by ·0 Comments

Sorry for getting this up so late. Technical and scheduling difficulties.

Vet MOCKINGBIRD

She was never a great favorite of mine, even though I’m a big fan of married characters in comics. (Hmmm. Maybe there’s a subject for another blog.) Her HeroClix version seemed overpowered and she was dead, anyway.

But then she came back in the wake of Secret Invasion, and I happened upon the miniseries “New Avengers: The Reunion” in which Hawkeye and Mockingbird come to terms with the state of their relationship. Wonderful series, and one that shows that the Veteran Mockingbird absolutely could deserve her HeroClix dial, especially in this scene:


She’s also wearing a sweet new outfit that matches her trademark billowy sleeves with a long coat.

I wanted to update my Mockingbird to match. Here’s how I did it:

  • Cut away LexCorp Security’s overcoat.
  • Tried to glue it to V Mockingbird.
  • Simply didn’t work.
  • Fortunately, I had a GAMBIT figure left over from an earlier Black Widow project.
  • Dismantled GAMBIT, removing his head, arms and legs, leaving only his coat.
  • Cut away excess coat to fit Mockingbird’s back.
  • Filed down Mockingbird’s mask and boot tops.
  • Glued coat to back.
  • Repainted entire figure in blue and white and yellow acrylic paint.
  • Used thick glue to build knee pads.
  • Painted knees and forearms in silver enamel.
I never uploaded a finished photo of this mod until now. Yay for improved digital camera phone technology!

I never uploaded a finished photo of this mod until now. Yay for improved digital camera phone technology!

Completed early 2011.

NEXT WEEK: A small hero’s biggest version gets into big-boy clothes.

by ·0 Comments

CAPTAIN AMERICA (Avengers)

There was once an excellent painter at WizKids who decided to cross over into sculpting. He was less than entirely successful.

Attempting to recreate this beefy, heroic he-man:

…he produced this elephantiasis-headed 101-pound weakling:

Oh. This was the "before" Super Soldier Serum shot, right?

Anyway, just as I wrote some weeks ago that a pair of characters made it onto my favorites of 2010 simply because their sculpts were fantastically fun, so this one proves the inverse. It’s so BAD that despite having a decent dial, it never hits my table.

I decided to replace him with another World War II-era ‘Clix with better proportions: SGT. ROCK from Cosmic Justice.

Here’s how I tackled this months-long project:

  • Removed CAPTAIN AMERICA (Avengers) sculpt from base (and rock).
  • Used hobby knife to remove shield from Cap’s arm.
  • Removed SGT. ROCK sculpt from its base.
  • Used hobby knife to remove rifle from SGT. ROCK’s left hand.
  • Glued shield to SGT. ROCK’s left arm.
  • Filed down grenade in SGT ROCK’s right hand.
  • Filed down sergeant insignia on SGT. ROCK’s helmet.
  • Filed down shirt lapels and dogtags.
  • Glued rifle to SGT. ROCK’s right hand and arm.
  • Repainted SGT. ROCK with acrylic paints.
  • Glued modded SGT. ROCK sculpt to CAPTAIN AMERICA (Avengers) base.

Completed mid-2010. Though I still haven’t run the piece in an actual game…

IN TWO WEEKS: Another ambitious mod of a returned character. Next Monday, though, will be a new Top 10 series (something I plan to make a monthly event). Be there!

by ·0 Comments

Been quite a while, eh? Other features took over the site for a while, but now My Custom Mods is back! And it just so happens that this is one of my most ambitious mods of the series yet:

BLACK WIDOW custom

Normally, this is where I put a pic of the original figure — the “Before” shot. But this time, I wasn’t just modifying a sculpt. Instead, I was trying to substitute a whole character, dial, sculpt and all.

THIS is what I want.

Black Widow is a character who’s never been done right in HeroClix. This is what she does:

  1. Wall-crawling and swingline action (Leap/Climb);
  2. Blasting multiple targets, whether via her trademark “Widow’s Bite” bracelets (Incapacitate) or standard firearms, and often on the move (Running Shot);
  3. Good combat values because she’s a spy extraordinaire;
  4. And, because she’s a spy extraordinaire, Stealth;
  5. Preferably all at once, kinda like this spread from Mighty Avengers #1. Or this sequence<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzO9nPS3_4A&feature=related> from Iron Man 2.

