This custom took me awhile because I wanted to have a cloak for him before I showed the final piece.
I looked for a long time to see if I could just buy one or use one from another action figure line like star Wars.
I then got the idea to have one made via my good friend Heather but as she was making one for me I came across a used toy shop that had the perfect cloak already made on a 12 inch size Star Wars Jawa figure.
I was also looking for the perfect Scythe for Death also and that came from a NECA Resident Evil 4 - Monk figure.
The base figure is a Playmates Skeleton Warriors Shriek, and what I did to change it into Death was:
Break off her crown, pull out the hair, fill in the holes left by pulling both out, sculpt new details into the skull, take out the gold eyes, cut off Arm bracelets, cut off her cape, cut off plastic dress around waist, broke off knife holder, sanded down bands around legs, sanded down breasts, & sculpted a new rib cage on the chest area.
For painting I first painted the entire figure white then second I did a yellow draw wash coat on the figure, then I repeated the process with black paint detailing the sculpting from the original figure more along with my new additions to the toy, I also went over the figure a few times touching up the black lines in the skulls cracks, face, eye holes, and around the ribs.
I based the look of the figure on his appearances in both the Archie TMNT Adventures & Mutanimals series trying to mix the 2 the best I could.
This was a very fun figure to make as it was an idea I've had for a very long time and did one back in my teenage years but it doesn't even come close to this version.
It's always fun to see how far you've grown as an artist by looking back at your past work and comparing it to the things you're currently doing.
I do have more planned for Death so keep an eye out for some customs that will go along with him.
What you see is the prepainted Black Costume Raphael's I'm making for the great folks @ Mirage and select TMNT fans who paid for these commissions.
This is my last post before I pack up my computer and ready myself for my big move back to California.
This custom took me awhile because I wanted to have a cloak for him before I showed the final piece.
I then got the idea to have one made via my good friend Heather but as she was making one for me I came across a used toy shop that had the perfect cloak already made on a 12 inch size Star Wars Jawa figure.
I was also looking for the perfect Scythe for Death also and that came from a NECA Resident Evil 4 - Monk figure.
The base figure is a Playmates Skeleton Warriors Shriek, and what I did to change it into Death was:
For painting I first painted the entire figure white then second I did a yellow draw wash coat on the figure, then I repeated the process with black paint detailing the sculpting from the original figure more along with my new additions to the toy, I also went over the figure a few times touching up the black lines in the skulls cracks, face, eye holes, and around the ribs.
I based the look of the figure on his appearances in both the Archie TMNT Adventures & Mutanimals series trying to mix the 2 the best I could.
This was a very fun figure to make as it was an idea I've had for a very long time and did one back in my teenage years but it doesn't even come close to this version.
It's always fun to see how far you've grown as an artist by looking back at your past work and comparing it to the things you're currently doing.
I do have more planned for Death so keep an eye out for some customs that will go along with him.
This I think is one of my best customs, mostly because I've put allot of time into it as it's not for myself.
I used a WWE Armando Estrada figure as the base incase anyone wanted to know.
I based his look on various appearances through the comics but his outfit is based on the United We Stand Divided We Fall storyline from TMNT Adventures & Mighty Mutanimals.
If you're not familiar with these comics you should be so check them out over at
Today Peter Laird shared some images on his blog of a Vac-Metal Fugitoid that Playmates may be producing.Just Like Peter I've been waiting years for this to happen.So please if you feel the same way share your excitement on his blog about just how cool this is.Sadly it's not articulated but perhaps we can change their minds to give the figure just a little bit.
