Customizers,tears and joy?
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The ill Jedi
ILLest of 'em all!!
Wow, I'm not a customizer myself; I just wanted to say that those two figures are amazing!
DarkArtist81
Super Freak
Interesting idea, Hurricane.... And also... Have to say again that those two figures are simply stunning... Just a Herculean effort that really shows. 
As for my personal favorites and my biggest headaches....
Well, the most amazing figure I have ever painted has to be this newest Sith Anakin for AbstractHarmony. You know it's good when you paint it, and you look at it after and cannot believe you just did that. I just keep finding new things about it that I love and it taught me a lot.
Close ones would have to be HT Supes, Medicom Jack Sparrow and my original Obi-Wan for my own collection. Those are special to me, pity I have only one of them currently... they were certainly special.
Hardest? Well, at the current time... Darth Maul's tats.... Man, hardest thing in the world to do. I'll be happy when it's over... It's really tough, not something to attempt lightly... as I very foolishly did.
Before that it would have to have been Episode 2 Obi that I did for Pickard. Just couldn't get the skin tones right on that one. Also it was tough for me to paint Qui-Gon. He was a failure right out of the park, very tough to paint. Luckily my second try was much more to my liking.
Also have to mention Luke and his sleepy eyes... They are not easy to nail, that much is certain. Mine needs work.. Might have to revisit that one eventually.
As for my personal favorites and my biggest headaches....
Well, the most amazing figure I have ever painted has to be this newest Sith Anakin for AbstractHarmony. You know it's good when you paint it, and you look at it after and cannot believe you just did that. I just keep finding new things about it that I love and it taught me a lot.
Close ones would have to be HT Supes, Medicom Jack Sparrow and my original Obi-Wan for my own collection. Those are special to me, pity I have only one of them currently... they were certainly special.
Hardest? Well, at the current time... Darth Maul's tats.... Man, hardest thing in the world to do. I'll be happy when it's over... It's really tough, not something to attempt lightly... as I very foolishly did.
Before that it would have to have been Episode 2 Obi that I did for Pickard. Just couldn't get the skin tones right on that one. Also it was tough for me to paint Qui-Gon. He was a failure right out of the park, very tough to paint. Luckily my second try was much more to my liking.
Also have to mention Luke and his sleepy eyes... They are not easy to nail, that much is certain. Mine needs work.. Might have to revisit that one eventually.
rabidwolverine21
Super Freak
got to agree on Da, mine was darth maul as well, so frustrated i broke the body lol
Customikey
Super Freak
There are certain figures that you approach, and you just know you are going to nail it. Others give you that substantial fear in your gut that you are going to screw up something very expensive.
Mostly, I get both feelings on every project I undetake, no matter the difficulty. Something as routine as skintone can suddenly turn around and bite you in the butt. Then there's those opportunities to paint a copy of something you've already done, and the realization that you're not really certain HOW you did it in the first place!!!
It's in those situations that I find myself totally reinventing my own process and discovering new things. Discovery is what makes us better artists.
The most difficult piece I've worked on to date has to be The Penguin. The logistics of cutting a body to be the right size, padding that body in the right places to create the right proportions, kitbashing the pieces I needed from the excellent Horizin model, building an ear, neck, hair and all the costume pieces from scratch, and then repainting the damned head on three seperate occassions (he needs to be repainted again, too), and the never ending quest to find the perfect 1/6 scale umbrella to make him complete, have made him the most aggrivating figure I've ever worked on. I love him, but sometimes I cannot bear to look at him.
By contrast, my most recent project, Baron Harkonnen, whom I put off for a long time for fear of the (ahem) enormity of the undertaking, has gone remarkably smoothly. He's not done yet (the hoversuit has yet to be built), but I've been very pleased and minimally taxed by his creation thus far.
And the project I thought would be soo easy, and turned into a nightmare?
