BLACK PANTHER - Custom action figure

This was my contribution to this years RPF Secret Santa. I was paired with a Marvel/Black Panther fan in Seoul and have wanted to try making a custom action figure for a long time so I took this as an opportunity. Here's the build process:


I started with some archeology. I have a large action figure crate (posing as a coffee table) and dug through the dense collection to find a worthy candidate.
Cyclops FTW! I wanted something with a vintage silhouette, not the ultra detailed or over-designed figures that you see today. It was a little bittersweet to have to destroy him but his proportions were just too ideal to pass up.


I took a heat gun to him for a few minutes and he came apart pretty quick. He's an old figure and the plastic melted under heat really quickly so I ended up having to fix some melted edges with molding later on.


I ground down all of the boot and glove cuffs as I wouldn't be needing those details in the design, sanded down most of the design details in the original mold and started sculpting the new details on top.
I was not anticipating how difficult sculpting would be! It took me quite a few tries before I got something that looked like a face, but I'm happy with what I was finally able to do.

I did a rough primer and coat of flat black to see the areas I would need to clean up.


And a quick test-fit to make sure the parts didn't get warped too much during the deconstruction.

I filled in the rest of the open gaps and sanded down all of the surfaces clean and did some final paint passes, which you will see in a moment. Whie I was waiting for the filler and paint to dry I got started on the packaging.


The whiteboard eraser package happened to be the perfect size for him. I used alcohol to clean off the glue that was attached when I opened it. I purchased a Silhouette Curio cutting machine over Black Friday and this was my first good opportunity to use it. I designed and cut out a couple pieces of cardstock which would be sandwiched together. The typography was done up in Photoshop and then transferred to the cutting tool and was drawn in with a white paint pen.
The backing is a silver adhesive label paper that I wanted to contrast with the black packaging and figure.
The final paint job is a combination of flat and gloss black with some silver accents in the eyes. I also made a spear for him out of some scrap vibranium I had laying around. And it was time for final packaging! He's held in with an aluminum wire and some more more of the silver adhesive paper to the backing and the cover was glued on top. And it was finished!

Beautifully done, the custom packaging is top notch as well!

Awesome work! It's so exquisite operation process, I'm impressed. Thanks again for your contribution. Your art, to me, It's worth than other artifact. Because it's only in the world! ;D