Customized BATGIRL Statue!

DC Direct's Cover Girls of the DCU Batgirl, Uncutesyfied

This was only the second time I had ever attempted a custom job but I'm very happy with the results. I'm a huge fan of Jack Matthews and Adam Hughes and I loved this line of statues, but I desperately wanted a more serious look for Batgirl. I didn't hate the original. but it stood out like a sore thumb when displayed with the rest of the Cover Girls.. who have been for the most part sexy, statuesque, intimidating, and confident. Batgirl looked bubbly and cute with a good-girl pinup quality... like you could say "boo" and scare her away. I think a separate line of campy statues like this would be successful, but i was really upset when I saw the original design because I thought Babs would be more fierce.  I was pretty limited with how much I could alter her, and I would have preferred a more dynamic pose, but the "bring it on" posture works and it looks good with the rest of my Cover Girls. I did this custom a little over a year ago in fall of 2011 but am just getting around to posting it now.  Enjoy!

 

 

Before I get too in-depth, lets take a look at the original sculpt.  All these pics are swiped from a ebay auction.

 

 

 

 

Here's the original Adam Hughes sketch that this sculpt was based on.

 

 

 

I love a good pinup girl, but I really didn't want my Batgirl to look like such a bubble-head.  Between her tangled batarang, "oopsie" pose, and her stunned facial expression, I had my work cut out for me.

 

 

 

 

I started by chopping her up at every joint and sanding down the rough edges

 

 

 

Next I used Apoxie-Sculpt to re-attach the legs and head.  I also extended the ears and lowered the brow-line on the cowl.  I started re-sculpting the hair at this stage too.  Then I repainted the head to make sure I was on the right track. All I did was paint my new cowl details black, thicken her upper lashes (to reduce that wide-eyed look), and widen her lips to make them look less pursed.

 

I decided to do-away with the Batarang wire all-together, and glued the bat to her thumb and sculpted the part extending into her palm.

 

Next up was positioning the arms.  This was the most difficult part since they aren't supported by anything and the unfolded elbows needed an extensive re-sculpting.

 

Lastly, with her legs now spaced much further apart than the original, her feet no longer layed flat on the base.  I decided to resculpt her high heels into more of a boot shape.  This part of my custom still needs some attention.  They could be sanded down smoother and look a lot better.  I also had to drill new holes into the base to anchor her foot posts.

 

Now back to the finished product!

(Note: the hair is incomplete, it needs another base coat of paint and a dark wash... someday I'll get around to it)

I would have loved to give her a more dynamic pose, but I was very limited because I couldn't figure out how to remove the cape without wrecking it. I even dripped solvent up her back to try and get the adhesive to loosen, but no luck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some random extra cell phone pics I look last year when I just finished her

 

 

 

 

Time for some Comparison Shots!

 

 

Cheers!