13" Custom INVADERS and LIBERTY LEGION

[warlock664]

Famous Covers customs

Thanks everyone for the kind words!
As requested, I dug out my old Famous Covers customs from 8-12 years ago and took some pics. Keep in mind, I was learning as I went, so earlier efforts are lacking. Also, the base figures for Famous Covers are more stylized/cartoony than DC Direct's 13" line, the heads in particular seem too small for the bodies in many cases. Since I hadn't/haven't mastered sculpting to a point I'm comfortable with, I've almost always just modified existing heads rather than sculpt new ones. Here we go:

Thing/Human Torch - These were the first 2 I did, out of a desire to complete the Fantastic Four (ToyBiz released only Reed and Sue). The Thing's head was an early attempt at sculpting (and a fail IMO), also his body is practically un-poseable due to me gluing the "rocks" on over a black bodysuit. Torch came out somewhat better:



Ben/Johnny with ToyBiz's Reed and Sue:



Black Panther - I had a tough time deciding whether to do him in black, or dark navy blue (as he was printed in JUNGLE ACTION in the 70s). Finally decided to go with black:



Power Man/Iron Fist - Not happy with Luke's head or shirt, and the goofy open-mouth look on Danny gives you an idea of how stylized and cartoony these ToyBiz heads were:



Black Knight - overall I was satisfied with him, maybe a bit sloppy around the helmet:

[warlock664]

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Ghost Rider - ugh, what can I say, that skull head is terrible! Way too big and lacking in detail. At his feet, however, is a replacement head I picked up a while back which will eventually replace the current huge noggin. Satisfied with the costuming for the most part:



Son of Satan - now here's one you'll never see for sale at your local Toys-R-Us! The boots I used were from a FC Wolverine, they're a bit too big but otherwise one of my better efforts I feel:



Swordsman - I wanted to complete an Avengers/Defender War lineup for both teams, so Swordsman was essential :



Mantis - definitely on my Top 5 Least-Favorite Avengers of All Time list (with Moondragon and Dr Druid among others), but necessary for my Englehart-era Avengers team:



Valkyrie - since I didn't have an extra blonde-haired female head, I actually rooted the hair in this head myself after reading a tutorial I found online. I made her head of hair way too thick (and long), and I've never taken the time to cut it or try to style it in braids properly. Also, the breast plates weren't executed to my satisfaction:

[warlock664]

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Yellowjacket - Not bad, I had a tough time with the "wings" and goggles, and the suit fits a bit tight:



Goliath - I had picked up a couple of 1/3 scale (24") military figures on closeout at Toys-R-Us with intentions of making a scale-accurate Giant-Man or Goliath. After mulling the possibilities I decided to do the costume circa AVENGERS #55 and thereabouts. I still have a couple of unused figures that I hope to make into Giant-Man and Clint Barton Goliath some day. Shown with Yellowjacket to demonstrate scale :



And Goliath with Yellowjacket and my 13" Captain America, again to show the differences in scale:



Dr Strange - 2 versions, both the late-60s "superhero" costume and the more classic look. Those capes were a bear to make, all the detail around the edges was done with a black Sharpie, and there is wire hemmed in to make it poseable. The classic head is Tony Stark from ToyBiz's Iron Man with white temples added:



Clea with classic Dr Strange - Clea's head is a re-painted Storm head which I am not entirely happy with. The circle designs on the leggings were again executed with a black Sharpie:

[warlock664]

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The Squadron Sinister - the Avengers needed adversaries, and who better than the Squadron (well, maybe the Masters of Evil!) ? I still need to find a prism for Doc Spectrum:



Nighthawk - both versions. After doing his villain costume, I needed to add his Defenders suit:



Moon Knight - just about every custom I've seen of this character has a black mask under the hood. I always assumed is was white, but pictured in shadow under the hood, so I made it white. The cape has wire in the hem, and spreads out to approximate a crescent shape:



The Lizard - the head, hands and tail are from a ToyBiz 10" Lizard, re-painted and transferred to a Famous Covers body. Instead of the traditional purple pants, I went with tan for some reason:

[warlock664]

And finally, let's get cosmic!

Thanos and the Magus - I love Jim Starlin's 70's work, so doing these characters was a no-brainer. Thanos' head is weak IMO, his base body is from a FC Hulk. I'm not sure how well I captured the Magus' "electric afro" hairdo :



Warlock (classic Gil Kane version) - one of my all-time favorite characters, obviously! About the lightning-bolt insignia: I decided to place it off-center sine that's the way it was drawn by Herb Trimpe in HULK #176-178. Looking at it now, I wish I'd centered it a bit more. The "soul gem" is from a piece of costume jewelry :



Warlock (Starlin) and Gamora - I actually made this version of Warlock first. Not very satisfied with the head (a re-worked Sting wrestling figure head). Not crazy about Gamora's head either:



Captain Marvel - at one point, I intended to do a first appearance version and a silver-haired superhero version (from CAPTAIN MARVEL #17) as well, but never got around to them:




Well, that's pretty much it for now. I recall also doing a Vulture, Punisher, and 2 Sub-Mariners (classic and 70's costume), but can't find them. Hope you enjoy looking at these; not top-level work by any stretch, but I had a blast doing them. Looking at them now, the main thing that sticks out to me are those ToyBiz boots: they're just so darn "clunky", they spoil the look in many cases.

[stevenlore]

Awesome work!

[thunderbolt]

I remember seeing your stuff on the old FC gallery, great seeing it again, love the GIant Man the best.

[megocrazy]

Gotta say, I'm not a big fan of 12" but love em. I may need to address these at some point in 8" scale. Did the Whizzer but never got too much farther. Very cool stuff to see. Keep em coming.

[almitysufx]

Very impressive!

[enyawd72]

Absolutely magnificent...that Invaders set is the best group of customs I've ever seen.

Sigh...if only Marvel/Hasbro would actually make something like this.
But no...we are stuck with punyverse figures.

[weswood]

Those look wonderful.

[bobws]

I LOVE The Invaders and Legion figures! Simply Amazing!

[MIB41]

Amazing! Very cool customs! Would love to see some close up shots of Union Jack. Excellent quality on all of these. Well done!

[kingdom warrior]

Whoa!!! The Invaders,Liberty Legion are awesome!! what no Marvel Crusaders?? ya Gotta do those.... anyone who does a Whizzer figure is alright by me......

[palitoy]

Really nice stuff!