Automatauntaun Customs: Custom Snake Eyes Concept Figure

"He gave up."
"He never gives up." ~The Baroness and Storm Shadow

Last we saw this figure he was just in the beginning stages. A LOT of progress has occured since then and I documented as much as I could! He is on track to be finished this month. Depending on work, a 5K I'm running and the training it entails and you know... trying to have a life.

I covered how to make his removable mask in my "custom removable mask tutorial", so I'm not going to cover that again.

After making the first removable mask I set about making shoulder pads. My plan was to make the arms sleeved instead of the bare look the figure has. I started by Dremeling out a divot to fill with sculpt to make the shoulder pads.

I was heavily influenced by the Snake Eyes: Resolute look.

I waited for it to half-set (about an hour and a half) and then used the sculpting knife to cut out the square pattern, let it set a little more and then lightly rubbed it down with water using my fingertip, applying almost no pressure. I just wanted to smooth it over and give the appearance of quilted cushioning.

Next was a custom machete. I looked at a lot of variations until I found something that struck my fancy. This was a G.I. Joe knife as a base completly sculpted over and sanded with 1,500 wet sandpaper called Black Ice. Holes were made with a Dremel drill bit.

Another thing that inspired me was Null from Metal Gear Portable Ops (Also known as Gray Fox/ Cyber Ninja). The cyber ninja is one of those super cool ninja (modern) archetypes. And Null and Snake Eyes had a lot in common: silence, uzis and swords.

One of the next things I did was start making the custom weapons. A Kusanagi style sword, a grass cutter. Much like the blade of Zatoichi (I am a super huge fan of the legend of the blind masseuse.) It's the sword from a ML Blade shaved down.

A custom sheath made from electrical tape and crazy glue. (Tutorial still in production. Sorry I know I have been promising this but, I lost ALL my photos and have been doing it all over.)

and a custom uzi made form a Toybiz 1990's Punisher toy uzi.

After I made sure the sword fit I filled one open end with sculpt to start the cap of the sheath. I wetted the blade and kept it in as I sculpted so the blade would fit snugly. once done i removed it so it wouldn't dry to the blade.

While the sheath tip is drying we will work on the uzi parts. The tips for the uzi start off as a soft ball of sculpt.

Flattened into a round disc.

Then cut into halves. Now we just wait for them to set so we can sand them and attach them.

A shot from the side and from the front at an angle to show what the placement looks like after they dried. Before I attached them I sanded them on the bottom and the rounded tops with hard grit, then smooth grit once it got to a place I liked to even it out.

Now back to the sword sheath. First I wetted the work surface. I took my sculpt and wetted it, then smoothed it out with the flat of a sculpting blade, but really any blade will do. Pressing down and applying even pressure the whole time is important.

I then cut the sides and re-wetted, and smoothed it pressing down well applying even pressure, Repeat the process till you get the desired outcome.

This is the thickness, or rather, thinness that I wanted. So I cut the sides off to make a long band.

Then I wetted, smoothed and used the flat of my blad to make it flat.

Then, VERY CAREFULLY apply more water all around the base and to the blade, then gently pry the piece up.

Next figure out which side you want the seam on. I always put mine on whatever the back or least used side of an object is so if I can't make it completely disappear, it at least isn't super obvious. Once you do that, place the middle of the strip on the sheath. Using the knife carefully press one side down. Then press in the opposite direction till you have a small overlap. If it dosen't overlap don't worry. You can fill it in later. At this point, if it overlaps, trim it before you smooth it down.

Don't worry if their is bulging, as there will be sanding later. The only thing I did do was tamp the part that meets the sheath to be even with the flat of the blade well it was wet. You cannot sand against the sheath as it would ruin the nice ribbed texture.

Once everything is in position just let it sit. I did not smooth the bottom as later this will get filled and sanded.

Back to the uzi. After the glue has set, give it one more application on the sides, fronts and backs and let that set. Then I went about sanding them and making sure any unevenness was corrected for that nice even shot down the middle.

I put the ribbing on the side of the frame on next. I admit this was a bit big, but it was my first attempt... smaller next time. I basically made two tubes and then smoothed them on with water. I did have to sand them a bit.

That little "nub" on the top of the uzi (part of the slide and bolt I think) were a challenge. I wanted it to appear close to the frame but as if it were floating. So I snipped a small pice of paper clip for the peg, and rolled up a tiny orb of sculpt and flattened it. Then let it set.

While waiting for that to dry, I Dremeled out the shell ejector. You can see the crude grip I did. I plan to re-do this later now that I know a lot more about sculpting as this figure was one of my first. I learned a lot making him. (Also note I wet sanded the frame and "ears" so their was as little a gap as could be.)

As you can see the little peg never worked out. It was either too high, or when I shortened it it didn't stay glued in place. In the end this looked more natural as well.

Before getting back to the sheath, a diversion dealing with the sheath. I plan to attach it to the belt since it's a straight blade. I took a rare earth magnet and glued it into this hole. I plan to sculpt over it but as you can imagine, sculpting with metal over the surface of a magnet is kinda tricky. I will post a shot of the sculpt after I get a proper plastic tool.

The next steps are all about your taste so I omitted them. I wanted to do a straight blade cap, but couldn't get it looking quite right, so I went with this. Then I painted it black and dry brushed it silver till i got the desired effect. After that, one final coat of black wash (diluted).

I used the same technique for the sword sheath end as with this clasp for the sheath. I just made this not as thin so I could use a sculpting blade to edge in the quilted pattern. I also shaved the hilt of the blade ML handle down and sculpted over it.

I sculpted the handle by letting it set almost completely then carving in my best impression of wood patterns. I then painted a bright ocher yellow base, bright red dry brushing and then lots and lots of layers of brown dry brushing in alternating dark brown and light brown. This little circlet at the top of the hilt will be gold or silver, not sure yet.