After seeing the Hellboy movie, the past Christmas my mate gifted me with these two books.



Hellboy is the most known character of Mike Mignola, an artist with a very unique style, able to draw with a few irregular lines and large black areas used as shadow. In fact, most of his artworks are just black shadows from where the character come out by magic through some white lines.

There are a lot of kits about Hellboy (licensed and from the garage world), but this time I decided to try with something different, an action figure. Most of people consider these ones just as toys, but sometimes behind the toy package and the poor factory made pre-paint work there are some gems, sculpted by some of the most talented guys out there.

The figure I used for the customization work is an official Mezco Toyz action figure, but not one from the standard production line. It is one of the prototypes used before starting the regular production line, let say a production sample used to check the toy before going for the massive, industrial production. Those kind of prototypes are not the original masters sculpted by the artist, but just the very first copies used to verify the piece.
I picked up this one ("Angry Hellboy" - Hellboy comic series 1, 8" tall) from the sunnyshineup.com web site. Keith is a very professional and communicative guy and his customer service is top notch. On their web site they have a lot of those kind of prototypes, including little gems like this one from the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Here you can find a bit more detailed explanation about those action figures prototypes.

And now with the customization, but to make it clear note that this is just a one-of-kind piece, it is not a sculpt of mine so it will not be a kit, it is just a transformation of an existing, original piece from Mezco Toyz.

The figure is pretty big, 8 inches tall (20 cm, a 200mm statue).







The first step is to disassemble the figure and create the new joints for the new pose. To avoid any kind of trouble, the joints were made using a thick brass rod.





Next all the joints were freezed using the epoxy putty. All the related areas have been resculpted reproducing the original texture.

A good setting is one of the things I most like, so for this one I thought to reproduce a dead creature, based on the following Mignola's artwork.



The most difficult thing is not to sculpt the piece per-se, but trying to exactly reproduce the typical Mignola's style, so crisp and rough at the same time.

Here the almost finished figure. The dead creature still requires some additional work.

Wow!

That is so cool!

oops, double post...

Hi Luca....unusual and huge..!!

The changes to the animation of the figure look cool..and that basework is really sweet...an excellent idea.
It's gonna look very imposing.

Good luck with the finishing steps.

All the best...Roy.

*EDIT*

Looks like we are having the same problems Wendy...the first post fails...I preview and post...and get a 2 for 1 deal..!!...not to worry...maybe Guy would be kind enough to delete this one...

All the best...Roy.

Hey, what a great idea! Now there's a way to expand your collection cheaply and get into some different subject matter.

For instance, just about anything manufactured by McFarlane Toys is fair game for this treatment. The sculpting on all of MacFarlane's stuff is first class and better than just about any military miniatures you can name. Perhaps this can be another "sub-hobby" within an expanding modeling medium??

Cool! :lol:

Mike

Has anyone re-done the McFarlane military figures yet?

Hey Sharpe;

I didn't do one of his military figures, but I did repaint one of his Sports figures (A Frank Mahovolich-hockey player) and it turned out really nice. You are certainly correct about the sculpting being second to none. I'd love to see what some of the people in this forum could do to one of Mcfarlane's military figures.

Beautiful work and inspired also . Bravo

Beautiful work and inspired also . Bravo

I really enjoy your work calvin,
keep up
christos

Glenn I have started on one the weapons are excellent, as is the overall sculpting. Painting on the vinyl is another story perhaps Luca or someone on here could give some tips on this.

Thank you all for looking.

Mike, I cannot agree more on that. I saw some of the figures you are referring to at a local store and they are impressive. There is a sport series where the folds are more real than the real ones, I think the sculptor is a member on the Clubhouse. Most of people think than the bigger the scale, the easier the sculpting, but in my opinion is exactly the opposite, not only for the need to reproduce instead or emulate details, but above all to avoid a final toy look.

Jim, generally all those figures are made using some sort of PVC-like plastic, harder than vinyl but sharing most of features. One component putty does not stick well (as on the vinyl), so it is better to use the epoxies (two components). I am using the Apoxie Sculpt from Aves on this one and it works well.

Regarding the vinyl pieces, I just fill the inside with foil and plug it with the Apoxie. If you can gently sand the vinyl external surface with a very fine abrasive sponge it is even better. About painting, using a rough primer (I use Vallejo or Tamiya) will be enough. If you are using acrilics (not enamels), the primer coat is essential, vinyl cannot be painted directly like for resin.

Thanks Luca I was using enamels over an primer, they were taking ages to dry and feeling tacky, possibly some reaction with the vinyl perhaps? I will try acrylics would there be a problem with thinning them with isopropyl?

Think is is such a great idea. For the price of a Pegaso you could buy 3-4 McFarlane figures. I repainted 3 football players for a few guys at work and it was fun to do, though I'm not a football fan. The material the figures are made of is a little tricky to work with, but you'd be able to do a unique one of a kind type figure with a little elbow grease.~Gary

Yes Gary, those kind of pieces are way cheaper, but to be honest this one was a bit more expensive in regard to the standard ones due to the fact it was one of the prototypes.

Jim, I noticed that Humbrol enamels does not set well over the most soft parts (like the belt). On the opposite the Vallejo primer is a killer. Over the primer I coated the piece with a very thin layer of #986 deck tan (Vallejo), it gives to the piece a very nice tone, really appropriate for every kind of color you will put over it while painting.
I only use distilled water as thinner for the acrilics, alcohol will dissolve the previous coats ending in a mess.

This is the piece once primed, while sculpting the dragon I tried to emulate the rough and irregular style of the Hellboy statue. Hope to post some shots of the repainted piece soon.

Finally finished.

nice work and full of color . I love it

Nice work mate....I like it!!!!