Dr. Mario Statue with Viruses

Thank you for the featured status and homepage!  I am glad to see my work was appreciated.

I decided that for Christmas last year I was going to make my family something special.  I settled on the idea for homemade action figures for my brothers and close friends.  However that would not do for my Mom.  I decided to make her a statue of Dr. Mario, based on her favorite video game (Dr. Mario for the NES).

Here is a list of the supplies I used:
-Mario figure
-Modeling clay
-Wax + Melting pot
-(Optional) Hot plate/Individual burner
-Paint (I used Testors model kit paint)
-Paint brushes (Should be obvious)
-Dremel
-Sharp knife of some kind
-Super glue
-Baking soda
-Urethane plastic mix
-Silicone rubber mix
-Sculpting tool set
-Slight sculpting skill
-Creative use of materials
-TIME (Possibly the most important thing)

If done right on the first try, this should cost you about $30-$45.

(By the way, if you ever plan to make homemade gifts, be sure to start before November.  Learn from my mistake.)

Step 1: Getting your Doctorate

I started with a Mario figure I had laying around.  I initially made a plaster mold around that figure.  However it got stuck in the mold due to his nose and ears, and his head came off getting him out of the mold.  That had to be super glued back on.  Then I tried applying a layer of sealant the the inside of the mold and poured in some plaster that was mixed a little thinner.  Unfortunately the new plaster joined with the old, so I was left with a white brick...

My next plan was to make another mold and pour in some plastic.  I used the modeling clay to make quick molds of Mario's hands, feet, and face.  I filled these molds with hot glue to have a durable copy to include with the body I sculpted to produce a finished figure.  I added a headband and hair to complete the head, since I already had a copy of the face.  Once I finished sculpting his body, I had to figure out how to capture his likeness.  The clay I used only cures when baked and I did not want to melt my hot glue parts, so I made a plaster cast of my Dr. Mario statue while the clay was still unbaked.  Once the mold was done I opened it up and scraped the clay out.  The mold was successful and the clay could be re-used, so I thought it was a win-win scenario.  I carved out a hole at the bottom of the feet to pour the plastic into.  I stayed up all night Christmas Eve pouring plastic into the molds and getting my paint station set up.  However, I found out that urethane plastic and plaster apparently fuse together.  I tried desperately to chip the plaster mold off of the plastic figure inside, but it was no use.  (An expensive mistake).

My last attempt at this was to make a urethane rubber mold of the Mario figure.  I used OOMOO 25 for the mold material.  I cast a mold around my Mario figure and thankfully this idea worked and I finally had a mold to begin sculpting my Dr. Mario statue.  After my mold was finished, I began re-sculpting his body.  (I featured the re-sculpt in step 3).

Comments

[mr.frob]

very cool

[skittlespider]

Thanks

[iamde123]

now i can make a statue of me

[skittlespider]

Make sure to upload it on here when you do. I'd be interested to see that.

[danielemur]

This is amazing! Great instructable!

[skittlespider]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

[seabananers]

WOW this looks like something they would sell for hundreds at nintendo world just wow

[skittlespider]

Thank you very much! I'm glad you like it. When you get in close you can see a few mistakes, but I am very proud of the finished product.

[laxap]

Awesome! 5*

Your have a lucky mom!

[skittlespider]

Yeah, I think so too. I know she is happy with it!

[gunman15]

i have 1 question though i cant make it and im a mario fanatic i actually would like to buy it off of you though around june 25th from $20.00 to $30.00

[skittlespider]

Thanks for the offer, but that is my Mom's Christmas present. I could probably make you one, because I still have all the molds. I'm a little cautious to accept your offer though, because of copyright issues. I'll have to think about it. (Also it takes me a while to paint, so that is an issue too. I could probably make another one by June though. We'll just have to see.)

[Mr. TiKi]

Try looking up the copyright laws. I think it's something like 80% identical to infringe on the property. So if it is 79% identical you are good. Don't quote me on that though. I read something like that a while back on one of the prop forums I frequent.

[skittlespider]

Yeah, I'm just worried because I made a mold from an existing toy for the feet hands and face. If the 80% identical thing is true though, that might not matter.

[noname420]

What you could do is call him, white coat man and give him a "slightly" bigger mustache and a "slightly" smaller nose. And if it happens to look like Dr. Mario thats not your fault now is it? :)

[skittlespider]

White coat man, that's actually pretty funny

[gunman15]

but just dr.mario plz

[gunman15]

if you can that would be soooooooooooo great

[gunman15]

ok thank you

[yokozuna]

Fantastic, 5 stars!

[skittlespider]

Thanks, I'm glad you like it!

[St Jimmy]

With the head mold, you could make it in three parts, one for the right side of the face and the front of the ear, another of the left side of the face and front of left ear, a third for the back of the head and back of the ears. Unless of course the nose is straight, in which case you only need two parts

[skittlespider]

No, unfortunately his nose is not straight. That's what made the mold so tricky. His ears made things difficult too, but in a different way.