More 'Jaws' - Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary) NECA head sculpt - 3D Model completed

[Bloop]

UPDATE (04/10/25) - Final Version Model Completed:

ORIGINAL POST:

Since I already made Chief Brody and Mayor Vaughn, I figured I might as well try making Ellen Brody too. I just started this yesterday so it's still in the early stages - ignore the hair, it's not how the final hairstyle will look. It looks that way because this actually started from a copy of my Chief Brody model, which I edited into a generic female head and neck to use as a basis for this and future sculpts. I just slightly modified the Chief Brody hair. I'll probably do a couple different heads - I was thinking her hair pulled back like she has for a lot of the film, and also with the bandana, when she's at home with Martin (see the reference pics below). The model is a little waxy looking - I updated Blender for the first time in a while and there's some differences in how v4.3 looks and operates, including rendering, so I'm playing around with materials and render settings.

Small note: instead of sculpting the head with a neck attached then cutting the neck off for use with the NECA figures (like I did with my other sculpts), I made a neck and shoulders that's already separate from the head, which is why you can see a line separating the head from the neck. I think it'll save a little time later on, so I won't have to spend time editing the head for NECA use. Plus, I wanted to extend the neck down so if I want to make a bust of this, I'll already have ahead start. I also made a generic male head/neck & shoulders to use for that purpose too - I'm thinking of going back and making the Chief into a bust as well.

 

[Bloop]

UPDATE: Lots of work since the initial post. The first image is a "makeup edit," since it helps with the likeness to see the lips darker as well as eye shadow and the eyebrows (I'm still planning on sculpting the eyebrows, just working on the rest of the face first). This shot shows how I expanded the bust (uh, I guess that has a dual meaning).

Here's without any color edits. I did add 3D eyelashes - Lorraine Gary had very full eyelashes (possibly fake ones) so she looks odd without them, and just painting them on wasn't going to cut it. I obviously can't make individual lashes and have them print (especially at NECA scale), so they're going to have to be more solid representations. They're separate from the head now, so I can always remove them if I decide to have this model be used for larger prints. I may do the same for the hair - right now, it's part of the head model, and still is far from being the finished style. The front will come down over the forehead and the ears will be partially covered, but if I model it that way without separating the hair from the head, I'll lose the ability to change hairstyles in the future. Making the hair removable also gives the option of using "real" hair (doll hair) if someone chooses. The earrings are separate too, which should make them easier to print.

I'm still working on the likeness, and I plan on closing her eyelids more. I was working from more reference pics of Lorraine, ones not from Jaws, so her expression was more varied. I do plan on keeping the crooked smile, which I had planned for early on - I think it helps convey her likeness and the character. I'm trying not to go too deep on the wrinkles and creases, but I don't want them to be too subtle and still want them to show up in the print.

 

[Bloop]

Update: Adjusted the eye size and the materials settings and texture to look better (even though the texture doesn't matter for the final printing, it still helps during sculpting). Lowered the upper eyelids. Added eyebrows, adjusted the nose, and added subtle forehead creases. I also made the eyelashes more "spikey." I'm not sure they'll print at NECA scale, but they look better for now. I can make adjustments after the first test print if needed. Adjusted the philtrum too.

Color edit:

"Plain" renders:

 

[DCN]

Update: Adjusted the eye size and the materials settings and texture to look better (even though the texture doesn't matter for the final printing, it still helps during sculpting). Lowered the upper eyelids. Added eyebrows, adjusted the nose, and added subtle forehead creases. I also made the eyelashes more "spikey." I'm not sure they'll print at NECA scale, but they look better for now. I can make adjustments after the first test print if needed. Adjusted the philtrum too.

Color edit:
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"Plain" renders:
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I meant to tell you, your idea of printing the head and hair separate is a great idea, That's the way Trevor Grove does it with all his female figures. He told me a long time ago, it's easier to paint the figures, but the hair is more of a soft plastic so it can bend to the shape of the head.
Like i've always said, Love your work Bloop! Oh, I left you a message about the Mayor Vaughn Jackets.

 

[Bloop]

UPDATE: Oh my god, she's gone bald!

I figured it was time to decide on whether to bald-ify her or not. Obviously, I'm not sure if this is exactly what Lorraine Gary's skull looks like, but it should be close enough, based on the curvature of her forehead and angle of her face. Plus, it doesn't have to be accurate since it's getting covered by hair. I think I'm close to getting the likeness where I want it, so I started adding in some more detail - wrinkles, lip creases.

