It’s been a long time since I’ve last done a blog post focusing on getting the most avatar bang for my Linden buck. In episode 6 I showed a free mesh head by Logo, but sadly that was a temporary offer. In episode 7 I went for a genuan bargain hunt, featuring a group gift mesh head by Alantori, which is still available today. For this episode I’m kicking things of with something for those of you who want to elevate their appearance beyond the standard Second Life™ avatar, but still feel a bit squeamish about pumping cash into this virtual world.
I headed over to [DNA/BROX] to check out their range of full mesh avatars and skins that are all just L$1 each and I purchased the Brox mesh avatar and No. 9 skin. The body doesn’t come with an alpha hud, instead you get a folder with wearable alpha layers which will hide parts of your body to help you with wearing mesh clothing. Alternatively, if the item of clothing you’re trying to wear includes its own alpha layer, you may want to use that instead. I made a quick visit to Fitch to pick up a free pack of applier clothing so I could give our chap a pair of boxers to “protect his modesty”. Everything is free at Fitch and while I was there I grabbed a lot of stuff. I’ve put together this and that from said free stuff (a skin, eyes, beard, hair base, overalls, sneakers), wacked on the free group gift hair from Modulus and played with the shape for a bit. You can see the result of that exercise in the middle and on the right of the collage above. Not too bad for an almost freebie, right? So in summation, I wouldn’t want to pay much for this avatar but it is worth the L$1. To be clear, while I did also pay the extra L$1 for the skin, you can definitely find yourself some free skins to use with this body, though the fingers and toes probably will look gnarly… less gnarly than those on the system body though. If you REALLY don’t want to put ANY money into Second Life, there’s an interesting page on How to Earn Linden Dollars you may want to check out. I’d strongly urge you not to go begging for that L$1.
For the second look we’re going with a larger budget. We’re starting off with the free Classic Meshbody. I say free, but you do need L$1 to grab it and I’m not sure if this is one of those cases were the money is immediately refunded while the items is being delivered. To this body we add the Lelutka Guy mesh head. This is one of the two older male mesh heads you’ll find a little bit tucked away in a corner at the Lelutka store. While of course Lelutka’s newer Evo X mesh heads offer a much better (invisible) neck seam with certain mesh bodies and plenty of extra bells and whistles, the Guy mesh head is currently lower priced at L$2,700, (Evo X heads are L$3,990). Wear LeLutka.Alpha.Head&Body.BOM that comes with the head to hide the system eyes otherwise it’ll look like an eyelid lift gone wrong.
Birth has some nice skins that look good on the older Lelutka mesh heads, especially Guy. The Ripley skin I’m using here is L$650 and includes a hairbase and several beard options. Birth’s skin for the Legacy Meshbody is L$450 and can be used successfully with the Classic Meshbody. Obviously you’ll need to use the BOM skin, as there is no applier that works with the Classic Meshbody. You will have to live with a visible neck seam, depending on the Windlight™ you’re using. The good news is that from some angles and in some windlights it’s hardly visible at all.
The eyes I’m using are by Avi-Glam and are a personal favourite of mine. They’re called Solstice eyes, cost L$350 and include an applier you can use on the mesh eyes that come with the Lelutka head. It’s worth joining the Avi-Glam group, as the joining fee is only L$10 and you’ll get a bunch of nice free eyes for that, as well as a 10% discount on every purchase. This means you already earn that joining fee back if you purchase the Solstice eyes (group discount price is L$315).
My hair is Knox by Exile and it’s a special two-toned free version until further notice, related to the Stay At Home SL campaign. I’ve made the Trevor shape for this specific head and body combo and priced it at L$99, instead of my more usual L$199. This brings the total for this look to L$4,225. You can of course swap out the eyes for one of the free group gifts at Avi-glam, then spend L$199 on the Metallic thong at Noche and still have a bit of spare cash left over.
For look No. 3 we’re sticking with the Classic Meshbody and Lelutka Guy head and are zipping over to Stray Dog where you’ll find a bewildering range of skins. Many of them are for Catwa, Lelutka Evo and Evo X mesh heads. To make sure you get a skin that works the best with the Lelutka Guy mesh head, you need to look for skins that show the old Lelutka compatible logo. There is some information on the vendor for each skin that tells you if it was specifically made for Lelutka Guy. Alternatively you can always demo a skin that was made for Lelutka Evo heads and see what it looks like. That’s the general rule in SL anyway: demo as if your life depends on it baby! I can tell you though that any skin that’s been made for Evo X heads will not work.
I am using Stray Dog’s Jeffrey skin for Lelutka Guy, which is L$590. I’m really digging the more mature look and the optional beard that’s included. Even when you’re using a BOM skin, you can still use an applier on top of that as well, like for example one of the standard freckle options you’ll find in the HUD of the Lelutka head. Stray Dog’s skin for the Legacy Meshbody is L$499, is suitable for the Classic Meshbody and comes with options like freckles, body hair and tan lines. The same remark I made earlier about the neck seam visibility holds true for this Stray Dog skin as well. Take it or leave it or upgrade to a more expensive avatar. For the eyes I went with one of the Avi-Glam group gifts this time, more specifically the Mellow eyes. These eyes include an applier for Lelutka Evo eyes, which doesn’t work on this head. Luckily they also include mesh eyes, so you can use these instead of the eyes that come with the head and move them into place till you get the best fit. The shape is the same as I used for the previous look, priced at L$99. This brings the total for this look to L$3,899.
The Essential Jockstrap by Noche is L$299 and is one of the few older underwear items still left that work with the Classic Meshbody. This goes back to the days when this body was known as TMP (hence the title of one of the sub series in my blog: “What’s Eating TMP?”).
Right, before I love ya and leave ya, I’ll send you on your way with some outfit ideas.
A few years ago Kauna retired from their clothing designing activities in SL, but left behind a wealth of goodies to pick up for free. I’m wearing the Novus Suit, Monk Strap Shoes and Safety Glasses all from the Kauna collection. The suit includes a TMP size and is fitmesh, which means you can adjust your shape and the suit will adjust with it. I felt it made my avatar look chunkier in the middle than when he’s naked, so I reduced the love handles and saddle bags. Make sure you click Save As and not Save when you do this kind of shape editing, so you don’t use the shape that looks good naked… If only someone had given me that advise in real life!
Gabriel have areas at their main store for older items that have been discounted to L$1 or L$50. Look for items with the symbol for either The Mesh Project or The Mesh Project Classic Body. Once you’ve unpacked the box, you need to look for anything that has TMP in the name. Even at these bargain prices you can still get a demo first, in case you want to try on something that doesn’t seem to have the TMP size. I thought the Buckle Strap Pants (includes a pair of boots) and Leather Short Hoodie made a particularly striking combo at L$1 each. It’s an especially good outfit for showing off some ink. Tattoos are rather easy to snatch up for free in Second Life™.
It’s a bit early for the group gift Christmas sweatpants by Ascend, but the holiday season will be there before we know it. There’s a L$25 joining fee for the group, but the sweatpants are worth it and after all this I needed something to crash down with.
That’s it for now but maybe I’ll do another episode in the not so far future with the Lelutka Andrea mesh head, showing different skins and a couple of outfits again. Cheerio-ho-ho-ho. Damn it! The Christmas sweatpants got to me.
Billy Beaverhausen 