Welcome to Project:Custom

Mass Effect Figure Redo

2011-06-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I am a Mass Effect junkie. I loved both games and have literally spent close to 120 hours on ME2 squeezing every last bit of content out of this ripe universe.

So when I heard that DC Direct was going to be producing figures, I was eager to plop my money down to get my hands on those beauties. However, there were endless delays and it took more than 8 months to finally receive these guys in the mail. Now the majority of the figures were well done and the characters were realized quite well, but as usual with DC Direct, I found that the figure were only about 95% of the way there. It was like DCD went "that's good enough" and pushed them through design without finishing off minor (sometimes major) details that left the maddeningly lacking.

Seriously, they were so close but didn't actually care to see what the N7 logo really looked like? What about Tali's visor? Grunt's paint job (fantastic on the head, nonexistent on the arms)? And the one / two punch of Thane's hunchback and shrunken head?

So close, but the devil's in the details. So, I was inspired to pick up the tools and tweak them to the best of my abilities:

Shepard : One of the best things about ME is the ability to customize the lead character to whatever visual you want to have as your protagonist. In my version, I made Shepard in my likeness, so I did the same with this figure. Simple process to pop off the head and replace him with a new sculpt of yours truly (if you've ever wondered what I would look like in plastic form, this would be it.) Likewise, I had to correct the N7 logo on the chestplate. I mean seriously, did anyone at DCD licensing even look at the source materials? Sigh.

Tali : I have to say I was the most impressed with her likeness, with my only gripe being that they wussed out on her helmet and visor plate something fierce. Sculpt was okay, but it was cast in opaque silver toned plastic and then painted a light lavender. Due to the biological condition of her race Tali's face is never seen beyond fleeting shadows behind her visor. There is a sense of mystery about her and a guarded quality, making her both delicate and tough as nails simultaneously. To simulate this element I recast her head sculpt in clear resin, ensuring that the color of her visor was a deep purple, shrouding the face of the inhabitant inside. Cooler and way more accurate.

Thane : Where to start? This figure was the weakest of the bunch by a mile. He was permanently shaped in this bizarre hunchbacked form that really only lent itself to one pose. Now, this was a good action pose, but I honestly prefer my figures in a more neutral position with enough articulation to place them into dynamic poses as I see fit. Any other pose except for the one "hard coded" into the figure and Thane looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon with a severe case of scoliosis. However, unless I really wanted to do a tear down on the figure and rebuild almost from scratch I would have to make due with what I had to work with. The biggest issue I had with the Thane figure was the wildly disproportionate head. It was waaay to small for the figure, seeming to eschew an anime quality. This figure was the most stylized of them all and seemed to almost come from a completely different figure line. Likewise the sculpt seemed very off to me, almost too thin with the likeness seeming to be more of a cross between Kevin Bacon and Zoolander. Also the coloring, way off from the source material again. So, in the end I sculpted a new head from scratch, applied a more game accurate color scheme and reworked the neck joint so that he would have the ability to actually look UP.

I've included my shots in the slideshow below. I admire the mad skillz of the DCD team, but there always seems to be some minor details that just seem to sideline the efforts and lessen their impact (at least to me ;-)

That being said, it's a shame that this was the first an only wave of the ME figures. I was so anticipating Garrus and even a FemShep, but alas these are not to be. Unless of course, I start really feeling ambitious....Gotta have something to do while I'm waiting for ME3.

Cheers!

This One's for Rick-E!

2011-06-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

Rick-E has shown so much patience in the past waiting for completion of his Ghostbusters commissions that I believe he has transcended to a position of absolute Zen.

Well, the wait is over and it is with both pride, humility and sincere apologies that I present the completed product in the slideshow below. Rick-E, I'll be sending these off in short order and will follow up with the tracking details offline.

Dana is the only piece outstanding as I've had some challenges in making your vision work. I'll also get into the details on that as well.

In the meantime, enjoy the shots and look towards getting these (as well as House's jacket) delivered shortly.

Gah...Home Improvement / Selling / Chaos Theory

2009-05-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it finally came to the point where my wife and I decided to bite the bullet and look for some new digs. A couple of weeks back we thought we had found a place and went crazy starting to make plans. Renovate the current space to maximize the resell value, get a realtor, get our place listed...etc.

Sadly the deal for the new place fell through (a weird scenario if there ever was one, but a tale to be told later), but we had already gotten the wheels in motion, so it was hard to stop. The realtor came in an gave us his opinions about what work might need to be done and we started painting and fixing.

