Another day, another custom! Getting back into the swing of things, and as promised, I'm here to post the second of my More-Than-Complete Guardians of the Galaxy! Up today is that seemingly all-powerful, genetically engineered, psionic, magic, metamorphic, schizophrenic, who-the-heck-knows-what-else-ic super being . . . some call him The Magus, some call him Him, but most know him as Adam Warlock!

Adam Warlock here is made from an Adam Warlock figure.

Convenient, no?

Ok, flashback time: Adam Warlock was pretty much one of the first custom Marvel Legends I ever built, nearly a decade ago. I had an old ToyBiz Adam Warlock figure from the Silver Surfer line, and I used parts from that figure plus a generic ML body (can't remember specifically who) to build my own Warlock figure. I'll post him to the Realm sooner or later.

Meanwhile, a few years back, Hasbro released their own Adam Warlock. I will politely describe my reaction to that figure as "unimpressed." If you'll recall, this was right in the middle of their "let's make every joint a hinge-rotate without double joints and the flattest, most boring paint imaginable" phase. I much preferred my own creation, and promptly tossed the factory Warlock in a box and forgot him.

. . . Until my Guardians project. I felt Hasbro's "Infinity Guantlet" Warlock would be the perfect base for the new Guardians version of the character: he was slender, he had fewer complex joints (making paint easier), and he already had the basic likeness of the character down (obviously). I wouldn't need to perform any major surgery on the subject, and most of the changes would be simple and largely cosmetic.

Warlock here gave me a few opportunities to experiment with techniques I hadn't tried before. For starters, he was the first ever figure in which I incorporated neodymium magnets for a joint and swap mechanism. Though the GotG Adam Warlock never wielded the Infinity Gauntlet, I felt it was too cool an accessory to just outright discard. Thus, I removed the left hand at the end of the glove, then sculpted a nub with a magnet on the end of his stump. I hollowed out the gauntlet and placed a magnet inside. Finally, I created an alternate "normal" magnetic arm from a fodder hand, and now he can be displayed in either his ordinary "god-like power" mode, or "absolute control over all reality" mode! Oh, the choices, decisions, decisions . . . .

This is also the first time I have ever used craft foam sheets to actually sculpt a layered, flowing drape, in this case Warlock's loincloth. I'd previously used the sheets to make simple "cloth" forms like Evil-Lyn's skirt or King Randor's tunic, but never anything with folds and creases or any sort of flow. It required a fair amount of Krazy Glue, paint, and a bit of very precise knife and Dremel work, but I'm REALLY pleased with the end result: that cloth is not a rubber fodder piece from another figure, it's a foam sheet I sculpted by hand, and I think it looks great, especially combined with the complex LocTite epoxy putty sculpted knot work on the belt.

I may have no love for the base figure, but I think the final result far outweighs the initial drawbacks. I still prefer my own Adam Warlock figure for general display, but I absolutely needed a proper Guardians of the Galaxy Warlock for this set, and I'm quite pleased with the work I turned out here. I'm happy to finally put this figure on my shelf with the rest!

Excelsior!