MW3 Mighty Mugg Animated Turn Around

Photos and Custom Mighty Mugg Copyright Gerald de Dios 2011

Modern Warfare 3 Mighty Muggs Custom

Wrapping up a custom painted Mighty Mugg character from the popular video game "Modern Warfare 3".

Got the Mohawk sculpted and attached and just finished painting.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE UPDATES!!!

Cheers!

SW - Episode III

Ah...a long awaited custom figure that I have been dying to make. There was a scene in "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" when Emperor Palpatine (aka. Darth Sidious) gave the green light for "Order 66". The scene I was referring to was: Yoda and Obi-Wan fighting off multiple "501st Clone Troopers". Yoda runs into the screen, disarming 1 trooper, then throwing his lightsaber into the chest of another. Yoda jumps onto the trooper's chest and yanks out what is rightfully his. Just...."Bad-Ass!".

Here's one of several reference shots I studied.

At the time there were no 501st Clone Troopers on the store shelves. Hasbro announced plans to reissue them with the current packaging design. I couldn't wait, so I bought a clean white clone trooper from Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.

So here's where patience was required,
using masking tape to create a template
for the much needed dark royal blue paint.

The paint dried quite nicely overnight, and I started the scraping process to give the necessary battle damaged look.

Several days and um-teen hours later...

My digital camera was bugging out
but I really liked the grainy feel.

Now for the final touch....the
light saber through the chest.

And don't forget the gun dropping to the floor.

I could not find a yoda with the right outfit and pose, so I decided to sew him a a brand-spank'in new robe. I did not get the measurements right on the first try, so this is the result of the second attempt.
I wanted to take this custom figure to the next level and find a micro sized LED light to insert into his chest. That way, the lightsaber would be illuminated. After researching and checking out several hardware stores (Osh, Home Depot/Yardbirds, Radio Shack), No luck.

Buddhist Monkey!

Long over due...my latest Dunny painting is finally complete. I purchased the glow-in-the-dark Dunny and painted it with acrylics.

So why did I choose this particular character? He's my all time favorite "Happy Tree Friends" character, Buddhist Monkey. Unfortunately, Buddhist Monkey was only in 2 exclusive episodes. The character design and animation was created by the talented flash artist, Alan Lau.

Yes, he glows when he gets really angry.

Coming Soon...

Vince Carter - New Jersey Nets

With the NBA playoffs getting into gear, Vince Carter has been having some incredible hi-lites on ESPN's Sports Center and Comcast's "On Demand - NBA Best Plays". VC has been sporting a different look lately and wearing Under Armour" Leggings (just like Dwayne Wade and LeBron James). So that's the custom paint job I wanted to go for.

The McFarlane NBA Series 10 has been out for a couple months now and I've been waiting to get started on this custom paint job! Below is the standard paint job, which already has the looks, incredible attention to details, and VC's signature dunk pose as seen in SLAM magazines.

So the main focus in on adding the black Under Armour, repainting the red head-band/wrist-band to solid white.

Time to start masking away...

I used a black satin finish for the legs. The easiest
part was masking the socks. The toughest part
was masking underneath the shorts.

The Under Armour turned out great, so
onto the head-band/wirst-band.

Here's a closer look before the final coat of
white goes on.

I decided to use a white primer since I wanted to go for a matted look. But the worse thing happened. I thought I had shaken the can good enough, but the primer came out very watery. This caused bleeding onto the face, head, ears and arms...not to mention the headband warpped.

I waited overnight to dry and started cleaning away the unwanted paint. I started with good ol' water and q-tips, but no luck. So I used some eye glass cleaner and toothpicks instead. That seemed to do the trick. In the future, I would invest in the Q-tips from Japan (they have fine point ends).

So here's the finished product.

I didn't expect to work on this until next week, but I just couldn't wait. I figured I'd experiment with his weapon first...sand it down and start chipping away to give the weathered look, as if it's been dragged through hell. I really liked the outcome so I started working on the rest of the body. I soon sanded the shine off the orange windows and chipped away the paint. Thanks to the peeps on the Kidrobot forum for thier suggestions. Just a great place to chop it up about anything and everything art related.

Just finished doing a color variant on a Maschinen Kriger Chapter3 Kubrick PKW. Wanted to originally go with a dark grey camo because the green camo sold out.

Here's the Chapter 3 set (6 total)

Working on a smaller sized figure is very difficult compared to a 8" Munny. I need to get a smaller, not to mention a BETTER brush. Used the khaki color as a base, then overlayed with dark grey. I was close to making the windows a light green instead, but felt stronger with the orange. What would be a better paint to get a smoother look on the glass, enamel paint? Thanks.



Just recieved some feed back to rough up the orange on glass so I can get a weathered look to match the rest of the body. Besided, sanding it will even out the lumpy layers of paint. To be continued...

Q-bert & Huck Gee

Okay...it's not a custom, but I had a chance to meet the one and only Dj Q-bert and Huck Gee. There was a special signing and performance at the Milk bar in San Francisco last night. Kidrobot played host as they released one of Huck Gee's creations...a special 3" Q-bert Dunny along with a mini QFO. Purchasing lines were unfortunately closed down due to limited supply. Yes, there were that many people packed in like sardines. But Q-bert's performance was well worth it...before you knew it, a couple of his old Invisable Skratch Pikelz homies stopped by...Dj Shortkut and Dj Flare...and man, did they rip it up! Check Kidrobot's site for photos.

Just recieved a vinyl Munny figure for x-mas from my girlfriend this year. It's been 1 week now and it's just been sitting on my shelf...So I ran over to the hardware store to pick up some primer and clear coat. I had 2 designs that I've been looking forward to doing...so I started with the easier one that just required 1 color of paint and minimal masking.

Not only am I fan of Bruce Lee, "Game of Death" and "Kill Bill" vol. 1 & 2, but I was also inspired by the "Special Kill Bill Kubrick" (only available with the Japanese DVD set). Considering this was my first custom figure ever...I was still missing one thing..."Patience". Things were going so well, until I pieced the arms and body. The acrylic paint job went down the toilet and was smudged all over.

I was way too anxious and excited because the helmet turned out exactly how I imagined. I ended up sanding down the paint on the body and arms to put the Munny back to it's original form....at least close to.

To be continued...

An all-time favorite anime of mine...AKIRA. I ended up purchasing the McFarlaine versions of Kaneda & Tetsuo when they hit the store shelves. The detail on them were just incredible. So why create another Tetsuo? I new there was no way to match up to McFarlaine's skills, so I decided to get creative with Tetsuo's composition and give a more dramatic feel. Inspired by the part of the movie when Testuo loses control of his powers and his arm englufs the cop. Originally, the arm was to be 2 feet long...but ran out of Sculpey at the time. This was done when I was still attending AI in Seattle. Made of Sculpey, a Coca-Cola can for the cape, duct tape for his pants and an old remote control for his arm.