Eve of Destruction Cyclops Custom Action Figure

After making the Super Pat action figure, my interest in making custom action figures had returned. The reason I started all those years ago in the first place was to fill out my Cyclops collection. I would make the figures the toy companies didn't, so eventually I'd have a representation of every costume Cyclops wore in 6 inch scale. I started out with two of them, made a third (that apparently I never posted. I thought I did, but I can't find it) and then I lost interest. Then a couple of years later I made two more, never posted them, then lost interest again. Then a couple more years go by, I make Super Pat, and here I am now, back at it. So for the past month I've been making new customs, to eventually round out my collection. Over the next week or so I'm going to post them here so I can share them. Because it's my blog and I can do whatever I want!

First up is one of those figures I made a few years ago but never posted: "Eve of Destruction" Cyclops

Around 1998 or so Cyclops merged with Apocalypse and effectively "died." In 2001 he came back, and it was clear he had changed since being bonded with an embodiment of evil. To reflect this new darker attitude, he had a new bad-ass costume.

Once I saw this costume I knew I had to try and make it into a figure. It started out as an Ant-Man figure but I replaced the original head with the head of a Gambit figure.

I sculpted the visor and the details on the gloves. I also added some more hair to try and give it that Tom Cruise look he had at the time. I took the straps that came with another Cyclops figure, repainted the red X, and glued them on. I was going to repaint the straps to make it more comic-accurate, but to be honest I liked the way they looked already. A little brown never hurt anybody.

 He only wore this costume for a couple of months, but it's one of my favorites. Looking at it now I could improve on a few things, so I may retry this one at a later date. But I'm happy with it enough to move on to other versions of the character.

Drew affectionately calls him "Flock of Seagulls" Cyclops. It's also worth noting that this is my second attempt at this costume. The first attempt was that figure I mentioned before, the one I thought I posted but apparently never did. I wasn't happy with how that one turned out so I made this one as a replacement.

I hope you're looking forward to more custom Cyclops figures, because I've got 'em! I also added a "Custom Action Figures" tag to the right so you can find all my customs with ease. Until next time!

Super Pat Custom Action Figure

Many years ago I started dabbling into making my own custom action figures. A lot of people (nerds) do it so I thought I'd give it a shot. My first figure was one of my favorite persons: me. After some sculpting and painting, I turned a Mr. Fantastic figure into a spitting image of me. Well maybe not so spitting. It was rough around the edges but I was satisfied enough with it and moved on to making different figures. Eventually I stopped making figures and moved on to other things.

When I pulled Action Pat out of storage for use in the latest episode of Super Pat Quest, I realized just how crummy he was. The joints were loose, the paint was chipping, he couldn't stand up by himself. He got old, just like I did. So I decided to make an update. It wasn't a huge priority or anything, I'd just keep a look out for an opportunity to give Action Pat an upgrade.

Well last week an opportunity presented itself, and I'm proud to reveal the NEW Super Pat Action Figure!!

While walking in a random store I spotted a Tim Hunter action figure with an uncanny likeness to Yours Truly. I thought it would make a perfect head for the new Pat. It even had glasses, which I wear more often nowadays, and it's rare to find an action figure with glasses that isn't Harry Potter. So I popped the head off the figure and put it on Thomas Jane's body. From a Punisher movie figure of course.

Recipe for success... what's with the owl?

Sorry I had to cut your head off, Tom. Anyway under that long black trench coat is basically a guy wearing a t-shirt and pants, so it works as everyday clothing. I sanded down the ammo packs and straps on the legs and repainted everything. I cut pieces off of the trench coat, trimmed it down, and glued a painted rubber band to it to make my trademark jacket. I felt like adding the jacket really made this a Pat figure, not just some nerd in a Punisher t-shirt. I painted over the Punisher symbol though. I haven't worn a Punisher shirt in years.

Yeah I've been working out.

Originally I left the t-shirt black to match the older figure, but I decided to make it gray to add some variety with the black jacket. I didn't paint a thick coat on the pants because I felt the bits of black underneath made it look more like jeans. 

 I've never looked this bad-ass.

I guess I could've kept the original Tim Hunter body because it looks more like my actual posture, but I wanted a more articulated figure. That and the figure couldn't hold stuff with its closed fists.

What about Fifth Column?

 The head sculpt from the Tim Hunter figure was almost too perfect. The hair was similar to mine and the goatee was already there so the only thing I had to do was paint the eyes green. No sculpting needed! 

So will I get back into making custom action figures? Maybe. There are some holes in my Cyclops collection, and if the toy companies won't make them, I guess I have to. Still, I have a lot of things on my plate, including making awesome videos for you guys to enjoy. 

Overall I'm very happy with how Super Pat turned out. Maybe I'll make a Drew figure for him to punch. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the pictures.

The Blue, the Gold, and the..uhh..Pale?

 Who's next?!?

Astonishing Cyclops Custom Action Figure

I've recently completed work on my third custom action figure:
Astonishing Cyclops.

"Not another Cyclops!" Yep. This time in his current costume as seen in the pages of Astonishing X-Men written by Joss Whedon and drawn by John Cassady. He can also be seen in Marvel's big summer event, Civil War.

A lot of tedious work went into this one. I decided to make it because I saw an excellent version made from Iron Cow Productions, seen in an issue of Toyfare magazine. Visiting his site I learned the recipe. Figuring (no pun intended) since they already made an Astonishing Wolverine, and Kitty Pride, they could use the company of my favorite character. It all started with a Marvel Legends Bullseye.

I took off the straps and belts and that white dickey on his upper body, then popped off his boots and gloves. I then sanded down the bullseye on his head, and sculpted a visor using plumbers epoxy putty. I also covered his ears. I used the forearms from a Marvel Legends Gambit to replace Bullseye's gloves, but cut off the hands from Bullseye and replaced Gambit's not-as-articulate hands using glue. I took some boots from a Fantastic Four movie figure and popped them on.

After painting the figure in dark blue, I used rubber bands for the belts and straps, then painted them. The smaller lines going up his chest and thighs were very tedious, especially with the articulation to work around. But it worked out quite well. For the visor I cut a thin strip of metallic red gift bow and placed it on, giving it a nice effect. A quick spray of Dull-Cote and it's finished.

 

This is my best custom figure to date, and blows my last one out of the water. It looks clean and polished, like a professionally made figure, and retains all it's articulation. The figure looks swell standing next to Wolverine.

It almost makes up for the fact that Cyclops dies in X3. Almost.

New X-Men Cyclops Custom Action Figure

It's been a while since I've worked on an action figure. The only one I've really produced was the one of myself, which was just an experiment. Still, I was hoping to make a few others using the skills I've learned from making SuperPat. One of those figures I've been wanting to make was a Cyclops figure. Now I know Cyke has had a lot of figures made of him but I wanted one of Cyclops in a particular costume: that of which he wore for about 3 years when Grant Morrison was writing the X-Men. Well, I finally had the opportunity, so here he is, Cyclops:

Grant Morrison's X-Men was by far my favorite take of the franchise. More than just heroes and villains fighting each other in fight after fight, his run ended up being a commentary on how the X-Men property has been handled by Marvel Comics throughout the years. Cyclops was pretty much the central character in his run, himself a metaphor of the X-Men, afraid to change in a world that doesn't want him to. He's never been allowed to be anything but a superhero. I found an excellent site that analyses Morrison's run right here. I find it fitting that the main villain of his 40+ issues is based on the editors of Marvel Comics.

When ToyBiz released their new X-Men toy line, I was hoping they would release the Scott Summers I desired. After all, they did release a Wolverine based on New X-Men. But instead, they came out with this:

Yup, that's ruby-quartz armor he's wearing, by the way. I guess he wears it in case he shoots himself with his optic blasts. Or perhaps his optic blasts burst out of his nipples (niplic blasts?). In any case, this just won't do. I figured as time goes on and Morrison's plots keep getting retconned by Buffy the Serenity Slayer, the chances of any more figures from New X-Men being released were slim to none. I noticed that with a little work, this could turn into the figure I want. He's tall and has the slim build that Cyclops has, so I started dreaming up a way to turn this fabulous specimen into a leather and kevlar wearing X-Man.

I started by removing his backpack, missile launcher, shoulder pads and those stupid tubes coming out of his body. Then I cut off the X on his chest and put it aside for later. I cut a collar out of toothpaste tube and fitted it on him. Here's where the plumber's epoxy putty comes in. I sculpted his jacket on him, then filled out his arms to make them look like sleeves, and then the elbowpads. I then sculpted the X's on his calves, dremeled his inner thighs a bit and sculpted pants over them, and filled the hole in the side of his head from that stupid tube. Next I formed the belt and put the X I set aside in the center of it. After a bit of sanding, he was ready to paint. I brought out the old Warhammer paints from a forgotten hobby and went to work. I ended up painting several coats, especially on the yellow parts. When that's done, a couple sprays of Dull-Cote and VOILA!

He's not exactly the way I thought he'd turn out. I realize I made the collar too big and he's not as poseable because the arms on this figure don't move out, and I lost articulation in the torso. But as long as he can stand and as long as his hands can reach his visor, I'm happy. He's in scale with the rest of the X-Men too, which is always good. But the best part is that his light up visor still works! And I can still replace the batteries because I sculpted around the battery cover on his back.

Overall I feel content that my collection finally has the figure I desired, even if it wasn't...er...professionally made. I wouldn't be surprised if I try to improve on it later though.

Sure, he'll die in X-Men 3, but Cyclops will live on in the palm of my hand!

Action Pat Needs YOU!

Bring it on!

While sitting on my computer doing my work (at home this time) Action Pat was laying on the table, staring at me. Then I realized, I'm bored with it. Sure, not everyone has an action figure of themselves, and it is quite cool to have one. I impress many a friend and relative with my foray into interactive sculpture. But to me it looks...blah.

I can do a better job. I'm thinking of re-sculpting it, and of course, repainting it. Right now it looks pretty sorry. The paint is rubbing off in places where it looks like I have black fingernails. The upper portion of my pants seem to be skin-tight. And dog-gone it, I need something more than a black t-shirt! I was thinking of putting some sort of logo on the shirt, or design.

So, if you have any suggestions on how I can improve my figure...besides diet and exercise...I'm all ears. Or eyes, in this case. Just one of the many things I need/want to do over spring break.

Snake vs. Patricus

"It is I, Snake. Patricus Dork!"
"A name means nothing on the battlefield, but for you I'll make an exception."

I don't look this intense in real life.