Masters Class: Figure Customization

 For as long as there’s been action figures on the market, there’s been talented artists out there that have seem the opportunity to customize them into totally different and unique custom figures. Whether driven by the want of figures that haven’t been created, variations of existing characters, or artistic inspiration; action figure customizers have used wit and their talent to craft one of a kind figures that can leave you in a state of awe. 

Whether it’s a kitbash of parts, custom sculpts and paint jobs, or any combination of those things, custom action figures are a integral part of expressing the artistic and creative freedom of action figure photography for many. And while the inspiration for making these articulated pieces of art can come from many places, the love that goes into creating them inspires countless other artists to try their hand at crafting their own custom figure. 

This week on the Masters Class, we will be talking all about the process of creating custom action figures with two of the best to do it, @midnitestarz.custom and @88figs!

So grab your dremel tools, paint brushes, notebooks, and find your seats, because the Masters Class is now in session. 

How long have you been action figure customizing, and how did you first get into customizing?

88- “ I don't really consider myself a costumizer, cuz there are plenty of ppl in the toy community that can murder my work easy. But I've been customizing for a little over a year now, first got into it from kitbashing and wanting to mix up character profiles.“

MS- “ I have been into customizing action figures since 1999. I started with the Marvel ToyBiz 5 inch lines. I got into customizing quite simply because at the time, the companies did not release much figures at all, some series came out but nothing overwhelming in the market...Guys like me started popping out more, we built the ones not produced among others, filled some gaps in my collection and sold many also.”

Where does the inspiration for a custom figure come from? (Ex: variants of un released characters, original concepts, comics/film etc)

88- “ Inspo for customs comes from movies, tv shows, comics, or just general pop culture references.”

MS- “The inspiration came straight from the comic books in my case, i have been into comics basically since i was a kid.”

What are some go to materials you use for customizing figures? (Paints, molds, fabric etc)

88- “I tend to use peg-warming/clearanced figs as the base mold for customs - that way I don't feel bad about tearing them up after spending money on them.  I use the cheap acrylic paints you can find at any store, matte paint sealant, and fabrics I find laying around the house or stuff thrown away at my job.”

MS- “Follow the pics and discover the products i use, from aves apoxie sculpt to tamya primers, citadel acrylic paints for brushes and vallejo game Air for my Airbrush. I use any available acrylic paint sealer at the end. Through the years, my drive to create was mainly out of passion to build something, perfecting myself and discovering new ways and products  in the process.”

Midnite was kind enough to supply some photos of his preferred products!

When you create a custom figure, is it with the intentions of keeping it for your collection? Or selling to a collector?

88- “ I create custom figs mainly to keep the scale consistent within my collection, to fill out team members that have not been released yet and/or are crazy overpriced on the after-market.  For now the intention is to keep them, but if I can reach a higher quality in customization, and if ppl show interest, I would like to sell them!”

An amazing example of a custom figure by 88figs

MS- “ Of course i kept some for my collection, but sold alot of my customs through out the world thanks to Ebay.”

What are some challenges that come along from creating custom figures while “kitbashing”? (Peg hole sizes, proportions etc)

88- “ Definitely proportions in headsculpts to bods, and matching paint apps.  If I can't get it "perfect", usually it's just finessed in photo angles or photoshopped.”

MS- “the Challenges...Honestly, everything is a challenge in it's own proportion. Disassemble a figure from all it's joints, pegs, torso, sanding all the parts, reassembling the figure, cleaning it up, shooting primer in every crack of the figure, painting layers, adding wash or shadows, the sealing part at the end... after 23 years of customizing i still learn new stuff on regular bases!”

A custom Drax figure by Midnite

While undoubtedly each figure takes a different amount of time, in general how long does it take to complete one of your custom figures from concept to finished product?

88- “Easier customs that just require light paint work/weathering take about a day - from painting, to drying, and sealing.  My longest custom time was a few months due to waiting to find the right parts, 3D printing accessories, and out of laziness or dealing with regular life stuff.”

MS- “ Time is a great variability indeed, depends if I have to sand, prime and repaint without any sculpting, this goes usually faster from 4-7 hours i guess.  add some sculpt and extra details and layers overs the sculpts, it can take days in the process.”

With your custom figures, how much research or referencing do you do to character designs for the end result you are after?

88- “ All of my research is done through a simple Google search.  Find an image I like of the character I'm working on, and base it off that.  I never fully copy what's being used as inspo - so each custom has my signature laziness added to it haha.”

MS- “I usually search Google Images for some basic references in Images, I also use the Marvel Directory of Characters, and my own Comic Books in some cases.”

What is your most favorite custom figure that you’ve created? And give us an idea of what made you want to create that figure? 

88- “My favorite custom so far is actually my latest and quickest custom to date:  Nightwing.  I used the movie Snake Eyes figure unmasked, added some straps and paint and called it good.  Inspo for that custom came from the recent Gotham Knights video game drop - I had already created Robin, Redhood, and Batgirl customs, so rounding out the team made all of the sense.”

MS- “ My most `Memorable Custom figure`` or favorite one has to be my 2006 Forge. In 2006, I built a custom Forge figure inspired from the Animated TV Show X-Men and from the pages of the Marvel Comic Books X-Men and X-Factor ! Back in the days, it was year 7 into customizing figures for me, I was a fan of Toyfare Magazine which was really Cool back then, and since they featured a customizer per issue of their Magazine, I decided to send some pics... They did'nt tell me they would publish me, so I got the surprise as I opened February's issue 102 in 2006... very close to my birthday...That's why this custom was so Special!”

Midnite’s feature from ToyFare Magazine! 

Ladies and gentlemen, if these two individuals didn’t inspire you, I’m not sure what ever will. I want to thank @88figs and @midnitestarz.custom for participating in this Masters Class collaboration and giving us all a peek behind the curtain at the process of creating their one of a kind masterpieces of action figure customs. It was a real pleasure to be able to speak to these two guys and get a glimpse at their art. Due to the attachment restrictions I was not able to post here all of their custom figures that they had sent me, but if you go to their instagram pages you can see them AS WELL as all of their fantastic action figure photography. Be sure to drop each of them a like a follow while you’re there! 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this entry into the Masters Class, be sure to tune I’m next Friday for another installment as we cover action figure photography through the lenses of cellphones! The Masters Class is excited to be bringing you two of the best to take fig pics with their cells, @coxcreate and @onetwelvewonders! So make sure your batteries are charged and you tune in next Friday! Until then, class is dismissed. 

~The Curator