un-flexing plastic limbs, need help w/info on putting figures in oven&any custom tips

~~TurtleManiac~~ · 01-19-2009, 03:48 AM

first off im giving general traag a height boost, well actually just straightening out his legs so he stands taller, like the same thing i did for shredder, since in the cartoon general traag is not so short like the toy depicts him. there's a lot customs that im in the process of straightening their legs. what i do is use an x-acto knife to cut into the back of the knee to stretch it out, (preferably leaving it in one piece and not actually cut off from eachother, but there are some cases such as with foot soldier that the leg has to be cut in half) then put a cut-out triangular piece of plastic into the empty space with crazy glue to keep it straight, then sculpt over it and paint it. but it's a lot of work and can be challenging sometimes, so im wondering if any other customizers out there have any experience with "melting" plastic toys in the oven? someone suggested i try putting a tmnt figure in the oven to get the plastic all hot and soft, and then un-flexing all the joints into a straight position and hope it dries solid that way. anyone know if this would work? or if there is a better way to straighten their legs? if not i'll just continue doing it manually. heres some wip (i'm re-doing his face too so for now dont mind the sloppy look of the figure)

also might re-position his head to be on top of his body instead of all hunched down

another sample, a rat king leg

maybe a pants-less shredder standing straight at some point?

01-19-2009, 03:48 AM	#1
~~TurtleManiac~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: KALI Posts: 1,008	un-flexing plastic limbs, need help w/info on putting figures in oven&any custom tips first off im giving general traag a height boost, well actually just straightening out his legs so he stands taller, like the same thing i did for shredder, since in the cartoon general traag is not so short like the toy depicts him. there's a lot customs that im in the process of straightening their legs. what i do is use an x-acto knife to cut into the back of the knee to stretch it out, (preferably leaving it in one piece and not actually cut off from eachother, but there are some cases such as with foot soldier that the leg has to be cut in half) then put a cut-out triangular piece of plastic into the empty space with crazy glue to keep it straight, then sculpt over it and paint it. but it's a lot of work and can be challenging sometimes, so im wondering if any other customizers out there have any experience with "melting" plastic toys in the oven? someone suggested i try putting a tmnt figure in the oven to get the plastic all hot and soft, and then un-flexing all the joints into a straight position and hope it dries solid that way. anyone know if this would work? or if there is a better way to straighten their legs? if not i'll just continue doing it manually. heres some wip (i'm re-doing his face too so for now dont mind the sloppy look of the figure) also might re-position his head to be on top of his body instead of all hunched down another sample, a rat king leg maybe a pants-less shredder standing straight at some point?