Previously on Stingy Jack, An Anatomy III: The flashing is cut, the tests are assembled and the Pantones are picked. Now: troubleshooting, colour-castin’ and package graphics!
After the test-pulls were sent to New Mexico and green-lit by Brandt, Stingy Jack took another spin through Obitsu, this time for colour-casting. What you see above is not paint application — but actual coloured vinyl which is then painted. Scroll a bit and you’ll see what I mean:
This is one of the first paint tests. Two paint masks were developed for the eyes and collar, along with applications to Stingy’s hat and hands. After this first pass it was determined that another mask would be added to Stingy’s right hand as the cigar looks like a finger. The pom-poms on his belly would also be painted for added emphasis.
Previously on Stingy Jack, An Anatomy II: Stingy Jack sees double after he’s made into a wax model! Five metal molds are created and the folks at Obitsu start casting Stingy’s individual parts. Now: we return to the factory and watch as Stingy’s clone army comes to life one by one.
After all of Stingy’s parts have been poured, spun and popped, the sculptors at Obitsu are left with dozens of lone limbs that need to be reassembled. But before doing that, the flashing needs to be cut off — these are the cone-like scraps you see on the left side of the picture below. The flashing makes it easier to extract the vinyl from the mold, so it can be discarded after the figure is pulled. That’s when the fun of reanimation begins …
Previously on Stingy Jack, An Anatomy:Brandt Peters and Tomenosuke-syoten’s Shinji Nakako join forces and found an ambitious new designer toy project: Circus Posterus x Tomenosuke sofubi. This particular blog series follows the production of Brandt’s Stingy Jack, the first of an entire line of sofubi figures from different Circus artists. Part I saw Stingy go from resin prototype to mods to re-sculpting for sofubi format. Now: we head to Obitsu, a long-established Japanese plastics manufacturer, where Stingy prepares to be cloned. ***
Following Stingy’s sofubi facelift, the master sculpt is taken to Obitsu to determine how many molds it will require. With all of his accessories and details, Stingy is considered a fairly complex sculpt by sofubi standards, with seven separate parts (hat, head, torso, two hands, two feet). It’s determined that he’ll require a total of five molds, as illustrated by the colour-coding in the image above.
For molding purposes, the master sculpt is re-cast in wax, which is then used to create the metal molds.
And heeeeeeeere’s Stingy! I mean, can you get more metal?! With these molds, Obitsu casts the first test-pulls. As you can see, the body parts are made slightly longer than necessary to account for the flashing (i.e. cone-like ‘leftovers’ which make it easier to pull the pieces out of the mold).
Now, let us all hold hands and watch Stingy be birthed. It’s actually quite an interesting process:
1) The vinyl is poured into the mold.
2) The mold is then put into a large drum where it’s spun (the number of times a figure is spun is in direct correlation with the thickness of the vinyl).
3) The mold is then briefly dropped into a chemical bath, drained and cooled.
4) The sculpt is then plucked from the mold and set aside.
5) This is repeated with every part of the figure.
Up next: we cut some flash, assemble some Stingies and start planning the figure’s first colorway! (My kind of party!)
Shortly after production began on Brandt Peters’Stingy Jack sofubi, Shinji Nakako of Tomenosuke-syoten has been diligently chronicling the figure’s production process from start to finish. The idea of CP sofubi was first sparked last year and since then, we’ve all eagerly watched this jester-like Jack-o’-lantern come to life, one sketch, WIP shot and prototype at a time.
But now, for the first time, experience the process from a completely behind-the-scenes perspective; the digital models, the revisions, the wax models and pantones … a glimpse at just how much goes into creating the toys we covet.
This is the first instalment of Shinji’s ‘Making of Sofubi Stingy’ series, with many more to come. Enjoy!
