These are not the elaborate, in-depth projects I was hinting at last month, but I've already gotten these cool cats photographed and ready to unveil first, so here you go. The Panther and the BlackCat (yeah, I know, he's actually blue) are two of the more tricky enemies from Final Fantasy IV to dispatch properly if you encounter them before you're ready to actually fight them. They were a little easier than some of my other Final Fantasy IV projects because cats are something that exist in the real world, so there were figurines that I could buy off the shelf and only required a new coat of paint to bring them to life. I did, however, spend hours painting all those leopard spots by hand. (And then had to completely redo one of these projects a second time because my daughter decided to mess with it, only one day after I finished it!)
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This month's pair of projects were so elaborate, and required so many different customizing skills, that I don't think I could have even attempted them until recently. (Well, I mean, I guess I could have attempted them, but I don't think they would have turned out anywhere nearly as good as they did. I'm not bragging; I'm just stating facts here. I've been customizing toys for 20 years; I couldn't have done this with only ten years' worth of projects under my belt.) Anyway, one of the more vicious and difficult-to-beat types of monster in Final Fantasy IV are the mildly-angry Ogre and considerably-more-angry Mad Ogre (who you don't necessarily meet in that order). In fact, the first time it's possible to go into battle with the Mad Ogre, you're almost certainly ill-equipped to deal with them and they will likely slaughter you and floss their teeth with your small intestine. Or maybe even your large intestine. Because their teeth are just that big, you see. This wasn't the easiest project in the world. It wasn't just a matter of finding a big, muscular action figure and rebuilding its physical proportions to more closely match the game sprites. It wasn't just mixing up a big batch of paint and trying to make these look authentically like filthy, cave-dwelling monsters. I also had to make tiny little doll clothing for them by hand. I also had to give them real rooted hair—not just on their heads, but on their chests and arms as well. (And, yes, I might have also made them partially anatomically-accurate in a way you don't often see on male action figures.) |
DAVID GRAHAM EDWARDS
Illustrator, writer, painter, sculptor, collector of toys and cats, observer of things. Categories
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