Customs by Rann Rudisill e-mail rann.rudisill@usg.edu

Doc Savage

RECIPE
The Figure:
Since Doc traditionally shows a lot of skin, my first consideration in selecting an appropriate base figure was the torso. I wanted a human-looking chest and back, without the usually functionless but always unsightly "diaphragm joint" currently present in most highly-articulated figures. Broad shoulders were also desirable, and muscular arms with large hands. This led me to choosing an Ultra Max Steel. Although he is a bit shorter than I'd prefer, he is an outstanding base figure overall with a nice feel and weight. The elbows especially have inoffensive "double-joints," contoured well into lines of the arms. Mattel should make these guys easier to locate and obtain, separate from the less articulated, kiddy "Max Steel" toy line.

On the downside, he has "claw hands" that resist being swapped out easily and his head/neck union is at odds with other manufacturers, making head swaps difficult. Most Max Steels come with a molded "wrist communicator" on their left wrists, as well as a "cool" tattoo on his right bicep.

Using an eXacto, I carefully cut longways, down between the index fingers and the rest, to the second joint. The hands are still "clawful", but don't look too bad as long as he's holding something, and at least Doc can hold guns realistically now.

It's really amazing how much Max looks like the pulp version of Doc--good thing, since a headswap was out of the question. (If anyone out there wants to make a Doc Savage head, based on the more familiar paperback covers, I would appreciate it.) I repainted Max's hair a lighter, coppery, golden brown, and changed his eyebrows a bit. The main work was repainting the oversized baby blues that come on Max--way too much like Ken and Barbie! I painted flat white acrylic over them and started from scratch. "Golden flake" eyes, natch.

I carefully removed the molded wristband and tattoo with Dremel and sandpaper, but something more was necessary. I noticed that the chest area still looked a bit "plasticky" due to its shine. I brushed on some clear acrylic dullcote on him from neck to waist. This step ensured more realistic skin texture.

The Outfit:
Doc's head might resemble the pulp version, but I opted for the more recognizable paperback cover costume.

The shirt was a shapeless, Hasbro garment from my junk drawer, with all its oversized buttons and Velcro removed. I cut the "rips" to look realistic and to hold together structurally as a garment, but also to minimize visible body joints. I used a lot of fray check solution to stiffen the edges of the shirt fabric. In places, I stitched the shirt together to provide the right wrinkled look, and reduced the width of the collar by half.

The jodhpurs are from a Dragon Rommel set, and the wide belt is from Dragon, too. The non-opening, belt pouch is from the Dragon RCMP set, perfect for holding Doc's "thimble syringes. Most of these loose pieces can be found via online vendors.

Max has small, flexible feet. I like that, since he can get into almost any boot easily. I tried a set of black Dragon cavalry boots first, but decided that Doc needed brown boots to enhance his "bronzeness." For some reason, these are not easy to come by! I wish Dragon would make some BROWN cavalry boots! Would it kill them? I finally had to buy an entire GIJoe Japanese officer set just for these great boots, featuring painted soles. ( I slipped some new boots on him and gave the set to a friend's young son for a birthday gift.)

Although Doc and his team were not inclined toward violence, Doc did invent his own versatile (to say the least), small-caliber "superfirer" which shot different kinds of "non-lethal bullets." I am actually in the process of cobbling together a "super machine pistol," based on the Jim Steranko illustration, from various different automatic rifles and handguns. Both the round and "ram's horn" magazines will be removable.

The Phantom

RECIPE
The Figure:
This time I was more concerned with the way the figure would fill-out the costume I was planning to use. I tried a Dragon, and contemplated his slimmer contours for a while, but again decided the beefier Ultra Max Steel better matched the muscular and massive Phantom. I also determined that whatever figure I chose would be the Phantom "phorever," as I planned to permanently attach the mask elements and sew the uniform closed up the back.

I gave him the eXacto "trigger-finger" treatment and made two small "rings" from tiny metal studs and attached them to his hands. I tried etching the proper marks on each, but was only able to render blurry images at this scale.

The head required massive work to allow the Phantom mask to fit properly. The removed all of Max's features and hairdo with a Dremel. Since his head is soft, hollow vinyl, I wore several holes through his cranium!

The Outfit:
This is obviously the fantastic, rich purple, Lycra repro Phantom (Captain Action) costume made my Playing Mantis a few years ago, but far more was involved than simply "dressing the dolly."

I owned a vintage Captain Action Phantom as a child; it was one of the more on-model costume sets. This was one instance where Playing Mantis went beyond the call. Here, they succeeded in actually improving the design of the vintage original. I liked the purple part of the repro mask, as it matched the purple of the repro uniform so well (unlike the vintage set, even when it was new), but I saw the need to separate the flesh part of the mask from the purple part to ensure a closer fit. Captain Action masks can make a figure's heads look too large, and I was determined to avoid this. I then decided that I actually preferred the plastic and flesh-tone on the vintage, 60s face-piece better. (The vintage mask was a two-piece mask system, whereas the repro version was consolidated into one piece.) I trimmed and dry-fit the elements, finally gluing the parts to the head shell with epoxy.

