12) Your head is now ready to be painted! Mix up some flesh tone that is as close to the tone of the body you are using as possible. Since this figure is basically a naked man, the head and the body really have to match as closely as possible. Paint a primer coat of flesh tone on the head. Paint a second coat. Then paint in the whites of the eyes. Next paint the black of the hair. The eyebrows should be high, pointy and arched (getting this right will go a long way towards really making this look like Namor). Finally, Namor has very narrow eyes. Using a sable brush, place SMALL black dots in the center for his eyes. His eyelashes should be very pronounced and flair at the end. Forking them at the far corner of the eye helps as well. However, ONLY paint the top set. Finally, coat the head with a THIN coat of acrylic sealant. (Not too glossy). Your head is now done! How easy was that? (fig. R).
13) Underwear: If you have a spare pair of Robin's underwear, you're in luck. If not, you have to borrow them for a short while to make some patterns. Lay Robin's underwear down a sheet of paper and trace them in pencil. Now add 1/8-1/4 inch margin to this trace along every border. Pin this pattern to a piece of fabric that is two sheets of fabric thick (fold it over to do this ) (see figs. S+T). Cut out along the pattern lines. If you can't sew, get your significant other and/or Mom to help you. Separate the two halves of the trunks. (Robin can get dressed now). First stitch the hem of the waist. Then stitch the hems of the legs (fig. U). Don't worry if you stitch too much, Spandex stretches. If not, you can always rip the seam w/a seam ripper. Do the same for the other half of the trunks. Pin the two halves together so that the insides of the trunks are facing outward. Stitch the hips and the crotch ( Fig. V). Your trunks are now complete!
14) Bracelets and Belt. Nearing the home stretch here. Take a strip of flimsy yellow vinyl (like they make raincoats with), OR, take a length of yellow Electrical (PVC) tape and lay it down sticky side up. Take another piece of equal length and lay it down on top of this so that the sticky sides meet and now only the non-sticky sides face outward. Cut this to the desired length and width and sew snaps on the ends so that it will stay around Namor's belly. Cut a shell or sun design out of the tape and affix it to the front of the belt for the buckle. Use the same procedure above to come up w/wristbands. They can be sealed into a ring w/either a small thin piece of the tape used to make them or a small amount of cyanoacrylate glue (see figs. W+X). OR, if you have the money, order some repro Conan bracelets and belt from Dr. Mego (Paul Clarke). They work quite nicely, I have heard. Dr. Mego can be reached at: http://www.drmego.com
15) Wings on feet. Some of you may have better ideas for this. This is what I did however. Take a sharp heavy duty needle (large!) and pierce it all the way through the body's ankles just above where the pin is (or use a drill w/small bit). Repeat for the other ankle. Take 1.25 inch length of wire and press it through the hole so an equal amount of wire sticks out on either side. Repeat for other ankle (see fig. Y). Bend the ends of the wire up. Take your white PVC tape and wrap a small amount of it around the wire so it looks like Namor has a little white flag sticking out of his ankle (This is done by folding the tape back upon itself and sticking it together.) (see fig. Z.1). Repeat for the other three wings. Now take your scissors and cut veins and feathers into your wings (see fig. Z.2). Once this done, you now have posable wings where they belong!
And there you go. Your Namor is ready for display! Hope you liked this and it got you enthusiastic about my favorite hobby. Please respond w/questions if you have any. Please share any customizing tips you have with me.
Oh, what about the triton he carries? I'll let you figure that out. Besides, Mego probably would've cheaped out and not given him one anyway. They didn't give one to Aquaman.
Matt
