Customs by lastmaximal

[Punisher]

The metal men look amazing! Nice work all around.

[hellpop]

Love the Metal Men. I've been toying with them for a little while, and even put together some chest decals. As I've said before, my favorite thing about seeing your work is that we're often thinking of the same things.

Can I make a few suggestions on Kamandi? If you can get your hands on a Jubilee, her lower half (the crotch, the legs, and the boots) are absolutely perfect for him. Also, depending on how Kirbyish you want to get with him, the wave 8 Invisible Woman hair works really well. I wanted to use that wave's Mr. Fantastic for the head, but mine at least didn't have a hole in his head for hair. I ended up using the first Apollo figure, which I think has a nice Kirby-esque face.

Yeah, I need to post him in my own custom thread....

[MsMarvel fan]

I love that Colossus!

[boyd]

Nice job reusing an old Thor! Also like your White Phoenix and Colossus.

But the standouts in the latest batch of customs are the Metal Men. Nice work picking parts, good choice of faces, and a great job with their metallic paint jobs. And you made Dr. Magnus, so bonus points for that.

[dj87]

the reason I've put the Metal Men off for so long was being worried they'd end up a bit flat or generic as a group, but those are ace... very pleasing to see, good work as usual pal.

[Nessex]

Love, love , LOVE your MetalMen!!!! Very nice work.

And that Colossus is fantastic - he looks like a real licenced product. I'd buy him in a heartbeat.

[lastmaximal]

Whew, it's been a while! Lost track of the Minimate world there for a bit, aside from the occasional custom here and there.

Thanks as always for the kind words. I wasn't expecting the Metal Men to take off the way they did, but that;s part of the charm of those characters. "The Brave and the Bold" really helped me gain a new appreciation for them, as well as for many of the DC cast who'd just started to get my attention back in JLU. Nessex, boyd, bobafett, Punisher, hellpop, glad you like em! Really also appreciate the Kamandi suggestion, hellpop, I've seen your custom and it does capture his Kirby look.

Good to see that the Marvel stuff is also to people's liking. Really glad with how Colossus in particular turned out. Thanks, MsMarvelfan, Nessex, and boyd!

And now, our show.

GREEN LANTERN STEL

Inspired by the DC Direct figure as well as the DCUC C&C figure -- which were generally based on his pretty sweet current portrayal in the comics -- I put together the robotic Green Lantern. Figuring out which parts to use was a bit of a challenge, but I eventually settled on an IM2 War Machine torso and Iron Monger boots, with modified War Machine helmet and gauntlets to round it all out. Also glued on a disc I cut from the shoulder portion of the Endoskeleton chestpiece to serve as his GL logo, then went to town with the Dark Angels Green/Mithril Silver mix and a custom Chaos Black/Mithril Silver mix for the darker parts.

JLU KYLE RAYNER

This was born less out of an affection for both Kyle and JLU and more out of dissatisfaction with an earlier eBay custom I bought. It came with a fused right leg [and waist joint], and was generally less than I'd expected. Well, put paid to that with a quick original face and chest decal and some sculpting on a Punisher hairpiece to give him the tufts of hair his JLU look had. Mixed up a custom shade of blue-green to try and match his colors on the show.

SHRAPNEL

This was a simple idea that had been in the back of my mind forever, and ended up being a good way to reuse "waste" parts. One of the first TPB's I got in my "returning to comics phase" when I started working was Our Worlds At War, where I was introduced to the short-lived [lol] temp Suicide Squad. Shrapnel was one of the characters in it, and as a jumbled mass of scrap metal he seemed like an instantly easy custom to make. Grabbed a bunch of Mark I Iron Man parts to serve as the base along with Endoskeleton hands -- and a STRIPE head, which I ended up just supergluing onto the neck joint. Then I dug up all the cut-up shards I'd trimmed off from other parts for earlier customs -- capes, chest caps, the like -- and superglued everything onto him in varying configurations before giving him a Chaos Black/Mithril Silver coat and Mithril Silver drybrush. Then I used some epoxyclay to make his eyeline slightly different in shape from STRIPE's and painted his eyes.

JLU ANGLE MAN

Fairly easy except for the mask. All-over coat of Dark Angels Green with some Sunburst Yellow lines, original decals for the chest and the face [although the face one got applied a little high, heh]. Had to sculpt some goggle bits onto a modified hornless Daredevil mask before painting it up; at least this time I ended up sanding it a bit better than I did with Evil Star's. The Angler device was clearly something I rustled up on the quick before taking the shot.

