View Full Version : Marvel Universe 3.75" Yellowjacket
Discogod
03-11-2010, 04:19 PM
Yellowjacket:
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e43/NeonDiscogod/MUYellowjacket1.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e43/NeonDiscogod/MUYellowjacket2.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e43/NeonDiscogod/MUYellowjacket3.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e43/NeonDiscogod/MUYellowjacket4.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e43/NeonDiscogod/YJAvengers.jpg
Picked up a couple of cheap MU figures recently, to have a crack at a couple of customs in the smaller scale. Hats off to those of you that customize in this scale regularly, I find it hard enough painting and sculpting details on 6" figures, let alone these things... Anywhoo, I wanted to make a character that could fit in with MU and Legends (and Icons, I suppose). I basically flipped a coin to decide between Yellowjacket & Ant-Man.
Base figure is MU Guardian. Sculpted the head details, added wings made of styrene sheet and added some thigh cut joints. Quite simple, apart from having trouble with the smaller scale. I must have painted the chest logo a dozen times before it looked ok, and it's still too damn big.
MikeD
03-11-2010, 10:06 PM
Great job! I customize pretty much exclusively in this scale these days and Yellowjacket is one of my favorites. I've always wanted to do him but the Wings always stumped me. I always figured I'd make them with sheet styrene, but how to cut and fit them to the figure? can you give some details as to how you did the wings because I think they look great!
BigHank
03-11-2010, 10:18 PM
Awesome work! I grabbed a few Guardians too because he is a great generic base figure. I really like the Yellow Jacket you did here. Bravo!
Discogod
03-11-2010, 10:31 PM
MikeD - First I put a line of Kneadatite down where the bottom of the wing would touch the body. Once that was dry, I took it off and used it as a template for the underside of the wing, so it would contour to the body. Then it was just a matter of drawing the wing (this is all on thin card, by the way). I cut that out, luckily it fit perfectly, so I used the template on some black styrene, cut that out and glued it to the figure.
Here's a picture of the Kneadatite form (bear in mind this is about an inch in height):
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e43/NeonDiscogod/YJform.jpg
starwarsgeek
03-12-2010, 01:05 AM
That came out really nice, but... why the cut in the thighs? What does that do? IMO it's a little distracting.
BigHank
03-12-2010, 01:09 AM
That came out really nice, but... why the cut in the thighs? What does that do? IMO it's a little distracting.
Probably to help with articulation. Quite few of these Marvel Universe figures don't have a swivel/ball joint thigh/hip joint. Frustrating when doing dynamic poses.
starwarsgeek
03-12-2010, 01:55 AM
Every MU figure I have has a ball joint socket at the hip, which allows for pretty good articulation IMO.
BigHank
03-12-2010, 02:03 AM
I'm pretty sure my Iron Man (Universe series, not movie) and Spiderman don't, not like the ball/swivel type anyway. You may be right though, I don't have them in front of me.
MikeD
03-12-2010, 02:56 AM
MikeD - First I put a line of Kneadatite down where the bottom of the wing would touch the body. Once that was dry, I took it off and used it as a template for the underside of the wing, so it would contour to the body. Then it was just a matter of drawing the wing (this is all on thin card, by the way). I cut that out, luckily it fit perfectly, so I used the template on some black styrene, cut that out and glued it to the figure.
Brilliant! I've been wracking my brains for months trying to figure out how to make a damn template to contour the body like that! It never occurred to me to use sculpting material. This solves not only my Yellowjacket problem, but others as well! Thanks for the tip!
BigHank
03-12-2010, 03:08 AM
Brilliant! I've been wracking my brains for months trying to figure out how to make a damn template to contour the body like that! It never occurred to me to use sculpting material. This solves not only my Yellowjacket problem, but others as well! Thanks for the tip!
You can get a contour gauge from Home Depot or lowed. They are usually in the trim/moulding section. I use them a lot and find them invaluable for making profile templates.
speedleescustoms
03-12-2010, 11:08 AM
wow, this looks awesome ! luv the wings !
Discogod
03-12-2010, 11:29 AM
Every MU figure I have has a ball joint socket at the hip, which allows for pretty good articulation IMO.
Hasbro use them on the movie lines, but MU figures just have the ball & socket hips similar to GI Joe - it makes it tough to pose the legs without the figure falling over. The thigh cut joints help that, even if they don't look fantastic.
Hasbro are actually putting cut thighs on most of the new MU figures, so they've obviously listened to the complaints....