May 15, 2006 Wow it's been a long time since I've done any updates, and its only the one picture for now. I'm out of disk space at the moment so I need to figure out if i either A. want to pay for more space through tripod, or B. find a new host and redo everything. lol If you'd like more picture feel free to check out http://gkjapan.com all the pictures are in my WIP thread in the original models section of the forum. user name is Arieanna. I havent been not working on anything, I've just been doing a lot of little sanding and shaping that I didn't feel had a need for photos and note. Took me a while after my move to actually get my supplies unpacked. There was always something more important to do. Finally I got around to it though and it felt so good to get them back in my hands! As I unpacked Alita and temptarily stuck her together I realized I didn't like her head/neck joint at all. Her head wanted to slip off and turn too easy. So what did i do? -- I chopped off her neck midway and redid it! It should help with the macking difference on her neck too since only part of it is covered by her "clothing" (if you read Battle Angel Last Order you should know what I'm talking about) After the change I am pretty happy with her. I'm thinking I'll be adding some to the back of her hair to make it slightly longer now though seeing as changing her neck changed the way her hair lays a bit. Her shawl is almost done as well. I'll get pictures of it soon. Its just a LOT of sanding at the moment to get it nice and smooth and get rid of the tool marks. The inside is the worst. lol

	January 31, 2006 i'll post more pics later but just wanted to post a quick update. I started using Mr.Clay paper clay to try and make Alita's shawl. A big thanks to Nightengale for giving me some to try out. I was really excited to try this stuff out. Checking out what so many of the sculptors use, they use some variant on paper clays a lot. I wasn't entirely sure how I liked it when i first started using it though. It's really soft, softer even than regular sculpy when its warm, which makes for trying anything detailed hard. Since Night says it sands and carves really well I just build a little bulkier so i can go back and fine tune the shapes once they're dry. The caly also has a really quick dry time. Within 5 minutes the surface is almsot totally dry, though below that remains soft for a while, so keeping some water handy is a definate must. rewetting the surface i found helps the slightly drier material hold onto any newer clay better, though things get really slick. Keeping a towel nearby to wipe your hands on is a good idea as well. Anyway I went to bed last night with a basic rough out for alita's shawl with some buily "folds". Tosay I went back to her and the clay is totally dry. It seems nice and solid so should put up with some basic abuse pretty well. it's definately more sturdy than sculpey. The best thing about this clay though--- Sanding is a dream! It's so easy to sand and carve out. you can easily just shave off layers. and my dremel sands it nice and smooth without the tendancy to jump over the surface like it does with the epoxy clay or sculpey. Definately going to make this my sculpting material of choice!

	Januray 29, 2006 Well aside from a small chip in her leg her body is DONE!!! now all i have left to do is make her shawl and little puppy the joints look a little worse than they actually are since she's stuck together with poster putty atm. my blue tape was being stubborn and not holding her together. I'll get better pics later.

	January 16, 2006 And of course since things were going well something just HAD to go wrong and set me back quite a bit. i was getting ready to fix the neck joint and add the alignment marks when the neck just popped off! <insert lots of crying and ranting> so my day will be spent reattaching her neck and sanding and puttying and sanding it smooth again

	January 15, 2006 well got quite a bit more done recently. her body is almost finished and im getting really eager. ^^ once her body is done i get to figure out the shawl then and hopefully by the time i get that done ill be able to get casting supplies. yay! ^^ mostly whats left is fixing a couple small divots here and there marring the surface, her left thigh and fixing her hair. otherwise she's pretty much done. im kind of shocked that im so close since it seemed like i didnt make much progress on her for ages it seemed no matter how much i worked on her. lol working on left leg another view of the progress on left leg

	January 03, 2006 Well first update of the new year! I was originally planning on adding this update before new years but found I didn't have time. The lower leg proportions look much better now though the alignment for the entire leg is still off. I don't want to resculpt the entire thing though so I'm content to leave it at the angle its at. Once I sculpt the shawl I think it will look more like the reference image. (note- the shawl will be an optional part since I don't want to hide all the work I've done to her body.) Added the little holes that will allow the arm to line up perfectly (hopefully) Leg covered in bondo in the process of being sanded smooth. In the process of sculpting the knee for the second leg. Arm in the process of getting the corresponding marks for joining with the shoulder. Top view of the bondo'd leg being sanded. Another view of the second knee being sculpted.

	December 06, 2005 long over due update- there isnt really a lot to report. I added 1.5cm to the lower portion of alita's legs. removed a bit from the upper portion of her right arm since it was too long, have added some detailing to her shoulder, cut her right arm to allow for creating her shawl as soon as her body is done (i got too eager and couldn't wait until i cast her arm to cut that apart lol), and have done some more work on her hair. I'll get more pics later but I'm currently working on adding the little key-hole things for lining up the pieces and since i filled in my pin holes i need to wait to do the build up pics.

	October 18, 2005 small update- you can see her leg bondo'd and more sanding done on her hips. beenw orking on the right leg knee joint as well. the gap in her hair isnt as bad as it looks in the pictures. they just dont want to fit tightly together taped. lol

Questions & Comments?
Please email me at
VestachaSiofra@hotmail.com