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Edward THE RIDDLER Nigma coming soon!

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  • darklord1967
    Persistent Member
    • Mar 27, 2008
    • 1550

    Edward THE RIDDLER Nigma coming soon!

    Eddie Nashton, AKA Edward Nigma, AKA The Riddler (comic book version) is nearly off my work bench now. I am just wrapping up some of the head sculpt details in his hair now.

    He will wear a removable velvet, royal purple facemask, and he has been built on a 9Art "thin man" super-articulate body (a design kit-bashed from the exquisite Zica "S" type body).

    He will feature a removable kelly green bowler hat and a question mark walking cane accessory made from real polished brass.








    I... am an action figure customizer
  • darklord1967
    Persistent Member
    • Mar 27, 2008
    • 1550

    #2
    My custom Riddler will be carried inside of a special-sized window box (for better visibility of the figure).






    Like other figures of my 9Art Legends of Gotham City Collection, I will make THE RIDDLER available for individual commission with a certificate of authenticity and a large, beautiful 6"x 8.5" Villain file card with stats and bio histories (written by me personally).







    I... am an action figure customizer

    Comment

    • comicmike
      Persistent Member
      • Sep 22, 2009
      • 1824

      #3
      Wow, super duper nice, man!!!! A removable mask concept seems brilliant.

      Comment

      • darklord1967
        Persistent Member
        • Mar 27, 2008
        • 1550

        #4
        Originally posted by comicmike
        A removable mask concept seems brilliant.
        I wish i could take credit for it. The truth is MEGO did it back in 1972 loooooong before I customized my first figure.
        I... am an action figure customizer

        Comment

        • TrekStar
          Trek or Treat
          • Jan 20, 2011
          • 8354

          #5
          I am definitely looking forward to seeing it completed.

          Comment

          • SeattleEd
            SynthoRes Transmigrator
            • Oct 24, 2007
            • 4350

            #6
            Originally posted by darklord1967
            and he has been built on a 9Art "thin man" super-articulate body (a design kit-bashed from the exquisite Zica "S" type body).

            Great to see that someone has done the T1 torso & "S" body hybrid. Was hoping for Zica to release their version as kit. But you did it justice. Might need to tackle that too. If you have a recipe to share, I'm all eyes and ears.

            Comment

            • boss
              Talkative Member
              • Jun 18, 2003
              • 7204

              #7
              He looks great. Do you offer an editor discount? ;-)
              Fresh, not from concentrate.

              Comment

              • darklord1967
                Persistent Member
                • Mar 27, 2008
                • 1550

                #8
                Originally posted by SeattleEd
                Great to see that someone has done the T1 torso & "S" body hybrid. Was hoping for Zica to release their version as kit. But you did it justice. Might need to tackle that too. If you have a recipe to share, I'm all eyes and ears.
                Alrighty then. Ask and it shall be granted.

                The recipie for this body is rather basic, actually. However, it is the construction execution that is VERY complex, I'm afraid.

                A couple of quick things to note first:

                1) My 9Art custom action figures feature torsos with the necks built onto the shoulders. The necks are NOT established as a part of my head sculpts. This is because i build my figures to feature ball jointed heads for increased (rolling) articulation.

                2) These custom figures require a resin head sculpt that at the very least starts out solid. Hollow vinyl heads will not work with my design.

                Okay then. With that said, here goes:

                The Type I MEGO "thin man" torso is "prepped" by shaving down the sides of the torso to give it LESS of a "V" shaped taper and to make the shoulders narrower. The top neck hole area is sanded perfectly flat in anticipation of receiving a permanent neck that will sit straight and flush.

                A neck stub (complete with a head attached to its neck ball joint pin) is cut off of a Jakks Paciffic wrestling figure's torso. I recommend a thin character like Colin Delaney for this body. When the neck is cut off the Jacks Paciffic figure, it will need to be drilled hollow from underneath (with a Dremel tool), and then the bottom cut edge will need to be made as clean and straight as possible (via sandpaper filing) so that it sits perfectly straight and flush on top of the MEGO type I torso. Using superglue, attach this severed neck over the open neck hole of the prepped torso. The excess plastic around the base of the attached neck will have to be carefully ground away with a Dremel rotary tool, and hand sandpapered until the slope between attached Jakks Paciffic neck and the MEGO shoulders is smooth and clean.

                Using an Xacto knife, The character head of the Jackks Paciffic wrestling figure is whittled down and shaved down to a nub "cork" (see attached photo on the first post of this thread). Next, hollow out the solid resin head intended for the custom character with some careful Dremeling. With frequent test fitting, the resin head will eventually get to a point where it will fit nice and tight over the shaved down nub cork of the former Jakks Paciffic wrestling head sculpt.

                The underside of the type I MEGO torso (containing the indentation for the pelvis ball joint) is then carefully cut wide open with a Dremmel Rotary tool. This gives full access to the inside of the hollow torso from underneath.

                Next, the arm hole sockets are slowly and carefully Dremeled open a bit wider to accommodate the larger ball joint and retaining pins of the Zica Type "S" arms. Be careful, though: You don't want to drill the arm pit holes too wide so that they end up too large for the Zica arms ball joints.

