A return to Metal Gear..

I have always had a bad habit of getting in over my head...and with this hobby it's no different. I tend to take on multiple projects at once then eventually find myself tabeling a majority of the work in order to center my attention on a single piece. Case and point - Metal Gear. I began working on a Metal Gear series shortly before MGS4 was released - for some reason I found myself on a "sith trip" and tabled the entire gear line to knock out figures such as Darth Sion and others. Now though, after almost a year of tableing these figures, I'm back at work - and I'm kicking myself in the arse realizing how much fun I've been missing!! Not to say working in the Star Wars universe isn't fun...it's a blast!...but it's nice to have a change of pace every now and again :) My Star Wars creations will not be taking a back seat...not in the least...but it will be sharing the spotlight now with various Gear characters...there's plenty of room at the table.

A short but sweet Star Wars update by the way!

Mazzic needed some adjustments to the ears....I had them sculpted too forward and a bit too small which threw the entire head sculpt out of proportion. After some minor adjustments though, Mazzic's head is close to completion - I will have a second headsculpt depicting him with his tradmark toothpic in his mouth. It seams that all my sculpts require multiple head sculpts these days - I'm not having a problem with that at all. Below is an image of the corrected Mazzic sculpt.



I have officially completed the Vong Warrior from Star Wars Invasion, as well as Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and will be priming the sculpts soon for painting. I look forward to how these Vong sculpts look when given some color.

I've began working on the Tonnika Sisters...and I hope to have the body frames set up soon. No microlady parts will be used for framwork this time around...I'll be using Joes.

Alright - On to Metal Gear, starting with and update to the Jonathan sculpt from MGS4. Had to create a larger ball joint for his waist/lower abdomen articulation...the previous one was too loose and when adding more weight of the FIXIT to the frame, the figure bagan to slump forward a bit - much better now.

I thickened the shoulders and added the upper arm sculpt.

The shoulders still contain ball joints but due to the thickening around them, a small amount of articulation has been lost...you can't position his arms at a 90 degree angle to the ground any longer...no problem, I can deal with that. He can still strike a firing position when holding a weapon.

I am working on his lower legs and feet as well. I had to go back and sculpt the boots - because of his mass, the hands and feet are out of proportion. I have a new set of hands ready but I have to resculpt the boots. Below is some of my progress. In order to retain ankle articulation I had to lower the tops of the boots a bit. Looks a bit like cross trainers now but I'm alright with that - once it's painted the boots will work well with the rest of the sculpt. Still working on completing the boot straps; the lower arms and hands will be added next.





Here's a fun "before and after" shot. I originally used a dremeled down microman kinnikuman figure, adding joe parts and a ball jointed neck. Parts of the original articluation still exist and work very well. I like the kinnikuman frame for larger figures and intend to use it again soon (possibly Ed).



Next, I worked a little over the weekend on Raiden(MGS4). Sculpted the base of the lower torso/abdomen and added some of the base to Raiden's left upper leg...the muscle so to speak.





So far, so good - but I do have a delemma...Raiden has clear parts that go over his shoulders and his lower legs. I am concerned how I may be able to create these. I have worked with the crystal clear resin/plastics before and no, I don't have a pressure pot...which suits me fine, the last one I had blew up...not a fun experience (a long story). I guess since the parts are small, I may be able to get away with a slow pour which may negate the air bubbles...we'll see.







Finally an update on Vamp from MGS4 - I wanted to show off a bit of his existing articluation. One of my goals for this figure is to retain as much articulation as possible - Next to Raiden and Gray Fox, Vamp is one of the most animated characters in the Metal Gear universe..I want to make sure I do that some justice. I will be resculpting the facial features and the hair to allow him to look up...and no suprise, a variant head sculpt is also in the works. Vamp is one of my favorites in the MGS universe...



I resculpted and thickened his waist a bit - another proportion issue. The image below was me having some fun with photoshop...



Some other Metal Gear figures in the works or "planned to be one day" but nothing worked or photographed yet...

Metal Gear Solid:

- Solid Snake - Working

- Gray Fox - Working

- Psycho Mantis - Planned

- Next Generation Special Forces soldier - Planned

Sons of Liberty:

- Solid Snake - Working

- Solidus - Planned

- Raiden - Working

- Iroquois Pliskin - Planned

- Tengu Commandos x 2 - Working

- Gurlukovich Mercenaries - Working

- Cyborg ninja -Planned

Snake Eater:

- Jack - Working

- Naked Snake - Working

- The Boss - Planned

- Big Boss (snake) - Working

- Eva -Planned

- GRU operatives - Working

MGS - PO:

Frank Jaeger as Null - Planned

Python - Planned

Big Boss - Planned

Meal Gear Peace Walker:

Big Boss - Planned

Metal Gear Solid 4:

Old Snake - Working

Raiden - Working

Vamp - Working

Meryl Silverburg - planned

Ed - Planned

Laughing Octopus - Working

Long list huh...but hey...it will keep me busy!

That's the update for now - For more images of my work, check out my photostream on FLICKR at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sith_fire30/

Thanks again to all those that have become a fan of my Facebook page!! I appreciate all of your continued interest!- If you haven't become a fan, please click on the banner to the right if you'd like to join in! Take care - Star Wars update next time!

sith_fire30