Gotham's Jeremiah Valeska was made from Mattel's latest Joker & Cal Kestis.
Boil & pop was used to remove Cal’s & the Joker’s heads. Cal’s has a tiny barbell joint within whereas the Jokers was attached to a huge ball hinged in the neck molded as part of the torso. Transplanting Cal’s neck into a new body looked like it’s be a simpler operation & more aesthetically pleasing. So I yanked Cal’s neck out of his torso & reunited it with his head. Removing the the Harlequin of Hate’s neck proved more difficult as it’s molded as part of the torso in hard ABS plastic. Even soaking it in boiling water did little to soften it up, but I eventually succeeded after much slicing. Once I finally cut away the Joker’s neck, I found a hard plastic plug with a cross-shaped depression. Cal’s neck wasn’t going to fit in the newly vacated collar with that in the way. Nothing was easy about this head transplant. The plug was removed & the collar hollowed out further. Cal’s neck had to be sanded down to to fit.
I couldn’t get a full toothy grin for Jeremiah Valeska without massive resculpting, but I did want to put a smile on his face. I carefully pressed my X-Acto blade into the corners of this mouth so he at least has a demented smirk. Instead of leaving his hair parted in the middle, I sliced the left strands & folded them over. The stringy tie insert was pried out & filled in to create a more traditional necktie. The world’s tiniest straight razor was constructed from wood & plastic.
There's lots more photos & painting tips on my blog linked in the signature!