DR. LESLIE THOMPKINS

Now my Alfred custom from loosecollector has someone to hang out with [and complain about Bruce to]. Hee. Basic parts mix with a little paint: decal for the chest, a Six skirt painted Scorched Brown, legs painted fleshtone, and the rest is an old labcoat, a Pepper Potts face, X3 Storm hair, and some gray shoes/feet.

WILDCAT II [YOLANDA MONTEZ]

I'd thought of making a blue Wildcat variation like DCUC did, but that seemed to be too simple. Then I saw MsMarvelFan's excellent Hellcat custom, executed with an idea so brilliant in its simplicity, really, and I realized I could take the "dark blue Wildcat" idea up a notch by making the fallen second Wildcat, Yolanda Montez. I cut some Barbara Gordon hair and affixed it to a Wildcat mask. Then an original decal for the chest, a good coat of Regal Blue with Mithril Silver claws, and done.

MISS MARTIAN

Hello, Megan! Hee. Original decals for the chest and face [based on the Young Justice character model], a coat of Enchanted Blue on the Drax boots and X3 Storm cape/gloves and a custom mix of green for the skin. Finally, adding a Rachel Grey skirt and X3 Storm hair made for a sweet M'gann M'orzz.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER [OUTSIDERS]

Wasn't sure what to call this, so this will have to do, heh. I had one last X3 Storm cape lying around plus a C3 Martian Manhunter conehead without a head or body to wear it, so I worked for a bit trying to match the shade of green to paint a new head and make a matching face decal basedon the C3 face. The rest is a Minimate body painted in Regal Blue [with Enchanted Blue boots and Khador Red Base accents] and a botched chest decal. Took some more Endoskeleton shoulder disc things and glued them onto the shoulders to be the clasps, but they were too big so I tore them off -- with the happy accident of leaving much better-sized rings on the cape.

SUPERNOVA

As a big fan of 52 I'd had this one on the back burner forever, but seeing the eBay custom guy put him up for sale drove me to finish it already. Original decals for chest and face [that starburst is a bit of a dickens to design], Enchanted Blue and Khador Red Base accents. Alt Superman cape attached to a trimmed Batman-cape shoulderpiece.

MISTER MIRACLE

I was a bit hesitant to put this up without having made a Big Barda yet, but I'm certain she's going to have to wait a while -- the complexity of the helmet is just beyond my meager sculpting skill range right now. Mostly a painted-over Minimate body in Snot Green, Sunburst Yellow and Khador Red Base with original face and chest decals; the only unique part is a Red Tornado cape. [Oh, and the cape clasp discs are cut from Dr. Doom's.] I'd wanted to get an extra X-Factor Iceman to give him a more accurately-shaped belt but I didn't have the cash, so a cut-down waistpiece/belt had to do.

ADAM STRANGE

This one I'm rather happy with. One day I was staring at a broken Rhino helmet that came in a parts box from an earlier deal, and it hit me that it'd be a great base. Removed what was left of the horn, sanded off the rhino eyes on the sides, sculpted on a central fin, and went to work on the rest of him. A Hawkman chest cap got the pegholes cut form the back and the front trimmed into an x-shape, before I cut down some missiles from the 3.75" Mark V Iron Man's somewhat wtf suitcase launcher and used the ends to serve as rockets. Rather clumsily epoxied them onto the chest cap and then went to town with paint. Turned out a lot cleaner-looking than I'd expected, which was a nice surprise.

B'WANNA BEAST

Fired up on how well Adam Strange had turned out, I turned my attentions to this obscure guy. Having enjoyed his quirky presence in JLU's "This Little Piggy" and having appreciated him more through Kevin Michael Richardson's BATB portrayal, I'd wanted to make a B'wanna Beast forever. What held me back was not exactly having the skill needed to make his mask. As it turns out I still don't have it all down yet, which is why instead of fins separate from the rest of the helmet it looks like bunny ears coming from his face, but it's good enough. The sculpted "fur" boot-tops are only marginally better, heh. The mask base was a Wolverine mask, but the rest of him is fairly standard -- Kraven torso and arms, Elektra sash/skirt, Supergirl legs [they're fleshtone with red boots, I'm sure B'wanna understands].

SHINING KNIGHT

After Adam Strange and B'wanna Beast I felt like I was on a roll with the stuff, so I went on ahead and hacked up a JLU Shining Knight based on antacost's design. It all happened pretty fast -- Yellowjacket base body with marker "scales", cut-down Sentinel helmet and chestpiece, decal chest, blue-costume Angel face, and an Ares sword with a trimmed handle.

JLU VIGILANTE

Really feeling on a roll with all the modifying and whatnot, I figured I couldn't just leave Sir Justin without his TV-viewing buddy. This was another custom I'd had on the backburner from long before, held back by the sad and sore lack of cowboy hat. Eventually I gave up looking for either a JLU Vigilante figure or 'Man With No Name' Minimate, stole my "Wolverine Through the Ages" Canadian Logan's hat and cut the hair off. Epoxied it onto an Ultimate Logan head. Made the bandanna mask from some mysterious cut-down ninja-ish face covering I also found in that old parts box [which I got a few years ago from... Nessex, I think?] and some more epoxyclay. The rest is a Regal Blue-painted upper body, Skull White-painted lower body, and a repainted gun belt and cowboy boots from a different, older Western Minimate. Last detail was a repainted Wonder Woman lasso glued onto his left shoulder to complete the look.

CATMAN

A character I figure I should really be reading more about, this guy had gotten a pretty cool character upgrade in recent years and was calling out to be made. Mostly Radioactive Man arms/gloves and legs, an original decal for the torso [matching that shade of mustard was a pain], Bizarro cape and Wildcat mask with new eyeholes [matching that shade of brown was also a chore].

'OUTSIDERS' INDIGO

Now I'm just a Thunder and a new Katana away from rounding out the Outsiders, I think. After the original face [based on Morrigan] and chest decal she was mostly just a body painted with a mix of Arcane Blue/Enchanted Blue with Chaos Black for the boots and fingerless gloves. A Mary Marvel skirt and Adam Warlock hair rounded out the look.

Edited May 11, 2011 by lastmaximal

[hellpop]

I know I say this every time you post a new batch of customs, but it never fails to amaze me how sympatico we are in our custom choices. For one thing, I just spent yesterday morning making Catman, using much the same formula you did. BTW, if you can get your hands on an X-Force Cannonball, his brown gloves are a little bit closer in color to the brown paint. I know, since I tried both sets of gloves out. :biggrin:

I also made Vigilante a little while ago, and I'd love to know what you used for his bandanna; if you ever remember, let me know. I ended up just cutting a piece of cloth, which worked out pretty well. If you want to use an existing chest for him, Bucky works pretty well.

I'm really interested to see how you did Adam Strange, B'wanna Beast, and Shining Knight, as they are all on my to-do list. I'm planning on making a SA Adam, rather then the modern, though your ingenious use of the Rhino head may make me rethink that. He looks really, really terrific. I've also been trying to puzzle out how to make B'wanna Beast's helmet; I've had a few ideas (mostly modifying either an Ocean Master of SA Mandarin mask), but nothing I'm confident in. He's one of those guys that's really simple, save for one really tricky element. You pulled him off very nicely.

And finally... Stel and Shrapnel are tremendous! You've got a real knack for pulling off those big robot guys.

[boyd]

Another impressive set of customs. Really like your clever reuse of parts, like the Rhino helmet for Adam Strange and everything you did for Stel. And you're reminding me that I need to complete my Supernova design sometime this year.

But your Shrapnel is genius (and not just because I'm a long-time fan of Shrapnel). He's going on my "Borrow-Your-Recipe-To-Make-Someday" list.

[lastmaximal]

Thanks very much for the kind words, guys. Was hoping to get a bit more response from this set, but I'm really pleased at how it turned out either way.

Stel was a neat surprise. One of those things where you put parts together knowing they seem to work, but not re4ally seeing it until it's in color, and then it's awesome.

Hellpop, pm'd you about custom parts talk [i'm glad we still manage to get messages out even though we both seem really swamped!]. That Cannonball tip sounds good, I may look into it And boyd, heh, feel free with regard to Shrapnel -- although scraping spare cut-up parts together is hardly a recipe, it turns out that's exactly how to make him!

Edited May 27, 2011 by lastmaximal

[Bob Harris]

That Shrapnel custom is amazing! I don't know him at all, but google was able to show me some pics. And man, that's crazy! The idea to use "waste parts" does really work on him. Great idea!

[lastmaximal]

Thanks, Bob! It's the kind of thing that [if you're someone familiar with Shrapnel] you wonder why you never thought of before. Great fun to make too.

And now the next set, which has been a bit of a long time coming [well, it sure feels that way] thanks to tons of real-life concerns, some of which have been coming to a head the last few weeks.

ICICLE II

Cameron Mahkent. Wasn't sure what design to go with, but when I was flipping through my DCU Encyclopedia one day I noticed he seemed to have a decent enough costume that would be a bit easy to do. Original face decal based on Movie Loki, original chest decal modified from the Killer Frost design, and an Ice Blue/Skull White mix for his iced-up parts and a Regal Blue/Chaos Black mix for his pants. Dimitri hairpiece to top it all off. Maybe when I get a new pot of Skull White and dig up a Green Goblin hat, I'll put together an Icicle I.

MAXIMA

Since I'd already dipped into the Our Worlds At War lineup, I figured, I may as well make a Maxima, whose look there was fairly easy to replicate. Painted over a Rachel Grey torso, GSXMen Wolverine arms and Battle-Damaged Wonder Woman legs . I think that's Dark Phoenix hair painted over in Khador Red Base, a Scarlet Witch cape, and a Black Queen Jean Grey face that I might replace with something better.

ANIMAL MAN

Bascially parts painted over in a Sunburst Yellow/Blazing Orange mix , with an original chest decal. That's a Rogue jacket and a modified 90s Sabretooth hairpiece, which looks kind of bleh. Not my best sculpt job on the goggles.

SINESTRO CORPS LOW

The afternoon I was working on Shrapnel I figured I'd see about experimenting with making Low's head. As it happens, a crapload of epoxyclay can put together two Minimate heads in more or less the needed shape -- that's the neck socket forming his mouth, there. From there it was just a powerhouse torso, some Ultimate Storm boots, and SM3 Venom hands. Sunburst Yellow and Chaos Black with Mithril Silver belt, with a custom Enchanted Blue/P3 Arcane Blue mix for the skin.

SINESTRO CORPS TEKIK

Then, while looking for reference on Low, I came across the Sinestro Corps profile in Blackest Night #0 and saw this guy. A robot Sinestro Corps guy seemed like the ticket for a visually unique custom to break up the monotony of the uniforms on the dispaly. Nova armor piece and belt, Hammer Drone head with sculpted eyes, IM2 Mark V arms with Titanium Man gauntlets, and the leftover IM2 War Machine torso and legs I had from making Stel.

SINESTRO CORPS AMON SUR

New corps plus turned-bad legacy character with somewhat unique altered-uniform costume? Sounds good. Made a new face decal based on one of the Biff Tannens , used my old Sinestro Corps chest and back decals, and the rest is paint.

SINESTRO CORPS LYSSA DRAK

Still inspired by that Sinestro Corps group profile. A lot of the parts lying around lent themselves to this custom -- Mephisto's sash, Gamora's cape [which needed some trimming] and Ska'ar's hair. The rest is an original face decal, original chest decal, and Ice Blue skin. Now my Sinestro corps looks a good deal less samey than my GLs.

SINESTRO CORPS MURR, THE MELTING MAN

This I came up with while looking through the sweet Secret Files and Origins issue for "Sinestro Corps War". Original face decal, touched up with P3 Wurm Green, Snot Green and Scorpion Green. The rest is, I think, one of the spare Spymasters a local Iron Man collector unloaded on me. Ah well, saved some yellow paint on the cuffs and boots.

SINESTRO CORPS MALLOW

Hee, Mallow. Also got the idea from the "Secret Files" Another original face decal, Mole Man fatsuit, the rest is another Spymaster I think.

GREEN LANTERN HANNU

Looking for reference pictures for one character sure does give you a bunch of ideas for others! This guy was also born of a desire to have a big guy to stand opposite Low. Original face decal, X-Factor Beast powerhouse torso and waistpiece, Thing hands and Ultimate Storm boots.

GREEN LANTERN GRAF TOREN

At least here's another visually-different GL. Original face decal, plus a new chest decal I based on the DCD Hal. Also used a Luke Cage jacket and some leftover Colossus arms and legs.

ISIS

As a '52' fan I'd also wanted to make this for a long time. The leftover parts from a Formal Wear Sand Saref were the base; made new chest and back decals as well as a face decal based on NXM Jean Grey. The rest is Dreadnought gladiator-straps, Gamora hair with sculpted tiara/jewel, and a Rachel Grey skirt.

MURMUR

I'd always sort of thought this guy cool, one of the most Arkham-ish of the Flash Rogues. Original decals for the face, chest and back, a base painted over in black and touched up with Mithril Silver for the straps and zippers and tabs [and Tau Sept Ochre for the leg wraps], and Beyonder hair. Gave him one of the New Goblin daggers too.

JL AMAZO AND JLU AMAZO

Or, as the picture has them positioned, JLU and JL Amazo. Bases painted over in a custom gray mix and Burnished Gold, with the same original decal for the faces and some white touchups.

ELONGATED MAN [PURPLE/WHITE COSTUME

I could use a spare stretch base or two for my Ralphs, I guess, but those can come in down the line. This was a base painted with a Beaten Purple/Skull White mix and Skull White, with an original chest decal and a "We're Ready to Believe You" Ray Stanz head.

