Thank you!!

Miniature super-poseable action figures seem to be a new trademark, I suppose. Can't lie; the teeny tiny stuff always appealed to me, even as a little boy.

These little guys are just so much fun to work on, and super-quick to finish. Sorta backlogged with my photography, but I've got a bunch of new pieces I've been making, but not taking photos of, including a couple 4" guys I dig a lot.

The photos are extra special to me because they were shot at my Grandma's house on Thanksgiving, throughout her gardens. I get much of my personality and creativity from her (she was studying to be an art teacher in her home country), plus her house has always had a great artistic vibe. Good for wandering and brain storming...

More PALOOKA to come, possibly in slightly different permutations...

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Couple more I shot at my parents' place yesterday:





...Shot them more to see what they'd look like in some of the more interesting, jungle-y parts of their yard. Many an afternoon was lost here, believe you me.

Later tonight, I'll have an update with a new 4" original piece I love...

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Looks good. Makes me think of Spike that came with Masterpiece Bumblebee (only your exosuit is a bit more formidable than the TF one). Which arms did you use, if you can remember? They look really smooth without losing any of their size, or did you add filler?

Thank you Mark!

I remember seeing the Spike and thinking it was awesome, but not for that price!

Almost the entire figure is a Megabloks CoD Astronaut. I think the torso is from an Assassin's Creed figure, but really any CoD MB figure with minimal chest detail will do. If I had a spare Navy SEAL, I'd use that.

The arms are CoD Astronaut, lightly sanded with Dremel.

The hands are from a Hasbro Indiana Jones figure (came with a playset?), but, really, I just eyeball what looks good with the arms...

Currently working (almost done, actually) on a PALOOKA variant; environment-specific... I AM trying to use a more consistent recipe for the suits, since that was an issue with previous prototypes. It uses almost the exact same parts as Mk 1, with some slight differences.

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Cool, thanks. I was curious because the figures I've tried to smooth out the arms, they wind up looking a bit small, but I hadn't tried with the astronaut arms, just the military figures. I need some smooth arms for my MegaBlok Joe line I'm customizing. I'll look at getting some of the astronauts or, I'm assuming they're the same arms, SEALs.

Well the 4" scale is missing you for sure. But I admit these are all pretty damn cool. And I agree, as a kid the smaller scale would have been awesome. I always wanted my green army men to be articulated. Actually had a Revolutionary War set that was semi-articulated, and I adored it.

Now though, I'm too far invested in 1/18 to entertain switching.

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As promised, here's a new 4" piece I've been building:

CHARLIE: HEAVY DUTY ROBOT MECHANIC



Been wanting to make a custom using 8-D8's noggin, but could never figure out a mechanical body I was ever really pleased with.

A few nights ago, while stumbling upon some cool Wood/3A stuff, I was inspired to make a robot mechanic wearing coveralls. At first I thought, "He's a robot. Why wear clothes?"... because it's cheap protection and is easier (and cheaper) to replace than damaged mechanical parts



The body is a spare 25th Charbroil I had laying around, and that aforementioned 8-D8 head. The backpack is from a 25th Firefly figure, but I still need to acquire some 1:18 scale tools to really complete the effect.



The shots were all taken at my parents' house. My pops is a mechanic, so I made a B-line for his workshop and started straightaway.

No idea what I'll do with Charlie. Made on a lark, but I'm sure he'll work his way into my sci-fi 'verse somewhere...

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Never truly left the scale, since I've been working on 4" figures on & off for the past year, but not showing a whole lot. Been stockpiling figures in many different scales (even 6-7-8") and styles for various personal projects & commissions. Some concepts just weren't/aren't ready, others I'm 100% happy with, but will share them as a part of something much larger soon.

Just out of curiosity, have you picked up any of the recent Mega Construx stuff?

Like you, A LOT of my investment was in 1:18 scale. Really wasn't intending to collect a whole new scale when I picked some up to experiment with and got bit by the bug. What really did it (and still does) is feeling like a kid again customizing. I LOVE that, once I find my groove, I can knock pieces out in about a day & a half and they don't look like crap.

They pop apart & together, so test-fitting WIPs are super-simple.

They're inexpensive, but well-made.

Nobody's doing it. It's the wild wild west out here, and I love it. Nobody's really customizing MB figures the way we're used to seeing... there's lots of room for innovation and mind-blowing design in a scale very few customizers are f___ing with right now. But give it a year or two.

Honestly, if I knew anyone with kids who wanted to get into the hobby, I'd suggest MBs and expand the skill set from there...

It's a blast.

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I really like that mechanic. It has a very 90's Max Headroom or Red Dwarf's Kryten. I dig it.

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I can't explain it, but that Charlie custom is really speaking to me. I think I need to make one.

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These two are awesome. Hey, I have a spare 8-D8...somewhere.

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YETI- ARCTIC OPERATIONS POWER SUIT

Howdy!

As promised, here is my first environment-specific PALOOKA suit, YETI. With some minor differences, it's pretty much exactly the same construction.

Learned a lot of lessons with the first PALOOKA, so this one was much easier. Plus, I love that combo of the seafoam & white.



As the name implies, I see YETI being used specifically in cold weather environments, mountains, etc. BUT, being a power armor, it is built to go almost anywhere and survive most harsh environments.



Took some test shots outside that I'll probably share tomorrow. Got a couple "dramatic" shots when the lighting was perfect...

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Thank you gents!!

Man, Joe & Pluv, you guys humble me so much. To me, there are few honors higher for me than someone I admire wanting to do their take on one of my customs too! Thank you! I'm flattered and I kinda think it's one of the coolest things ever.

Charlie's 100% Charbroil with the circular details Dremeled off and the 8-D8 head.

What I love about Charlie is that he's mass-produced, so they can be equipped for & deployed to a number of different environments and situations.

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keep them coming so unique and awesome!!

Thank you 2DARK2C!

Held off on sharing these little dudes because I didn't know what the reaction was gonna be, but the response I've seen via social media has been very encouraging.

Folks seem to have a soft spot for these PALOOKAS!

Lots more to come

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