So, second custom of the day! We're coming to the end of my Metroid Series 2 "Military, Metroids, and Minor Characters" line. Only one more figure and the Build-A-Boss to go! Incidentally, it MAY take a little time before the BAB gets posted . . . he's not finished yet, and he's HUGE. Don't worry though, I have some other stuff to post in the interim if I can't get him done. But that's a worry for another day. For now, let's take a look at Bounty Hunter Gandrayda!

Gandrayda was one of three competing bounty hunters introduced in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. An alien of unidentified species, Gandrayda is a shapeshifter, with the ability to change into forms substantially larger than herself. Though not very techno-savvy, she is a master of stealth and subterfuge. She, like her two associates Ghor and Rundas, is corrupted by Phazon and eventually turns on the Galactic Federation, only to be destroyed by Samus.

Ghor was one of the hardest figures I ever built because I couldn't really determine how to do it for a long time. Gandrayda posed an identical problem, but for a completely different reason. With Ghor, I had no base figure to work with. With Gandrayda, I had the perfect base in a Fantastic Four Movie Invisible Woman, but I had no idea how to get her to do what I needed. You see, Gandrayda is transparent, but she has visible internal structures, much like a cell . . . or, for that matter, a Metroid. In addition to a central skeleton like a human, she has a secondary skeleton or ribs close to the surface, surrounding her internal support system. This raises the question: how does one "sculpt" a skeleton on the INSIDE of a figure?

The answer? I popped all her rotational joints in her arms and legs, and using the smallest bit I could buy, I drilled down through her limbs. Her skeleton is blue, so I painted the inside of the holes blue, then reattached all her limbs. For the secondary skeleton, I was forced to paint on the surface of the figure. It doesn't look ENTIRELY accurate, but it's the best I could do.

The rest was fairly simple. Transparent pink for the whole body, transparent blue and solid color highlights for the rest, and Loctite Epoxy Putty to make the "hair" tendrils on her head, as well as the removable PED vest. From a sculpt and paint standpoint, this figure was a breeze.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption has been a real challenge for my abilities. Ghor made me build a figure from random parts. Gandrayda forced me to build and paint a figure from the inside out. They've been a pain to conceive, but a ton of fun to pull together. And I think the results have been really outstanding.

See you next mission!