Materials questions.

[the-moonshiner.livejournal.com]

My next doll project is a tribute to She-Ra. I'm using an older-bodied Barbie for a more cartoonish look, but I'm also using higher-quality and better-looking materials than the action figures of the 80s.

Here's a reference photo.

1. The headdress. Originally I thought I was going to make it out of sculpey or something similar and then paint it gold, but then it occurred to me that I could get a nicer look by using metal. Is there gold metal you can buy on the craft store market that cuts and shapes easily? I'm rerooting the hair and not filling in the follicles directly under the headdress, so getting it to lie flat isn't really an issue.

I suppose I can do the metal thing with the other accents on her clothes too, if that works out.

2. The boots. The only Barbie shoes I have are a pair of plastic high-heeled sandals. I figured I could sew gold lame into the shape of a foot-less boot, attach it to the sandals, and then paint the sandals to match. I sew the dolls into their clothes, so getting the boots on and off isn't an issue.

3. The sword. I have a metal nail file that I'm going to break the plastic handle off and file into a flat and sharp doll sword, then superglue into a clay handle. Any suggestions for the best way to file the edges and the flat down?

(And for anyone who's tempted to say "why don't you just buy an old She-Ra action figure?" this is for a friend who asked me to make it. I'd kind of like to extend my repertoire to stuff that children of the 80s don't have a lingering obsession with. :) )