Little Creatures

While building a 1/24-scale model car, I wanted to add a passenger. I couldn't find a correctly-scaled figure that I liked, or could afford. So, I decided to try sculpting.

tiny Flash and Bella

I'm no good at sculpting people, so I decided to make a little clay model of a dog––the shaggy sheepdog (‘Tiger') who played Doc Brown's dog Einstein in Back to the Future. My first attempt didn't fit into the driver's seat, so I scaled him down about two-thirds. Einstein Mk. 2 fitted nicely in my DeLorean time machine.

Not long after that, we heard the sad news that Sadie, our neighbor's sweet dachshund mix who we had fostered, had died. On an impulse, I decided to use my leftover clay to make a tiny Sadie as I remembered her: joyfully sprinting, with her ears flapping in the wind. I baked the clay in our toaster oven, hand-painted her with acrylics, and mailed her off to Vegas where Sadie spent her last two years with her brother Charlie in their forever home. Sadie's parents were overjoyed, so I kept going.

I've now sculpted nine (now, 11) little critters for folks who have lost furry friends. My sister and niece's King Charles spaniel Teddy, my friend Judy's calico cat Callie, Patti's pug little Lucy, my friend Lezle's pit-bull Tyson who was my Lucy's beloved beach playmate, and two for me: my Flash, and his girlfriend Bella.

My sculpts aren’t photo-realistic. They are more like impressions, so proportions may be exaggerated, but the character is there. And they have to be tiny enough to fit in my toaster oven. If you’re interested, let me know.

Here’s a gallery of Flashfilms’ Little Creatures, so far: