Alpha Flight custom figures

[Calbretto]

I recently put together quite a few custom action figures of my favourite Alpha characters. I started reading the original series while on my honeymoon last summer (a statement only a true nerd could make) and I've fallen in love with Alpha Flight all over again.
My first real exposure to Alpha was during their late '90s series, so I'm quite fond of Flex, Manbot, Radius and all of those characters (who have sadly disappeared from the comics), so I've included some of them along with some original Alphans.

I plan on making the rest of the main members of the team (Box, Madison Jefferies, Vindicator, etc)

These are all Marvel Legends 6" scale and fit in nicely with Guardian, Puck and Sasquatch. I haven't gotten around to taking a full group-shot though. I'd like to get Heather and Box done before I get everyone put together.

I'll start off with an older custom of mine, even though he is technically wearing his Astonishing X-Men costume: Northstar! I made him to use in my X-Men figure display, which explains the costume. I am thinking of making a figure of his husband Kyle in the future.









Recipe:
Body: Bullseye
Head: Matt Murdoch head cast

The ears and X emblem were all sculpted on. I had to fill in some holes in his leg from the removal of part of Bullseye's costume.

Next up is his twin sister Aurora. I made her in her classic costume, even though it means she doesn't match her "brozair" 100%. I'll need to take some photos of the two of them together.







Body: Ms Marvel
Head: Shanna the She-Devil head cast

I sculpted her ears and did a bit of hair sculpting. I also had to fill in some gaps that were left from removing the belt.


For Marrina I decided to go with her current modern teenage look rather than the old pixie cut and fish-scale bathing suit. I really enjoyed the 8-issue series from a couple years back, but they were inconsistent with her costume, so I combined a few looks.









Head: Power Girl
Body: modern Cheetah
Fins: cartoon Aqualad

I did some sculpting on the fins and wrist wraps and used a glittery paint to try and replicate her scales. I bought some cheap plastic plants at walmart and used the leaves to replicate the "living seaweed" on Marrina's costume. Replicating the sea turtle tattoos on her arm was a pain. It didn't turn out perfectly, but I'm happy with it.

Shaman is next. I was a bit worried about working on Dr. Twoyoungmen but I am quite happy with how it ended up. I saw someone else use a Loki figure as a base and it works very nicely I did a lot of alterations to the base, though, to try and make it match up to Michael's current/classic look.









Head: Conan
Body: Loki
Hair: X-23
Hands: Street Fighter figure
Bag: Longshot

I did some sculpting to the thighs, chest, back, arms and hair. The belt and headband are all cut from pieces of thin styrene plastic.

Snowbird is another figure that made me a little nervous about tackling. I wasn't sure how I'd make her cape work, but I think i found a nice way to do so. The cape is a bit too long so she doesn't stand very nicely (she's kind of tri-podding) so I'm keeping her in a flying pose. I'm really happy with the paint job on her face.











Head: Cheetah
Body: DC Dove
Hands: some DC figure

The headdress and cape are made with pieces of thin styrene. For the cape, I used the original shawl from Dove and glued on the styrene. I then sculpted over everything and smoothed it out.

I have six more customs to show but I will save them for next time.

[rplass]

Wow, those are fantastic!

My favorite part is :

Head: Conan
Body: Loki
Hair: X-23
Hands: Street Fighter figure
Bag: Longshot

Because yeah, that basically sums up Michael Twoyoungmen.

I am extremely impressed and hope to see a Talisman figure among the next set!

[-K-M-]

Well done, all very good. How long did it take to do each figure?

I really want the Shaman and Snowbird though haha

[Flightpath07]

Calbretto, those are awesome. You're a genius! (or at least a crazy artist, lol)

I have to agree that Snowbird and Shaman stand out as particularly great pieces, but all that you have shown so far are virtually flawless.

I say again; you're a genius!

[Le Messor]

Impressive... most impressive.

Those are brilliant! Cool.

[Calbretto]

Wow! Thank you for all the great responses guys! I'm so happy that everyone likes my custom figures. I've been customizing for a few years now and usually do one or two figures at a time, but for Alpha Flight I was inspired to get a huge chunk of the team done all at once.

K-M, I worked on these off and on over a couple of months (10 Alphans together in total). I usually would work on them while watching TV on the weekends or in the evenings. I'm not sure the exact number of hours that went into each figure. Aurora was probably the easiest to make, while Snowbird was the hardest.

Rplass, I definitely have Talisman on my to-do list.

[Calbretto]

Here is a group shot of my classic Alphans in case anyone wants to see the scale.



As you can see, there's a certain government employee standing with them. Good old Gary Cody.





Head: Starman unmasked
Body: Professor X
Right Hand: Star Trek movie figure
Glasses: Austin Powers
Podium: SNL Goatboy

This one I just did for fun. I had an extra Professor X body lying around so I slapped the unmasked Starman head on their and it looked just like Gary Cody. I added a pair of glasses from Austin Powers and he was pretty much done. The podium is an accessory that came with the Saturday Night Live Goat Boy figure from a few years ago. I guess Gary is my first Alpha Flight villain.

