Random (90's X-Factor)
What up everyone?! Another whole month since my last reveal, jeez, I suck at keeping this updated. Haha. Truth is, I’ve had a crazy month of May full of lots of business travel. Spare time has not been plentiful for me as of late. No matter, I’m here to FINALLY complete my 90’s X-Factor team with the reveal of the non member, Random.
Random was on my work bench for a long time (basically 4 months). He was a unique build in that his proportions are kinda wonky, and I wanted to utilize the thoratic joint as opposed to the ab crunch so I could make a floating vest that would essentially hover over the lower abdomen. I also wanted to utilize magnets to make his lower arms swappable. I saw another customizer do something similar with an infinity gauntlet on a Thanos figure wayyyy back when but I can’t remember for the life of me who that customizer was to give credit.
Random was made using a Juggernaut wave Cable legs, lower torso and a piece of the upper torso that houses the plug for the thoratic joint. His arms are from Absorbing Man BAF, his upper torso is a HEAVILY modified Omega Red retrofit to utilize a thoratic joint, and a head cast of Bruce Willis (can’t tell you how old the Willis references got) and a pair of sunglasses from… I’m not really sure. Found them in my fodder bin, can’t recall what they came from. I also used misc fodder pieces for the bandana sashes (thanks Iron Fist!), a vest (thanks random WWE figure) and jacket collar (thanks Netflix Punisher!) For the cannon arm bases, I used marker caps and spools from dog poop bags to help keep the shape and keep the weight of the arm cannons as light as possible.
To pull off the swappable arms, I drilled large holes into where the pegs that connect the upper and lower arms together. In those holes, I glued some heavy duty, rare earth magnets. I then covered them up with apoxie sculpt so you can’t see them and to help keep them in place. Check out the video below to see the swap in action. The magnets ended up being far too strong, not a huge issue, but can make it hard to swap from time to time.
To make the Omega Red upper torso fit onto the body, i had to cut it just below the breast line and hollow out the inside. I then took the upper torso from the Juggernaut wave Cable and cut the plug out (using my dremel and a very sharp knife) so I could install it in the Omega Red torso. Once I cleared out enough space in the torso, i installed the plug by placing and gluing it in place, then later cementing it in place so it didn’t move.
I did a ton of sculpting on this guy (as you can see from my WIP in the photo carousel down below). The legs were given more clothing wrinkles once I removed the cargo pockets/straps with a dremel. I also did the knee/boot wraps using a mix of Procreate and Apoxie Sculpt. The biceps, triceps and wrists were given some added bulk as did the face (trying to make him not look like Bruce Willis was pretty challenging). I sculpted majority of the detail on the jacket and the bandana and fully sculpted the swappaI was pretty happy with the paint job on this guy. I have been seeing some slow progression on my airbrush shading, but I was particularly happy with the brown shading on the vest as well as the skin color. White skin is tricky to get right, and I feel the use of the multiple shades of light blue and greys really helped make the details of the sculpt pop.
I am so happy to add Random to my collection and finally close the doors on my 90’s X-Factor team. So much so that I broke them all out from my collection to take a family photo. Turned out awesome! Thanks to all who have been following along through the whole process. Up next, Forearm! (He’s looking real good!). See you next month. HA!
PS> Check out my updated collection pics in the MY COLLECTION section (up on the menu at the top)
