A very special custom...

A while ago I was approached by someone who'd seen my work online, and I was asked if I could help turn a simple idea into one of the most thoughtful Birthday gifts I've seen in a long time.

He had seen a 12" figure that sideshow did of a soldier from the First World War, in a 1918 infantry uniform. This was the same uniform that his Grandfather wore, and he wanted to have a custom figure created as a Birthday gift to his Dad....of his Dad!

The idea of giving a present to someone saying "Here's a one off figure I have made for you... of your Father from the war" was such an appealing thought to me, so warm and thoughtful, that I jumped at the chance.

I was given the photos below.



From there I went hunting for a head that I could use as a basis for my resculpt. It didn't have to look like him, but simply be something I could work from. I found the following head which seemed to have the eyes, nose and mouth in approximately the right place in proportion to the photographs, so I ordered it.



From then on it was a case of doing what I usually do with my oil painting portraits.... but in 3D. There would be lots (and i mean lots) of studying of the photographs, in order to decide what parts of the head would need carving away and reshaping, and what parts would need adding to and sculpting.

All in all most of the head would be altered in some way, I think possibly only the eyeballs and the back of the neck escaped my sculpting tools. Here you can see the head during the sculpting process. The first photo shows the start of the reshaping process, with the hairline shaved off and the bare plastic of the nose, upper lips, chin and cheeks having had some work done to them. The second photo is several weeks further along the process. The white and green you see are parts I've sculpted and shaped using the 2 part epoxy clay I use.





At the same time as this was going on, I sculpted and painted a wide brimmed dress hat for the figure, as that was seen in the original photos I was shown. Also I had some rank stripes made to go on the sleeves of the figure to match the original photos. (I wanted this to be as close as possible to the man in the photos)

Eventually the head was finished, and it was time to make a silicone mold, cast it in resin and get the thing painted. As this was such a special project, such a personal gift, I wanted this to be a really good paint job... so I took my time, and tried to get everything the best I've ever done.

I'm totally happy with the results, and more importantly so is the customer. This was a pleasure to work on (even though it was difficult at times) and I'm proud and honoured to have been trusted with it.

Medicom Wolverine re-paint photos

This is something I did recently as part of a series of total repaints for someone. This was the first one finished, Wolverine. Here are a few photos.

As always click the images to enlarge.

BEFORE



AFTER