QUEEN BEE [ZAZZALA]

One TPB I picked up in my recent backtracking was the Morrison-penned JLA: World War III. That's an era I'd really like to read up on some more, as I didn't get to read through a lot of it the first time. Anyhoo, one of the lead villains there that hasn't been used much elsewhere was Queen Bee, who I recreated here with original face and chest decals [although the compound eyes didn't come across so well at that size], a Dimitri hairpiece with extra sculpt bits, and a Steel spike-gun armband. The leg detailing was the first time I'd used regular Shining Gold, which came out looking neat. Also, her earpieces were made from cutting a cell phone accessory in half, heh.

All this takes me up to ~190 DC customs, with guys like Plasmus [who is more or less finished, but not as good-looking as I'd like just yet], Geo-Force [needs some tweaking], an updated Katana [need the skirt and an Omega Red hairpiece] and Ravager [body's all done, just waiting for one last crucial part to arrive] waiting in the wings. I wonder when I'll get the time to get around to those?

Edited May 28, 2011 by lastmaximal

[blargatron]

Awesome customs as always! keep up the good work.

[boyd]

Another great set. Really like your Isis - great choice on parts there. And your Low and Tekik showcase your inventive re-use of parts.

[lastmaximal]

Thanks, boyd! Tekik's actually missing his jetpack thingy, but I'm happy with how he came out.

Also, thanks for the positive vibes, blargatron. I know once I get the parts we dealt for I'll be able to put together some sweet new work! Thanks in advance for helping those move a step closer to fruition!

Edited June 12, 2011 by lastmaximal

[Psyguy]

I can't get over how many customs you manage to get through and how all of them are such high quality. Excellent work!

[lastmaximal]

Psyguy, that's very high praise indeed! I look up to your work as setting a standard I have to keep reaching for. Sculpting-wise, it's the unreachable dream, which is why I hope you won't tire of me pestering you for sculpt commissions!

Well then. Here we have a personal milestone I didn't realize I'd been building to until I sat down and did the math a bit . Apparently I'm actually *this* close to 200, all in the midst of surviving work given to me over the summer and getting a thesis defense under way. In a way, all of these customs from the very beginning have been partly art therapy for all the stress of the past several months. I intend to keep going, fleshing out the DC Universe end of my Minimate collection -- with a commission or two from our more talented members, hopefully -- and learning. And it would mean a lot if you all keep checking them out!

And now, on with the chlorophyll.

GEO-FORCE

This is my favorite of Geo-Force's admittedly sorta meh costumes. It was a bit tricky to get it looking right though -- I recall starting him shortly after Terra, that far back, and just recently revisited him to put on the finishing touches. Angel hairpiece , Black Panther armbands, decals for the face and torso, and the rest is paint [Citadel Dark Flesh and a Tau Sept Ochre/Blazing Orange blend].

PLASMUS

This I'm not exactly thrilled with, but it's good to have him represented I guess. At his core he's a basic body, a crotch cap, some height-extend 'duck' feet, a marshmallow hairpiece from the GB box set, a Powerhouse torso, and some Thing arms, all covered with a lot of epoxy clay and painted over with a Warlock Purple/Khador Red Base/Skull white mix that approximates pink.

THUNDER [ONE YEAR LATER]

And now my modern Outsiders are more or less complete, although I'd like to finish my modern Katana to round them out. Akuma gauntlets, Whiplash hair, and original decals for the face and torso. I really wish I could figure out how to get the skin tone right when making African-American skintone decals...

THUNDER

I actually sort of prefer this costume for Thunder, as it's the first one I encountered when Arsenal got this iteration of the Outsiders together. Original decals for the face and chest [again with the skin tone problem], Mark V Iron Man gauntlets and boots, TRU Starbuck hair. I need to go back and paint on the belt, heh.

BLACK BAT [CASSANDRA CAIN]

Cass is one of my favorite underrated characters. As soon as I found out Cass was going to be coming back, I dug up some photo ref on her new costume. I saw it was easier to adapt to Minimate form than her first post-Batgirl one, so I wasted no time in getting it together. Original face and chest decals, Nova hair, DCD Batgirl cape, Wildcat arms, Batwoman belt, and paint.

