Building a Legend - behind the scenes constructing my Larry Allen custom McFarlane Sportspicks figure

This blog has always been a means to showcase some of my favorite finished projects that I've completed over the years. I thought it might be nice to go behind the scenes and show how a figure is made. I think most people understand how a custom repaint goes: strip down the figure, prime the figure, paint the figure, decal the figure, reassemble and seal. A bit more goes into a custom pose and I would like to walk you through that process today.

It all starts with the request. In this case, my client requested a Larry Allen figure for his collection. Right off the bat in our initial conversation he said, "I don't want a William Roaf or Johnathan Ogden repaint." Fair enough. That pose has been played out when it comes to lineman. Unfortunately, it's played out because it's the only offensive lineman pose/figure that McFarlane has produced.

After talking some more, my client decided that he wanted Allen in a classic offensive lineman pose and we settled upon something along these lines:

After the pose is decided on, it's time to start brainstorming how to create that pose. What base figure is close to that? What parts could I cobble to together to make that? Unfortunately, there was no good answer. There aren't any good base figures to start with and most parts are too small/thin for guy his size. After much thought and debate, I came up with the perfect base figure... Johnathan Ogden!

 

I know my customer said no Ogden or Roafs but that was in terms of a repaint. My plan was take the Ogden figure and completely repurpose it to match our reference photo. This was going to be a fairly complicated undertaking and I really wanted the challenge.

The next step was to completely break down the figure and create "joints" so that I could repose the figure. After cutting the figure at the hips, knees and ankles, I inserted armature wire into the figure to act as flexible bones. This allowed me to create all sorts of stances.

Now the figure is really starting to transform. Once, I have the figure in what I think is the final pose, I take pictures from every angle. This is so I can get a new look at the figure. I'll spend hours working the angles and setting up the figure and I'll start to overlook or miss flaws. By stepping back and then examining the photos, I can find those trouble areas before I start gluing and sculpting. I'll also use these photos to get feedback from other customizers as well as the client.

Once I'm happy with the rough pose, I can start gluing and filling in the gaps. I like to use a 2-part epoxy for all my gap filling and sculpting. The epoxy has a 2-hr work time, dries hard and can be sanded and drilled. You can see here that I've filled in the hip and knee areas as well as resculpted the left shoulder.

 

After the initial sculpting is done I hit the figure with a primer and take new photos. The neutral uniform color really helps simplify everything and brings out all the details and flaws. From these photos, I was able to identify several flaws in my sculpt - basically areas that weren't properly smoothed. This process is repeated until sculpt is perfect.

 

Here is a close-up of Allen's resculpted glove. I decided to not use Ogden's right hand/glove since I didn't like the finger position. I swapped out the hand for Dick Butkus but then needed to sculpt a right glove to match the left.

Finally I can start laying paint which really brings the figure to life. It's important to work multiple light coats so that you don't get brushstrokes showing. After painting is complete, the first clear coat is applied and then it's ready for decals.

And that's the process in a nutshell. It's weeks and weeks of work and a lot of trial and error. Hopefully this gives you a better idea of my process and maybe a new found respect for the work that goes into customizing a McFarlane Sportspick figure!

Members of the 2013 NFL Hall of Fame Class: Warren Sapp, Curley Culp, David Robinson & Larry Allen - custom McFarlane Sportspicks figures

I have client that is amassing a collection of every NFL Hall of Famer. For this round, my client decided to focus on this year's class of Hall of Famers. The first four we decided to give the "plastic treatment" were the Buccaneer's Warren Sapp, the Chief's Curley Culp, the Packer's David Robinson and finally the Cowboy's Larry Allen.

First up in Warren Sapp. Upon first glance this looks identical to the version put out by TMP. For this figure, my client wanted me to simply modify Sapp so that his his front hand was up on his fingers, rather than his palm. Additionally, we upgraded his facemask to something more sturdy and accurate. While, I may have gotten off easy with this request, I more than made up for it with Larry Allen. 

 

 Up next is Curley Culp. Now we get our first original pose of the batch made up of approximately 7 different figures.

 

Next is Packer great David Robinson. A lot of feedback that received on this figure was questions asking what parts or figure did I use? By simply swapping Nitschke's arms on the Butkus figure and changing the angle at which the figure stands, I was able to accomplish a pose that appears very unique.

