Ask the Doctor

[Doghouse Reilly]

Dr. Terrific, Consulting Customizer. I love it. 

So Doc, can I get a consult on Mr. Tawky Tawny?

[Doc]

Now there's a challenge!

Off the top of my head:

I would start off with DCD Secret Identity Clark Kent, but I would most likely sculpt a more portly suit jacket- the hand would not be in the coat.  The tie would be hand painted, but the pin stripes of the jacket would be made from RC car scale black pin striping tape.  That would be a fucking gas to try and do.  All of this would be done before attaching the rest of the build.

Hands and feet: I would go looking for an ML Beast.  My hope would be a minimum of kustomizing and just painting them orange.  The cane could be segmented styrene tubing, sanded with a rotating wheel to simulate the bamboo.

The head: Boy, that would be the money shot.  The hardest part for me would be to sculpt the right texture of the tiger hair/fur.  I would again look at ML Beast or X-3 Beast for the basic head.  I would sand and fill in the eye space- those would be very flat/smooth for the cartoony look.  The muzzle would be built-up putty.  Fishing line for the 6 whiskers.

Hat would be sculpted from scratch, with the brim made from sheet styrene.  Attached last.

Shazam!

[Doghouse Reilly]

Does anyone else think Dr. Terrific, Consulting Customizer would be a fucking awesome regular feature for the site?

[measle]

Does anyone else think Dr. Terrific, Consulting Customizer would be a fucking awesome regular feature for the site?

Seconded.  Each week he could field a question or two and then give an in depth answer.

[Doc]

And the snarky insults.  Please, let's keep this all in perspective.

[John Moores]

That's a great idea. 

[Doghouse Reilly]

And the snarky insults.  Please, let's keep this all in perspective.

Hell, I figured that was a given. Now we need Mirth or CJ or somebody to whip up a graphic with a blood-soaked surgeon wielding a dremel and an airbrush.

[Ronan The Accuser]

Alright Doc, got a couple Invader related questions for you. Only one is an actual custom, the other two are modifying existing figures.

ML 2 Human Torch (No 4 logo on chest): How do I modify the face to reflect the GA Torch?

HML Target Wave Union Jack: How do I make this guy Invaders accurate?

Spitfire: No clue here, but I need one now that UJ is on the scene.

Thanks!

[Doc]

Hey man-

I love the All-Winners and Invaders: my first comix nightmares came from Baron Blood!

The GA torch is a good one- you want to sand down the nose a smig and then use tamiya 2-part putty smooth type to fill in the facial details:



The red is commerically available from Testors and will match the body.

I used a pen to do the burn lines and I'm not so sure it's good at close-up- maybe okay from a far (be honest)?  The alternative is custom decals via photoshop.




I have yet to see Union Jack since I saw the prototype.  How bad is he?  I gotta have that figure.  It's out now?

As for Spitfire, I am going with a 100% MARVEL base for my INVADERS and am trying ML Scarlet Witch.  Before you pass out about this one, I have a great revelation for you:



It all rips right off!



Pix tomorrow night- the Doctor is in major hospital mode right now and the new residents are starting up next week!

Keep the questions coming!

[dozymuppet]

OK, what about JR JR Starbrand?

[Ronan The Accuser]

I have yet to see Union Jack since I saw the prototype.  How bad is he?  I gotta have that figure.  It's out now?

It's out and it looks great in the pics I've seen. It's the Joey Chapman version and I've got no problem with that (loved the Raab/Cassidy mini), but I'm thinking a few easy alterations and its a perfect Brian Falsworth/Invaders era UJ.

As for Spitfire, I am going with a 100% MARVEL base for my INVADERS and am trying ML Scarlet Witch.  Before you pass out about this one, I have a great revelation for you: It all rips right off!

I almost passed out but I kept reading luckily. Can't wait to see this!

P.S. Just caught the "be honest" part. I don't think the Torch looks bad at all, the red matches up nice.  Any particular reason you avoided lines over the eyes and nose part? That's the only thing that looks slightly off, if you add that I think you've got a winner and I've got a recipe to borrow! Thanks for the tips and advice, bravo. 

[Doc]

I am a HUGE fan of the Frank Robbins/Frank Springer art team on INVADERS.  They nailed it, for me, in the WHAT IF epilogue of the comic.  I was trying to emulate the Frank's use of heat lines, which emphasized the eye sockets with negative space.

I must have that UJ figure...

Oh dear, The Doctor's patient schedule has played fuckery with his dollies: ML Scarlet Witch is in line to be Miss America, to go with the irony.

What about Spitfire?

The ML WASP or Spider Woman have decent sculpt-free bodies.  I am concerned about the cape- the Witch does have a great base to work from in that regard.

The Witch body already has gloves and boots that would be easily adaptable to Spitfire's clothes.  As Miss America, the gloves will get covered over for the blouse.  Those boots will need sanding off and a skirt sculpted in.

Hmmmm.... I do love a puzzle...

[Rod Keith]

Hey Doc,

Working on the GA Ray right now. For the crest on his head, I was thinking of trimming some plastic into the proper shape and inserting it into a pre-dremelled trench in his head. I'm assuming some Krazy Glue will hold that in, if not a little milliput at the join I thought might do it. Any issues/cautiuons you see with any of that?

The more difficult part-- the fringe around the neck/shoulder area? In some pix it seems to 'lift off' the shoulders.

[Doc]

Hey RK-


Yeah, it would be nice to finish the Freedom Fighters.  The fin would definitely go well as a piece of sheet styrene, trimmed to the correct shape.  I would play the correct thickness and probably go for something 2mm in width.  You may be able to get away with a bead of crazy glue and not get into messy trench work.  I think it would be a challenge to sand and smooth any gouging once the fin is in place.

The fringe should absolutely be 3-D and not just a paint app.  A challenge would be to cut out the scalloped "fringe" from a very thin sheet of styrene (all of this found at a hobby or train store).  Then, gently sand the underside of each fringe where it would apply to the body, so as to make the piece fit as close as possible.  Use very sparing applications of putty to give a light coating over the entire upper body cowl, perhaps stopping at the neck line.  The whole point is to give the illusion of a slightly heavier/thicker piece of fabric.

N.B.- you will loose upper shoulder articulation- unless you do not cover the shoulder joint.

It sounds like a great idea for a build- post pix!


Hope this helps,

Dr T

[Rod Keith]

Sounds good! Haven't worked with styrene yet; I'll see what I can find.

The head fin I was planning to get from a plastic blank CD protective insert-- not sure how to explain what it is except it's a round piece of clear plastic, about 2-3 mm thick, that sits on top of the blank CD stack. Anyway, I figured it's curved appropriately around the outside edge, and it cuts well with scissors.

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