Watto. The pain came from using reference material that didn't account for a change in the color timing of the film. He was aqua, very greenish blue in all the reference I had, and then I watch the film, and he's very blue. Oh the anguish of trying to re-tint with chalk, drybrush without ruining the eyework I was so proud of, and the wasted paint that got mixed to death. He turned out nicely in the end, and (as always) he would be that much easier to do again, now that I've made my mistakes, but what a nightmare the first time around..
Mostly, I get both feelings on every project I undetake, no matter the difficulty. Something as routine as skintone can suddenly turn around and bite you in the butt. Then there's those opportunities to paint a copy of something you've already done, and the realization that you're not really certain HOW you did it in the first place!!!
It's in those situations that I find myself totally reinventing my own process and discovering new things. Discovery is what makes us better artists.
The most difficult piece I've worked on to date has to be The Penguin. The logistics of cutting a body to be the right size, padding that body in the right places to create the right proportions, kitbashing the pieces I needed from the excellent Horizin model, building an ear, neck, hair and all the costume pieces from scratch, and then repainting the damned head on three seperate occassions (he needs to be repainted again, too), and the never ending quest to find the perfect 1/6 scale umbrella to make him complete, have made him the most aggrivating figure I've ever worked on. I love him, but sometimes I cannot bear to look at him.
By contrast, my most recent project, Baron Harkonnen, whom I put off for a long time for fear of the (ahem) enormity of the undertaking, has gone remarkably smoothly. He's not done yet (the hoversuit has yet to be built), but I've been very pleased and minimally taxed by his creation thus far.
And the project I thought would be soo easy, and turned into a nightmare?
Watto. The pain came from using reference material that didn't account for a change in the color timing of the film. He was aqua, very greenish blue in all the reference I had, and then I watch the film, and he's very blue. Oh the anguish of trying to re-tint with chalk, drybrush without ruining the eyework I was so proud of, and the wasted paint that got mixed to death. He turned out nicely in the end, and (as always) he would be that much easier to do again, now that I've made my mistakes, but what a nightmare the first time around..
Darren Carnall
Formerly hunky_artist
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Interesting idea for a thread. (mikey that penguin is amazing)
I've not done that many customs but already I've had both ends of the spectrum. My Aragorn was a 100% joy to do. The only difficult part was getting the hair off, but in comparison even that wasn't too bad. I absolutely enjoyed everything about it, from repainting the head, painting mud splashes on the clothes, cutting the bottom edges of the coats and sleeves to look rough.. sandpapering the sheen off the jacket.... everything!
I thoroughly enjoyed doing it..... just how doing a custom should feel!
Also on the 'Good' end of the spectrum was my first attempt of my Anakin resculpt. There wasn't a moment on that where I wasnt enjoying myself. It was difficult, and slow work (like doing a portrait oil painting... checking reference photo.. checking the figure... checking the photo... checking the figure..... then make the tiniest adjustment, lol) but it was so much fun to do.
luckily I wasn't happy with it (and some people wanted a copy) so that led me to do another version (had to wait until my Sith Anakin arrived though.. I did the original sculpt USING the original head last time. So to start again I needed a new head to work from.... hence I needed the Sith version, although this time I did my resculpt on a cast.. leaving the original intact)
Doing the sculpt iteself was great fun to work on. Slow, difficult and detailed again, but I enjoyed it all the same.
What brought about the 'tears' part of it, was trying to get a successful cast of it. Because of the shape of my new sculpt (lots of hair pieces 'flicking' out.... I wanted to be able to use it for regular Jedi Anakin, and for more messed up Sith version, so I sculpted the hair with a little more movement to fit inbetween the two) no matter how I tried to do it (I wanted a single piece ready to plop straight on a SS body) I always ended up with whole sections of hair missing where air bubbles had caught. (looking back it was an over complicated shape for my first ever mold and cast.... but it's ok, I was learning lots the whole time)
It WAS hair-pulling-out frustrating though. and I've spent £100 on materials so far, and only JUST started to get clean solid intact casts with no details missing. (except now I'm trying to figure out why my resin is solid and fine when I cast it.... but when i wash it in water, or spray primer on it.. it goes sticky for days on end... grrrrr) harder than it looks... but finally getting there anyway
I've not done that many customs but already I've had both ends of the spectrum. My Aragorn was a 100% joy to do. The only difficult part was getting the hair off, but in comparison even that wasn't too bad. I absolutely enjoyed everything about it, from repainting the head, painting mud splashes on the clothes, cutting the bottom edges of the coats and sleeves to look rough.. sandpapering the sheen off the jacket.... everything!
I thoroughly enjoyed doing it..... just how doing a custom should feel!
Also on the 'Good' end of the spectrum was my first attempt of my Anakin resculpt. There wasn't a moment on that where I wasnt enjoying myself. It was difficult, and slow work (like doing a portrait oil painting... checking reference photo.. checking the figure... checking the photo... checking the figure..... then make the tiniest adjustment, lol) but it was so much fun to do.
luckily I wasn't happy with it (and some people wanted a copy) so that led me to do another version (had to wait until my Sith Anakin arrived though.. I did the original sculpt USING the original head last time. So to start again I needed a new head to work from.... hence I needed the Sith version, although this time I did my resculpt on a cast.. leaving the original intact)
Doing the sculpt iteself was great fun to work on. Slow, difficult and detailed again, but I enjoyed it all the same.
What brought about the 'tears' part of it, was trying to get a successful cast of it. Because of the shape of my new sculpt (lots of hair pieces 'flicking' out.... I wanted to be able to use it for regular Jedi Anakin, and for more messed up Sith version, so I sculpted the hair with a little more movement to fit inbetween the two) no matter how I tried to do it (I wanted a single piece ready to plop straight on a SS body) I always ended up with whole sections of hair missing where air bubbles had caught. (looking back it was an over complicated shape for my first ever mold and cast.... but it's ok, I was learning lots the whole time)
It WAS hair-pulling-out frustrating though. and I've spent £100 on materials so far, and only JUST started to get clean solid intact casts with no details missing. (except now I'm trying to figure out why my resin is solid and fine when I cast it.... but when i wash it in water, or spray primer on it.. it goes sticky for days on end... grrrrr) harder than it looks... but finally getting there anyway
Ironman1188
SO BE IT
Mikey, I still marvel at that Penquin. I have had that same kit on my shelf for years awaiting figure treatment.
How did you finally decide to adapt the neck?
Did it retain mobility?
I'd love to know!! I'm working on an umbrella, well its on the WIP section of my desk, if it works I'll send you one.
How did you finally decide to adapt the neck?
Did it retain mobility?
I'd love to know!! I'm working on an umbrella, well its on the WIP section of my desk, if it works I'll send you one.
wax murderer
Super Freak
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My most frustrating custom is the George project, mainly because I'm still waiting on the new body( going to use the new HT body).I also have re-sculpting to do on the head, which is also waiting on the body, as are final alterations on the suit(I suspect I need to adjust the legs to fit properly).The first sculpt looks more like Jeff Corwin than George when it's painted;of course, this opens the door to yet another custom, but that's for another day...
Great Penguin,by the way...PS
Great Penguin,by the way...PS
Murderofcrows71
Super Freak
I was pretty busy with work last year so I didn't get to work on as many projects as I'd have liked, but a few snuck in. The sculpting on the Lost Boys David was kinda fun after initially pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to turn back the time on the original 24 sculpt. I had to add cheekbones and thin out the jawline and then start the hair. The clothes were also my first attempt at sewing anything major.
The Tarman from Return of the Living Dead was a pain since the whole thing was sculpted over a dragon figure. Every bone and the entire head was sculpted out of Magic Sculpt and then spray painted gloss enamel for the shine. Then I added piece buy piece shreads of clothing dipped in glaze, it took forever.
Then there were updates done to my Bloodrayne, Vampire Lestat and Louis figures which turned out to be more work than was really worth the effort. They had been initially sculpted with Super Sculpy, but I wanted them a bit sturdier so I decided to redo them with Magic Sculpt. And in Bloodrayne's case added the new shinier Triad Toys version of her outfit and ditched the one I made.
The Tarman from Return of the Living Dead was a pain since the whole thing was sculpted over a dragon figure. Every bone and the entire head was sculpted out of Magic Sculpt and then spray painted gloss enamel for the shine. Then I added piece buy piece shreads of clothing dipped in glaze, it took forever.
Then there were updates done to my Bloodrayne, Vampire Lestat and Louis figures which turned out to be more work than was really worth the effort. They had been initially sculpted with Super Sculpy, but I wanted them a bit sturdier so I decided to redo them with Magic Sculpt. And in Bloodrayne's case added the new shinier Triad Toys version of her outfit and ditched the one I made.
FOR REAL! A Bloodrayne figure! I need one.
BadMoon
Demi G0D Overseer
That Lost Boys Figure is awesome! :chew
Darren Carnall
Formerly hunky_artist
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i like this thread. It's great reading how other people have been having difficulties with their customs, and how they overcame those problems. Or which pieces were a total joy to work on, and why
I'd like to read more detail on why something was so difficult, and what the problem was and how people overcame it. more text people.... MORE
(and seen some great customs here i've never seen before. that Lost boys figure looks amazing, I'd love to see more of that, or point me to a thread where pics are)
I'd like to read more detail on why something was so difficult, and what the problem was and how people overcame it. more text people.... MORE
(and seen some great customs here i've never seen before. that Lost boys figure looks amazing, I'd love to see more of that, or point me to a thread where pics are)
galactiboy
OT Preferist
Murderofcrows71 said:
Wow! That is amazing and surprising the first custom I've ever seen of him! Excellent work!!!
figuremaster_les
AF-FIRMATIVE!
Wonderful Lost Boys figure!
And Mikey, that Penguin rules!
As for my biggest custom nightmare...
It has to be my Mr. Freeze, that I did for an online March 2006 Figure challenge.
And it comes down to one component especially...
That freakin' DOME!!!!
The figure was hard enough. He took me four months of solid work, and lots of what to add, and what not to add mental hijinks that almost drove me nuts.
But finding the dome that would fit not only the part I chose as a headmount, which comes from one of those BBI Cygirls spacegirls figures, but it had to work. I looked in every department store for one. Looked at hairspray bottles, bubblegum machines, online...the works!
I finally found a company that made one that was about right in diameter out of glass. GLASS! So, I ordered it and it was about an inch and a half too tall. It was for displaying stuff on a shelf. Small stuff from the make of it, but that is what it was for. I would just have to try to get it cut down, if that was even possible...
So, I made all I could for him then, realizing that I had waited too long to get a replacement if when I cut it, it broke, so, I took it to a glass shop where this one dude said, "Oh no! I can't cut that! It's gonna break!" I was terrified. I guess my Mr. Freeze would have this tall dome.
But then, another glass guy said, "let me try", so I just sort of Hail Maryed it to him and he cut it, clean as a whistle, just where I wanted it.
Scaredest I have ever been with anything I ever tried to use.
But, this is the result.... I can completely break him down too. All the parts are metal and glass and whatnot. So, having the dome be glass worked great.
In this odd, shakey picture, it looks like his eyes are closed! Always liked it. Freaky!
I just know, if anyone ever says "DOME" to me again, I'll shoot 'em!!
And Mikey, that Penguin rules!
As for my biggest custom nightmare...
It has to be my Mr. Freeze, that I did for an online March 2006 Figure challenge.
And it comes down to one component especially...
That freakin' DOME!!!!
The figure was hard enough. He took me four months of solid work, and lots of what to add, and what not to add mental hijinks that almost drove me nuts.
But finding the dome that would fit not only the part I chose as a headmount, which comes from one of those BBI Cygirls spacegirls figures, but it had to work. I looked in every department store for one. Looked at hairspray bottles, bubblegum machines, online...the works!
