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Hello to one and all
I thought that there might be some interest in the images of my
customized minifigures now up on Brickshelf. Over the holidays,
I was very busy with a friend’s scanner, getting “record shots”
of the majority of my custom work. It’s not all online yet, but
eventually... :)
Anyway, to start off discussion of the various projects, I
thought I would start with a posting about a trio of characters
from the G.I.Joe mythos:
Cobra Commander:
front
view
rear view
Destro:
front
view
rear view
3/4 rear view
Snake Eyes:
front view
rear view
side view
All three customs use the revamped character designs seen in the
recent comic-book revival of the G.I.Joe series by Devil’s Due
Studios.
Now, I’m too old (and the wrong nationality, besides...) to have
any affection for characters from this rather dimwitted 1980’s TV
series *, but a regular customer of mine commissioned the
figures, and I rather like the way they came out. :) I think
I’ve caught the essence of the character designs fairly well,
anyway.
From a customizing point of view, the interesting elements are
Destro and Snake Eyes’ “rounded” heads (each of which has the
stud on a stock Lego minifig head hidden with an application of
epoxy putty) and Cobra Commander’s cowl (which uses my standard
technique for cowls, thin styrene plunge-moulded over a “rounded”
minifig head).
As far as decoration goes, all existing printing on the various
Lego pieces was removed using fine wet&dry sandpaper, and new
patterns painted on as necessary by hand using acrylic paints. A
coat of thinned acrylic polyurethane floor varnish serves to
protect the paintwork.
I’m interested to hear what people think of these figures, and
will try to answer any questions you have about techniques or
materials related to them.
Thanks for taking the time to read and look.
Norbert Black
* Some things, you just have to experience the first time as a
young child! Those of you who were the right age to get captured
have nothing to be ashamed of -- ask me about my irrational
affection for Gerry Anderson’s puppet-based science fiction
series such as “Fireball XL5” and “Thunderbirds”, for instance...
:)
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Once again Norbert, you blow me away with your patience and attention to detail.
Awesome figs.
Jude
In lugnet.announce.moc, Norbert Black wrote:
snip...
snip...
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I’m interested to hear what people think of these figures, and
will try to answer any questions you have about techniques or
materials related to them.
Thanks for taking the time to read and look.
Norbert Black
* Some things, you just have to experience the first time as a
young child! Those of you who were the right age to get captured
have nothing to be ashamed of -- ask me about my irrational
affection for Gerry Anderson’s puppet-based science fiction
series such as “Fireball XL5” and “Thunderbirds”, for instance...
:)
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Hi Bruce
Thank you very much for your kind words.
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I went through all of these when they came up on Brickshelf and they’re
really great work. I think the most impressive details are the braided hair
on some of the anime figs,
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There’s just something about anime-style character design that demands a bit of
extra effort. :) I’ll be making postings highlighting various of those
anime-related figures at some point.
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but all of the paint and customized head/headwear
jobs are awesome.
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Much appreciated. If somebody out there is motivated to pick up a brush (or
whatever) and try their hand at customizing as a result of seeing these, that
would be great. It takes some time, some patience and some practice, but it’s a
lot of fun.
Eeep... =8o Um. *waves at audience* Thank you?
Yep. I’ve sold roughly a hundred Lego minifig customs over the years (along
with other action-figure customs), almost all locally in the Ottawa area.
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Do you have an on-line store?
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No, it’s mostly a sideline for me, so I’ve kept things on a word of mouth basis
so far. That said, at least one of my friends in ParLUGment (hi Deborah!) has
been trying to shove me into the brighter spotlight of the online world. :)
Recently, I did a “subscription series” of custom Canada Post figures. There
was a mention about it in this thread:
http://news.lugnet.com/build/minifigs/?n=1460
Anyway, at the moment, all my work is handled by The Comic Book Shoppe in Ottawa
(they’ve got a website and contact address that a quick Google search will turn
up), and is done to commission. If you (or anyone else) is interested in
learning more, post a request in this thread and I’ll lay out contact details.
Otherwise, I won’t spam the assembled Lugnet audience. ;)
Once again, Bruce, thanks for your kind words, and thanks for bringing my work
to the attention of the Classic Castle forum.
Regards,
Norbert Black
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