I added a simple sphere to work from for the first hair model:

Looks like she could be an extra in "Spaceballs," but obviously I'm not stopping there.
After sculpting the sphere (and the occasional re-meshing to clean up the mesh) plus a few more edits to the face, I'm at this point. Still rough, but most of the shape is there. Probably needs some more puffing out before going on to detailing it:

This hairstyle is based off Ellen at the beach & the hospital, and also her hair at home, when they have dinner with Hooper, if I recall correctly:

And the color edit:

I guess I'll have to make her sunglasses too.

I'm thinking the other hairstyle I make (assuming I only make two) will be the one where she's got the bandanna on her head:

QUICK EDIT:

I did a little work on the lips and nose, plus fluffing out the hair just after I posted this - after looking at the renders again, I felt like she was looking a little too "Sigourney Weaver" than "Lorraine Gary." I suppose I could've just updated the previous pics, but I figured I might as well show the progress. Here's the a couple new renders:

 

[DCN]

UPDATE: Oh my god, she's gone bald!

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I figured it was time to decide on whether to bald-ify her or not. Obviously, I'm not sure if this is exactly what Lorraine Gary's skull looks like, but it should be close enough, based on the curvature of her forehead and angle of her face. Plus, it doesn't have to be accurate since it's getting covered by hair. I think I'm close to getting the likeness where I want it, so I started adding in some more detail - wrinkles, lip creases.

I added a simple sphere to work from for the first hair model:

View attachment 1900597

Looks like she could be an extra in "Spaceballs," but obviously I'm not stopping there.
After sculpting the sphere (and the occasional re-meshing to clean up the mesh) plus a few more edits to the face, I'm at this point. Still rough, but most of the shape is there. Probably needs some more puffing out before going on to detailing it:

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This hairstyle is based off Ellen at the beach & the hospital, and also her hair at home, when they have dinner with Hooper, if I recall correctly:

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And the color edit:

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I guess I'll have to make her sunglasses too.

I'm thinking the other hairstyle I make (assuming I only make two) will be the one where she's got the bandanna on her head:

View attachment 1900608


QUICK EDIT:

I did a little work on the lips and nose, plus fluffing out the hair just after I posted this - after looking at the renders again, I felt like she was looking a little too "Sigourney Weaver" than "Lorraine Gary." I suppose I could've just updated the previous pics, but I figured I might as well show the progress. Here's the a couple new renders:

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OMG That's Her!!! Holy!!!!!!!!!!! So stink'in cool!!!

 

[DCN]

Yes Bloop I did it again. lol To help you and others dressing this action figure, here's Mrs Brody in the outfit she wore to see Martin off at Quints shack.
These clothes and figure all came from Classic TV Toys. The figure is an 8" S-type (Yvonne) figure. You'll need and 8" Yvonne and a 6" Yvonne. I'll explain why later. The under shirt is a blue sleeveless shirt. The top shirt is a dark blue jumpsuit that i cut off at the waist. (keep the pants!) I still have to remove the velcro from the shirt. From the bottom half of the jumpsuit (pants) cut a thin strip and fabric glue it around the bottom of the dark blue shirt. This will become a tie.....(like they use to do it the 70's........yes i remember it......cough). The jeans are dark blue jeans. The shoes are 70's platform shoes. Yes........classic TV toys had these,........BUT.............they won't fit the yvonne 8" foot, you'll need the 6" yvonne foot which means you'll have to buy the 6" and 8" figures. The shoes need to be painted, cork souls and a blue denim top. the Bandana I got from Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1775526762/112-bandana-dollhouse-miniature-16-play?ref=yr_purchases here's the classic tv toys website. Classic TV Toys Hope this helps!!!