KILLER MOTH

I was looking to add a new Gotham Rogue custom, and I'd always wanted to make a Killer Moth. Then I remembered Mattalica's neat Killer Moth custom, and found a cheapish Dr. Fate on eBay for the helmet. Transplanted the antennae from an Ant-Man helmet [still figuring out how to use the rest of it later on], grabbed a spare Wasp wing bracket/wing set, and got busy with an original chest decal and lots of paint. Ran into my old nemesis -- straight lines -- but he turned out pretty nicely, I think.

ZAURIEL

This was always one of my favorite characters and designs, and it helped that he debuted during the mythology-driven Morrison era of the JLA. This always takes me back to those early days of college backtracking and checking out the comics and Wizard issues of the time at a friend's house. Anyway, this was an interesting parts mix -- a spare modern White Tiger became the body and head, a Frost Giant donated his helmet [which got some epoxyclay to fill out the shape], a Darkseid dress[?] got cut up to be the chestplate, and my AoA Magneto got robbed of his shoulder and leg armor. The wing pack was just the wing sockets from a Hawkman chest piece cut off and glued on to the back, with Hawk wings drybrushed silver and gold. All he's missing now to make him perfect is a Soul Sword from Magik.

RAGMAN

First Shadowpact member done -- I've got ideas for Nightmaster and modern Blue Devil, and will just need parts, but this guy had to go first. I've got some concerns that he might look too similar to my Pied Piper, so I'll keep them far apart on the shelves. This is essentially a Cloak hood and cape, original decals for the chest and face, and lots and lots of paint. Gave him a thin coat of gray after I'd painted all of the patches on his body and limbs in order to make him look really worn.

WARLORD

Off of some neat ideas by hellpop and moc, I thought I'd take a stab at putting a Warlord together once the parts came in. And come in they eventually did, when my LCS finally got their limited stock of Wave 39. A Thor helmet got some white paint, and the Dr. Fate head went underneath it once it came in the mail. Sculpted a skull onto his right shoulder, glued a cut-up Lobo chain onto his shoulder and waist, glued the skull from Lobo's right boot onto his right lower leg, and glued parts from a Frost Giant loincloth piece onto a Gollum loincloth to armor it up. His gauntlet pieces are both from the Frost Giant as well, and his weapons are Gamora's sword and Lobo's hook with some P3 Skorne Red blood.

RAVAGER

Most of her had been done for a while before the last part came in. The body was simple enough, with just original decals for the torso and back being the tough parts and the rest being paint [okay, figuring out that Dreadnought gauntlets would be a good fit took me a while]. The head was a Six head, the boots from a box set Darkseid, and the belt from a Superman, but I had to wait for the Shadowland Iron Fist mask to come in so I could sculpt longer hair onto it and paint it up to complete the look [now I need another mask, heh].

"BATMAN INCORPORATED" BATMAN

Number 200 just had to be a Batman [iirc #100 was already a Superman] -- fortunately I hadn't gotten around to getting this nailed down in full yet! Originally I thought it'd be nice and by-the-numbers, but then I looked at the parts I had on hand, and saw there was quite a bit I could do to make it more than your standard Batman. [sadly this also means I need to start restocking on my C3 parts, Batmen in particular!] The returning Bruce Wayne has a C3 Batman helmet with a Beyonder head underneath, a C3 Batman cape painted black, an original torso decal, a White Tiger belt, glove pieces from box set X-Force Wolverine , legs from Pilot Batman [acetoned off the brown straps and painted the blue piping] and boot pieces from the 2-pack X-Force Wolverine.

Hope you guys like them! Thanks for checking my stuff out every now and then, and do stick around for more in the future!

Edited June 12, 2011 by lastmaximal

[boyd]

Another very impressive set of customs! Standouts include Warlord (he just looks cool), Ravager (great idea to use the Iron Fist mask) and Killer Moth (great job on the helmet). My personal favorites (and ones I may steal the recipes for) include Plasmus and Zauriel - great idea to re-use the Magneto gauntlets.

And congrats for hitting 200 customs!

[dj87]

I do very much like how Wasp's wings look on Killer Moth, didn't think they'd look right at all, and happy to be prove wrong. Have wanted a KM since Mattalica did his.

I also really think a lot of your take on Hannu... I'm torn between doing him 2.5" scale and repainting a marvel wave 37 Thing.

Really enjoy your updates, the spirit of DC mates being kept alive!

[lastmaximal]

Thanks, boyd and bobafett!

Having only faint recollections of how Mattalica did the Killer Moth helmet I always thought it'd be just a repainted Dr. Fate helmet -- until I dug through my parts box and came to terms with how I probably wouldn't be using the Ant-Man helmet complete with antennae for something else anytime soon anyway. So snip went the antennae, and Moth's chapeau is complete!

