Welcome to ABSFM, where a TF2 and SFM fan and somebody who doesn’t know how2model shows you how to Frankenstein together a bunch of models with some reskins to make another model within SFM - in this case, one of the biggest waifus of the TF2 fandomverse.

BECAUSE I TOTALLY FUCKING CALLED IT YESTERDAY, let’s talk about the new SFM update: it is great, if I need a class item for a class I can just use the “Add Team Fortress 2” item on the model and it automatically goes on. Colouring is easy too; the item can still be locked on and all you have to do is Add Override Materials, then look at the model in the Model Editor and edit colours from there.

For the sake of continuity, I will be using Doc’s Colour Script for this tutorial (I don’t think the new colour picker nor the Item Importer works on mods, even if the item can be coloured with a script or with VMT editing) and seeing as I’m not too sure how the mods work, you might need to still manually import them instead of with the item finder.

Rebbacus’ models are a gift to the fan-model community, as she made a majority of TF2 NPC characters from the Administrator and Gray Mann, to a rendition of the Civilian from TFC. Here was her model for Miss Pauling:

About 2 months ago, I commented on how it was outdated and required updating because of how far the comic look has evolved. I took that model, gave the dress a simple reskin, added two hexed props, which resulted in this:

For those who want to continue using this look, the tutorial is here.

Now with Expiration Date’s Miss Pauling out, we’ve seen quite a few changes from what we expected from the comic - changes most of the TF2 fandom has welcomed. But people wondered - was this model coming out? Or rather, was there an alternative for people who didn’t really like how the model looked but did want an updated Miss Pauling model to correlate with the new TF2 short look?

The answer - I don’t know, but I’m damn well gonna try.

It’s time for another Hack Pack because I can’t model for shit and because I know you guys want another Miss Pauling update, so here you go.

You will need the following things:

Rebbacus’ Miss Pauling 1.0 Model

My Miss Pauling 2.0 Hack Pack comes with 2 skins for dress mode: comic-based purple dress and Expiration Date-based blouse and skirt comes with reskinned head texture comes with green eyes

comes with 2 hexed prop that can be coloured: the Teen Dream (Scout mod) and the Guard Dog (Pyro mod)

Masterlegodude’s HL2 Glasses Pack

Doc’s Colour Script (unless you edit colours within the VTF/VMT)

Because of the nature of this being reskins and other models attached, let’s have some disclaimers:

hairclip not included

shoes remain boots, no option for flats

textures are not baked on; buttons and tears in stockings may stretch beyond desirable proportions or be blurry

since Rebbacus’ model is outdated, her facial flexes are not HWM and are under Unknown; the mouth is awkward to play with and there’s some other things that are wonky, but do your best!

With that said and with those materials prepared, jump under the cut to go into the tutorial:

Export the Miss Pauling model contents into either /usermod or a designated folder you defined. Export the Hack Pack after in the same folder to replace the original textures with the new ones.

Load up SFM and load in the model. Right click on the model, go to Set Bodygroups > body > one of the dress modes.



We’ll be using a different pair of glasses for this model, so go ahead and turn that off too by going into Set Bodygroups > Glasses > none.

Here’s a closeup of the reskin details on her head to get as close as I could to the makeup job on ED:

Let’s import some hair for her. Last time it was a Spy mod - this time, we’re going to utilize the versatile glory of Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys circa 90’s: the Teen Dream, made by Mike here.

(There is one for Medic that is already black but I feel like Scout’s head fits Rebbacus’ Miss Pauling a little better.)

Import that into your SFM.

Rig the model with Doc’s Colour Script and pick a shade of dark brown (but not completely black).

Attach the hair onto Miss Pauling and drag the Zero sliders up.

I usually rotate down the hair a little bit once it’s attached because the forehead size throws me off in comparison to how she looks in the comics and the short movie.

Let’s do the belt. We’re using the Guard Dog by Hideous which I’m not sure is ever going to get into the game at this point, but I can dream.

Import it in (it’s a sore_eyes mod).

Scale the nametag bone down to 0 and use the colour script to get it a dark purple/black.

Now to attach it. Instead of attaching everything together, change it so that Miss Pauling’s bip_pelvis or bip_spine_0 is attached to the Guard Dog’s bip_neck, like so:

Zero in and you should have something like this:

Which looks weird, yes, but this is where Scaling Options come in handy. Resize the bip_neck bone on the Guard Dog to about 0.13 - 0.14. (I usually do 0.135.) Move and rotate the belt to accommodate for the angle you’re primarily looking at (if you want a full belt from all angles, I’d go with 0.14 but it might look awkward).

And now for the most important part - the glasses. I’ve tried to look for the closest glasses I could find but after attempting to , and so far this is the one that looks close enough as well as looks good.

Subscribe to the HL2 glasses mod I linked earlier and then import female_glasses_7:

Attach rootTransform and the head joints it as follows:

Zero in and rotate your glasses to accommodate your head.

Optional recommendation is to resize your glasses’ head bone up a little more (0.11 or so) because the hinges clip into her head. You’ll see why that’s important in a bit.

And there you have it, your new FrankenPauling. Let’s talk a little bit more about what to do past here:

Bake the Procedural Bones of the teen Dream and you’ll have access to the bangs, which means you can control them at will for Miss Pauling’s hair for things like this:

Note how if you curl the jigglebones back or will move them to see her skin, you can tell that the glasses are clipping into her skin due to no hinge, so this is where resizing the glasses a little comes to mind.

For those who want Expiration Date Miss Pauling, just set your skin to Skin2.

Be aware of that disclaimer I made that since the skins are not actually baked onto the model that the buttons might stretch, as well as the tears in her stockings.

Something I personally like to do is resize her head and hands to match her head size in ED as well as the Yaoi Hands proportioning of TF2 models.

And there you have it!

While you might not have your official Miss Pauling model yet, you can have something close with Rebbacus’ original model, some items made by Mike and Hideous, combined together with too much time on my hands to make something close!

If maybe you find a better alternative than just slapping on items and hoping for the best - you know, like actually modeling it all together or baking your textures if you do know your modeling - go for it! Here’s just something for people to play with right now - whether it’s going to be an influx of token female/shipping fanart, OC recolouring, headhacking onto a naked model for 3D pronz - or maybe perhaps a well-done “Meet Miss Pauling” parody video at long last?

Also, here’s a friendly reminder how great those official glasses are in case anybody wants to go into the Towering Pillar of Summer Shades model and grab those glasses for us.