Hey everybody!

I've really enjoyed looking over the work here and at the start of the Summer I decided I should try some customizing. I customized quite a bit with my Joes when I was young but basically haven't done it in almost twenty years. I thought I'd jump in the deep end with this and do some sculpting, add articulation, paint, the whole nine yards! There have been some stumbles here and there, but overall I'm having fun!









Right now, with this first character, I'm thinking of it as a sci-fi, in-the-future character. I still somewhat see it as connected to GIJoe, as I started this project imagining a "B.A.T. fighter." So, I wanted big glove-like hands that would be special devices for battling robots.

I made a 25th style neck post, so he has switchable heads, masked and unmasked. I used a set of newsculpt Duke boots with ankle articulation, so he has tilt ankles. The whole sculpted area for the boots was cut away from the lower leg and reattached as a cut join, so the boots swivel side to side (you can kinda tell in the pic). I find a boot swivel actually allows for more stability in poses than a tilt-ankle. I haven't completed the wrists yet, but they will be on a swivel as well. The rest is standard Joe articulation.

As far as accessories, he has two sets of hands, a sci-fi pistol (still working on adding detail to that), an unknown sci-fi device and a removable scarf. Overall, this figure was inspired by Grunt V3 and Dodger (and Battleforce 2000, in general), The Forgotten One from Jack Kirby's Eternals, Black Getter from Getter Robo... I guess there are other elements in there as well!







This other figure hasn't been quite as complicated. I started with the headsculpt, originally intending to do an updated Ripper with a more exaggerated beard and specs. I decided after I sculpted it that it should just be an original character. I will have him be in the same sci-fi, futuristic universe as the above character. I originally wanted him to be a future Dreadnok or generally bad-guy muscle type, but now I think he should go against type and be a good guy with the above character, kind of along the lines of Taurus from the Renegades (can you tell I like the more outlandish corners of Joe?). The only articulation mod for this guy is that he as a ball joint for the head and neck, so his head can pop off too. As of now, I don't have an alternate head for him...

I still want to work on some details for the first character and will probably make a new smaller scarf to allow for more head movement. I have a jetpack for him, too, but I'm not as sure what I want to do with it. He probably needs a few more tech accessories (some sort of "tricorder" thing). I also always loved the Joes that had animals, so I'll have to create some weird space creature for him before all is said and done... I'd like to paint them both soon, but after all the sculpting and mods, I'm pretty scared to. I have a lot more experience painting than sculpting, so I'll get over my worries soon (I think).

Well, thanks for looking!

Thats some awesome sculpting for your first customs.
Cant wait to see them painted.

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well you do a very nice job sculpting.You will be making some nice figures for sure then.Good work with making the figures more posable too,that's a plus.Will definately keep a eye on you.

VERY nice. A very different look, but neat to see.

And the hair reminds me of Sigma 6

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Glad to hear your having fun....and with results like this, I too would be having fun!!!
The sculpting and modifications are incredible!
I'll check em out in the next phase....Good Work!!

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Very good, I like the second one best with that brutal axe!!!
I'm looking forward to see them painted.

Tim 121RVC

Very fine sculpting here, keep it going!

excellent sculpting work. very nice.

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They are remarkable, very cool, i can't wait to see them finished, super job on sculpting.

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Very good start. Looking forward to seeing them completed.

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great stuff. I think it's as fun to create the characters as it is to create the figure, so I like the originality a ton. as for the funky futuristic animal companions, you should check out some of the stormhawks figs, which are in scale. I know at least one has pet with him that kind of fits this style (I think I might even have one if I take it out of the package), and these figs have been on clearance all over the place.

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Hey they look awesome so far.. a couple of questions...

what sculpt putty do you use?

and the top guys head, what figure was that off?

They have a really manga/sigma looking feel to em so far, but look great.

Thanks everybody for your comments! I hope I can paint them well, as I am pretty happy with the sculpt. I know I want to get better at sculpting but I didn't really think they would turn out at all when I first started, so I'm happy that the sculpt resembles anything really.

I'm not wanting to make them Sigma 6 like, per se, but I definitely am influenced by manga/anime material and did like S6 figs while they lasted.

drindy - I saw some Stormhawks on clearance at TRU and thought about picking one up as it looked like it was about 1/18 scale... They only had one character, though, who didn't have as much cool stuff as some of the others I've seen. Good idea, though!

Malcolm - I have been using Fixit Sculpt from Aves Studio. It's the current recommendation from Jin Saotome, so I figured I would try it. I do have a few tips that have worked for me. I let it sit for at least 45 minutes after I mix it up, because when you first get it going it's extremely sticky. I find it holds hard edges better after it has been sitting for awhile. I also have a set of jeweler's files/rasps that help create sharp edges through sanding after I'm done. Sanding, sanding, sanding... As for the heads on the top character - the head with face and hair is Grunt V5 (or JvsC Grunt). I thinned his face down with sanding and added all the hair through sculpt. The head with the crest and the other geometric sculpt is Snake Eyes V24 (I think it's also a JvsC mold). The only thing that is really left from the Snake Eyes head is I wanted to utilize the goggles as that's getting too tiny for me to sculpt well. All the other bits are sculpted on... I really went pretty crazy with that masked head, but it was central to the character for me. It's based a bit on the design of The Forgotten One from the old Jack Kirby Eternals comic.

Got a few updates to this project :

I figured out a better method for sculpting hands. I was sculpting everything over a little twisted wire frame that made it hard to make smooth fingers. This time I sculpted the fingers separately first, so I could sand them and smooth them out. Then I attached all the fingers to an Apoxie Sculpt base for the hand.

I sculpted a new scarf. I'm not sure about this one either, so I may sculpt a third one.

I'm working on a jetpack for the character. It's not in the pics, unfortunately.

I made a holster for the laser weapon that attaches to the back of the character's belt.

I've painted everything in primer so I can see where additional sculpting/sanding is needed to make things professional. It also helps to see paint rubs. Unfortunately, the Sgt Stalker arms and the Duke lower legs were made from the softer newsculpt plastic and they don't seem to like the primer (it stayed sticky). I took all the primer back off after this pic and sprayed them with Krylon Fusion for plastic. I'm hoping that worked better. I'd like to paint it soon.

Pics :

This project is fantastic. I love your sculpting and I can't wait to see them painted.
Doing RAH anytime soon?

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