My Blog is moving!

For those out there subscribing to my blog, I am moving it to my new official model site: http://www.adamscustommodels.com/blog

This blog on foxtoons.net will remain for a little while, but will eventually be redirected to the new active blog.

I've got some new things going on, as Hulk kit sales have been good and steady and I am currently making progress on my new "Buck Rogers" kit.

And Now... The Incredible Hulk

Here we have the finished Incredible Hulk kit entitled "Don't Make Me Angry!".

He is 1:6 scale and stands 12 1/2" tall on base and comes in 13 white resin pieces (including the 3 optional bricks), along with the mounting screws and assembly instructions covering the more complex steps (like the head assembly and knee alignment).

The extra bricks are used to add a little more 3D to the base by being able to glue them on in angles and stacks that could not be cast in a flat mold. But, they are totally optional to the kit builder.

I hope you like him. Check eBay sometime soon, or contact me about availability. I plan to keep this to a very small run of no more than 20-30 kits (or less, depending upon demand). So get one while you can.

Thanks for looking!

Stay tuned to this blog by the end of the year, as I have another blast from the past planned to start in a few weeks. -ADAM

Making The Incredible Hulk (part 4)

Alright, so I now have the pants detail and all of the parts seams fixed where the parts will fit back together nicely once cast. This completes the last of the sculpting process and I am now ready to mold the parts.

In the past, I used a "wet" pottery clay to lay out my mold beds. This time, I have chosen to use a white Sculpey clay instead. This solves my moisture problem, as the wet clay has caused nagging condensation on my parts in past molds. And, Sculpey doesn't dry out very fast, so I had a lot of time to work on the mold beds and do them right.

Basically, a mold bed is where you embed the part up to the place where you want to put the mold seam. You add registration marks and channels for air chutes (to aid in air release). This means you are only molding 1/2 of the mold the first day that you pour rubber.

The second day, you remove the Sculpey clay, clean-up any Scupley reside and grease the dried rubber with Vaseline. This prevents the second day of rubber from sticking to the previous rubber and allows the two parts to effortlessly pull apart after the second day rubber has hardened. And voila! a nice 2 part mold.

*On a bummer note, I gave myself Carpal Tunnel symptoms during this phase of the project. I purchased a big box of "old" Sculpey. It was too hard to use, so I got some clay softener to rejuvenate the clay. So imagine a long night of kneading tough clay to try and rescue it, and in the end, ruining my right hand from all of the squeezing. It's a little better now. I've finished this project and am resting my hand before starting the next one. Note to self... Next time, just buy new clay and throw away the old stuff. Heh.

Making The Incredible Hulk (part 3)

Here, I've finished the sculpt and the base. Notice the difference in the hair from the last post. This "boxier" look is a more iconic look for the Hulk.

The base is actually much different than my original plan.

I had the idea to build much more of a broken brick wall behind him (like a diarama), but once I got started, I reduced that down to an asphalt chuck with a few broken bricks. This decision was made for a few reasons. One being, that I realized the model looked good from all angles and it would be a shame to cover up the backside with a wall behind him. Secondly, the large wall that I had in mind would have consumed a lot of extra resin and would have driven the manufacturing cost up.

So, I chose a lower profile base that shows off the entire model and reduced my cost to make the kit. But I put enough detail into it that it doesn't hurt from these decisions. It's a nice base and I like it.

The last image is of the kit after I busted it up for casting. At this point, I had to wait to complete the detailing on the pants until after I had it broken apart. That way, I could finish the pants/legs seam before I did the pants cuff around the knee.

Making The Incredible Hulk (part 2)

In this second installment, you see that I have finished the major proportions and the hands and feet details.

The hair, as you can see, is a separate piece that glues over the opening in the back of the head where you insert the teeth.

This hair ended up not being the final. I realized that it wasn't correct. I was referencing an early episode for this look, but it wasn't iconic enough. I decided to go with the "boxy" hair look that he held by the middle of the first season all the way to the end. It is more like the Hulk that I remember (see images in the next post).

Making The Incredible Hulk (part 1)

A big shout out to all those watching my blog. I haven't posted anything new in a
while because I was kind of working on an "under cover" project. I chose to keep images of my newest kit under wraps until I got it finished.

So the next few posts tonight will catch you up to to the "making of" The Incredible Hulk! That's right, my newest subject was none other than the true Hulk, Lou Ferrigno in a kit I call "Don't Make Me Angry!".

In the first images, You get a good look at the new level of realism and likeness that I have been able to achieve. I have decided to go with that signature growling, open-mouth pose he performed in every episode of the TV show right after he transformed.

This posed the challenge of making the head hollow where I could cast the teeth as separate parts and have a lot of depth in the mouth.

Kid Marvelman: Assembly and Painting tips for the shoulder seam

I'm posting the steps that I took to paint and assemble the Kid Marvelman kit in hopes that this helps my customers with the tricky right shoulder seam and painting the chest detail under the crossed arms.

Step 1:
I primed the kit in a white paint so it would be easy to paint with yellow, and test fit the arms to the body.

Step 2:
Here, I have completed the paint-job for both the body and the arms and have thoroughly sealed all parts to protect the paint from the following steps. This allowed for easier access to paint the chest detail. The parts still test fit well.

Step 3:
I have scraped the paint from a small area around the seam on both parts to gain access to the resin for better bonding. I have also cleaned any paint from the surfaces to be glued.

Step 4:
Arms have been glued into position with a "Super" glue gel (gel is better for parts assembly as it fills gaps).

Step 5:
Using my "resin welding" technique of applying a "Super" glue liquid and sprinkling resin dust on it. I have welded over the seam and have sanded the result down smooth to hide the seam (this also strengthens the bond between the parts).

Step 6:
Be sure to rinse all resin and dirt dust from the model before trying to continue the paint-job! (not pictured).

Step 7:
I have re-primed the corrected area (spraying primer into the spray can's cap and using a small brush to dip and apply the primer).

Step 8:
Re-applying the yellow paint over the corrected area and *viola... no more nasty seam.

I hope this has helped.

Kid Marvelman done (Marvelman series complete!)

At last, with the completion of my Kid Marvelman/Kid Miracleman kit, my Marvelman series (3 figures) is finished!

Measuring in at 11 1/2 inches tall, Kid Marvelman/Kid Miracleman comes unpainted in 4 solid white resin pieces. I'll be selling these on eBay, but can be contacted for additional availability.

This kit is more of an intermediate kit than the other two, as it contains a seam at the right shoulder that will need to be puttied once assembled. Due to an amount of detail on his chest under the crossed arms, he can pose a little bit of a painting/assembly challenge. In my opinion, it was far easier, with better painting results, to paint the chest prior to assembling the arms and to repair the paint after puttying the seam for the finished look.

I'll be posting a follow-up to this with the full steps that I used to solve this tricky painting/assembly job.

-Enjoy