Curved Female Torso

[Henchmen4Hire]

I wanted to see how a female LEGO minifigure would look with more of an hourglass torso so I did a little dremeling and sanding.

I like this result a lot more than Arealight's curved torsos, the difference being that my curve runs from under the armpit to the waist while Arealight's is a lot shorter.

I did this all freehand and it looks pretty good. The chest design is cut into a bit because it was slightly off-center to begin with.

I'll probably add this curviness to my upcoming Samus Aran custom Minifig.

LEGO Curved Female Torso by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr

LEGO Curved Female Torso by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr

LEGO Curved Female Torso by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr

[Darkdragon]

Excellent work. It looks nice and the finished product is very clean. How long did this take you to complete?

[Wardancer]

Very good. I would buy these at once. Better that the arealight ones!

[rriggs]

Looks really good. How close do you think you were to going right through the plastic?

Cheers

Rog

[Minifig Lecturer]

Very nice end result. Would be interesting to see a video of your work in progress.

[Henchmen4Hire]

Thankssss folks :]

How long did this take you to complete?

Took maybe 10 minutes, it's not a complicated job afterall. Most of it was spent making micro-corrections, trying to get the curves to match, very tedious work. I would spend another 10 minutes sanding and polishing the areas smooth but I don't have the required grits handy and it's too hot to walk to the hardware store.

How close do you think you were to going right through the plastic?

I got scary-close lol. The figure looks fine from the outside, but it if you look at it from the inside and hold it up to a light you can see where the walls are dangerously thin. Despite this, the figure holds up well to posing, switching limbs, etc. The only thing I'd change is I would leave at least another millimeter of thickness to the modified areas, just for peace of mind. I would add the thickness to the inside of the torso though to keep it just as curvy. You may have to shorten the leg's connecting pegs a little, but that's of no consequence.

Very good. I would buy these at once. Better that the arealight ones!

Good to hear, sadly I don't think I can mass-produce these by hand, the results are simply too unpredictable. Would be much better to manufacture them the way Arealight does (which I'm guessing is injection moulding).

Would be interesting to see a video of your work in progress.

It's a pretty straightforward process, just stiffly hold the dremel upright in one hand, then with the other move the torso as needed to shave away material (would be easier if I had a bench vise or a router table).

Edited May 28, 2013 by Henchmen4Hire

[TheLegoDr]

That looks really neat. I will not be attempting this because the curves that are printed on work for me. But it is interesting to see it in person though. I don't love the other versions out there either. This looks much smoother, but as you stated really thin on the inside. So maybe that is why the others are produced that way.

Keep up the good work. I'd like to see it on some more figures.

[The Legonater]

I find the Arealight ones look really unofficial, but these actually seem like something LEGO might do. Great work!

[Henchmen4Hire]

I find the Arealight ones look really unofficial, but these actually seem like something LEGO might do. Great work!

Thankssss! Looks like my job here is done lol

That looks really neat. I will not be attempting this because the curves that are printed on work for me. But it is interesting to see it in person though. I don't love the other versions out there either. This looks much smoother, but as you stated really thin on the inside. So maybe that is why the others are produced that way.

Keep up the good work. I'd like to see it on some more figures.

Yep, should someone decide to mass-produce these, I don't see the thinner walls as a big deal though. For one, it's an easy fix (I assume) by simply adding strategic thickness to the inside walls, this thin-walled prototype is still strong, it doesn't warp or anything when pressured. Secondly, I don't think anyone who would buy these custom torsos would give them to children to play with anyway since they're most likely going to be used with custom decals, so safety factor isn't an issue.

I don't know what the worst thing that could happen is anyway, the figure explodes violently because the walls are thinner? haha

[becauseBATMAN]

Hourglass for the win!! great work man, this would look awesome on Catwoman, Wonderwoman, etc..

[Henchmen4Hire]

Made another for Commander Shepard, check more pics in the Saber Scorpion Decal Review topic: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=82947

Posing Pretty by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr

[Aanchir]

This is very neat, but one thing that bothers me is that it leaves a sharp angle where the curve meets the base of the torso and where the curve meets the shoulder. Naturally, though, it's easier to create a smoother curve with printing than with additive or subtractive sculpting.

I also find it a bit odd that the concave curve continues almost all the way to the shoulder joint. Generally I find this a bit lacking. When trying to judge torso prints and sculpts alike, one criterion that I always use is "could the curved ribcage of a LEGO skeleton fit comfortably within the outermost boundaries of this torso design?" If the concave curve ended lower on the torso and reversed into a convex curve meeting with the natural slope of the sides, I think it would follow this rule a bit more effectively, though I imagine this would be a whole lot more complicated given the tools at your disposal.

The Arealight torsos do a good job keeping the curve a bit lower, but I find they still have this first problem with a sharp angle where the slope of the sides meets the concave curve of the waist. This pic from SilentMode's review of the Arealight torso shows this problem somewhat. There's still plenty of room between the waist and the shoulders for the concave curve to reverse into a convex curve, but instead the angle is abrupt. So yours seems more effective in this regard — still a little room for improvement though.

[Henchmen4Hire]

I think the different curves would look weird, but I have to see it for real to decide for sure.

Also, I think I stretched the curve too far up on this Commander fig so it looks like it ends in her armpits, instead of lower like on the first figure. Ideally (to me anyway) they should all look like the first.

The area that jutts out at the waist is kinda weird looking, I'll try shaving that down on the next figure to see how it looks.

[Minifigures]

Your curved torso's look really good, I'm amazed that no one else except Arealight has produced any female torso's.

[NiL_FisK_Urd]

I really like this, and if i were still at school i would try this with the CNC milling machines in the workshop.