Pokémon: Making Snivy Process

By NeoqueenAdmin, March 20, 2014

Please Note: Verbage is made up of updates and is not meant to be a tutorial on ‘how to make your own Snivy’.

 

10875_518878491523336_1062940294_nSnivy Progress Update 0 – References. So I’m trying to make a more realistic version of the Smugleaf, I mean Snivy. I’m not making this one per se, but I like how it adds lizard elements into the design. I always thought snake + ivy = Snivy ….but geckos are really attractive reptiles, so let’s go ahead and add some of those elements too.

1186864_518870991524086_164796963_nSnivy Progress Update 1 – FABRICS!!!! So pretty!! The pearl and yellow will also be used for Totodile!

I bought the green off of ebay (sorry, no more!) and the crocodile ‘cream’ and yellow vinyls off of fabric.com. I was a little hesitant buying these vinyls without seeing them first (I have purchased 4 other vinyls for this project and they were all the wrong colors), but I was very happy with these two.

Lol, FYI if you buy these; they send them on the bolt, so expect a ridiculously LARGE package.
https://www.fabric.com/buy/cw-705/faux-leather-gator-pearl-white
https://www.fabric.com/buy/201860/richloom-faux-crocodile-gladiator-yellow

578448_518870948190757_1877330753_nSnivy Progress Update 2 – Started the project by drawing a to scale picture of Snivy’s proportions. I didn’t go by the size wiki says he is, rather I went with the size I wanted him to be. He should stand a little above my knee.

I used various shaped styrofoam to create the base body. Wire through the tail so it is movable and there is a wooden dowel attached to a wood ball (in the head) so it can turn slightly.

1231463_518870041524181_1227100652_nSnivy Progress Update 3 – Added wire arms and legs and covered the styrofoam body parts with fleece using hot glue.

1231642_518870034857515_876386548_nSnivy Progress Update 4 – Added the nose foam piece and bean weights to the base of the tail. Wrapped more fleece around the tail. Also discovered that the ONLY way Snivy will stand is if his tail props him up. I am okay with this.

993391_518870974857421_1559560609_nSnivy Progress Update 5 – Sculpted the eyelids with sculpey and baked them with the resin eyes. Unfortunately on of the resin eyes cracked a bit, but I had planned to paint them anyway.

Snivy Progress Update 6 – He is so smugleaf. As you can see I’m patterning the green skin.

1174645_518870031524182_1827837965_nSnivy Progress Update 7 – Because his tail is now lower, since it helps keep him standing, I decided to elongate it.

Also, still working out the patterning.

1381845_549231081821410_1672131047_nSnivy Progress Update 8 – After patterning the cream and green head parts, I sewed them together to see what I got.

1391867_546226572121861_1301262393_nPut Snivy on hold for a bit, but am starting back up! I finally hot glued his belly and green ‘skin’ on. Made his feet out of sculpey and sanded them down. Also found the perfect large leaf for his tail at joann fabrics. Now I need to finish the green for his back, make the yellow accents, and paint his eyes! Back to work.

995214_546886432055875_1935074061_nSnivy Progress Update 9 – Wow, I missed a few steps!

Legs made out of sculpey and then painted with a combination of nail polishes and acrylic paints. (It’s just what I had, and since the cream fabric has some metallic in it, I wanted the legs to have some too. Hense the nail polishes.

Awesome leaf purchased at Joann Fabrics.

Because I covered Snivy’s ‘skeleton’ in fleece, I was easily able to hot glue the cream and green vinyls right to it.

996022_547483471996171_1140182703_nSnivy Progress Update 10 – Combo nail polished and acrylic paints, with occasional layers of mod podge.

Sculpey part of they eyes are painted with many layers of acrylics paints and the resin is painted with mostly nail polishes.

1385916_547819688629216_511080680_n-1Snivy Progress Update 11 -To get the darker blotchy texture in the eyes, I painted an inch of cotton lace with a darker, watered down brown acrylic. I blotted the excess paint on a piece of paper and then blotted the desired areas of the eyes.

The black pupils are contact paper painted with black nail polish. I did it that way because I didn’t want to mess up the eye I just spent so much time painting.

1380040_549231085154743_971025986_nSnivy Progress Update 12 – Why are there so many pins? That is how I get my fabrics to really stick to each other using e6000 glue.

I also used e6000 glue to attach the eyes to the head. I was honestly a bit skeptical, since they eyes are pretty heavy, but it worked beautifully.

I placed glue on the entire eye backing area where it would make contact with the fabric. From there I put the glued eye face down on a soft pillowy surface (with a piece of fabric to protect the resin eye in between the pillow) and the put place my heavy bin of acrylic paints on top of it to dry.

I let it set for a good 8 hours and then did the other eye. This time placing a pillow on both sides of the head, one for each eye. Then the bin went on top again.

1378758_548266685251183_1573210971_nSnivy Progress Update 13 – Just need to add the rest of his yellow accents (and perhaps repair his eye that cracked when I manhandled glueing it on…).

1385970_548739741870544_831545547_nSnivy Progress Update 14 – DONE!!! I took him outside for a picture and I love that his tail blends in so well!!

The yellow ‘collar’ accents were sewn together and glued on using e6000. There is also some plastic boning in there so it can be slightly positioned, but still have it’s basic form.

I think I will be able to shoot Pokemon Trainer Hilda this weekend! Which is great since I don’t have any good pics of that cosplay.

Gallery

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Special Materials

https://www.fabric.com/buy/cw-705/faux-leather-gator-pearl-white https://www.fabric.com/buy/201860/richloom-faux-crocodile-gladiator-yellow