You may be asking yourself at this point "what the hell does this have to do with action figure customizing?"

Well, it seems that my lair / work area / man cave in the space wasn't conducive to making the condo look attractive to new buyers. Basically it looked too geeky and cluttered, and it had to go.

So after about 2 weeks of cleaning, packing and putting stuff into storage, my poor ex-workshop looks plain and stripped of any sense of fanboyish pride. *sniff*

But don't cry for me Argentina, for the new place (wherever it may be) has been mandated to provide a bigger and better space to continue my research! We shall rise again!

Now, where does that put the current projects? The Ghostbusters project is still on track (have no fears Rick-E!) and the M3 revisions will be posted soon. It just means that I have to lug out any equipment on an as needed basis from storage and return it there when done. Infinitely more hassle, but I'm hoping the delayed gratification of the grander space will make up for this momentary pain in the ass.

The workshop here has provided a safe haven for creativity for the last 6 years, and I'm looking forward to setting up shop in my soon-to-be-digs-to-be-named-later.

Cheers,

Excitement in the air! ~Teaser~

2009-04-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Stuff is brewing in the background and I'm in the process of putting together some pretty exciting things for the next few weeks.

I've got a project that encompasses a "toyline that never was" for a client. There will be pictures of this rather ambitious project online soon, and I think it's one of the coolest I've done yet. In fact, I think I'll even enter into the August CustomCon 09 (if they'll have me).

I have also finished off the final version of my long in development M3A figure type. Some of the shortcomings of the previous version have been corrected and the results are solid. The form is more filled out and the articulation is even better than the previous incarnation. In fact, the new head/neck system should prove to be very flexible (in more ways than one).

I've got the inclination to try and have these professionally manufactured, and I'm currently exploring some avenues to having these made. I'm collecting quotes and soliciting various domestic and overseas injection moulding houses to see who can product the best quality while not breaking my modest piggy bank. (If any of our faithful readers has a suggestion of a good, cost effective, and reliable production house, please feel free to drop me a line in the comments section!) I'll post more on the process as it develops.

Keep this spot warm......

Building a Better Dr. Manhattan

2009-03-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

Watchmen. Loved the film, even though I could see the rough edges where valuable story info had been excised. Liked the figures as they truly captured the likenesses of the film counterparts. I thought they were all spectacular, even Ozymandias.

The only quibble i had with the figures is that Dr. Manhattan seemed rather "flat". I know that the translucent version of the figure was a little more dynamic, but not by much. My main problem is that Dr. M in the film had so much going on under the surface, and so much texture that his figure seemed a little monochromatic and dull:

So, as I am wont to do, I took it upon myself to jazz him up a little:

It didn't take much to bring him to the level that I wanted. Again Tim Bruckner's sculpt was awesome (albeit not quite Billy Crudup's face) and all it took was an application of some dark blue metal flake paint to really up the "grittiness" factor of the figure. From there is also redid the eyes to more closely match the film version. Basically he was originally just given white eyes and dark bags, but I added more of the stylized shadow from the film and did the eyes in silver, then added white corneas for effect. From a distance it looks like he just has white eyes, but up close, as in the movie, his eyes show definition.

Pretty pleased with the way this one turned out as he looks more like his filmic counterpart. Check out the gallery below for more detailed shots.

Building a Better Black Canary

2009-03-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

DC Direct just released their Kevin Maguire inspired JLA figures with the first wave consisting of Batman, Ice, G'nort & Black Canary. The Black Canary figure is decked out in her feathered hair 80's crime fighting outfit, and for the most part it's spot on. What made me flabbergasted is her facial sculpt. Here she is straight from the package:

Now I consider Tim Bruckner to be a god when it comes to rendering these sculpts, but this seemed WAY off to me. She looks like the character in the movie Outland whose spacesuit springs a leak and he explodes from decompression. Her head seems to be in danger of popping!

Needless to say I wanted to set this right and came up with a solution. I separated her hair sculpt from the head and proceeded to heat and stretch it so that it framed the face a little more, reducing the bloated effect. From there I glued it into place and touched up the eyes a little for good measure. She now looks like this:

Definitely an improvement, and more like the BC I remember form the 80's. Amazing what a little plastic surgery can do.

Soap Box - (or How I Suck at Blogging)

2009-03-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

If you've come back to the site after my long absence, welcome back. Thank you for your patience and dedication to my work. It is truly appreciated.