I mentioned in my first post that I love the '90s Alpha Flight series. A certain set of mutant brothers were my favourite characters in the book, so I had to tackle them. First up is Radius.







Head: Aquaman head cast
Body: black costume Wolverine
Legs: AoA Weapon X
Hands: random parts

The body for this figure was actually repurposed from an old custom of mine of X-Force Wolverine. Since he got an official release, I decided to take apart my old custom and reuse it for Radius. I went with his second costume since the first wasn't really a favourite of mine. The boot and wrist cuffs were added with craft foam. The top of his shirt was sculpted with apoxy sculpt.

We can't have Radius without Flex. I remember reading about Flex and his budding romance with Ghost Girl and really enjoying those books when I was younger. I really wanted to see the two of them get together, but I guess that will never happen since they've both been placed in character limbo.





Head: Dark Knight Returns Office Blake
Body: Human Torch
Forearms: Street Fighter Cammy
Hands: Ripclaw

The forearms are a tad long, but I figure that's ok since he can shift the shape of his hands and arms. The Blake figure had a childish looking face so I thought he would look good as a teenager. I had to glue the ears back, though, since he had a bit of a dumbo look going on. I sculpted the hair, chest and shoulder armor and boots using Apoxy Sculpt. The leaf on his chest is sculpted into the chest piece, which took a bit of work to get right.

I have a few more modern Alphans to post next.

[Le Messor]

I thought it was ironic you combined Matt Murdoch and Bullseye for Northstar (who isn't in the group shot, I notice).
That may be the very first ever Gary Cody figure!

Did you mean Dark Knight Rises office Blake? I don't remember anyone who looks anything like that in Returns, but it's been a long time since I read it, so I don't know.

~ Le Messor
"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
~ Sir Winston Churchill

[Calbretto]

You are totally right. It is Dark Knight Rises!

I will take a group shot of everyone (including the factory made Sasquatch, Puck and Guardian) eventually. I was planning on getting Heather done first, but with my wife being pregnant I'm running low on time to work on custom figures and taking photos of my stuff. I will get it done eventually.

[Le Messor]

Priorities, man, priorities!

[Calbretto]

Here are the last three of my Alpha customs (apart from a Puck figure I made a few years back that I don't like very much).
I didn't love the Scott Lobdell Alpha Flight from 2004, but I do like some of the characters he introduced. First up is Yukon Jack. I got the idea to use the Conan figure as a base from another customizer, so I can't take all the credit.









Head: Lord of the Rings (I think it's Aragorn)
Body: Conan
Forearms and hands: Adon from Street Fighter
Loin cloth: cut from a Lord of the Rings Hobbit cape
Dreadlocks: Slash from Guitar Hero

I did some sculpting on the hair, leg and loin cloth. The necklace was made with some small beads from the dollar store. Jack's bone blade was sculpted from Apoxy Sculpt. Overall he was fairly easy to put together.

Puck 2 always seemed like an odd character to me. Her outfit was a bit outdated, even at the time the book was published. I can't recall if we ever actually saw a scene with her and her dad, nor was she resurrected after the team was killed in New Avengers. No one seems to care about her over at Marvel.









Head: Livewire DC Direct head cast
Upper body & feet: WWE wrestler
Lower body: Anime figure
Glasses: Final Fantasy figure

I used some strips of styrene for the strap on her shirt and to help build the lower part of her pants. I did a little sculpting on the hair and pants.

My last Alphan is Major Mapleleaf. His design is interesting, yet kind of boring at the same time. I like the inverted Mountie colours, but at the same time I find it a little bland. Sorry about the poor photography. I had trouble getting the shots because of all the white in his costume.







Head: DC Direct Aquaman
Legs & arms: DCUC Jemm
Upper torso: DCUC Starman
Hands: random DC figure
Belt: Bullseye

He was easy to put together, but painting all that white was a pain in the butt. I sculpted the boots, gloves and part of his shirt. I'd love to tackle making his horse, but I don't know if I'd ever get that far along into making Alpha figures that I can get to the horse.

That's it for now! As I mentioned before, I have a lot more Alpha Flight characters planned. Box is already on the work bench, so he'll probably be the first.
Thanks for looking!

[Flightpath07]

Loving the Puck II and the Flex figures.

In TOTAL SHOCK that anybody would make a Yukon Jack figure; I thought everybody hated him! And here I thought i was the only person who liked Jack. That turned out awesome!

[Calbretto]

Thanks! I like Yukon Jack too. It's not the most intricate design, but I like the look of the character.

I forgot to post this group shot of the "new" Alpha members:

[-K-M-]

Wow, well done. Really....amazing work.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Those are really marvelous (lol), Calbretto! Bravo!

Dana