To me, the holsters always seemed the focal point of the Phantom's presence. The repro set was a tad off-model, but I thought I could make some necessary improvements. I added a black vinyl loop to hold down the end of his gun belt. The real belt design did not have a visible buckle in front, but I decided to make the best of it. I also fabricated some holster flaps from cardboard and wide vinyl tape, with tiny bits of silver plastic as "fasteners." I wish the gun belt were a bit wider; I may eventually make another, more accurate double holster rig for the Phantom.

I decided against using the toyish repro Phantom boots, and used a set of Dragon German Officer (cavalry) black boots instead. They were a bit long on Max Steel's shorter legs, so I corrected the proportions by gingerly removing about a quarter-inch of vinyl atop each boot until they only reached mid-calf. I like using a little Armor-All on all my displayed vinyl boots and holsters; it gives them a realistic, lasting shine that doesn't attract dust.

The rifle (pewter), spear (metal), and black knife are from online sources. Devil is a Dragon accessory that originally came with a WWII sentry set, via ebay.

Despite the current popularity of the 1/6 scale hobby, appropriately sized, realistic, dynamic horse sculpts are still unavailable. Marx horses seem too small and Dragon's only horse to date is a bit too massive and stiff. As soon as someone makes some decent horses and tack, I'll get a white stallion to complete the Phantom set! I'm also considering carving him a Styrofoam skull throne, as I think I know where to cop some 1/6th scale skulls online!

Dragon Models
The Shadow

RECIPE
The Figure:
Aside from a head transplant (Kent, I believe) and attaching the black, gloved hands, the only customizing of the figure was attaching his "girasol" ring, made from the smallest jeweled stud I could find at the hobby store. I would have preferred bendy, gloved hands--and had a black set to spare--but thought they looked too large for this application.

The Outfit:
Kudos to Sean Huxter for my inspiration! His website details a similar Shadow custom. Mine is Dragon-based and uses different components, but my basic formula is derivative.

The Shadow's costume has many layers, mostly black, so textures and fabrics assume increased importance. I had some pieces in inventory; others were ordered from various online sources. Lamont Cranston wears a modified repro Kato shirt, with the left column of buttons removed, along with tailor-made, billowy, black, dress trousers, that add to the period look of the character, finished off with black Cotswold socks and Dragon dress shoes. (He also has heart-covered boxer shorts...no kidding!)

The hat started life as a black, flocked cowboy hat from the dolly section of the local hobby shop. I easily rebent its shape into a wide-brimmed fedora, and made a black hatband from some ribbon. The Shadow's long, long red scarf is also a (very wide) bit of ribbon, which seemed to look and hang better than prior cloth attempts.

I tried three different trench coats! Each had some good features, and some bad. I rejected coats with an overly synthetic appearance (too shiny). Finally, I settled on the one that came with the recent BBI Assassin figure. It comes with posing wires, although I rarely use them. Since the Assassin coat did not come with a sash belt(!), I fabricated one. Although the belt looks as though it is tied in a knot, the opening is actually hidden behind the figure. As is often the case, I relocated all the coat's buttons to more realistic positions and replaced the factory snaps with smaller, thinner, black versions.

The cape was the only decent element of an otherwise pathetic (Hasbro?) 12-inch Dracula I found on ebay for a fair price. I stitched the collar together, and added some black cords at the neck. The cape's fabric is very shiny like satin, and the rich, red lining is crucial in adding a bit more color to an otherwise monochromatic character! Best of all, the cape has tailored shoulders, which compensate for the droopy shoulders on Dragon figures. It would be easy to run a few wires between the cape's fabric to facilitate posing a windblown look, but I haven't done that (yet).

The diecast 45s are by Twilight Magic, and feature removable clips, working slides and cocking hammers. Frankly, that's a bit more realism than I really need, but you can't beat the crispness of the real metal at this scale. They are pricey, but I may eventually replace the Phantom's guns with diecasts, as well.

KIRBY KLASSIX
The Mighty Thor

RECIPE
The Figure:
No 1/6th scale Thor has ever been produced. I wanted to make such an action figure that looked like it could step out from the pages of a Silver Age, Jack Kirby comic book.

