This is the first step of the production process. Once the characters and their poses have been decided upon, they are created digitally as 3D data on a computer. Special consideration also needs to be taken during this step in regard to the way individual parts of the statues need to be divided up so as to not obstruct the mold-making, finishing, and coloring work that comes later.

Prototype Production

Next, a special machine uses the 3D data created earlier to carve out the prototypes! The process is automatic once it starts, but the key to getting good prototypes from the data lies with the experience, expertise, and creativity of the staff who program it!

The prototypes are mostly made of Styrofoam, but sometimes the finer parts need to be made using a 3D printer, like Goku Black's Ring of Time and Potara Earring.

Once the automatic carving is finished, the prototypes undergo some manual finishing by the staff. They use a wide range of tools and implements, ranging from plain old sandpaper to specialized tools they actually created by themselves back when prototyping all had to be done by hand!
How cool is that?!

Mold-Making

Just like when making plaster figures, the prototypes are then used as bases to create molds for production. Before the molds are taken, they have to put strips around the prototypes so that the two halves of the molds can be separated cleanly afterward.

A special kind of clay also needs to be applied to the prototypes before the molds are created so that they can actually take them off later.
You might think that the mold above looks finished already, but there's still a long way to go!

After prepping the prototypes for mold-making, it's time to make the plaster molds!
A layer of plaster mixed with flax fibers is painted over the prototypes in a layer around 8 mm in thickness, and at the same time wooden frames are built around them to stop the plaster or prototypes from breaking.
Little by little, thin and light yet strong molds are built up around the prototypes!

Once the plaster has set, the prototypes are removed from the molds.
Since the prototypes are made of soft Styrofoam, there's no risk of them scraping the inside of the molds on their way out either!

There you have it! A perfect mold of Jiren's face!

Now that the prototypes have been removed, the molds can be finished and dried.
Take a look at Jiren's stunning back muscles in that mold!

FRP Casting

Once the molds are done, they can be lined with FRP (fiberglass-reinforced plastic), the material for making the statue. But before that, preparation!
First, any parts of the plaster molds that chipped or cracked during the mold-making process need to be repaired.

With preparation complete, the FRP casting process begins by coating the insides of the molds with plastic resin and glass fibers. This means that the resulting statues are actually hollow like a crab leg after you've finished eating the meat inside, but that's not a problem thanks to the strength of FRP!

However, thin parts like Hit's coat can be a lot of work because they need to be coated with a thicker layer of FRP in order to attain the necessary level of toughness.

Once the FRP inside has set, the plaster molds can be broken away to take out the statues!
We're getting pretty close to the finished product now, but first the parts are taken away to be finished and detailed.

The head part whose mold we saw being created back in the mold-making stage turned out great in 3D!
This stage in the creation process is when fine parts of the statues can get damaged, so a lot of care was taken in the fine-tuning of Jiren's distinctive nose.
Any segments that got chipped or cracked get repaired with putty while the parts are finished and detailed.

Next, the separately cast parts are all fitted together! It looks just like Jiren!

Painting

Parts are fitted together for finishing and detailing, but after that they need to be separated again to be colored. One separated, the parts all get a fresh white undercoat to prevent any unevenness in the final paint job.

Paint is applied to the parts using tools like cup guns or airbrushes, where the amount of paint vs air being sprayed out needs to be carefully controlled.

Goku Black is transformed into Super Saiyan Rosé with a coat of sublime pink paint!
After the colors are all applied, the statues get a final layer of clear coating to finish up.

Base-Setting

Finally, the painted statues are fitted onto metal plates that serve as their bases. The Goku Black statue's feet are supported from the base with metal framing, so when you look at it from the front, it looks like he's levitating!
Those frames you can see actually extend all the way up to his thighs on the inside to prevent him from toppling over.

The base weighs around 35 kg, which is roughly equal to the statue itself, making the whole thing a total of approximately 70 kg. The reason that the statue part is able to remain so light despite its size is that it's hollow inside, as mentioned above.

All Finished!

With all the production steps completed, we finally have our finished statues!
In total, it took around 1,120 hours of work to get from zero to the completed statues we introduced in Part 1 of this report!
It somehow makes them look even better when you know how much effort went into making them, right?!

Before wrapping up the report, we also asked the experts at Jincraft Inc. what the hardest part of their job is!
Here's what they had to say: