Custom challenge

Am carrying on with the customs, I’ve set myself a challenge of 25 Marvel projects. First task was a cape for Mole Man (I got him cheap on eBay years ago but missing said cape). Done! Now for some Kree. Finally made them blue skinned. Next a bit more obscure, an A:EMH accurate Mar-Vell. I think it just about works but the proportions are very off (i.e. the shoulders are ridiculous in the cartoon). 

Next, I wanted my Hydra troopers to have helmets and match the colour of my previous Baron Strucker custom. Then I did a Madame Hydra to look after said troopers (I added a gun belt later), finally Polaris. I did this costume for her since I had the X-Factor version in Legends (and so I’ve decided not to bother with 90’s Strong Guy since none of the rest of the team are in X-Factor costumes). Next did Blizzard and Darkstar from Northstar and Aurora. Halfway through my target number of Marvel customs!

Cracked on with quite a lot in one go - but had to make a few adjustments to my original plans, heads too small, legs too big. Made the stripes on Groot red, and made Graviton from Skrull Gandolf (think it just about works for a A:EMH version). Worked on Grim Reaper (A:EMH again), Wong, Nebula (bit more a MCU/modern look), Mantis, Sif (“Power Princess? Never heard of her….”) and Sharon Carter (pretty good Emily Van Camp sculpt) simultaneously. I think that’s my Guardians all sorted! This batch involved a fair bit of eye painting and actually pretty happy with how they turned out. Finally made Forge who I think was my most wanted heroic character.

Next Wolfsbane, and, Quake (head doesn’t quite work but best I’ve got at the moment). I put them off for a while as it’s quite hard to nail down their look, went for the W&TXM and A:EMH looks in the end. Rolled straight into a few more customs, Klaw (A:EMH yet again) and Shaman to finally finish Alpha Flight. Ended up changing the head on Grim Reaper to accommodate the hood and changed Mar-Vell into Yon-Rogg (I like the idea that the superior officer has more armour). Every time I go into my parts bin I see the Gamora body and Bossfight head so felt compelled to make a Rescue, which given I didn’t do a couple of planned figures brings it back up to 25. I even found time to sort out Black Widow’s trout pout.

Toys! Got a Clone Wars Ahsoka, I haven’t watched the series yet so not quite sure where I’m at with my personal continuity (I take the original clone wars cartoon as canon). I did watch the CGI film at the cinema though.

Got another Trainbot, I think any excitement I felt at them being announced has been replaced by the irritation of the cost! I’m waiting until they’re all out before deciding how to display them.

I watched a load of Red Dwarf and painted a dinosaur red - Devil Dinosaur to complete my Agents of Smash, and in fact my original list for 25 customs! But why stop there?! Still marching on with the customs, made Frankenstein’s Monster from Solomon Grundy (I know nothing about the character but he looks a bit dead so quite suitable). Ironically enough I had to Frankenstein him together as there were a couple of broken bits. The Howling Commandos! Perfect timing really.

I originally planned to leave ten ideas to do but got on with Ursa Major, M’Baku, Gorgon and Sauron. 

It was quite a step up in the amount of work required with Ursa and M’Baku. That completes my Winter Guard and Inhumans. That’s 40 customs done (including the 12 from last month) and leaves six Marvel customs left to do! Although I find this picture a little troubling….

Back to customising!

Picked up a Lego Batwing set, the design of the wings is simple but effective in creating the shape.

I had decided to pass on the studio series Frumble guys but looking into them, they do look a lot better. I’m not keen on the cartoon look so ordered the red one. Needed something to bump up the cost so scrolled through the Marvel Legends section: hologram Iron Man, various comic Iron Men, MCU Ironheart, Iron Monger,…… you can see the pattern. But then hit upon Phoenix. I was trying to avoid buying duplicates of the same character but given I’ve already broken that rule, Phoenix is a key villain and has a great headsculpt so easy choice.

I realise I’ve not made any progress on the Mortal Kombat customs I’d been working on so to kickstart my creativity again, I thought I’d tackle a couple of easier ones. Firstly, Mr Knight (from Mister Negative), then Poison Ivy and Penguin (with the Batwing I inadvertently seem to be on a Batman kick). Poison Ivy I’m not quite sure about, I might come back to it if I can find a better hairpiece. Penguin is movie style in comic colours.

Also cracked on with Ka-Zar and Shanna, not really too interested in the characters but it’s a good excuse to have a sabre tooth tiger in the collection. I finally feel inspired to do some actual MK customs!

I spent a bit of time looking at my list of Marvel projects (I’m okay having a few MK, a few Batman, a few TF, and a few others), and it’s ridiculous. It has to be honest, contributed to my feelings of stress, like I’ve got loads of things to do but no time to do them. This is crazy since it’s supposed to be fun! Over the last year or so I’ve really managed to get my collection sorted out - got it organised and sold off the bits I don’t want. But, it’s always a work in progress and always a little backlog. It’s the size of the backlog that counts and so I’ve identified some projects which I’m just not going to do, and then some projects which are small - I want to get the list down to a manageable size, say about 20, and so after this round of Mortal Kombat customs I’m going to  tackle some Marvel bits - some of which I could do in an evening.

First batch of Mortal Kombat customs:

Following on from the sabre tooth tiger, I took a trip to the natural history museum recently which inspired me to think about beast wars again and so decided to take the plunge and pick up the last Beast Wars II figure I need - Diver! Frogs are my favourite animals so he seems necessary, I’m not sure if I would have dropped the money for any other animal.

After a bit of initial reluctance, I’ve backed the Giant Man Haslab, it’s bigger than I want, and there are no meaningful extras (Yellowjacket for example), but it looks great and for me, he’s a key Avengers character.

Bombshell turned up, I’m not so keen on the cartoon deco but have to admit, he’s very photogenic. They’re complete and though it pains me a little, they are an improvement (although the consistency helps tremendously). Bring on the Deluxes! Also got Shadow Striker and Bludgeon for some Cyberverse goodness (I’m hoping the Super 7 Bludgeon can be the Marvel version). Shadow Striker has some very strange proportions but given it’s a redeco of a future RID figure I suppose it makes sense. It’s a decent headsculpt at least. I’m enjoying the double hands on the sword possibility with Bludgeon.

I’ve worked out how much I’ve spent in the last year, much much happier compared to the year before that. Lego and Haslabs are still out to get me this year though!

King not cuddly

New Hawkeye turned up and, impressed! Definitely a much better headsculpt and having a bow in a different coloured plastic looks better. The sky-cycle is just there to bump up the price but helps make the shelf display a little more interesting. It has even triggered a second and third wave of purchases as I take a closer look at Ant-Man and Tony Stark……

I also ended up looking at my collection spreadsheet again and ended up buying this fella as well. Hear he might be turning up soon.

Medix also came in, I bought it as I got Rescue Bots Medix for a young relative. The mold looks good in white and the red guns really compliment it. I’m not really sure where it fits into my collection but I’ll hold on to it for a little bit.

I also started thinking about Targetmasters and ended up with this. Whoops.

Nova Prime finally turned up. He looks great, white truck transformers are ace. Just need one more, I hope they don’t clash….

The Grimlock collection keeps on growing, I think this is the cuddliest one yet. (I think the Slag is better though.)

There’s been a couple of things that I’ve thought about, decided it was too expensive so then forgotten about until……

Really want a combiner wars Road Caesar now! And finally to finish up with I got some Studio Series Brawns. He was top of my wish list for Minibot that needed updating (mostly height related), bring on Outback! I suppose we need a new Gears and Windcharger, but Powerglide seems the most pressing to me, and probably Seaspray.