Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Collect your base figures. To customize action figures, it's easiest to begin with existing figures, so gather a good selection of expendable characters to use as bases and mine for spare parts. Select base figures that share as many characteristics as possible with the custom figures you want to produce. Garage sales and your nephews' toy boxes are good sources for bases and parts.
Switch parts. Most standard action figures have heads, arms and legs that are easily interchangeable, allowing you to assemble customized figures from a variety of parts, When removing parts, soften the "donor" figure by immersing it in boiling water for a minute or two. Pop off the parts you need, and pop them onto your base figure.
Subtract and shape. Before adding any new details to your customized figure, remove everything from the base figure that you don't need, such as folds of clothing, and reshape whatever needs changing, such as facial figures and hands. You can do this with sandpaper, but it's an arduous process. A grinding tool like a Dremel works best. Remove details a little bit at a time, so you don't lose more than you want to.
Add new details. This is where your creativity comes in: you can mold extra limbs, make a man into a monster or add your face to a superhero. Use a molding compound like Sculpey that doesn't harden until you bake it so you can experiment. Find special sculpting tools at hobby shops, or use whatever you have on hand from toothpicks to paper punches.
Bake your finished customized figures. Put the action figures on a cookie sheet and leave them in a low oven (275 degrees F) for no longer than 15 minutes. Watch the figures; you want the modeling compound to harden, but you don't want the plastic to melt. Allow figures to cool for half an hour after removing them from the oven before you handle them to allow the plastic to reset.
Paint your customized action figures. Mask off any details you don't want to repaint, and spray the figures with a coat of acrylic primer. Use acrylic paints (not model paints) and fine paintbrushes. Finish off your customized action figures by spraying them with glossy acrylic sealer once the paint is dry.