aussieinnyc
Super Freak
I've got a question for those of you who not only collect PF statues, but consider them to be a better proposition to other options like 1/6: I just don't get the appeal of polystone. I could be basing the rest of this argument on a flawed supposition, in which case tell me that too, but I would've thought one of the main, if not the main attraction is that the bigger = more detail = more realistic? So why then go ahead and use a big slab of painted polystone for the characters' flesh?
Human skin has a slightly translucent character to it, and so surely should be best represented by using slightly translucent casting media...it's not like this is new info - people have been doing it for centuries by using wax to make lifelike figures like you see in Madame Tussaud's. HT and Enterbay seem to have hit on a plastic, or a top coating, or whatever it is, in their products that mimics the same translucence. So why aren't Sideshow using a more realistic "flesh" in their statues? A translucent plastic is definitely more resistant to breakage which can only be a plus. While Batman's leaks might make some nervous now, the amount of plastic in our landfills should attest to the fact it's usually pretty stable. A properly mixed, SFX grade silicone will still be the same as it was when first cured long after the fabric clothes have rotted off the body. I've heard some people say that a statue just has to have "heft" to feel like it was a worthy purchase, and while I don't agree with that thinking I guess I can accept it...but exposed flesh of face and hands could still me a more "fleshy" medium with the internal body still made of heavy materials, right?
Putting aside some of the criticism of exactly how good SS can get their factory paints compared to the Enterbays and Hot Toys and custom painters of the world, looking at characters like TOD Indy, one of the first things that hits me is just how solid, how painted, that flesh looks. Actually it could only help them with their paint problems because light bouncing off/being slightly absorbed by coloured semi-translucent plastic would give them a lot of the shadows and variations in tone that they usually try and paint.
So you statue guys, I'm seriously curious about what's so hot about polystone? Would a plastic or rubber have unforgivable mould lines that can be sanded out in polystone but not in plastic/rubber? Would the moulds need to be cut from steel making them too expensive? Or is it something that you actually like about polystyone itself?
Human skin has a slightly translucent character to it, and so surely should be best represented by using slightly translucent casting media...it's not like this is new info - people have been doing it for centuries by using wax to make lifelike figures like you see in Madame Tussaud's. HT and Enterbay seem to have hit on a plastic, or a top coating, or whatever it is, in their products that mimics the same translucence. So why aren't Sideshow using a more realistic "flesh" in their statues? A translucent plastic is definitely more resistant to breakage which can only be a plus. While Batman's leaks might make some nervous now, the amount of plastic in our landfills should attest to the fact it's usually pretty stable. A properly mixed, SFX grade silicone will still be the same as it was when first cured long after the fabric clothes have rotted off the body. I've heard some people say that a statue just has to have "heft" to feel like it was a worthy purchase, and while I don't agree with that thinking I guess I can accept it...but exposed flesh of face and hands could still me a more "fleshy" medium with the internal body still made of heavy materials, right?
Putting aside some of the criticism of exactly how good SS can get their factory paints compared to the Enterbays and Hot Toys and custom painters of the world, looking at characters like TOD Indy, one of the first things that hits me is just how solid, how painted, that flesh looks. Actually it could only help them with their paint problems because light bouncing off/being slightly absorbed by coloured semi-translucent plastic would give them a lot of the shadows and variations in tone that they usually try and paint.
So you statue guys, I'm seriously curious about what's so hot about polystone? Would a plastic or rubber have unforgivable mould lines that can be sanded out in polystone but not in plastic/rubber? Would the moulds need to be cut from steel making them too expensive? Or is it something that you actually like about polystyone itself?