I'm a little surprised you like Plasmus; I feel I could've done a better job sculpting that face but my uneven mix of epoxyclay had cured earlier in some places than others [with the face being among the first]. Then again, he's kind of an amorphous, overly-lined design to begin with, sort of, so I guess he's always going to look a bit weird. I'm just glad I found a decent use for that marshmallow cap!

I'm not sure when it hit me that the new Iron Fist mask was even a new mold -- having not been able to check out good pictures of the wave when it was announced, I just assumed hey reused the old one. I think it was when I saw a spare one up for auction that I realized that the nice new shape and addition of under-mask hair meant it would work for Ravager. The addition of epoxyclay long hair was something I felt would make it more feminine and 'hers'.

As for Hannu... I was on the verge of repainting up a TRU exclusive Thing [wave 8?], whose boots and powerhouse torso seemed like a great fit and really made him a big guy. I eventually settled on the recipe I used because I didn't have a spare TRU Thing; I also felt a wave 37 Thing would be too similar to, well, Thing, given the upper arm shape and crauqelure -- you can see I tried to do a different cracking pattern on Hannu. That's just me though

One thing I realized is I might keep it at the 2-2.5" scale in the future even for the DC stuff. This is partly because of the lack of available 2.5" fodder here, and partly because of the lack of parts I can use to flesh out a 2.5" custom. This means that Bane and STRIPE [and my earlier Rocket Red custom] will probably tower over even The General, when I get around to making him. Eventually when I get the nerve up, though, I'd like my Doomsday to be 2.5". Time will tell, I guess?

[lastmaximal]

Still life!

After a very hectic last few months I've been able to get only a sporadic handful of customs put together. Part of this is the schedule, part of this is a lack of available needed parts [i've since gotten help from awesome people like hellpop and blargatron, and others on eBay], and part of this is actually getting burned out a bit on custom making. I've since then rediscovered my interest in it, and am proceeding somewhat cautiously toward another batch. There's still a lot of DC Universe left to work on, and that's not even counting DcnU [which I don't, at this stage at least].

And here we go.

"THE ROAD HOME": 'INSIDER' BATMAN

This took some doing. Inspired by a custom I saw here, I worked for a bit trying to look for a spare IM2 Mark V Iron Man [never anything around when you need it, yes?], whose arms, legs and boots I used to help build his cool segmented-armor costume. The rest is a Spymaster belt [or a White Tiger belt painted yellow, I forget], original decals for the face and torso, and HALO Spartan gloves from a single-packed HALO Minimate I saw at a toy convention.

MAGOG

Lucked out and got a spare movie Loki at some point, although I ran out of luck with the hot water/cold water trick when I tried to bend the horns -- the damn things kept either straightening back up eventually or just not going the right way. Eventually I just cut some spaces in them and filled the rest in with epoxyclay. Sigh, could've gone better. The rest is a reversed Cable face decal, a standard Cable torso decal, and actual SDCC Cable parts

painted up [fitting, since he was created as a dig at Cable-type 90s characters]. The leg pads are Lady Loki's, the belt is a standard pouch belt with a holster glued to the front, and the staff is a modified Lego Indian Chief's staff. [EDIT: Forgot to mention I cut up a Hand Ninja shoulder piece and added a trimmed-down GI Joe bullet belt strip to it in order to form his weird 90s shoulderpad.

]

ROXY ROCKET

I'd wanted to make a Roxy for some time, considering she was a character I first encountered in the fondly-remembered Animated Series -- but I had no idea how to make the goggles. After rereading some recent [steph] Batgirl issues, I saw the one story where she, Dr. Phosphorous [see below] and Riot figured in a big fight that required the involvement of Batman and Robin [Dick and Damian]. This reminded me of the character around the same time I hit upon the idea of modifying a SHIELD Agent helmet [adding DCD Batgirl hair to the back as I did with the Wildcat mask for Wildcat II] to make a "goggles up" look for Roxy. With that main part out of the way, I just made a face decal and used a cut-down Ultimate Sabretooth jacket, an Ultimate Wolverine belt, and Rachel Summers gloves.

KATANA

After the previous, rather pedestrian Katana I made, I wanted something that reflected her then-current Outsiders look better. Managed to do that with original face and chest decals, the katana, taped hands and boots from a Hand Ninja, and a reversed IM2 Mark V chest piece that actually worked pretty well. Oh, and trimmed X-Force Warpath hair too.

"YOUNG JUSTICE" AQUALAD: KALDUR'AHM

While it's proceeding somewhat slowly on its course, I rather like the new YJ show, not least for the cool new designs we've been given. Aqualad is basically a painted-over Minimate with face and chest decals and painted IM1 Jim Rhodes hair. His "water weapons" are two Gamora swords , and his backpack... well, I'll get around to it I guess.