If you are a newcomer, thank you for joining! But I must warn you that I am notoriously negligent in updating the site. It doesn't mean that i have lost passion for my craft, but i think I should explain....

It seems as though the information revolution that began with blogs has become ever increasingly faster:

Blogs: Updated monthly or weekly, many people do it daily / hourly

Facebook: Let's people know how you feel RIGHT NOW and how all of your friends are doing at the same time.

Twitter: Let's people know what you are thinking THIS FREAKING SECOND!

Eventually we may all just have chips installed into our frontal lobe that just dictate our random thoughts on to the internet, and that will be it.

I've tried to keep on track with updating Facebook & Twitter and this blog and ultimately I have to ask myself, does anyone really care what I had for breakfast or if I am in a grumpy mood just that second?

Probably not, and I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that people visit Project:Custom for anything other than looking at the work I have completed recently. And it is for that reason that I don't update the site with drivel, but rather only bring it up to speed when I have something of merit to show.

I hope you gentle readers can appreciate that, and that I won't tax your valuable time with trivial musings. But also please don't take the inactivity on this site as an indication of a lack of passion for the art of creating action figures. On the contrary, when i have completed a major project for release, you will be the first to know.

*Steps down off soap box*

Thanks again for your patience and patronage. Please check out the newest offerings that will be posted on the site in the next few days.

Until then, you should know what I had for breakfast today: 4 sticks of Doublemint gum. Breakfast of Champions with Nice Breath.

Cheers.

Testing...testing..is this thing on?

2009-03-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

*Blows dust off of blog*

Wow...almost a year. Wonder if my two fans are still paying attention....or are even alive. (Well, I know my Mom is.)

What have I been doing with my time? Trust me, I've been busy!

Stay tuned and watch the roll out over the next couple of days.

Cheers!

And lo, through the darkness came a posting....

2008-03-22T01:39:00.000-07:00

Howdy everyone!

Normally this is the part where I apologize for being late and that I want to post on a more regular basis...yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, here's the good word from my busy corner of the street:

- Created some wicked awesome new customs! Included in these are a Mego style Beast, The Jackal and a new ToyFare commission of Nova! Click on the links or the pictures below to see their gallery entries!

- Interesting to note that the customs of Beast & The Jackal above were part of the artistic cultural exchange that I have going on with Art Baltazar of Tiny Titans fame (if you haven't bought it yet, you should! Keep my man Art in green!). For the two hand crafted beauties above, he is preparing a widescreen painting of the Justice League to go with my Firestorm!
Can't hardly wait to get it!

Here's a work in progress shot:

- There's a new ToyFare article featuring my customs! Click here to check it out!

- Finally I did some routine site touch ups, making sure that links were working and images were showing up.

Well I'm off, but who knows, you might here from me again very soon!

Or maybe not....

Soon, that is. You'll hear from me again regardless....

I hope!

The Story So Far....

2007-11-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay between posts, but there have been some interesting developments that have got in the way of completing regular posts. Trust me though, some great work has been done and there have been some cool developments. So without further ado:

New Job - One of the more interesting things that has happened as of late was my movement to a new company and new position. I had been dissatisfied with my previous employer and was looking for a change, and this opportunity came at the right time. One of the cooler aspects of this job is that my office is located in THE BAXTER BUILDING:

That's right, I have offices on the third floor of the Marine Building in Vancouver, BC. This building was the Baxter Building in both FF movies and the Daily Planet in Smallville. One of the great things is that the lobby is full of fantastic art deco accents and architecture.

New Action Figure Display - For months I have been planning and designing a complimentary DC display to match the Urban figure display that I had set up a few months ago. Finally the time and funds were available to proceed and I constructed it. Taking it's cue from the old Mego playsets, this display incorporates a live LCD display, LED spot and running lights and a multi-tiered stage in a slick & glossy package. Click on the link above to see the feature on it!

New Customs - Needless to sat there have been some new customs made in the past few months:

Cool story behind the Super Skrull custom. This was a commission from Art Baltazar of Patrick the Wolf Boy and Tiny Titans fame. He was kind enough to create a one of a kind painting for me in exchange for bringing one of his favorite Marvel baddies to life in all of it's Mego style glory. In exchange for this service, Art presented me with his bad ass version of Firestorm in his own electrifying style! Check out the shot below for this prized piece that has a place of honor on my wall, and click on the link above to see The Super Skrull!

New Twisted ToyFare Theatre - There are some new pages from current TTT episodes up! Of special note is the article they did on ToyFare's top 10 custom figures used in TTT. Hmm...I wonder if any of mine made the cut? Click on the link to find out!

