themodelmaker

Finished sculpt of Ellie from Disney/Pixar animation Up to fit the dollhouse. She is going for adventures with Carl and Russell in their flying house. My alternative happy ending

This is second character I sculpted to fit the 1:48 dollhouse I made before. He is made of epoxy putty and painted with acrylics. He is 28mm tall. I used Hot Toys figure as reference, but I am not planning to make his rucksack, he wouldnt be able to stand on his legs then. My next figurine is Ellie. She is already sculpted and waiting for colours, I will post it in few days so visit soon

Few photos of my recent weekend project. This is a 33mm tall figurine of Carl Fredricksen from Disney/Pixar animation “Up” made in scale 1:48 to match the dollhouse I made recently. I sculpted it in two parts epoxy putty, you can buy it in every hardware store. I used the one with 5 minutes working time, it means I had to work fast and on small areas, and I could quickly make corrections with sharp knife. Glasses are made of 0.25mm styrene. All is painted with acrylic paints from Valleyo and Games Workshop range of colours and later sprayed with matt varnish. It was fun to make it.

If you are looking to buy a figurine of Carl or Russel, I would recommend collectible vinyl toy from Hot Toys. If you need something cheap for your child, I found good quality little figurines from german producer Bullyland.

I didn’t update this site for a long time. I’ve been very busy on a new project. This is a bigger version of Carl’s house from brilliant Disney/Pixar animation “UP”. I built it in victorian dollhouse scale 1:48 ( 1/4 inch ). The floor plan is 180mm by 180mm wide and it stands 210mm heigh to top of the chimney.

I had already prepared drawings for my previous project in scale 1:160. Bigger model gave me the oportunity to create more realistic and detailed windows, so I had to modify my drawings to suit new scale. I was also able to sculpt railing to the porch and create interiors. Living room can be accessed by openable side wall. It allows to fully appreciate Carl’s living room with his fireplace and have a view to the staircase with his collection of photographs on the wall. There is an option to look into the hallway through front door and window. In the movie there was some difference in size between interiors and exterior of the house. I couldn’t fit kitchen at the end of corridor, but I indicated it with closed door and created little green room under the stairs which can be viewed through rear window. A great help with that were sketches and pictures found on donshank.com blog.

Like previously I started with laser cut rigid 1.5mm plywood as my main construction with another 0.8mm layer containing some of the window details. I was able to see fast progress at this stage. It all slowed later when I had to trim with the knife panels for elevations, and stick them one by one. Repeat this process with shingles for the roof. The tricky part with them was warping after I put glue on it. Its because wood grain goes in shorter direction, the stripe with shingles absorbs moisture and bends before glue sets. I had to lay two stripes and clamp it for 15 minutes until glue dryes. When all parts were in place, I spraypainted them with base colours. I couldn’t buy exact colours in cans so I refined them with selection of acrylic paints from valleyo and games workshop to get the right tint. I used various techniques like drybrushing and washes, I also painted wood grains with very fine brush in some places. It took me more time than I expected, but I was pleased with the effect. After that I sprayed everything with two protective coats of matt varnish and then added transparent windows at the end. I didn’t forget about tiny mailbox this time

Carl’s house is now ready, and waiting for some more furnitures in the living room. I enjoyed building it and I hope you will like it.