Custom Figures: Steampunk

When I was a kid, I never considered any of my toys "broken."
If they were missing a leg or a head, I considered it an opportunity to make that toy unique by "fixing" it.
I'd tape, glue or wire another appendage on there, giving G.I. Joe a robot arm from a Star Wars figure, or just attaching a bunch of parts together for a Frankenstein figure of my own creation.
Over the years, since I never stopped collecting toys and action figures, I began turning this skill into more of an art form. Since then, I've found thousands of others who build, sculpt and adapt existing figures into characters who don't have their own toys, better versions or existing figures or what I do, which is create new characters from parts.
It takes months, sometimes years, to find the right parts, or figure out what to make from a box of assorted loose parts.

My most recent series is a Steampunk-inspired set of four figures. Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that basically involves a Victorian-era setting, but with technology — steam, clockwork, coal, electricity — that's a bit more advanced than we had in the 1800s, though still mostly plausible. Think H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" or Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."
I decided that Steampunk, with its amalgamation of different parts, is perfectly suited to the do-it-yourself spirit of custom figure building.

So, I settled on four archetypes of Steampunk fiction — the Mechanic, the Adventurer, the Scientist and the Automaton — and built examples of each.
I'm really happy with the way they turned out. I showed them last year at D&J Hobby's annual model show in Galax, and won first place in my division. My only regret is that I didn't take any photos of the building and painting process.

The Lady Adventurer
The lovely and devious master thief Victoria Dare will steal your heart — and your valuables!
Victoria was made from a base figure of an "X-Men: The Last Stand" Phoenix body, a head from a "Danger Girl" figure, a Penguin tophat and more bits and pieces than I can count.

The Time Traveler
The unparalleled genius of Professor Julian Welles has thrust him into the distant past and far future!
The base body is a Joker figure from "The Dark Knight" movie line, with a Wesley head from a "Buffy" figure (with added sideburns!) and an assortment of toy parts, watch parts, gears and junk to make the control panel for his time machine.
I'm actually planning to expand this to include a larger time machine platform.
I took the Professor's name from the two great writers, Jules Verne (Julian) and H.G. Wells.

The Fixer
Kate McKenna, the tom-boyish mistress of mechanics, has the tools to build anything she sets her mind to!
Kate here is my second-favorite of the bunch, after Victoria. Her last name was meant to evoke the word "mechanic," because that's what she is — a woman with the ability to build anything she can conceive.
She's built from an X-Men "Lady Deathstrike" base body, the head of a DC Direct "Power Girl," a coat from a "Pirates of the Caribbean" figure and so much more. Her lightning gun is custom-made, as well.

The Mechano-Man
Behold! This armored automaton is modern science's answer to safer warfare and exploration!
I envisioned this guy as something that would be shown off at the World's Fair, a mass-produced robot for heavy work.
He's made from an X-Men "Avalanche" figure, with a modified Iron Man head, a custom-made sonic drill gun and a variety of assorted junk.

I'll be posting some more pics of custom projects. I have a line of classic monsters (Frankenstein and Werewolf so far, Dracula in the works) that I'll show soon, as well as some random characters of my own creation. I'm also expanding the Steampunk series into new territory (The Old West) and I'll try to post in-process pics along the way.
Enjoy, and anyone with questions about building or painting custom figures, you can contact me at bfunksignal@gmail.com

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