This figure is my submission for Robert Atkins’ Cobra Commander custom figure contest that’s being hosted over at Joecustoms.com. I tried to go as all out as I could on this figure. Almost every body part has some kind of modification to it, be it something removed or something new sculpted onto it using “Green Stuff”. I also did a digital painting of the character to put on a cardback mock up.
I'd love to win this contest, not just to own some of Mr. Atkins art, but to have the opportunity to color some of it in Photoshop.
The figure is made from the fallowing parts:
Head: Pursuit of Cobra Viper with a custom outer sculpted helmet.
Torso: Rise of Cobra, Cobra Commander, heavily modified
Arms: Resolute Zartan arms with Pursuit of Cobra, Cobra Commander hands
Upper Legs: ROC Cobra Commander
Lower Legs: Captain America Red Skull
Shoulder Pads: Modified Marvel Universe Dr. Doom knee pads
Holsters and Web Gear: Custom made
Alternate Krake Head: Modified Iron Claw Trooper head cast
Cape: MU Dr. Doom, cut down and modified
Pistols: 2x Marauder Inc. 45 Pistols <- there are none better!
Rifle: ROC Impact Armor Ripcord
Staff: Resolute Cobra Commander
This figure was a lot of fun to work on and I really tried to push myself to try new techniques. This was the first time I’ve done a custom with a custom sculpted, removable helmet (but I glued it down in the end. It’s also the first time I’ve attempted to make my own custom web gear using ribbon. I think both of these came out pretty good for my first shot. The Cobra decal was added using Testors’ Printer Decal sheets. I’ve included a work in progress shot so that you can see what was modified on the figure.
I’m to the point now where I don’t really think a custom is complete unless I’ve created a cardback for it. In this case I also needed to create some painted artwork for the cardback. I did this in Photoshop CS 5.1 and it came out better than I ever could have hoped for. I think this part really makes the whole project come together. I used a different process for the shading on this piece and it made all the difference. Once I had the artwork and the card template I added some shots of the figure and accessories and mocked up what a carded version of the figure would look like. You can read more about the art here: http://troymckie.com/02-portfolio/atkins-cobra-commander-custom-submission/
I'm also using this post to officially open my new website: http://www.troymckie.com, so head over there and check it out!
Let me know what you think about it.
Awesome work - the sculpting is incredible and virtually undetectable (thanks for posting a WIP pic!)