                Next, the arms and the attached neck will need to be held PERMANENTLY in place on the torso by stuffing fresh, soft, and wet MILLIPUT modelling putty up inside the torso. The putty needs to be stuffed up as far inside the torso as possible. The putty is water soluble. Wet putty should fully squidge around the Zica arms' retaining pins. The putty should also be forced to go all the way up inside through the torso's original neck hole and up inside the attached Jakks Paciffic hollowed out cavity. This will stabilize the attached neck PERMANENTLY in place onto the torso and not allow it to snap off. The superglue WILL NOT be enough to permanently hold the neck to the torso since the plastic of MEGO torsos does not accept glue particularly well. When the Milliput hardens, it will be heavy and super dense. Very, very tough. Virtually impossible to crack. The arms and neck will be PERMANENTLY married to the torso.

                IMPORTANT NOTE: MILLIPUT Modelling compound sticks to plastics and BINDS to them permanently. So if the Zica arm pins are not properly prepared, they will bond to the Milliput stuffed inside the torso, and the arms will be frozen into position, unable to move. Try to force the arms to move, and the shoulder pins will actually snap off inside the hardened Milliput! Using a Q-tip, the retaining arm pins will need to be lightly coated with some kind of oil (baby oil or lighter fluid will do) to prevent the Milliput from bonding to it when it hardens inside the torso.

                The figure's waist articulation midsection part is kit-bashed from a Zica Yvonne figure. This part holds the ball-jointed T Bar (that links to the legs through the pelvis).

                The two halves of this midsection part will need to be pried apart using a single edge razor. This will permit intact retrieval of the ball-jointed T bar. Next, cut off about one third of the bottom portion of the waist midsection part. Make the cut just above the navel. Be careful to AVOID cutting so much of the waist midsection piece to the point where the internal socket which holds the ball-jointed "T" bar in place is lost . Once the waist midsection's bottom portion is cut, reassemble the T Bar piece back inside of it, EXCEPT WITH THE WAIST MIDSECTION PART INVERTED UPSIDE DOWN (so that the cut off end is now pointing straight up). Super glue the two halves of the waist midsection back together.

                Next, the pelvis section is going to need a makeshift gap sealing "gasket" built into it to ensure a nice tight fit where it meets the waist midsection part. Otherwise, the final figure will end up with a wobbly midsection and will not be able to stand on its own, much less hold poses. I use the pull ring from the spout of a milk carton, superglued around the top inner lip opening of the pelvis piece. Once the pelvis is prepped, i assemble the (upside down) waist articulation piece onto it with the ball jointed T bar going through the pelvis leg openings, and with the legs lastly popped on. This now represents the full lower HALF of the assembled figure (from the feet up to the cut (and upside down) waist midsection articulation piece.)

                This inverted cut end of the waist midsection piece will fit perfectly up inside the opened cavity of the MEGO Type I torso filled with wet, squshy, Milliput Modelling compound. Firmly shove the cut end of the waist midsection part up into the moist Milliput that is packed inside the torso until it squidges out of the tiny spaces of the torso's underside opening. Quickly use a modelling knife or Xacto blade to clean off the excess squeezed modelling compound and to seal off all gaps and spaces around the torso's underside opening.

                Use some strong duct tape to bind the upper and lower halves of the body together until the Milliput modelling compound sets and hardens. Takes about 12 hours.

                The final touches I performed on this "thin man" body at this stage were to shave down and smooth out the thick Zica forearms and wrists so that they appeared appropriately slender with this body. I also used a small bead of Milliput putty to create a crotch bulge on the pelvis so that characters like THE RIDDLER did not appear as a Eunuch when dressed in tights.

                NOT PICTURED: This figure (The Riddler) has had his HANDS replaced with a fist as his right hand (for holding the question mark cane), and a flamboyant "spell hand" as his left hand (for grandly declaring victory over the Dymanic Duo and police with his annoying riddles),

                When all this work is done, between the solid (non hollow) Zica arms legs, and the MEGO type I torso, densely packed inside with hard, heavy Milliput putty, the resulting figure will end up with a nice beefy weight in the collector's hand! The greater weight and density of the figure will provide it with far greater integrity and standing stability than a vintage MEGO or contemporary FTC figure. I do advise a drop of 3M industrial strength adhesive onto the Zica elbows, knees, and ankle joints to tighten them up. The extra tightening in these joints will be essential to support the figure's increased weight and density. Wipe off any excess glue seeping on the outside of the joints with solvent covered rag, otherwise the glue will get on whatever costume the figure is dressed in.

                Presto. Done. Estimated build time (working at a rate of about 12 hours a day): Approximately 3.5 days
                Last edited by darklord1967; Sep 14, '16, 6:29 AM.
                I... am an action figure customizer

                Comment

                • darklord1967
                  Persistent Member
                  • Mar 27, 2008
                  • 1550

                  #9
                  Originally posted by boss
                  He looks great. Do you offer an editor discount? ;-)
                  LOL! Afraid not. I am only able to offer undying gratitude and admiration! I know that sucks. So sorry. LOL!
                  Last edited by darklord1967; Sep 14, '16, 6:30 AM.
                  I... am an action figure customizer

                  Comment

                  • darklord1967
                    Persistent Member
                    • Mar 27, 2008
                    • 1550

                    #10
                    THE RIDDLER: Prince Of Puzzlers 9Art Elite Edition Custom Action Figure (1:9 scale / 7.8" height)




                    Last edited by darklord1967; Jul 25, '17, 2:38 PM.
                    I... am an action figure customizer

                    Comment

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