Bronze Meddling Wave 11: Oriental Expediters [pg. 17]

[buttheadsmate]

I .

[elhonez]

[elhonez]

So here we have Wave 10 overall, or Wave 2 of MOKF customs.

Fu Manchu is paired with Shaka Kharn

Shaka was a bit of a beast to do. The character in the comics pulls off an ornate mask to reveal a skeletal head underneath. I QCd the portrait with MVC Taskmaster, but the rest was a challenge. What you're looking at is an NBX "mask" trimmed to size and painted yellow, with animated Abomination ears glued on, as well as a custom decal and some hand-painting of black highlights. It's sitting in front of a Jaga helmet. This was among my first efforts to do bespoke decals for parts that I don't have a template for (the mask and skirt). 

I'm going to do another Fu Manchu soon, but this one was loosely based on his first appearance.

Shadow-Stalker is paired with Sata

For Shadow-Stalker I caved and relented on collecting Go Go Yubaris (I already have 5 for other customs) because it was getting expensive, and because I wasn't sure how I'd pull off this headpiece anyway. I'm 6' 3" with giant meat paws, and I couldn't imagine myself getting all Swiss watchmaker on attempting to shorten two of those chains, so instead I went to a custom Lego armorer on eBay. But these morning stars were really hard plastic, so A) hard to cut and B ) I'm not sure how long this glue will last. But hey, it lasted long enough to be photographed. 

Sata was another monster. Decals, hand-painting, and tiny pieces to glue on. In order to make this not be the most fragile custom I've ever done, I learned how to cut tiny recesses in the parts (like the mask, bracelets and anklets) to better "seat" all those prongs before glueing. As a result, he's actually pretty sturdy. 

Si-Fan Assassin is paired with Satma (aka "Dacoit Assassin")

This nameless Si-Fan from MOKF #25 is the easiest of the bunch, requiring only gray paint for his belt. Satma was likewise pretty straightforward with some decals and light painting of Rufus' hairpiece. Since he fought with a long garrote-like wire, I gave him Nancy's lasso.

Tak (aka "Sumo") is paired with Sir Denis Nayland Smith

Sir Denis is the ostensible heroic anchor of this wave. Not much to say here but that painting that Chameleon smoking jacket was a minor pain in the ass. Tak is another example of bespoke decal, where I did a necklace to cover up King's (Tekken) jaguar collar. I also painted the hair wrap of 1MBC Iron Fist, and cooked up a decal to cover her face that was appropriately Tak-like.

Edited November 30, 2024 by elhonez

[Kotter Comics]

Holy crap those a cool. And wild designs!

Amazing work.

[cylonchaney]

I really like that Fu Manchu. Reminds me of James Hong as Lopan in Big Trouble in Little China. There's a property I'd love to see you take on.

As usual, I don't know the characters. But I'm still in awe of your creations. Well done!

[DSTZach]

Bravo!

[Minimike]

Holy moly these are amazing! Fantastic job😳

[elhonez]

@Kotter Comics I agree, there are some wild designs throughout the MOKF run. It's part of what drew me to this group, so much potential but so many have been "parked" for years.

@cylonchaney It's funny you mention Big Trouble -- I am a huge fan of John Carpenter, and of that film specifically. It does seem like there are echoes of some MOKF designs in the movie. Lo Pan is definitely reminiscent of Fu Manchu.

[elhonez]

I'm slowly gathering parts and working on the next wave, which is quite paint-heavy. I've had to learn to get comfortable with painting, but I still destroy brushes and probably go about things entirely inefficiently. 

The wave features a name everyone will know, and seven that no one will. Such is the run of MOKF. 

Oh, and a monkey. There will be a monkey. So there's that.

[cylonchaney]

H

[elhonez]

Zap! Picture a head here. 💀

Guessed: H

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

[buttheadsmate]

E

[elhonez]

 💀

Guessed: E, H

__ __ __ E __ __ __ __    E __ __ E __ __ __ E __ __

[buttheadsmate]

S

[elhonez]

 💀

Guessed: E, H, S

__ __ __ E __ __ __ __    E __ __ E __ __ __ E __ S

[buttheadsmate]

R

[elhonez]

 💀

Guessed: E, H, R, S

__ R __ E __ __ __ __      E __ __ E __ __ __ E R S

[Padrino]

A

[buttheadsmate]

X

[elhonez]

 💀

Guessed: A, E, H, R, S, X

__ R __ E __ __ A __      E X __ E __ __ __ E R S

[buttheadsmate]

Oriental Expediters .

[elhonez]

Well played!

Yes, this wave is called Oriental Expediters. Basically, the shady characters in that grouping, plus a couple more (although even I didn't see the need to make scrubs like "Sholnik" or "Tarrant"). Two more joined the ranks, because A) we need a proper hero and B ) there was a villain itch that still needed scratching from a previous wave.

(*also: I'm not doing Shockwave since Luke has already done the character justice with an excellent set of decals)

Edited December 11, 2024 by elhonez

[cylonchaney]

I won't know any of the characters. But it never stops me from anticipating your next release. As usual, looking forward to seeing the final set.

[buttheadsmate]

On 12/11/2024 at 8:09 AM, buttheadsmate said:

Oriental Expediters .

Whilst working out these Mindbenders I end up learning about the characters because I obviously check out whether I'm going to be right ......I look forward immensely to this new wave .

[elhonez]

I've reached a bit of an impasse with this set with some difficult-to-find (at reasonable cost) parts. I'm short: one Mirror Trek dagger, and the pelvis/legs from one M.A.X. Special Ops MiniMate. I'll update as these come along, but I'll soon start working on the next set just to keep things moving.

And on the off chance you have any of the above, PM me and we can talk business.