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 This has been a very involved custom action figure for me . Having worked out a trade with Stevo , the Toysmith , a custom cowgirl for a set of custom gun rigs , the stage was set for some creative fun . Stevo beat me upside down and backwards as far as design and completion on his end , I have kept on in my inimitable fashion striving to out do myself . This figure has a great many firsts for me , my first hats , my first 1/6th scale shotgun , my first scale boots , my first heavily reconstructed costuming , all done in an effort to not only pay homage to the wonderful work of The Toysmith , but also to all those great westerns that fed my spirit of adventure as a kid and continue to this day as an adult .  Sure , braids work well for western characters , they were a simple way of styling one's hair on the prairie when you're far away from town . Penny's braids serve a double function ; continuing that snake motif that was begun with her name , the choice of costuming and fabric patterns . I ended up doing several different braiding passes on Penny's hair before I was satisfied with the final style . I had also tried weaving wire into the braids that they might be poseable , but eventually opted to leave them out , they seemed an unnecessary and relatively pointless aspect of articulation .   Penny has been outfitted with the necessities of trail survival , a scattergun for multiple targets , a six shooter for the obligatory stand off and a fightin' knife for when ya just gotta be up close and personal with your nemesis .  As my very first 1/6th scale firearm I am fairly pleased with the end results of Penny's double barrelled shotgun . To be sure it is far from perfect , but the rough edges kinda add a rustic and antiquated quality to it . I did learn a lot from constructing it and hope my next attempt will be that much better .  One thing is certain , despite the glaring flaws , that hopefully are only glaring to me , I had one hoot of a time creating Copperhead Penny .  With Penny almost finished , just to add that finishing touch , it's now time to create a mock-up toybox to put her in . Loosely modelled after the Marx " Best of The West " series , this illustration will be printed out and affixed over a cardboard box . Since I have several custom cowgirls I decided to " make-believe " Copperhead Penny is one of a line of CowGirl Action Figures based off my Wild Roses characters , as well as AC's Buckaroo Betty . Just a bit of fun .  Capturing the look of a well worn shotgun was quite a problematic situation . Thanks to some very helpful tips from other members over at the Men with Dolls forum , I finally decided to add bluing to Penny's scattergun in an enamel wash method . In actuality this was my initial plan , with only the addition of using a blue/black gloss enamel thinned to a translucent consistency . The information gained from the MWD forum was useful in that I was able to learn certain properties of aluminum that I had not known previousy and thusly , how to approach the actual painting to take this knowledge into account and modify my approach to accomodate it . Just for informational purposes , were I to have followed the advice at MWD , I could have achieved the look of a brand spanking new shotgun , and the main reason I chose to NOT follow the suggestions was simply because I wanted Penny's shotgun to look like the shotguns from my father's collection : an old , well used weapon . The bluing needed to be uneven . The application of the paint was done in quite a few layers , and at varied stages of dryness . The first layer was applied in a thin heavily diluted wash with enamel paint thinner , primarily to prime the surface . Successive applications of the blue black wash were layed on in varying degrees of opacity , with occasional apps of straight thinner to even out the brush strokes . There was no cut and dryed technique used , more a " That Looks Right " application . Having achieved a suitably even , yet still " weathered " look , it now is allowed to dry completely in anticipation of the final sealing coat of clear varnish .  Very much like a 2 dimensional painting , slowly building up your colors in layers adds to the depth and realism of a model . When dealing with a 3 dimensional model , these layers work in such a way as to give the appearance of wear and tear , a well - handled look .  This shotgun model is probably going to suffer a lot of handling , to which I sealed the entire completed gun with a clear varnish . The beauty of varnish is that it really deepens the textures and colors ,and provides a tuff exterior finish . The drawback is that it can leave a piece too glossy . To counter this effect I next applied a coating of workable fixatif , which also allowed me to go back over the metal parts with an additional darker layer of bluing , which also helped even out the first layer as well as adding a bit more depth to the finish .  With all the layers of paint , varnish and sealants , the final product is a shotgun with varying degrees of sheen , lustre and worn surfaces . In combination with my far from perfect machining the effect has turned out a rather satisfying beat up and old rifle , that belies its humble origins of aluminum and basswood .  | Blazin'Western | CopperheadPenny2 | CopperheadPenny3 | | Warrior Maiden | Femforce Customs | Jungle Woman | CopperheadPenny | CoolioGirls | WarriorMaidengallery2 | Race Bannon | sci-figal | biminirhodes | Catwoman | sorceress | Femforce Customs2 | A Mod Look | Jennifer Wetworks | OnnaBugei_sha | Gila Garnet | whisper | headsculpts | costume | Wigging It | Darth Fatalus | Swashbuckler | Finn O'malley | Darth Fatalus Diorama | streetfighter | MoonGirlRedux | dakota_montana | ZombieKillerBikerLesbos | Hair | Thaay Katar | halfbreed | princessofmars | HestervanWeiren | Autumn Bliss | BioSaber Ruby | Woman of Vanir | | CoolGirlCustoms | WildRoses | CoolGirl Collection | CoolGirl Collection2 | CoolGirl Collection3 | TheToysmith | CoolGirl Collection4 | CoolGirl Collection 5 | CoolGirl Collection 6 | CoolGirl Collection 7 | CoolGirl Collection8 | Kill All Robots CyberHuntress | CoolGirl Collection 9 | CoolGirl Collection 10 | Bad Amy | Buckaroo Betty | SimpleDetails | CoolGirl Collection 11 | coolgirlHQ | Cool Girl Comics | Cool Girl collection 12 | KisaragiKustom | AlternativeCutey | coolgirl_collection9 | DX-Style Yuni | DX Style Sanchez | Cool Girl _Akiko Fuji | CG Gallery | Samurai Figures | Cool Girl Collection13 | Cool Links | Triad_2 | Playscale ResourceCenter | Sword and Sorcery | | ReelArts Blue Bulleteer | Shocker Toys | Cool Girls | Triad Toys | KiniKomix | KiniKomix2 | Custom Action Figures | eBay Auctions | AppleseedTribute | Macross Valkyrie | Planet of the Apes | Horse Sense | WeaversUpholsteryToo | ToyBiz_Iron Man | Dirty Pair | On Display | The OTHER Gorby | Obitsu | | Return Home | Updates | The Archive | Gorby Site Map | Geeb-O-Rama's Model Workshop | Geeb's Toy Box | Geeb-O-Rama Goodies | Movie Madness | World Of The Bizarre | Cool Beans | |
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