[Mordiganne]

The Universe is expanding.... (pics to follow in next post)

With this batch, I'm over 150 figures made since I started posting customs, and I have to say that this batch is one of my favorites. In fact I can easily say it's top 5. I've started looking for interesting low tier characters to create. I found some interesting ones that I wanted to take a shot at making, which comprises this batch. I also realized that when making my Kree force I neglected to leave a normal Captain Marvel in his Kree military uniform. So I picked up a couple more packs to have him and also to finally make a Kree Major. With the Major I think I'm pretty good for my Kree force. Might add a couple EMH inspired Kree spec ops types, but that's still a maybe. I'm still trying to work my way through Spider-Island but I just had to put it aside for a while. I'll go back and read the rest, but it's a real chore to do so right now and I have plenty of other material. Lastly, I had an extra water spout from using Hydro-Man heads for customs and decided I wanted to do something with it like I did with Cannonball. This one, however, took a LOT more work to make it work with the body. The CB torso fit in without any modification to either part, but for my Hydro-Man customs to fit inside, the water spout had to be expanded by a significant degree. The spout is made of some of the hardest plastic I've ever worked with and you'll need something to grind away the inside if you try it. Cutting the plastic with a blade will not work well at all! But, it came out well and now I have a nice water spout for either of my Hydro-Man customs to work with, only have to pop off the legs and the torso rests inside. So, anyway, onto the rest...


Nuke - Now here's a character that I thought I'd never make. Nuke has never been on my radar in any fashion. I was so unfamiliar with the character I didn't know who he was in the Jessica Jones show. I've done some research on him since then and decided that I ultimately wanted a figure of him in the collection as he makes for a good gun toting antagonist. He's just a modded Drax that I sculpted on some hair rather than going with his bald look - although whenever I get another Drax I'll make him an alternate bald head. Other than a quick paint job, all he needed was some detailed face work. I wasn't going to worry about counting out 50 stars on a head this small, but I did want to make sure that I got all 13 stripes. He even has a wild-eyed crazy look which fits the character. I really like the paint job. He's going into my Top Twenty on that alone - 6 spots to go. My Cap rogues - I consider Nuke primarily a Cap villain - are filling out nicely. Still have plenty to go. Need to make some Watchdogs, especially with them getting some new life through Agents of Shield.

Killer Shrike - This is another character that I know nothing about. He just had an interesting costume and I wanted to make it. I did see Killer Shrike in a panel or two as a background character in the Hood's gang, but as for him actually committing acts of villainy, I can't think of any. I didn't realize this when I started on the custom, but the neck post is twisted slightly while the neck ball peg itself is also twisted to the side making the whole assembly look weird and that his neck is broken. I tried to straighten it after the fact, but could only do so much without destroying the figure. Creating his look took a bit of work. I had to cut out plastic for his wrist cuffs which was annoying, especially since the plastic isn't very hard so a couple of them have already started to curl - might have to replace those over time. I did have a lot of fun painting this guy. Kept thinking of the Iowa Hawkeyes while making him due to the color scheme. Another obscure villain added to the fold.

3-D Man - I've said I'm no fan of "Secret Invasion" as a storyline, but it did have some good aspects. One of those is 3D Man, whom I found a fascinating new-to-me character. He was very creatively used in the various books he wove thru and made a lasting impression so I wanted to make one for the collection. Custom wise he came together very easily. Other than finding a good head to use and a little sculpt for his goggles there wasn't much to do other than painting. I did have to use the belt from the Doc Samson in my actual collection, so now I need to buy another one of him to replace the accessory, but I really wanted to finish the custom so taking the belt was the only option. IMO the 3D Man character was one of the few good things to come from the abysmal Secret Invasion story so I'm glad to add him to the collection.

Elsa Bloodstone - I'll start right off by saying I don't know anything about Elsa Bloodstone as a character other than she hunts/kills monsters. I only know of her at all because she's included in the 6" ML A-Force set. And since I'm a fan of making more female figures I decided to make a figure of her in 3.75" scale since Hasbro is unlikely to ever make one. I used a Marauder head for her, which I had to repaint to match the skin tones, with a ponytail from Ares added in. (Opted to go for a realistic ponytail as opposed to the giant one they gave her in the comics as it's ridiculous and would have completely unbalanced the figure.) She's on a Valk base as I envision her being a bigger gal as a monster hunter with a spare Jubilee coat to top off the base look. I sculpted on jacket shoulders to match the arms and added her Bloodstone choker and she's good to go. At some point I'll actually delve into her backstory and see if there's anything interesting in there.

Cyber - Cyber is another one of those awful 90's created characters. Fortunately Marvel had the good sense to off this guy in a plot to give Wolverine back his adamantium when he became a horseman for Apocalypse. A fitting end, I suppose, for a character that never lived up to any sort of villainous potential. There's not much to this guy but I did have to trim a LOT of material off the base figure - because his outfit is so plain - and go back and fill in a lot of spots with sculpt to build him back up again. Time consuming, but not exactly difficult. Having only a couple of colors was a time saver as well, even though painting on silver is an annoyance. I'm not quite sure why I decided to make this guy, but he fits as an obscure character and another 'X' bad guy to add to the evil mutant shelves. At least the number of 90's characters I still want to make is relatively small.

Peregrin - I can't tell you how long I've wanted to make this guy. I first ran across Peregrin in a really old comic that I used to have as a kid. If I could remember what it was I'd track it down. I don't remember much of his power set, but I know from that issue he's a French superhero and he can fly. I assume he can do some other cool shit, too. Construction was very simple with no sculpting and only a two color paint job. The only extra he needed was his distinctive cloak which I made out of vinyl. So, I finally have a Peregrin in my collection and one of my most wanted customs is now ready to join the rest of the heroes on display.

Grey Gargoyle - Another sub tier character that I knew of, but didn't really know. Seeing him on the A:EMH cartoon (however briefly) gave me more exposure to the Grey Gargoyle than all the years of comic reading that I've done. Really he just never showed up all that often. Ever since seeing him on the show I've wanted to make him. Figured now was as good a time as any since I'm working on obscure characters. Other than a lot of gray paint I just had to sculpt the eye mask. Given how I've always understood his powers, he has to touch someone with his bare right hand to turn them to stone, however, he's usually depicted with blue gloves on both hands. So, to get around that I simply made him a swap out right arm in case I ever want to pose him turning someone to stone. The real work on this guy is in the detail. Painting him up like cracked and pitted stone and having it look right takes some doing. I'm undecided if I want to put the lines on his gloves and boots. It's part of his look but I don't really care for them...we'll see. Another fairly obscure character down. Still need a Chemistro and Arnim Zola and I will have the full roster of villains from the EMH version of the Masters of Evil.

Blackout - Blackout is another one from the "never thought I'd make a figure of that character" file. When I'd started this batch it wasn't with a theme, it just ended up that by the time I was finishing up I realized that I'd chosen a bunch of relatively obscure characters to make. Having thought about the siege of Avengers Mansion recently after seeing Hyde on Marvel's Agents of Shield (yes I was that far behind) I decided to make Blackout. Other than cutting out the mask and boot accents he was just a rather annoying paint job. The design itself is fine, it's just the million coats of yellow I have to put on to get a uniform color. With Blackout in the fold, the Masters of Evil team from the siege of Avengers Mansion is nearly complete. Only a couple more, like Mister Hyde, to go.