I really thought about using another Ultra Max for this guy. I had even seen a Max wearing a Famous Covers Thor outfit online, which suggested that such a custom was even possible! However, Max lacked the requisite fullness and support around his pelvic area for successfully wearing tightly stretched Lycra (see the pix of my Phantom figure for comparison). So, I used a useless CC Joe from my junk box, which has a more solid torso/hip profile. The slender, CC arms (and hands) simply would not do (although Thor was indeed slimmer in his old Journey Into Mystery days), so I extracted another otherwise worthless Joe (Grunt?) from my junk box, and swapped his weirdly beefy arms for the factory ones. This was challenging and involved cracking open torsos and gluing. The forearms seem abnormally short, but Thor's wristbands help conceal this (these were a tight squeeze getting over those beefy "claws"). Despite another set of clawlike, non-interchangeable hands, I think these arms were a good choice, overall. They have the massive "Popeye" forearms and wide fingers Thor needs, and provide broad shoulders where he had none before the transplant. The new arms even have a well-engineered bicep cut-joint, which the original arms lacked! Some of the molded muscle structure on the new shoulders is more imaginary than anatomical, but could be corrected with considerable sanding, filling and painting. It doesn't bother me that much.

The CC Joe I chose (I believe it was a WWI pilot set I originally bought for its long, leather coat and pilot helmet) had a very round, smooth head. This was critical when I fabricated his winged helmet, which was modeled directly on his vinyl head with Milliput epoxy clay, since I didn't have to prep the cranium at all.

The Outfit:
Collectors may recognize the outfit as the Famous Covers Thor costume. I was amazed, but this 1/8th scale outfit stretches easily over this larger, 1/6th scale body. Albeit, the CC Joe body is a bit puny, at a scant eleven inches tall. It makes it hard to display him with other figures since he's so much shorter than "mere mortals." (In case you're curious, I have tried a few other 1/6th scale customs, based on other FC costumes, with no luck! I think the Thor outfit stretches and fits so
well on a larger figure because of its two-piece design; the other Famous Covers costumes I tried to use were one piece.)

Some parts of FC Thor's uniform were useable with and without modifications: the Lycra pants and vest, the helmet wings, the boots, the belt, the wristbands, and the hammer. That meant I had to make a helmet (and hair) and a cape from scratch!

I built the helmet directly on the vinyl head with epoxy-based Milliput (my clay of choice, as it requires no curing at high temperatures), and hours of shaping with various tiny sanding blocks. The spike on top was sliced from Spawn fodder. I cut the thin shadow line around the helmet with a thin, rotary Dremel blade. The wings were reshaped (reduced) and repainted gloss white, as was the helmet. (Sorry, I can't relate to a "silver" helmet and more than I would prefer a red and "gold" Iron Man.)

I made the hair in such as way as to maintain as much neck motion as possible. I did not want the hair to look too detailed, wavy, or feminine, and opted for the same yellow color used elsewhere rather than trying to make him a realistic blond. The wings were the very last things I attached with epoxy, as they are fragile.

The original ToyBiz cape was typical skimpy, limp, Lycra trash. I had to invent and create another. In fact, the pix show my third attempt. (I almost started on attempt four, contemplating an inch or two more length.) More like a cloth sculpture than the traditional "towel 'round the neck", this bright red cape consists of multi-layered, folded rayon fabric with four embedded posing wires. The cape actually has an inside and an outside, although this is hard to discern. To make the cape look right from all directions at once, it was necessary to capitalize on such illusions. This was great fabric, by the way...stiff with a very small weave, not shiny in any way. The cape's many layers give it the visual mass necessary. The cape is simply tacked to the shoulders of the vest, although it stayed on pretty well by itself.

The boots and belt had to be repainted from their original sick-brown color (I think they were supposed to be "gold"...). The belt was too short to fasten around the larger figure, of course, so I extended the belt in the back with some folded, yellow vinyl tape.

The boots fit the Joe's larger feet initially, although I did eventually whittle down his feet a bit, as I knew they would never leave the boots once I finished. I also decided to use Milliput again to make his boots taller. This also allowed me to extend the "Kirbyesque" yellow & black wrapped pattern. As a result, Thor's feet no longer rotate, but the proportions are far closer to being on-model, and well worth the minor loss of poseability. I finished the black areas with gloss clearcote, the yellow with dull clearcote.

The hammer is perfectly sized for this 1/6th scale thunder god, so you can imagine how wildly out of scale it was with the far smaller Famous Covers figures! I thought about using the FC hammer accessory without customization, as its finish wasn't bad, but I finally determined that the flat gray look appealed more to me. The handle is still a bit off-model, lacking its black and gray bands, but the molded pattern would have been a chore to correct.

