Started	:	September 1st, 2006
Finished	:	November 28th, 2006
Base	:	Marvel Legends X-23
Parts	:	Toybiz WCW armpads, Lego parts, movie Human Torch boots, Wetworks Mother-One hands
Materials	:	Fimo, Kneadadite, Apoxy Sculpt, "B-Yellow", Liquid Latex, Citadel paint, Marabu paint, plastic rods, magnets, wire, primer, spray finish, plastic hoses
Points of Articulation	:	~25

Character & Intent

Aah, Extreme Ghostbusters. While not quite as funny as "The Real Ghostbusters"
and slightly riddled with over-diversity, it was a well-done show that was axed
before it ever had the chance to find it's balance. One of the more obvious qualities
of the series was a certain self-confident not-quite-goth girl by the name of
Kylie Griffin. It might be personal bias, but I always had the feeling that this
first female Ghostbuster of all time (voiced by - and looking like - the exeptional
Tara Strong at that time) was the actual star of the show. In fact, the pilot episode
was mostly about her stupid-yet-understandable mistake with some of the
equipment, which lead to the formation of the new team.

Needless to say, I was greatly fond of her in ways that might be best
left to imagination. And one day, upon having a look at the Marvel
Legends approach to Wolverine's cash-badger clone X-23, I realized
that only minor modifications would be needed to make a reasonably
decent Kylie Figure. Oh, how mistaken I was.
(About the "minor" modifications. I proudly stand by the fondness)

 Creation

The first step remained true to my usual modus operandi:
Boil, rip everything that's glued off and duplicate the head. 

I quickly realized that it would be more work than I thought.
The body was hardly feminine, the legs were skinny, and the boots
and hands were entirely wrong alltogether. Thus began an extended
journey of sculpting.

I'll spare you the details that I have forgotten and thusly would have to
make up, but using Fimo, it was a horribly tedious to do some half-way
decent sculpting, smooth it out and keep heat-gunning this skinny little
figure without melting it entirely. The sculpting directly onto the original
body included the adding signs of feminine maturity (T&A, folks !),
thighs thicker than twigs, the belt, and, of course, heavy modifications
to the head (or rather: a cast thereof) for an increased likeness.

The hands were one of the first things that turned out to be quite
difficult. I had to replace the permanent (and absurdly tiny) fists
to enable the figure to hold any accessories (And generally
look not all that pissed off). When I found what I needed in this
regard, I had to artificially outfit the replacement with wrist-hinges,
which I hadn't done before. On the left hand, I tried to cut a part
that would correspond to the intact part of the wrist as well as
drill holes for the pin. This worked out less than perfectly and needed
several re-inforcements along the way. On the other side, I simply cut
the connector from the original tiny fist (What would it be good for,
anyway ?) and glued/sculpted it onto the new hand. That was definitely
the best way to go.

The boots were another thing that had to be switched, as it would just not
have paid off to sculpt over X-23's boots - Especially with those claws that
kept throwing her off-balance, anyway. Movie Human Torch delivered a
surprisingly adequate replacement. Not only do I prefer the proportions
(considering that there have to be legs inside the boot), it also gives her
a rather secure stand.

That settles the fairly easy stuff. The real challenge was with the moving
parts... What I needed was a vest and hair that are flexible enough not
to get in the way of each other. Also, I had the crazy idea that the vest
would absolutely have to be removable. Once again, I'll save some of
your time and just share what actually worked. Using a temporary
duplicate torso made using aluminum and hot glue (I can share the
procedure if anyone's interested), I sculpted the two halfes of the
vest using B-Yellow. The shoulderpads were sculpted seperately
and later glued onto the front part of the vest.

Into the back part of both the vest and the actual figure, I embedded on rounded Lego block each, to give it a snug, yet totally removable hold. I also embedded a block into the ghost trap, so that the backside of the block already in the vest could be put to use. Also embeded into that side of the vest are two strong magnets, as the front of the vest holds four latex strips that are also equipped with magnets. This construction simulates the closing straps of the vest.

The hair is more B-Yellow coupled with some simple plumper's epoxy
at the base to fill and support. And Kneadadite. From a failed attempt.

I'd also like to point out that I got my first chance to use Apoxy Sculpt
(and thus, the B-Yellow) while I was working on this figure, which explains
the nonsensical and planless mix of materials.

The knee- and elbow pads were glued into place after the actual paintjob for obvious
reasons. In order to allow retained articulation, the parts that wrap around are poured
from liquid latex and cut into shape. The "protector" pieces of the elbow pads are swiped
from an old WCW figure, while the the kneepads are sculpted. Mostly because I ran out
of ones to swipe.

The accessories are all sculpted by me, with some liberal use of twirled-up wire as the handle
of the proton ray gun (This makes it durable). Wire was also inserted into the connector tube
of it. This made it posable, rather than trying to flip back into it's original shape like it used to.
More wire-in-tubes went into the proton rays you can see in the shot on top of this page.
The proton ray connects to the belt using a pincer cut from a Lego part.

As for the base that can be seen in the shot - It's the one that came with Light-up Human
Torch. The only modification to it is a healthy helping of paint-and-latex slime, which remains
entirely removable as long as I don't leave it in the sun for too long.

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