Well, that's it for now. I know I'll promise to write again soon and only break your heart, but you know I love you, don't you baby? I'd never hurt you on purpose, please forgive me and let's let bygones be bygones..(Turns on Barry White, and as Art B. would say)...AWWWW YEAH!

She is here!

2007-07-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

It is a woman's prerogative to be fashionably late, and my lady is no exception.

Finally the M3C female Mego style body has been completed.

Click here to go to the M3 page and click on M3C to see her. There's also a Quicktime 360 view!

My lady awaits your review....

SHE IS COMING......

2007-07-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

By this weekend, she will be here.

Years in the making, a solution to many a Mego custom issue.

Stay Tuned.....

Update!

2007-06-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Just throwing up a few pictures to the site that I haven't had a chance to format yet. I'm using a new web widget as a faster way to post quick updates on projects. You can click on any of the objects in the box and it will open the item. Great for photos, and it will play MP3 files using the built in player.

Included are:

- Shots of my Christopher Reeve headsculpt in progress
- Shots of the finished House MD figure
- A full BBC radio drama of the Trial of Superman!

Feel free to post comments!

Thanks,
Vince

What? Another post? Madness!

2007-05-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Just a quick update on some rumblings from the lab:

- New TTT entry for issue 118 can be found here.
- New podcast is up, continuing the great old time radio adventures of the Fantastic Four! Click here for direct access!
- The display project is slowly coming along, with the plastic cutting being only element needing to be finalized. Pictures to follow soon!
- Need spotlighting or track lighting for your figure displays and don't want to learn wiring? I stumbled across these beauties at IKEA and think that they'd make great transported pads and no-heat lighting for figure displays! They also come in multicolored versions! Click here & here to check them out!
- Completing a custom right now of Dr. Gregory House from "House". Check out the images below. I think the likeness of Hugh Laurie is dead on, if I do say so myself. I'll post pictures of the finished figure soon. For a larger view, click on the image below.

If you have any questions or comment, feel free to leave them in the blog or you can contact me directly here!

Later!

New Updates!

2007-04-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

Just a quick recap on the goings on here at Project:Custom

- ToyFare 117 is now on the shelves, and it contains not only Immortus & Spider-Man 2009 in the Twisted ToyFare Theater, but also a Customizing 101 written by yours truly! Click the links to check them out!

- The Mego pattern is up and can be snagged here. Sorry for the delay.

- The great display project is well underway! I wanted to focus on 2 types of displays : an urban setting for the Marvel Legends figures and a JLA space station type for the DC Direct figures.

The urban setting was fulfilled by using a 1994 Spawn Alley playset. This 3 tier playset was perfect as it had a small footprint and was built for the 6" figure scale. I picked this up from eBay for a song and it seems to be the best gritty backdrop I could find. I added a couple of lightposts from the Spider-Man Movie figure dioramas and it came together beautifully if I do say so myself!

It took a few days to pose and place the figures, with my focus on having the entire thing filled with a type of frozen kinetic. Kind of like a George Perez group action cover with action figures.

Click on the pictures below to see the results!

The JLA version is still bein constructed, but I am pretty stoked with the preliminary results, including fiber optic light up control panels and mini LCD panel with cycling images / movies! It will be like a Mego playset from the future!

I managed to snag the components that i was looking for (thanks to all who answered the call!)

I only need one final piece : a DC Direct JSA WildCat action figure! If you have one and want to trade / sell, contact me here and let me know!

Later!

Trade Requests + Latest Updates

2007-03-08T00:17:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody!

Thanks for your patience between updates. Here is the latest news:

TRADE REQUESTS ARE ON!

I am in the process of creating a kick-ass figure diorama display that incorporates some of the coolest ideas I can come up with. I want to capture the feeling of the old Mego playsets but with a modern twist. I'm talking mini LCD screens cycling content, LEDs, fiber optics, THE WORKS. Now there are a few pieces that I need to begin kit bashing the project:

The Art Asylum Deluxe Star Trek Enterprise figures came with some computer consoles that I am dying to get my hands on. They've been out of circulation for some time, and all I am really looking for are the consoles, bases and chairs that were included with them. If need be however, I can take the whole thing. I am looking for the following sets: Mayweather, Reed, T'Pol & Archer.
The next item I am needing is also Trek related. Playmates put out the Star Trek: TNG Bridge Playset around 1994 and I want to score one. The condition doesn't really matter too much as long as the raw panel materials are there. I need it to be as complete as possible.