I finally found a company that made one that was about right in diameter out of glass. GLASS! So, I ordered it and it was about an inch and a half too tall. It was for displaying stuff on a shelf. Small stuff from the make of it, but that is what it was for. I would just have to try to get it cut down, if that was even possible...
So, I made all I could for him then, realizing that I had waited too long to get a replacement if when I cut it, it broke, so, I took it to a glass shop where this one dude said, "Oh no! I can't cut that! It's gonna break!" I was terrified. I guess my Mr. Freeze would have this tall dome.
But then, another glass guy said, "let me try", so I just sort of Hail Maryed it to him and he cut it, clean as a whistle, just where I wanted it.
Scaredest I have ever been with anything I ever tried to use.
But, this is the result.... I can completely break him down too. All the parts are metal and glass and whatnot. So, having the dome be glass worked great.
In this odd, shakey picture, it looks like his eyes are closed! Always liked it. Freaky!
I just know, if anyone ever says "DOME" to me again, I'll shoot 'em!!
The ill Jedi
ILLest of 'em all!!
Figuremaster Les said:I just know, if anyone ever says "DOME" to me again, I'll shoot 'em!!
Hey Les...DOME!! *Ducks for cover*
Awesome Freeze man, he turned out really well.
All of the customs in this thread are amazing, you should all be very proud of your work!
Customikey
Super Freak
Hunky, everytime I see that Aragorn, well....
And Les, the same goes for that Mr. Freeze. All your Batman customs are worth sneaking into your house, killing you, hiding your body, and taking. Just FYI for later.
Ironman, I'd dearly love to see someone make a 1/6 umbrella. Let me know how it goes! Penguin's neck has full mobility because their is a Hasbro Qui-Gon Jinn Electronic talking figure under there, which conformed well to the 21st Century body I used. The 21st Century Super Solider had all the articulation I needed and an excellent, if ugly, ball jointed neck. The hardest part for the head was getting everything to fit properly, with the hair lined up how I wanted it, and finding an ear that matched the one he came with. The model only has one that isn't covered by sculpted hair.
I'm thinking of tearing him apart and putting him on a Medicom body (it IS the right height, after all).
And Les, the same goes for that Mr. Freeze. All your Batman customs are worth sneaking into your house, killing you, hiding your body, and taking. Just FYI for later.
Ironman, I'd dearly love to see someone make a 1/6 umbrella. Let me know how it goes! Penguin's neck has full mobility because their is a Hasbro Qui-Gon Jinn Electronic talking figure under there, which conformed well to the 21st Century body I used. The 21st Century Super Solider had all the articulation I needed and an excellent, if ugly, ball jointed neck. The hardest part for the head was getting everything to fit properly, with the hair lined up how I wanted it, and finding an ear that matched the one he came with. The model only has one that isn't covered by sculpted hair.
I'm thinking of tearing him apart and putting him on a Medicom body (it IS the right height, after all).
sunohc
Super Freak
simply...
I hate resin casting and mold making.
I don't like sculpting the ears.
I don't like painting the eye lashes on 1;6 scale.
I don't like assembling resin figures.
I don't like sanding or drilling.
But I love....the rest
Especially, hair sculpting, airbrushing, and applying gloss.
And te end result...is so satisfying.
and taking pictures and occasionally photoshopping them hee hee
I hate resin casting and mold making.
I don't like sculpting the ears.
I don't like painting the eye lashes on 1;6 scale.
I don't like assembling resin figures.
I don't like sanding or drilling.
But I love....the rest
Especially, hair sculpting, airbrushing, and applying gloss.
And te end result...is so satisfying.
and taking pictures and occasionally photoshopping them hee hee
figuremaster_les
AF-FIRMATIVE!
hurricane said:I quite liked doing these, tho found the military custom market was pretty much sewn up....still enjoyed the Black hawk down project...[/IMG]
[/IMG]
You're so good it makes me SICK!!!!
Just kidding Hurc!
Still, it isn't fair that you can do so many more than just Star Wars. Duh!
BTW, your weathering is SPECTACULAR! Dude!Similar threads