 

[Bloop]

Yes Bloop I did it again. lol To help you and others dressing this action figure, here's Mrs Brody in the outfit she wore to see Martin off at Quints shack.
These clothes and figure all came from Classic TV Toys. The figure is an 8" S-type (Yvonne) figure. You'll need and 8" Yvonne and a 6" Yvonne. I'll explain why later. The under shirt is a blue sleeveless shirt. The top shirt is a dark blue jumpsuit that i cut off at the waist. (keep the pants!) I still have to remove the velcro from the shirt. From the bottom half of the jumpsuit (pants) cut a thin strip and fabric glue it around the bottom of the dark blue shirt. This will become a tie.....(like they use to do it the 70's........yes i remember it......cough). The jeans are dark blue jeans. The shoes are 70's platform shoes. Yes........classic TV toys had these,........BUT.............they won't fit the yvonne 8" foot, you'll need the 6" yvonne foot which means you'll have to buy the 6" and 8" figures. The shoes need to be painted, cork souls and a blue denim top. the Bandana I got from Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1775526762/112-bandana-dollhouse-miniature-16-play?ref=yr_purchases here's the classic tv toys website. Classic TV Toys Hope this helps!!!
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Great work sourcing all these pieces! I hope I can finish soon so she doesn't have to be headless for too long.

 

[Bloop]

UPDATE: Getting close. I detailed the hair, but also made adjustments to her face. Her eyebrows are fuller and her lips were reshaped a little bit. Her nose had some changes - wider as it goes into the forehead, a little wider and more definition at the tip and around the nostrils.

Color edit:

 

[Bloop]

UPDATE:

I noticed that the eyes were looking too big, and realized it was because I kept making everything else smaller - face, neck, head, hair. So I had to reduce the scale of everything except the eyeballs. Lots of small adjustments throughout as well. Still trying to nail the likeness, not sure it's quite there yet, but I think it's getting closer.

Color edit (I added some temporary sunglasses to the top of her head, though I realize now it's hard to see them clearly). I also adjusted my Blender render output a bit. I think it looks a little more realistic. I just upgraded my desktop - new GPU & more memory - which helps too (though I don't know if it affects how the renders look as much as it makes things run much faster).

I'm hoping I'm getting close to doing a test print.

 

[DCN]

I'm amazed that just by adding color to the design it changes everything, especially on the lips. Brings the face to life.

 

[Bloop]

UPDATE: More adjustments. I found some clearer reference pics online which has helped. I changed the position of the eyeballs - I realized they were too low in the head. I also redid the whole eye area, changed the nose again, the mouth/lips, jaw, chin - most if the face, I guess. I think the likeness has gotten much closer.

Color edit:

The rest:

Here's some of my new reference pics:

 

[Bloop]

Update:

Color Edit:

I changed her nose quite a bit, mostly narrowed it, along with the overall shape of her face. I made her smile less, more subtle. I think it's improved the likeness to Lorraine Gary. I still need to make the sunglasses properly, but maybe I'm closer to a test print. I don't have any time limits on this - though I'd like to get it done sooner than later - so I want to get it as good as I can before calling it "done."

Another color edit:

EDIT: I can see that her eyes are a little off now - I think they both need to shift over towards the right (her left). I think I need to increase her jaw again, seems like it's a little to scaled-back. Hopefully, not too much work to fix it, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

 

[animator]

Very nice!

 

[Bloop]

UPDATE: I'm hoping her face is done (though I'll see how I feel later). I worked a lot on trying to get all the correct shapes and depths to her face, flattening parts, reshaping the jaw again, and adjusting the eyes and eyelashes. The eyes in particular are more even, and her eyelashes are less full now. That's the broad strokes, since I've made adjustments all over. I re-aligned some of the reference images and really tried to stick to what I saw in those, rather than just guessing, like I do sometimes.

Color edit:

I did a viewport render to show more how the 3D print will look:

Normal renders:

And one more color edit. The only color I add in photoshop is the lips, eyebrows and around the eyes. Not only does she wear eye shadow, but Lorraine has dark circles under her eyes. This angle especially shows the changes I made to the depth around the eyes, the upper lip and jaw, plus the nose has been made wider at the bridges and narrower and a little more upturned at the tip.

Real pic for comparison:

Hopefully I can get this test printed soon (I know, I keep saying that), and make the sunglasses and maybe another hairdo, though this one is pretty representative of a lot of the scenes in Jaws.

 

[Bloop]

UPDATE: I finished the sunglasses. I'm not 100% on how accurate they are, since the images I was working from aren't great, but they're close at least. I also did more adjustments to the face and made some adjustments to the hair:

I added this hair clip, seen here under the bandana. I figure she's probably got a clip in for the other scenes too, so I'm adding it to the hair model. I also have two slightly different versions of the hair now - one with the indentation for the sunglasses on the top of her head (see above pic), one with no indent (see pic below). I also gave the back of the hair more curls, like in the image:

I think the indented hairdo should also work with her bandana look - maybe not exact, but I'll see how it looks.