JLU GENERAL WADE EILING

Now my Amanda Waller has someone to conspire with. Original face decal based on a screencap, sculpted hair, and sculpted rank bars on a Tony Stark suit. Custom camo-green mix, same as what I used for the next figure.

THE GENERAL

This was a custom I'd always wanted to make, for some reason. Originally projected to be made with an Ultimate Hulk, this eventually took on a new form when I saw the Wave 41 Hulk body. I decided to wait for that to show up, and then went to town with a custom brown-gray mix and the same custom camo-green mix from General Eiling's uniform.

PARASITE

Very happy with how the color on this turned out. Ultimate Hulk powerhouse torso, SM3 Venom claws [thanks blargatron!] and comic Abomination two-toed feet on a regular body, with modified versions of TENIME's decals for the face and chest. Custom paint mix [Citadel Warlock Purple and P3 Beaten Purple] to try and match the DCSH figure.

DR. PHOSPHOROUS

Sorta obscure, neat design. Always wanted to make one, decided to go through with it already after reading the aforementioned Batgirl storyline. Got a spare SDCC Sunspot for this express purpose, painted on some bones for the arms, and Goo Gone'd off the face and chest to make room for original decals. Pants are X3 Beast's I think. Generally a simple but effective recipe.

HOUNGAN

Another simple but cool design, this stuck in my head after reading an Infinite Crisis issue to research an earlier custom [Plasmus]. Apparently this isn't a look he's used a lot, but I found some visual reference in a copy of a JSA story that had them getting taken down by Huntress and Power Girl. It was fairly simple, with most of it being s standard Minimate with some Capt. Mar-vell armbands and DA Marvel Boy's belt. It's also a neat way to reuse the Lady Loki coat, which I never expected I'd be able to use in a way that worked so well.

CRIMSON AVENGER

Horrible sculpting ahoy. This puts me much closer to completing the cast of the JLU episode "Patriot Act" [i'm only a Speedy away, I guess -- haven't decided which look of his to make]. This was born of a Ghostbusters We're Ready to Believe You" coat with some sculpting that could've been refined better, a The Spirit hat, and a face decal based on DCD Hal Jordan.

CAPTAIN BOOMERANG I: DIGGER HARKNESS

This custom favors most heavily Digger Harkness' circa-Brightest Day look [also seen in the recent DCUC figure]. Scarf is cut down from a Formal Wear Sand Saref, coat is Multiple Man's, watch cap is sculpted onto cut-down C3 Nightwing hair and the boomerang is from a Batman figure. Face is an original decal based on his JLU appearance.

HEATWAVE

This was another neat idea that was on the shelf for a while until some neat parts came in. I'd gotten the Steel boots a long time ago, and the SHIELD Agent suit had long had the collar sanded off and sculpted over, but getting the gun and goggles from a movie Hydra Soldier was what helped me complete this custom. I may need to get a new Hydra Soldier to replace the original now, as I found a [surprisingly] appropriate use for his base body as well.

CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN: PROF, RED, ACE, ROCKY

I didn't have a lot of background on these guys, mostly becoming aware of them thanks to the Brave and the Bold comic arc "The Lords of Luck" and their appearance/s on the BATB cartoon. All the faces are decals based on existing Minimate faces or combinations thereof [some Reed Richards, some Biff Tannen I think, some movie Loki, some Guy Gardner], and everything else is paint [mainly some Skull White and a lightened Beaten Purple] and some reused/repainted hairpieces from Wave 41 Stark, Yellowjacket, Shocker and Wildcat.

Edited October 3, 2011 by lastmaximal

[hellpop]

Wow, that Magog looks great, which is funny, since Magog kinda sucks . Nice work across the board, and I will be stealing that Heatwave custom. Glad to see you back; I always enjoy your work and find it stirs my own creative juices!

[boyd]

Another good set of customs, but your Heatwave is the most outstanding. Great choices on parts!

Your General is also great, but without a hairpiece, the head looks so small compared to the rest of the body. Poor pinhead General...

[luke314pi]

I am unfamiliar with a lot of these characters, but the quality of the work is excellent.

[karamazov80]

Very awesome. Makes me a sad panda that the DC Minis are no more, because this demonstrates there were so many neat, colorful characters out there yet to be made. My favorites are probably the Challengers of the Unknown (they look almost like official Minis IMO), Captain Boomerang, and Parasite. I think the Magog is masterful, though like hellpop, I just can't stand the character