Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business LMB Action Figures

One comic-related hobby that I always see examples of online, and think how cool it is, is the whole action figure customization thing. I'm not talking about the sculpting out of whole cloth thing like Jesse321 does (which is just phenomenal, but well beyond anything I could do) but rather taking an existing figure and modifying it to be a new character.

I've been thinking for a while how cool it would be to try to make some figures for some of the Legion World characters, but never really in any serious way. This past weekend, though, I was in a craft supply store with my wife and started looking at the acrylic paints and sculpting clay. I realized how easy it is to find all the things I would need, and how reasonably priced it all is and thought, “You know what... I think I'll give this a go!"

I am not really a sculptor, but what I am is an insane person who loves obsessing over details, so I think I can make a fair attempt at it. I'm going to start with just trying to make a single figure and, if it turns out nicely and I enjoy the process, I'll continue on with some more.

Since I don't really own that many action figures of my own (and the ones I do - Legionnaires - I ain't chopping up) I decided that I should probably use base figures that meet a few parameters:


- They should all be part of the same line. If I wind up liking this project and want to continue, I'd want them to all have the same scale and a similar look and feel.

- There should be a ton of different figures available, and have both human and aliens represented.

- They should be easily obtainable, and reasonably priced.

- They should have limited articulation (I'm sure Spider-man with 84 points of articulation is cool and all, but I think that would be a nightmare to try to take apart)


So with all that in mind, I decided probably the easiest and cheapest group of figures to work with would be Star Wars figures from Hasbro. I hopped on eBay last night and bought my first victim. Let's see if you can guess which Legion Worlder I plan on making first :




I should be getting the figure in about a week, and I'll post pictures throughout the process. I'm really excited; I think this will be a really cool challenge.

This is going to be so cool! You're kind of like a mad genius, Ex.

Bring on Lard Lad!

Let me know which other ones you are looking for...I may have some to part with.

"Lo, There Shall Come a Lard"

Part 1 - Breakdowns


So... guess who showed up at the Nihil house tonight:



I chose this particular figure for my first foray into customization, because the resemblance was already pretty close to the target that I want to achieve:



Even apart from the overall body shape, there are several key details that I think will help me out as a beginner.

The gloves are pretty much fait accompli, as is the general boot height (though I need to reshape them a little). Though the torso needs a lot of work, there are at least general lines that I can take advantage of for building out the midriff and chest. The above pic doesn't show it well, but there is also a fantastic line on the face to guide me with the beard.

So, first things first, off to the kitchen for a little disassembly:



Pliers? Check.

Towel? Check.

Boiling water? Check.

Future Lardy? Chec... wait... what...? You're not putting me in... ahhh! Glug... glug...:



This is to soften up the plastic to remove the head and limbs without breaking them. It's actually very easy.

Convincing Pippin that I'm not making dinner? A little harder:



Remove the figure after about one minute in the water and, working very fast so the plastic doesn't harden:



You just... POP:



Repeat for each of the arms and legs and soon you've got him right where you want him:



The tutorial I'm using says you can also pry apart the torso, but I think... for my first one... it might be easier for me to visualize what I want if I leave it together.


Up next: Slice it up, grind it, sand it down... oh, no!

You know, you are one cool mofo, my friend.

uuuh... I am TOTES into this "breakdown of the process" thing. TOTES.

OH BOY, I can't wait to see the final product !

... and Pippin's further contributions.

"Lo, There Shall Come a Lard"

Part 2: Enter Sandman


So... I've got the guy apart, now what?

Well, before I start building up the bits that I'm missing, I need to take away the bits I don't want.

Since this is my first time trying this, I wanted to start with the easiest of the limbs - the left arm:



The original figure was dressed in a jumpsuit, but I need to somehow make it look more form fitting, like spandex. The main thing I need to get rid of is that pocket, and then I can work on smaller things like the folds.

But first things first, before I start sanding away, I actually have something super-easy I can do... that glove notch that Lardy has on the inside:



Like I said, easy. Two quick slices with an X-acto knife, then just scoop it out. Now... more difficult, that pocket:



For that I used a dremel with a grinding bit. At first I was all gentle with it, afraid I'd take off too much, but once I got the feel for working at such a small scale, I was more confident and just ground that sucker down, trying to get it as near as possible to the level of the upper arm.

Next up, the longest part... the sanding:



I used two different types of sanding approaches. on the right is just sandpaper (100 grit) which I used to actually get rid of the unwanted ridges and stuff, and on the left is a sanding pad which I used to blend to give it a smoother appearance.



Sanding takes forever. At first I was worried that I would kick up all kinds of dust and plastic fumes but - while that may occur with prolonged dremeling - this is soooooo slow going that just sitting with a towel on my lap is more than enough protection.

So, as to not neglect the family, I moved operations to the living room and just idly sanded for a couple hours while watching TV.

Pippin was very interested:



Probably because he thought it was a treat.

In the end though, I got the look I was going for: a softer, more "fleshy" arm that looks as though it's in skin tight fabric as opposed to something more "blousey":



I can probably get a little smoother around the crook of the elbow, but, hey, not too shabby for a first try.

As all the limbs are made from the same type of plastic, I won't post pics for each one. I'll just put up the next update when I have all four done and move on to the torso, which is a harder grade of plastic.


By the way, where's the real Lardy? I feel like he's either going to love that I'm doing this... or want to kill me.

Neat project! I've always wanted to get into action figure customization but have really never had the time. Keep us posted on your progress!

I know I said last night that I wasn't going to post another update until I was done with the limbs, but... eh


You'll have to give me the benefit of the doubt... I just realized that I just spent the last three hours basically rubbing the pants off a tiny fat man... going from something like this:



to this:




I'm really learning a lot about myself.