 

 Finally, we have the big daddy of them all. Larry Allen was larger than life when he played and this figure is larger than most. Unfortunately, McFarlane doesn't have a lot of base figures to choose from for offensive lineman. Most customizers when asked to make a large offensive lineman, they go to the William Roaf/Johnathan Ogden figure.

I did the same thing.

If you are familiar with the Roaf/Ogden base figure, you'll notice that my Allen looks nothing like the original figure. I really wanted to challenge my sculpting on this figure so, I completely disassembled an Ogden figure. I cut the figure apart at the hips, knees and ankles and completely pinned together a brand new pose. After finessing the sculpt on the legs, I bulked up his gut and resculpted the shoulders. What we're left with is a completely unique figure and pose that stands just over 6.5" high. A true tribute to this amazing Hall of Famer.

 

 

 

Curley Lambeau - Green Bay Packers - custom McFarlane Sportspicks figure

The same customer that ordered the Don Hutson display also ordered a figure of Curley Lambeau from his playing days. 

Curley Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun formed the Green Bay Packers on August 11, 1919, while Lambeau was working as a shipping clerk at the Indian Packing Company. The Packers initially played teams from Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula; however, the success of the team in 1919-20 quickly led to its joining of the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922.

Lambeau played for the Packers from 1919 to 1929. Although Lambeau played halfback, he was both the primary runner and passer, as was common practice during that period. Lambeau threw the Packers' first official pass, first official touchdown pass, and kicked the Packers' first official field goal.

Randall Cobb & Don Hutson - Green Bay Packes New School & Old School - custom McFarlane Sports figures

It was week 14 of the 2012 NFL season on a cold Lambeau Field. Aarron Rodgers threw high pass to an open Randall Cobb who made an astonishing one-handed grab for a 24-yard gain. My customer Lee, couldn't have picked a cooler play to have immortalized in plastic!

View the play here on NFL.com

Now let's jump back about 70 years as we revisit a play between the Green Bay Packers & the Detroit Lions. Here we see Don Hutson hauling in a pass in stride. This is my second attempt at this custom pose but my first adding in the defender. Click here to see my original post. I've come a long way in my sculpting and painting. I love dissecting a 2-dimensional image like this and bringing it to life in 3-dimensions. Since we don't readily available video of this play, this becomes the only view at how this play may have looked from every direction.

It's hard now to choose which is my favorite historical reenactment - this classic Hutson match-up or my Bednarik over Gifford custom. What do you guys think?

JJ Watt - Houston Texans - Custom McFarlane Sportspicks figures

Being a Wisconsinite, I love my Badgers. So I love any opportunity to make a JJ Watt figure. Luckily, I've recently had three separate requests for different versions of JJ.

First up is JJ Watt from his his college days as a Wisconsin Badger. I work with a good friend of JJ's cousin so he was able to get this signed.

The second order was for JJ Watt in his "battle red" Texans jersey. I went with the same pose as my original Badgers version but added a completely scratch-built arm brace identical to what JJ Watt wore during the 2012 NFL season.

The most recent version is Watt in the "steel blue" jersey doing a "Watt Swat". Given how well this pose fits Watt, I wouldn't be surprised if McFarlane uses this pose for Watt's debut figure. Though if anyone deserves an original sculpt it's Watt.

McFarlane Toys • The Walking Dead Custom Zombie Merle Dixon Figure • Season 3

I decided to take a short break from customizing McFarlane football figures and took a crack at another McFarlane product. As a huge fan of The Walking Dead it was too tempting not to take their Merle Dixon figure and customize it into his "walker" form. This was my first time customizing something at this scale with this type of articulation. I learned a lot and had more fun than I've had in a long time.

It's available for sale on eBay!
Link to eBay Auction

• Removed holsters & pouches and the two leg bands. Resculpted the pants in their place and put back in seams, wrinkles and details.
• Resculpted the face looking carefully at the prosthetic used on Rooker's face and matching those.
• Sculpted a bit of flesh coming from his mouth.
• Removed the knife from his stump and replaced it with his prison shank.
• Added the tear to the back of his jacket and sculpted entrance & exit wounds.
• Removed his two fingers that were bitten off and added bony nubs in their place.
• Repainted the pants and jacket to match Merle's wardrobe in the episode "This Sorrowful Life"
• Carefully painted the blood in the same patterns as seen the episode, referencing dozens of screen shots.
• Shaved the shoulder & hip joints to allow more movement and limit the amount of rub