Nearly all versions of her are really good at #4 and part of #2, but not #1 and certainly all fail terribly at #3.

Well, it turns out that Gambit (Mutations & Monsters) is quite good at all those things:

  • Running Shot? Check.
  • Stealth? Check.
  • Leap/Climb? Check.
  • Decent Defense Value? Check.
  • All of the above, at the same time? QUADRUPLE-CHECK. :)
  • The Energy Explosion fits well (see her multi-barrelled bracelets).
  • His Ranged Combat Expert and Penetrating/Psychic Blast are tougher, but not outside her capabilities, given that she’s a top agent of SHIELD with access to all sorts of weaponry and expert with most of it.
  • Quake is the toughest sell, but she’s a great martial artist. There’s plenty of precedent for this power on such types.

So the lithe Russian gal I've coveted all this time is a really a dude with permanent 5:00 shadow? ...When did HeroClix start mimicking my personal life? ...Wait. Did I just type that out loud? OMG...

Anyway, I decided to replace his sculpt with Black Widow.

However.

Not only did I not want to dismantle my actual Black Widow (if I even had one at the time), but since this was going to be an unofficial version, I wanted to mod an entirely different sculpt to match.

Sharon Carter filled the bill.

So here’s what I did:

  • Removed GAMBIT figure from base.
  • Removed SHARON CARTER figure from her base and glued it to GAMBIT’s.
  • Repainted SHARON CARTER’s white clothes with glossy black enamel.
  • Repainted blonde hair with red acrylics.
  • Painted on silver bracelets and belt (with red detail).

Completed late-2009. But more than a year later, I’ve still not played her in a game.

(Maybe it’s because I know that “she” is really a “he.” Just like…oh, I almost did it again.)

NEXT WEEK: Another white girl going black…sort of…

by ·2 Comments

Veteran STARMAN (Cosmic Justice)

Kneeling in mid-air...?

I’ve never liked the “standing on the flight disk” pose in HeroClix. Ones like this are even worse. So when WizKids did away with the flight stands, I decided to do away with his.

  • Used hobby knife to cut him free from flight stand.
  • Snapped off flight stand.
  • Glued him to base.

Fits in my box better, too.

Completed late-2009.
NEXT WEEK: My first dial transplant.

by ·0 Comments

Veteran DRAX (Supernova)

The dial is right...but the sculpt isn't.

While the Rookie and Experienced versions of this character both bear the “Destroyer” tagline and the Wing symbol, the vet version not only lacks both, but he has a radically different appearance:

He’s actually physically smaller than his more hulking Destroyer incarnation, but as initially drawn in the Guardians of the Galaxy, he’s still quite buff. That’s why I didn’t want to go the route many other talented modders did in choosing a smaller character to modify.
Longtime readers of Heroclixin’ will recall my Guardians of the Galaxy series and how their appearance in this game made me a fan of the comic. And, as this Mods series shows, I’m often motivated by a desire for comic-accuracy in doing these sculpt repaints and modifications.

In fact, Drax here was actually one of the first mods I revealed on this site, way back during my first Guardians of the Galaxy campaign. But now you get to learn the process:

  • Removed cape (it’s a separate piece, but I had to work his head off to do it).
  • Replaced head.
  • Filled in resultant gaps around his collarbone area with several layers of a thick modeler’s glue.
  • Cut and filed away belt details.
  • Repainted body a deeper green (acrylics).
  • Repainted pants with a flat gray miniatures paint.
  • Repainted boots, gloves and belt in black enamel.
  • Painted on red tattoos/war paint and gold enamel belt buckle.

Better now.

Completed late-2009, in time for my blitz of Guardians of the Galaxy teams that followed shortly after. :)
NEXT WEEK: A stupid revamp gets a cool mod.

 

 

 

by ·0 Comments

Rookie MISTER MIRACLE (Origin)

This sculpt, different dial.