I think I've got the face as close as I'm going to get, which I'm happy with. Getting ready for printing - I cut away the interior of the hair (it was intersecting the head model) to match her skull, and added a peg and corresponding hole to attach it to the head. I'm hoping to (finally) get it test printed this weekend.

Thanks for looking

 

[DCN]

UPDATE: I finished the sunglasses. I'm not 100% on how accurate they are, since the images I was working from aren't great, but they're close at least. I also did more adjustments to the face and made some adjustments to the hair:

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I added this hair clip, seen here under the bandana. I figure she's probably got a clip in for the other scenes too, so I'm adding it to the hair model. I also have two slightly different versions of the hair now - one with the indentation for the sunglasses on the top of her head (see above pic), one with no indent (see pic below). I also gave the back of the hair more curls, like in the image:

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I think the indented hairdo should also work with her bandana look - maybe not exact, but I'll see how it looks.

View attachment 1911524

I think I've got the face as close as I'm going to get, which I'm happy with. Getting ready for printing - I cut away the interior of the hair (it was intersecting the head model) to match her skull, and added a peg and corresponding hole to attach it to the head. I'm hoping to (finally) get it test printed this weekend.

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Thanks for looking

What a masterful job! All the time and detail you've put into this head sculpt is Amazing! Looking forward to seeing the test print.

 

[Bloop]

UPDATE: Test prints! I finally got some prints done, though the first set had several issues. The scale was off for some reason, and ended up being too small. Also, the separate hair didn't really work. It printed fine, but I couldn't get the head to fit inside properly (broke one of her ears trying), since the resin is too rigid. I also tried printing the earrings and sunglasses separately, but they were also too small, so they didn't work:



For the next prints, I measured the Elvira head from the NECA figure I'm using for testing, and scaled up the Ellen models by 15%. I also decided to merge the hairdos and earrings to the heads, and tried prints with the sunglasses merged to her face - I already made the hairstyle with the sunglasses on top of her head into a merged object. I also printed the sunglasses separately - with and without lenses. Unfortunately, the sunglasses and earrings were still not quite thick enough. I also forgot I printed the earrings on the heads, so I was pretty rough when cleaning them off and broke them more. I already started fattening the object for the next prints.
I also made the mistake of having the heads too close to the build plate when I put them in the slicer app, so that they merged with the rafts. For all these reasons, I decided not to do much cleanup on these prints, since they need changes (the old, small print is in the lower right of the pic for comparison):



I decided to try an extra hairdo for the bandana, to make it more accurate. It still needed work too, but you can see the difference. I used some tissue to make a temporary bandana to get an idea how it would look and see what needed to be altered:



I cleaned up one head a bit and snapped some shots on the Elvira body (it's the shiny red dress version because it was the cheapest new female NECA figure I could find). A little too glamorous for the beaches of Amity Island, but it shows the scale of the head with the body. Ignore the air bubble in the chin:



All the sunglasses with lenses were too thin and ended up folding on themselves, but the rims by themselves came out okay, though I also broke them while trying to remove the supports. I had originally printed the full arms, but they needed to be trimmed to fit with the heads with the hair attached:



Here's a render of the "bandana-ready" hairdo I'm working on, also showing the thicker earrings - they might look too thick, but I think they'll look fine when printed. Still more to do on the hair, but I already started slimming it down., I also realized all the hair models don't allow for Ellen's head to tilt back, though the Elvira head doesn't either - even has rubbery hair that bends, but no enough to allow for tilting back/looking up. But I think I can alter my hair models to give a little more room. This also shows the new eyelashes - I redid them a little larges and smoother for printing, and it seems to have worked alright - and some other tweaks (like around the eyes):



Thanks again for looking

 

[DCN]

UPDATE: Test prints! I finally got some prints done, though the first set had several issues. The scale was off for some reason, and ended up being too small. Also, the separate hair didn't really work. It printed fine, but I couldn't get the head to fit inside properly (broke one of her ears trying), since the resin is too rigid. I also tried printing the earrings and sunglasses separately, but they were also too small, so they didn't work:

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For the next prints, I measured the Elvira head from the NECA figure I'm using for testing, and scaled up the Ellen models by 15%. I also decided to merge the hairdos and earrings to the heads, and tried prints with the sunglasses merged to her face - I already made the hairstyle with the sunglasses on top of her head into a merged object. I also printed the sunglasses separately - with and without lenses. Unfortunately, the sunglasses and earrings were still not quite thick enough. I also forgot I printed the earrings on the heads, so I was pretty rough when cleaning them off and broke them more. I already started fattening the object for the next prints.
I also made the mistake of having the heads too close to the build plate when I put them in the slicer app, so that they merged with the rafts. For all these reasons, I decided not to do much cleanup on these prints, since they need changes (the old, small print is in the lower right of the pic for comparison):

View attachment 1912931

I decided to try an extra hairdo for the bandana, to make it more accurate. It still needed work too, but you can see the difference. I used some tissue to make a temporary bandana to get an idea how it would look and see what needed to be altered:

View attachment 1912932

I cleaned up one head a bit and snapped some shots on the Elvira body (it's the shiny red dress version because it was the cheapest new female NECA figure I could find). A little too glamorous for the beaches of Amity Island, but it shows the scale of the head with the body. Ignore the air bubble in the chin:

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All the sunglasses with lenses were too thin and ended up folding on themselves, but the rims by themselves came out okay, though I also broke them while trying to remove the supports. I had originally printed the full arms, but they needed to be trimmed to fit with the heads with the hair attached:

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Here's a render of the "bandana-ready" hairdo I'm working on, also showing the thicker earrings - they might look too thick, but I think they'll look fine when printed. Still more to do on the hair, but I already started slimming it down., I also realized all the hair models don't allow for Ellen's head to tilt back, though the Elvira head doesn't either - even has rubbery hair that bends, but no enough to allow for tilting back/looking up. But I think I can alter my hair models to give a little more room. This also shows the new eyelashes - I redid them a little larges and smoother for printing, and it seems to have worked alright - and some other tweaks (like around the eyes):

View attachment 1912920

Thanks again for looking

Maybe a head hair one piece print is the way to go. I think the print looks great, and the bandana is going to make the sculpt pop. Motion of the head on most female neca figures is limited. Earrings, could a small metal loop, like they sell at a craft store work, If the revised print with resized earrings still causes problems?

 

[Bloop]

UPDATE: New prints. I adjusted her hair to allow for more movement/angles of the head. I noticed the Elvira figure has a very long, thin neck. I'm assuming other NECA female figures may have different size necks, but it should look good on other figures.

The head with the sunglasses joined to her face had some fails. The sunglasses needed more supports, as did the back of the hair. I just did automatic supports, didn't add any additional ones. But even though I think I could get the model to print correctly, I don't think I'll keep going with it. It really doesn't help much, since the sunglasses can be printed separately. It just makes it harder to paint. It's harde to see, bu that head also has the "bandana-ready" hair, which I reduced in size sone more to accommodate a fabric bandana on top.



The thicker earrings printed fine, though they can still be snapped off easily if you're not careful (which I definitely was not). DCN's suggestion of wire loops is a good alternative, though I'm going to leave the integrated earrings as part of the models. It's easy enough to trim them away and attach metal loops if desired.

I bought a cheap battery operated airbrush, the kind with a small compressor built into the device and charges by usb. I've never airbrushed before, so I figured this would be a low-cost entry into airbrushing. Here's my test with Vallejo acrylics:



It took me a little while to figure out how much to thin the paint - I started by thinning it way too much.I didn't do any priming, filling or sanding because I wanted to see how much detail would be seen, and if it would cover well without primer. It turned out alright for a first attempt - you can see all the flaws (which is good and bad, depending on your point of view). I'm not sure exactly why, but the prints had some bad lines running along her face. It could be because some of the resin had been sitting in the printer unused for months (though I cover it so no light gets in). I also tested out some powder that's supposed to work for coloring resin, but I found it never dissolves completely and ends up gradually sinking to the bottom, which seemed to make the resin grittier.

I started adding filler to the other head, on the face and on the sunglasses on top of her head. I had sprayed it, but ended up wiping away a lot of the paint, trying to get a smooth surface. I trimmed the temples of the thicker sunglasses (printed separately) and tested the fit.



I'm hoping to figure out the airbrush more as I continue to work on this. I should have the 3D model files finalized for sale soon - just a couple small adjustments yet.