Gah...Home Improvement / Selling / Chaos Theory

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~

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

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

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)

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?

*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!