I again can't say enough how AWESOME this looks, and how grateful I am that you did it for me!

I like the inclusion of the face detail -- I have soooo many questions about the Sculpey and Sculpey Firm!

The shipfic you've all been waiting for: Ursa Magnus and Madame LeFleur!

Fantastic work, the altmode choice is spot on- Large frame, clawed feet, and two large weapons that flip open. so much that's evocative of Ursa's particular traits.

Ask away.

I am curious about the decision to use the Firm for the helmet, and the normal for the face. What prompted those choices?

How would the figure have turned out differently if you used, say, the Firm for the face, and normal Sculpey for the helmet?

What is the upper critical mass of Sculpey you could use on a transforming figure without worrying about pieces shearing off?

Cured Sculpey, especially when it's somewhat thin, is brittle. It won't warp under stress, it breaks. The actual neck joint on Ursa is made of Brown Stuff (a stiffer, harder version of Green Stuff, aka Kneadatite), and in vehicle mode the head hangs freely on a hinge, so the shearing stresses are avoided.
I wouldn't recommend Sculpey for any parts of a figure, that have to resist shearing forces. Either use a more elastic putty, or cast the parts in resin.

Apoxie is mostly sold by mail order. I like it a LOT better than Milliput. It does all the good things Milliput does, but is a lot less likely to end up lumpy (easier to combine the two parts), and is significantly stronger than Milliput. Apoxie Clay is pretty close to Milliput in texture and workability, but slightly less sticky. Apoxie Sculpt is stickier when uncured, but much harder when cured. Both adhere well for adding directly onto existing plastic. Pretty much every sculpt mod I've done in the past few years has used Apoxie, usually Apoxie Clay. It holds sharp details well, but can also easily be made into softer organic shapes.

---Dave

"Excuse me ...Madam?" -Ursa
"ohh la-la!" -an inanimate bag of flour explodes ... covering the much larger robot's face and upper chest in a thin layer of white powder.

over in a corner a somewhat depressed looking tiny pink horse swoons

the end.

Ursa sat, studding the personnel readout, the blue screen of the monitor illuminating the pearly white glow of his armor. The sound of sifting that wafted up from behind distracted him, but only momentarily. The sweet smell of freshly ground wheat tried to drag his mind from work, but failed.

"Vhat are joo sinking of, my love?" the gentle sack cloth caressed his shoulder.

"I was thinking of how beautiful you are." Ursa smiled.

"Ze do not love joo. Ze do not appreciate joo. I ham ze only von who knows joor burden."

Ursa relaxed his optics as he began to feel the fine powder filter down through his grooves.

"Come, let me show joo vhat happiness is."

The sack cloth fell away, falling on his shoulder with a puff of white. The cloud slowly wafted in the air in abstract beauty, before being sucked into his air intakes, tickling his filters and clogging his respirators. Ursa shuddered as an electrical surge overloaded his system. His diagnostic lights blinked red, a warning of imminent stasis lock. He over road it with merely a though. She was the kindest, my loving and beautiful creature Ursa had ever met. If he was to die, he was glad it was by her ecstasy, wrapped in her embrace. His only regret, he though as life slipped thought his fingers, was that he was the only one who could see her.

---

Ursa woke up, putting a hand to his forehead as his mind stabilized itself. These nightmares were just getting weird.

"I've got to stop watching that pony show before bed."

Having arrived safely from Deutschland late last week New-Ursa had to wait until today to meet his predecessor...

Oh no, you created a time paradox!

Btw, that isn't the regular Polar Claw head on beast Ursa, is it?

Well, Ursa, you're a lucky guy.

Having arrived safely from Deutschland late last week New-Ursa had to wait until today to meet his predecessor...