TECHNIQUES IN PLASTIC SURGERY PARAGON STUDIO INTRODUCTION: The 1/6th scale body is the fundamental building block for this hobby.   I have long given up the search for the ideal body.  That is a body that allows me to change the height and stature to what I require without a compromise in the articulation. There is no such thing. In my opinion the best articulated body is the bbi G3.5 body.  This body is ideal for action poses. Unfortunately this body is overly muscular and that in itself limits it's application.  Manufacturers of 1/6th scale bodies seem to have this infatuation on Mr. Universe statures.  I find this a rather odd phenomenon.  The inherent downfalls of this hobby requires that the body be slim to counter balance the bulkiness of clothing and gear.  This is common sense but evidently an uncommon finding. I must admit though that in recent years, there are slimmer bodies  on the market  (Medicom) but these are difficult to locate and  the cost is prohibitive. There are many who have applied different techniques to modify existing bodies as testimony to the inadequateness of what is available.  This is my contribution to this endeavour and is what I have found to work in my hands.   The principles of my techniques bares minimal resemblence to real surgical techniques as there is no blood interfering with visibility, the surgical site is not in a confined space nor are there vital structures that when damaged would bring highly undesirable consequences.  There are however important structures and these structures are the areas of articulation.  The modifications will  be confined to areas without articulation.  There may be an exception to this rule. I have chosen to use a Dragon body for my efforts.   It is a readily available body,it is simple in construction,it is inexpensive and is made of polystyrene plastic which I feel is easier to manipulate.

ARMAMENTATIUM: SPATULA DIAMOND DISC CUTTER CARBIDE CROSS-CUTTER MICRO-MOTOR (OR DREMEL, FOREDOM) X-ACTO SAW

The picture on the left shows some pieces of polystyrene plastic taken from a dragon body.  These pieces were placed into the bottle and  soaked in lacquer thinner.    The lacquer thinner dissolves the plastic which is later used as an adhesive and filler. As usual, when working with volatile solvents, use only in a well ventilated area and away from any open flame.

These pictures show the incision lines marked in pencil

The diagonal cuts along the thigh of the legs allow the  pieces to slide.  Depending on what direction of the slide the leg will either be longer or shorter.  This allows one to modify the height to a limited extent. The "V" cuts in the thorax  will allow the shoulders be brought in to give a more slender shoulder.

The "V" cuts were removed and the  laquer plastic mixture is applied and the  shoulders are brought together with elastic bands When the glue has dried, I used a diamond disc and  x-acto saw to remove the chest area. I did this solely to further reduce the bulk of the chest. Using the lacquer/plastic mixture I fill in all the cracks to  re-enforce the strenth of the bond. I also filled in the chest  purely for cosmetic reasons.

The area of the thorax directly under the arms, I have removed  a wedge shape piece on both sides so that  the thorax blends into the abdomen. One of the weakness of the dragon design is the neck area( single joint).  To correct this I have used the  coronal part of the bbi neck post and the base of the dragon head sculpture to make a master  adapter piece. A silicone mold is made from this master . A working piece was cast in flesh tone resin to fit onto the dragon body.

The last two photographs show the comparison of the modified to the original .  The second photogrpah shows the extra joint of the neck which allows a more anatomically correct pose. There are other areas  of the dragon body that allows further modification. The abdomen area can be shorten or lenghtened to vary the height of the body.  Horizontal wedges can be taken out from the thigh and  calf area to make what was a straigth leg to a bowed one. Perhaps these will be subjects in the future updates.

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