My first articulated custom.

Inspired by the Fan figure "Castle Grayskullman," I felt that a Snake Mountainman would be a natural. I know a few people have done them before, but this is my own version. Rather than use the classic playset as my point of reference, I instead opted to base the figure on the Icon Heroes statue, which looks a lot more like the cartoon. The one exception is the shield, which was inspired by the wolf on the gate of the toy. The staff was based directly on the snake on the mountain (which was tricky to detail, given it's spiraling design).

Prep: Using a rotary tool, I removed all detail (except the collar and pelvis area) from the King Hsss using the sanding attachment.

Sculpt: All details were sculpted directly on the figure using Apoxie Sculpt.

Paint: Primed in white, the figure was first airbrushed using Game Air (Alien Violet) and then painted using Vallejo Model Color for the glazes and dry brush effects.

I re-packaged it using a scanned insert, which I modified in Photoshop (the font is called "Harbor" for anyone looking to do the same) and printed on photo paper. I trimmed it using an exacto blade and used rubber cement to secure it to the original insert before putting it back in the bubble. The interior bubble was trickier because of the additional sculpting detail, which meant cutting away some areas to get it to fit.

The main challenge with this figure was trying to get the staff to fit in the hand. I'm thinking that the flexibility of the plastic (hands) may have been impacted by the hardened Apoxie Sculpt on the knuckles, combined with the build-up of paint on the staff. In future, I might have to reduce the size of the grip before re-painting. Live and learn!