Luther (The Umbrella Academy - Fwoosh Secret Santa 2021 Entry)

What up everyone! Happy new year. Let’s collectively say fuck you to 2021 and welcome in 2022 with a new custom figure shall we? To start things off, here’s my entry for the annual Fwoosh Secret Santa custom figure swap. Here is Luther from the Umbrella Academy. 

I gotta say, this year’s experience with the Fwoosh Secret Santa was a little different for me. This was the first year that I not only participated, but helped organize and run the event with EthanSupleeCustoms (who has been running it solo for 10 years). So unfortunately, the surprise of the reveals were less of a surprise for me this year as I got to see everyone’s lists and work in progress pics as they came in. I did manage to find some positives to being in the loop as my excitement in seeing the progress of all the talent we had participate culminate into their final forms. So many great customs this year and lots of people bringing their A game and stepping out of their comfort zone. It was really awesome to see. 

Ok ok, enough about Secret Santa. Let’s talk about Luther. Luther was made for Famous J customs (IG @customfamousj) and he was a ton of fun to make. This character stood out to me on his list because Ive been wanting a reason to customize that Sasquatch buck for quite some time. Although im unfamiliar with this version of Luther from the comics, I did watch Umbrella Academy on Netflix so I had a bit of knowledge about the character. 

As I previously mentioned, the recipe for this custom was pretty straightforward. It’s a Sasquatch BAF body with the back and crotch fur overlays removed. The head is from Warpath, the neck from Gung Ho and the laser gun and backpack were built from Apoxie Sculpt and some random fodder pieces from a NECA Ninja Turtles gun and a Maverick Backpack. I also decided to swap the hands from Mr Hyde BAF onto the Sasquatch body to give him some more gnarly, bigger hands. Plus he had the open hand I could use for his laser gun so that worked too! I did have to modify the pegs on the Hyde hands to fit into the Squatch peg holes but it was mostly easy.   

I did quite a bit more sculpting than I expected to on this guy. I started my sculpting work using Apoxie Sculpt. With it, I sculpted all of the armor (the crotch, boots, knee pads and neck armor). I had to fill in the gap left behind from the shoulder overlay, so I just sculpted some fur to blend in with the rest of the torso. I also sculpted the hair and the top part of the mask on the head and did some fine detailing on the belt and neck piece. I built the laser gun and the back pack using Apoxie Sculpt and bits and pieces from random pieces of fodder in my parts bins. 

I then switched to Green Stuff for all of the strap overlays. This is the first time I have ever made an overlay (I usually just sculpt right onto the figure). They were relatively simple to make, but they were a labor of love. The process was done over 4 sculpt sessions that required sanding and finessing each and every step. It was time consuming but it was worth the work cause I think they turned out pretty dope. I ended up gluing the overlays in place when the figure was finished, but it made painting much easier and cleaner. 

The paint job was a lot of fun and was the main reason I was looking forward to using the Sasquatch Buck. Theres lots of good sculpt on that body and getting to utilize washes, airbrush shading and dry brushing to get that final look really showcased how good the sculpt on it is. I particularly like the fade into grey on the chest. The bronze on the neck piece was pretty visually striking as well, especially against the dark fur. I hit the fur with a wash and some blue shading using my airbrush along with some subtle dry brushing to make it all pop. 

Finally, after assembly, I added all the tubes and wires. This guy has some questionable drainage in his little diaper armor, so I had to find something that could move freely without stiffening up and hindering articulation of the waist. I ultimately ended up using silicon jelly bracelets. I bought some clear ones so I could dye them the colours I need. Using RIT Synthetic Fabric Dye, I was able to dye one blue and one red (and I left one clear). The big thick one on his neck was taken from a Machine Man arm extension that I bent into the appropriate shape and painted with some Turbodork Metallic paints. 

I totally loved making this figure and in the end, like usual, I didn’t want to send him to his new home. Lol. Im glad Famous J was happy with this figure cause he was really a joy to make. So many fun little details and I just loved his neck joint (you could get so many expressive looks with his range of motion). I strongly suggest checking out all the action on the Fwoosh Secret Santa thread over on their forums. Just click here and it will take you to the first reveal. Alternatively, you can check out the highlights on the top of my Instagram profile where ive showcased every tease, reveal and gift claim of the event thus far (there’s still a bit more to come). 

Finally, I will be redoing my webpage as I get ready to rebrand Customs by Matchu. This rebranding will include my IG, Webpage and Youtube Channel (coming soon!) So there will probably  will not be another reveal until I finish it all up. Please bare with me as this could take me a minute, im not the smartest when it comes to this sort of stuff. Haha, but I hope it will be worth the wait for you guys (and me lol). Happy New Year everyone! See you real soon!