This could be the opportune time for you to score some custom materials, perhaps even get one of the M3A / B / or C bodies before anyone else! I also have quite an extensive stockpile of Famous Covers figures of all sizes that can go to a loving home! Email me here and let's talk turkey!

Updates!

Added some more files to the TTT section!
New customs added : Immortus & Spider-Man 2099
New classic Mego 1 piece pattern added to the pattern files

Check back soon when I reveal the latest in display stand tech : The Magna-Base!

Later!

Vince

Thomas Callaghan - 1929-2006

2006-09-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

My father passed away on Sept 14 after a long battle with Alzheimer's. If any of you have known someone with this disease, you can understand how heartbreaking and cruel it can be.

My father taught me by example how to be a good father myself, and moreover a good person. He always encouraged me and allowed me to follow my dreams. He will be sorely missed.

Site Updates:

There's a new podcast up, but not one created by me. It's a link to an interview with ToyFare editors Zach Oat and Justin Aclin regarding Twisted ToyFare Theater. The fellows are kind enough to include a shout out to your's truly!
The M3 Figure subsection is now up for viewing. Click here to be directed to it.

***FIGURE SALE***

I'm in the process of clearing out my storage area of surplus figures. I have an overstock of Famous Covers M1, M2 & M3 figures that I am willing to let go at very reasonable prices. Most are just figures only (no costumes) but there are some that are complete. I will be placing thes eon eBay soon, but if someone want to drop me a line I would be more than happy to negotiate a private sale.

Thanks again,

Vince

New Site Look, New Updates, New Sections! WHoo!

2006-06-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Man, there has been a flurry of updates to the site, so there they are in no particular order:

I created a new logo for the Project:Custom site! Let me know what you think!
A new smaller and more dynamic Flash intro has been added to the entrance to the site.
Gallery has been completely revamped and completed. Each entry now has a Flash gallery for photos and a music loop for background. This of course can be turned off.
The Cool Stuff section has been updated with every ToyFare appearance!
The Links section has been updated as well, with dead links removed and some new ones added.
The first P:C podcast is online! Click on the new Podcast section to listen to the inaugural broadcast. There's lots more to come in this section so come back often.
Finally, I'm trying to get the RSS Feeder up and running properly. Feel free to test it out and provide me with any feedback you may have.

There are more improvements to the site that are in the works, and the site should finally be updated within the next month or so.

Additionally, I will finally be moving forward with the release of the M3 body, as well as some crazy new secret innovations from my workbench.

I want to thank everyone for their patience and look forward to receiving feedback on the changes!

Keep watching, and I'll be back soon!

Slow Going

2006-05-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hello all...well, anyone who's listening. I'm in the process of completing the revamps to the gallery section. They'll be off and on for the next couple of days, but once completed, they'll look pretty snazzy!

Check back soon.

New Year - New Digs!

2006-01-28T09:59:00.000-08:00

I've spent a lot of time recently going over the layout of this site and realized that it hasn't had a good overhaul in almost 5 years. I've been patching and adding on here and there and it's lead to quite a twisted mess of links and displays.

So, over the next couple of months I'm gonig to be streamlining the site quite a bit. The first task will be to have a unified gallery section that includes my commissioned work. As this is now the majority of my new work, I want them to be front and center.

In any case, stay tuned and check out things as they develop.

Merry X-mas Everyone!

2005-12-23T23:13:00.000-08:00

What the title says, yo! Check back in the next week for updates and announcements!

Till then, Nog it!

Welcome to the revised P:C site!

2005-12-17T17:08:00.000-08:00

Over the course of the past year I've found it difficult to continuously update my site with information and projects. I used a very clunky system and found that even if I wanted to dash off a little update that it would take hours to complete.

Also I noticed the steady demise of the forum I created for the site as a meeting area for like minded customizers. I myself am not a great forum moderator, much less a member. I personally have found that forums tend to circle round to tedious topics (top ten lists and the like) or they "flame out" and have a mass exodus. Due to this reduced interest in the P:C forums I have closed down that section my site.

I've decided to take a more personal approach to my site and think that the blog format would work the best in this case. I will provide updates and snippets now at a more regular pace, and people can still leave comments for discussion.

The website will eventually change and evolve over the course of the next few months. Nothing drastic, and the one thing you can always rely on is that I will always strive for nothing less than my personal best.

Thanks again!
Vince