The REV set of Mr. Miracle was a good representation of Scott Free of the New Gods. But I would have preferred that the Rookie be  Scott’s Earth-born protegé Shilo Norman.
Here’s what I did:
  • Removed cape portion of sculpt (it seperates from the main body).
  • Filled in resultant gap in back with some hobby clay-like product I can’t recall. It wasn’t anything like Green Stuff or actual sculptor’s clay…I don’t recommend it. But it did this job.
  • Used a needle file to shave down details of Mister Miracle’s sculpt that are not reflected in the Shilo Norman version of the costume.
  • Painted in the new colors using acrylic paint.
Completed late-2008, in time for use in my Seven Soldiers team.
Next week: a big girl gets a makeover.
Next post: More DC cards from The Brave & the Bold with art.

by ·0 Comments

BROOD (Mutations & Monsters)

When the Crisis set did away with the Soaring mechanic in early 2008 and thus the need for flight stands, I jumped at the opportunity to make a slightly more compact version of this huge model:
  • Used a hobby knife to cut sculpt away from flight stand “pancake”.
  • Snapped off flight stand.
  • Glued sculpt to base.

Completed late-2008.

It’s actually barely any smaller than the original, though, and not really worth the effort.

Next week: one well worth the effort.
Next post: GROOT!

by ·0 Comments

This week, the highly anticipated Web of Spider-Man expansion set releases, featuring a bunch of new Spidey-related pieces. It’s fitting, then, that this week’s featured mod is of the until-now-most-recent Marvel Universe version of the marquee character:

SPIDER-MAN  (Secret Invasion)

It's like a toy found in a "Happy Meal."

In fairness, this isn’t a bad sculpt. It’s inventive, even striking, and certainly outside the norm. It’s also widely derided as the “Happy Meal” Spider-Man for its super-bright colors, slightly oversized feet, head and hands (not dissimilar to this toy for the under-4 set).
Plus it’s cumbersome to fit “McSpidey” here into my over-stuffed clix box.
So here’s what I did:
  • Cut Spidey’s feet off the pole with a hobby knife.
  • Sawed the pole off the dial base with several knives. It was difficult.
  • Colored the cut mark on the dial black with a permanent marker.
  • Painted over the red parts of the costume with a heavily watered-down black acrylic paint wash. This would fill in the web design on his outfit with black and slightly darken the too-bright red. I used a Q-tip to sop up excess black paint.
  • Using super glue and modeler’s glue, I glued his feet to the dial.

Still a bit silly-looking, but it fits in my box now!

Completed mid-2008, this is a Spider-Man I’m not ashamed to field.

Next Monday: SKRULL INVASION!!!!!!!

by ·0 Comments

IRON MAN (Secret Invasion)

I’d like to say this mod was all my idea, but I can’t.
At all.
Here’s the original:

Also known as the Robert Downey Jr. sculpt.

Neat, unconventional sculpt. In fact, the sculptor revealed that he was under instructions from Marvel to specifically do an un-helmeted Iron Man sculpt.
But someone on HCRealms.com thought it’d be neat to put his held helmet on instead of his head, and did. It looked simple enough to do, and I’d done more radical mods already, so here’s how I proceeded:
  • Cut Robert Downey Jr.’s head off with a hobby knife.
  • Carefully cut the Iron Man helmet from the left hand.
  • Used a heated push pin to poke a small hole in both the neck stump and the corresponding point on the helmet.
  • Stuck a straight pin in the hole, then cut it off about 1.5 mm above the neckline.
  • Glued down the new head and swiveled it to a new facing position.
  • Painted the left side of his head and left hand where they were once joined together.
  • Painted the eye slits, chest unibeam and palm repulsor in white.

Completed mid-2008. Photo by Antonio Cade.

Again, not even remotely original; there are probably a dozen other guys on HCRealms alone who did the same. But it’s among my mods, so here it is.

Next Monday, I bring another Marvel icon down to earth.

by ·1 Comment

BATMAN & ROBIN (Justice League)

So the promo and official image looks like this:

See the yellow underside of Robin's cape?

But the production model’s Robin has an unpainted, black cape. So I:
  • Painted the underside of Robin’s cape with yellow acrylic paint.
  • Then I did it again, because it wasn’t thick enough and it looked a sickly green instead.
  • Then I added another layer.

Completed mid-2008.

OK, I guess. I learned that not all paints are equal to the task.
Next week’s wasn’t even my idea. But it’s one of my mods, and it worked well. Hope you’ll check it out!