Amazing stuff Ex, I have done a few things here and there with customizing, but this is much more complex than what I did.

Well, it's too bad the poor fucker will never be as handsome as the real thing!

That's Porkins from Episode IV, isn't it? Never realized they made a fig of him! Must...have...figure!

Seriously, I'm a HUGE Star Wars nut and find it extremely cool that you're turning a SW fig into Lard Lad! I have a pretty fair collection of figs myself, many of them MOC from the time they started making new lines of them around the time the special editions were released. And, of course, I have many, many play-worn classic figs from my misspent youth still.

Can't wait to see how he turns out and to continue seeing the process! (Me, I'd never have the patience to do all that, but I sure admire your work!)

You want the Porkins fig Lardy...PM me your address.

Nah, it's okay, Dev--just having SW fig mania flashbacks! I'm recovering....really.....

I'll find a way...

Just don't ask what happened to his old Leia figure.

Just keep telling yourself "I can hold it..."

"Lo, There Shall Come a Lard"

Part 3: The Unkindest Cut


So I finished sanding down the limbs and wanted to make sure they weren't now too small for the body:



Nope... they look good.

Now it was time to tackle the torso. As I mentioned earlier, the torso is made out of a harder grade of plastic, so the grind and sand approach wasn't going to cut it.

I decided to try a different dremel bit, and try to just slowly shave off what I didn't want.



It worked like a charm.

I shaved the chest. I shaved the back. I shaved parts that no one should ever have to shave.

I took it very slowly to avoid going too deep (as the torso is hollow and I didn't want to accidentally create a hole). In the end, though, I was able to get it nice and smooth and am now left with a very nice base without all the detail from the original figure:



The only problem is that now, after taking off so much of plastic, Lardy looks a little less than... well... lardy.

Ah, ha! That's the next step, though.

It's time to bust out the clay and begin building up this now detail-less base to the goal design. I'm going to start with the boots to get a feel for working with clay, then, when I think I have it down, move on to the torso.


Up next: We can rebuild him!

This is so effin' cool...

Ex's ideas and execution are always marvelous (said with a strange Beverly Hills/Asian type accent.)

Lardy's a super good choice, too.
That's a beautiful drawing of him, full of his usual p&v.

"Lo, There Shall Come a Lard"

Part 4: Feet of Clay


OK, so I've got the guy all stripped down and sanded, and now it's time to begin building him back up to the shape I want him.

For this I'm going to use a clay called Sculpey:



The tutorial I'm using recommended this brand for beginners like myself, because it stays malleable until you cure it. That's good because, as I mentioned at the beginning, since I am decidedly not a sculptor, my approach is going to be "just keep at it until it looks right".

Sculpey comes in many different colors but, since I'm going to be painting the whole thing anyway, I just went with "Transparent," so I can mostly see through it to the lines I left to guide me (for example, the line on top of the boot in the pic above)

For tools, I lucked out that many years ago, Mrs. Nihil took a pottery class and still has her old tools that she's letting me use:



Of these, I actually wound up using only one thing - that metal pick looking thing. Basically, the scale I'm working at is so small, that anything else would just be too awkward (I could probably even just use a toothpick and it work work just as well).

To illustrate this point, tonight I wanted to do a test run (just working on one boot) so this is how much clay I used:



...and I wound up having some left over!


It's a bit of a slow process (for me at least) to both get the lines I want and keep it thin enough that I don't lose the detail already there. My hats off to those that do this all the time, as it required a very detailed eye and a steady hand.

After about an hour or so of etching in the top line and blending down the bottom part with a moist finger, I had something I was comfortable with:



Now it was time to cure it. The package said to bake it in the oven at 275 for 15 minutes for each 1/4 inch.



Well, I had nowhere near 1/4 inch worth of clay (more like a 1/2 millimeter... seriously) so I only kept it in about 3 minutes - watching the whole time, because I was worried about the paint on the boot melting (ergo the parchment paper).

It must have done the trick because, when I pulled it out, it was no longer malleable (I tested it by trying to poke it with the pick and it didn't leave a mark).

To make sure that I had a crisp line on top and that the bottom was blended well enough that there would be no visible drop off, I sanded it with a fine grade of sandpaper (220 grit):



... and, in the end, it wound up looking pretty spiffy and paint ready:




It will probably be a few days before I do another update because, although the other boot should now be a bit easier for me, I think the torso will probably take a bit of time.


Thanks for all the compliments so far!

I'm really enjoying this process and am already thinking, if this turns out well, who I want to try next. (Hint: I've been scouting out some Lobot and Mace Windu figures, looking for that perfect bald head. )

w00t!

This is looking to be a fun project Ex, loving how you are showing us the process

Thanks, deddy... and this is actually a perfect opportunity for the "credit where credit is due" department to put in a word.


As I'm sure you know, but for the benefit of everyone who sees this, the drawing that I'm working from:



was actually drawn by dedman, himself, many moons ago, I assume based on the original drawing:



by Sketch Lad.


A quick update: As I mentioned before, the sculpting part is a little slow going for me, as this is the first time I'm ever trying to do it. I got the second boot finished, and started working on the torso. Hopefully by tomorrow, I'll have the torso in shape (or, rather, out of shape, as the case may be) and be ready to prime it.

OK... mini update, just because I'm really grooving on the way the top half of the torso is turning out.

I finally figured out what that looped clay tool is used for:



Clearly it's for sculpting man-boobs.


I was a little worried that with so much clay in the front now, that it would no longer stand up without tipping over.

What do you say, headless, only half-torso sculpted, future Lardy?



He says... well... nothing. He doesn't have a head. But he does still stand! Whew.

Bottom half tomorrow.