because I never want to cut the wires too short or too prematurely. After positioning the wires over the reference images, I mixed up some Green Stuff epoxy putty to join the arm wire to the rest of the armature as well as placed another blog of Green Stuff on where the hips will eventually be. It never occurred to me to do that in any of the other wire armatures I’ve made previously, but again, it was another neat little trick that I picked up from the Udemy beginner sculpting course.

Another thing I learned from said course is that the armature wire representing where the head will go should be positioned somewhere in the middle of the head on the reference photo. That way, it won’t be too long or too short. Once the Green Stuff had fully cured, I used a pair of needlenose pliers to bend the armature into the general pose that I wanted to go for (though I would continually tweak it throughout the sculpting process).

The next step was to bulk out the armature with some aluminum foil and the initial, thin layer of clay. I ended up bulking the arms out a little too much, but not so much that I couldn’t course correct and make it work later. The clay I’m using for most of this project (save for the head, which you’ll see later) is Super Sculpey Living Doll. No particular reason why, I just really like it.

When it came down to actually sculpting the details, I started with the torso. As far as exactly how I sculpt, I find it difficult to put into words since I still feel like a total novice and I don’t want to make it sound like I’m any kind of an authority on the art of sculpture. Basically, I roll out chunks of clay in my clay conditioner machine (or pasta maker) until they’re workable and then use my digital calipers to measure a particular piece or detail on my reference images. Then I sculpt a wad of conditioned clay into the general size and shape of said piece and then place it on the figure. I usually refine it further, take more measurements of the in-progress sculpture and reference images, and repeat until I’m ready to move on the next piece. Then when I’m finished with the area I blocked out to focus on sculpting, I’ll pop the sculpture into the oven to cure. I bake my Super Sculpey for 30 minutes at 275 degrees Fahrenheit.

Oh and I sculpted this entire thing while I was at my family’s place for the holidays and I had the brilliant idea to try and bake the polymer clay in my mom’s toaster oven. Hence why the back ended up getting scorched. But it’s a superficial thing at best since this sculpt is just a means to an end and what minor damage did result from it getting blackened was easily fixed with a tiny bit of Milliput.

I sculpted the arms next. Again, not much to really say on the process itself. Just measured a piece (like the bicep or the shoulder) on my reference image, manhandled a chunk of clay to fall within said measurements, stuck it onto the arm, and so on. Though I should probably note here that before I put the figure into the oven for another bake (and yes, after the mishap with the toaster oven, I switched to the actual oven), I load up a cheap nylon brush with some Sculpey Clay Softener and brush it onto the clay to smooth out any rough spots, fingerprints, or tool marks.

Then, when I take the sculpture out of the oven and allow it to fully cool, I’ll go over it with some fine grit sandpaper to smooth it out even more.

I sculpted the hands separately and then stuck them onto the armature after snipping off the excess wire. I wanted to make the hands even larger and more stylized than the Eternia Minis figure I used as inspiration and I was especially happy with how they turned out.

I also stuck this to a wooden base that I bought at the Dollar Tree, because I wanted the figure to remain upright for when I eventually got around to sculpting the feet and legs. I drilled some holes into the wooden base to accommodate the extra bit of armature wire and superglued them in place as best I could.

I sculpted the legs next though in retrospect, I should have probably did the feet first so that there would be a steadier foundation. Previously cured clay does get soft while its baking and doesn’t get rock solid again until after it cools down, and I was a little worried that it might fall off the base while it was in the oven. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

After the legs cooled down, I sculpted some rudimentary feet but again, since this is just meant to be a blank template body, I didn’t really go out of my way to add any real detail to them. This would also be the case with the head and the remaining part of the lower body.

Before I sculpted the rest of the lower body, I pried the statue off the wooden base without much effort and trimmed off the ends of the protruding armature wire that fit into the holes I drilled in the base. Before going any further, I added a thin layer of clay to the bottom of the feet to flatten them out more as well as cover up the little nubs left behind by the armature wire that I couldn’t trim off.

Then I sculpted the last remaining piece of the lower body, the crotch/pelvis area. Much like the feet, I left it blank as any clothing-related details would be left for the modified sculpts that would eventually be derived from the final molds produced for this buck body.

I started on the head next, deciding to go with Super Sculpey Firm rather than the Living Doll that I used for everything else up to this point. This first attempt at a head ended up being a failure as I decided that it looked way too big and took away from the stylized proportions of the upper body.

Ultimately, I was unhappy with how large it ended up being despite the measurements I took on my reference photos and decided to try again.

Attempt #2 was a good bit smaller and much closer to the size I wanted. Like the larger head, the purpose of this blank head sculpt was just to block out the eyes, nose, mouth, and chin and provide the basis for a consistent size of each subsequent head sculpt for this series of figures but also keep the placement of the main facial features consistent as well. I didn’t try to make the head blank look like anyone or anything in particular, hence why there’s no hair, ears, or details on or around the mouth.

Here’s the final, smaller head blank side by side with the first one. I should have probably added a neck as well but at the time, I decided that it would be best to put that off until I got the neck articulation figured out since I knew I would want the head to rotate along with the articulation I planned to add at the shoulders, waist, and wrists.

And here’s the completed version of the initial sculpt/clay rough for this designer action figure buck body. His head is shiny here because I’d just finished sanding it and then washing it off in the sink before sticking it onto the body. Again, it’s not mean to be perfect at this stage (hence why it’s a clay rough) or even the next stage, where I’d planned to make a resin duplicate that I would then cut into pieces (arms, torso, hands, upper body, lower body) and add articulation.

But that’s a process for another day and one you’ll definitely want to stick around for if you found Phase 1 interesting. We're just getting started.