About Me
I have been a fan of pop-culture heroes and a collector of Kirby & Ditko comics most of my life. I learned how to draw in first grade by copying the way Jack Kirby rendered reality in the early days of Marvel Comics. I had been the proud owner of well-worn GIJoe and Matt Mason toys as a
kid, but they all went for yard sales while I was attending college. Then one day I was taking a break from grad school, strolling down a toy aisle at the local Target, when I saw a tiny Super Powers Green Lantern swinging from a peg. A month later I bought a little Flash to keep him company. That was the beginning of my adult obsession with superhero action figures of all sizes. (Although it would be nice if action figure manufacturers could get their scales consistent within product lines!)

I began kitbashing before it had the name. So many commercial figures have had their hearts in the right place, but have been off-model to one extent or another. The Captain Action version of Batman had horizontal stripes on his vinyl cape and no gloves, for crying out loud! I recall my utter disappointment that the first ToyBiz Thor had no cape(!), and that compelled my first "customization" with a swatch of red cloth and a paper clip. (As I recall, I also had to reduce the length of the hammer handle and repaint it gray.)

Lately, the surging renaissance of 12-inch figures has been truly astounding and unexpected, and has reawakened my interest in this scale! There are over a dozen, big budget toy companies worldwide making licensed figures, military vehicles, diecast guns, and cool accessories--unimaginable only a decade ago. Most noticeable is the amazing, overall improvement in the sheer quality of the majority of the new, more collector-oriented, 1/6 products. Forget about those old school Hasbro, smock-like shirts with over-size, dolly buttons. New 1/6th scale efforts even feature "microweaved" fabric and tiny, tiny stitching! Although none of these newcomers produce the absolutely "perfect" figure, and have various design flaws, their efforts have left hapless Hasbro and nostalgic GIJoe in a cloud of dust. Then I realized that I might be able to create my "perfect" figures, one piece at a time!

I do not sew (very well, if at all), so I must buy most uniform elements for customs by-the-piece and repurpose them. With the addition of the Internet to the collector's arsenal, one can locate almost any item needed for kitbashing. Many honest and reliable online vendors fill and invaluable role in "parting out" boxed sets into their components: heads, figures, uniforms, boots, helmets, etc. That new Coldstream Guard Dragon set is about $50, but its bearskin hat may be had for a fraction of that. Also, (as with Hasbro, and more recently, Sideshow) some companies produce really sweet accessories of all sorts, but their accompanying base figures are substandard (poorly engineered articulation, mediocre paint ops, bizarre headsculpts, second-rate plastic) compared to Dragon, BBI, Volks, etc., so "buying bits" may be preferable to buying the complete, boxed versions, and having to dispose of components you don't like and are thus unlikely to reuse in future kitbash projects. (Although you never can tell, from my experience...)

Also, do not discount specialty, amateur manufacturers, available online. I have found several wonderful artists who can make custom items that have never been produced (well, at least) commercially. One friend has made a miniature, yet definitive Indiana Jones fedora, and is now working on a 60's TV Green Hornet hat for me. I found another artist who made me a wonderful 1/8th scale set of booties for my custom of Captain America's sidekick, Bucky! One of the "amateur" hobbyists I bought some miniature western gear from years ago has gone "professional" lately, expanding his fantastic western offerings. I like supporting these guys whenever I can. I am rarely disappointed with their craftsmanship.

I have created the "usual" set of 1/6th scale customs, like a Dragon-based Indiana Jones, Captain America & Red Skull, James Bond, Green Hornet & Kato, and many more generic customs, such as Astronaut, WWI Ace, Maestro, Masked Cowboy, Rock Star, Scientist, Spy, Warlord (I like some of these as much if not more than my more recognizable endeavors)...but the four figures featured in this CustomCom are a bit less common, and only one is based on the Dragon base figure!

As it turns out, three are kitbashed Golden Age pulp heroes: Doc Savage, The Phantom, and The Shadow. Doc was a special challenge, since he's never been well presented visually. Remember that terrible Ron Ely movie? The Phantom is based on the repro Playing Mantis suit from a few years ago, but represents a bit more work than simply slipping a figurein a suit. Making The Shadow was essentially a treasure hunt, collecting all the right bits for his period look.

The fourth figure, which required the most time to throw together, is my take on Jack Kirby's vintage representation of The Mighty Thor, the god of thunder and founding member of the Avengers. It was never my intention to attempt a realistic portrait of a Viking. I wanted to kitbash a 3D Jack Kirby drawing of Thor, with the same broad areas of solid, bright, comic book color.

I have two major, ongoing projects. I want to make a 12-inch Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. I've all ready done most of the work on the head, but then there's that sewing thing, and I have definite ideas about the costume. I also enjoy writing a bit, often illustrating my stories with heavily filtered (such that one can no longer tell the figures are toys) and Photoshopped digital "paintings" of my 1/6th guys. Some time ago, I created an idea for a period, nightfighter character with the working name, Mr. Impossible. I've come a long way toward completing my 1/6th scale version of this action hero. Maybe I'll have it finished by next year's CustomCon!