Dragon Thunder Ranger (Caesarkiller - Original Character)

Hello everyone. The next two reveals are both original characters created by the customers who commissioned me to make them. This one is the first Power Ranger based figure that I have made, although I have used Lightning Collection parts for previous customs. I was drawn to this one for the striking design, particularly the helmet. It was made for Green_Ranger_Ck on IG and is an original design that he created. He called him Caesarkiller but I constantly referred to him as the Dragon Thunder Ranger. 

I made this guy using a White Dino Thunder Ranger as the base figure and a Mighty Morphin Green Ranger helmet (I also borrowed a few hands, belt and the Dragon Dagger from him too). The unmasked head was a Killmonger Michael B Jordan portrait.  

When I quoted this project I definitely under estimated the work that was going to go into it. What I ultimately thought was going to be the hardest part (the helmet) actually ended up being the easiest. And the thing I expected to not be overly difficult (the fins on the arm bands) turned out being one of the biggest pains in the ass ive ever had to deal with on a commission piece. Thankfully my customer was beyond supportive and understanding.

For this project, I used Aves Apoxie Sculpt and Procreate. The Apoxie Sculpt was used for the bands on the arms, the detailing on the boots, the shield straps, detailing on the shield and most of the helmet. The Procreate was used to do the extra fins on the helmet,  detailing on the shield, and inevitably the fins on the arm bands. 

The helmet was a lot of fun to make. I tried to utilize the design of the Green Ranger helmet as much as I could, but I ultimately had to rebuild the visor part from scratch. So I dremeled it all clean off so I could start from the ground up. Fortunately for me, with just 3 sculpt sessions I got it just about spot on and I was so stoked to have it  off my plate. Little did I know, those pesky arm fins would be the death of me! 

I tried 3 different options before I arrived at the option I went with for the arm band fins. I tried green stuff (2 different ways), plastic and finally, I landed on using thin sheets of cured procreate. So I mixed some procreate up, rolled it into a flat sheet using baby powder and a rolling pin, and cut a bunch of strips. 

Once cured, I used my Dremel with a rounded bit to make indents into the strips so they’ve fit the contour of the arm and then glued them in place on the arm, 4 per arm. I reapplied the glue to really make sure they were on there before I let them fully dry. 

The paint job was another huge pain in the butt I had to deal with. I ultimately ended up repainting the green after I first finished it because I felt it was just a few shades too dark. So I had to remask the whole project so I could paint it again. It was very frustrating. But I’m ultimately glad I did as I wasn’t happy with how dark the green turned out.

All in all, this project challenged me more than id like to admit it did. But it was still fun to make a Power Ranger. I really love the Lightning Collection so I was excited to do another custom utilizing parts from the line. I don’t know if id venture down this avenue again anytime soon but im happy to say that ive dabbled in the Morphin Grid. Up next: an original Dungeons & Dragons character. Ill be revealing her one week from today! So come on back and check her out!