FUGAYZIE Custom Toy Tutorials: Marvel Legends Style AXM Beast

Welcome to TNI's newest feature called Toy Custom Tutorials. If you have ever wanted to start customizing your own figures or you've been customizing for awhile, this feature was created to bring you tips and tricks of the trade. Customizer FUGAYZIE breaks it down step-by-step showing you how he does it. If you have a specific question for him, click here to post them on our forums.

To start things off FUGAYZIE will be showing you how he created a Marvel Legends style AXM Beast figure.

Tools Needed: exacto knife, dremel, tooth pick, sand paper, paints, paint brushes, apoxie sculpt



Step 1:
Wash the figure. Place it in a bowl of warm water with a dab of dish soap. Let it soak for a good 10 minuets then take an old tooth brush and scrub the figure and its joints. This process removes any dirt or oils that are on it from the factory. It is important to do this step because if a figure is oily or dirty than when you go to paint it, the paint may not adhere, be discolored, or peel off. Once he is clean you want to allow ample time to dry. I recommend at least a few hours.




Step 2:
You want to begin picking, peeling, dremeling, sanding, or shaving off all the lumps, bumps and accessories that need to be removed. If you look at the picture you can see the dremeling scars on his neck, chest, shins, and back area.




Step 3:
You can now begin sculpting. It is easiest for beginners to sculpt in layers. Start with the base layer then let it harden for at least 5-10 hours then you can sculpt the details over that (like how I did the piping on the leather). When I first started I found this method to be easiest with best results but feel free to try other methods and use which ever works best for you.

Once I was done sculpting the details on the outfit I started the fur. I simply rubbed some apoxie sculpt on to the desired areas, smoothed it out by placing a drop of water on my finger and very gently wiping any finger prints away. I then let the figure sit for about 30 minutes. This will allow the apoxie sculpt to firm up a little which makes detailing the fur easier.

When I sculpt the fur details I use a sewing needle or a pointy toothpick should work good too. I hold the needle like a pencil then I turn my wrist a little so the needle is on a 45 degree angle. using the side of the needle i gently drag it from top to bottom in an ‘S' like motion. As you keep doing this the lines will over lap and cross, that is what makes the individual hair strands/patches appearance.




Step 4:
Prep before painting. This is the time to lightly sand off any jagged edges due to sculpting and also to make sure you didnt forget any thing.




Step 5:
Paint figure with base coat or primer. Since beast is mostly blue and has black areas on his uniform I used black as my base coat. I simply painted all the parts of beast that are to be blue or black with a black base coat. All the parts of beast uniform that are going to be yellow I painted with a white base coat. You will find that yellow is one of the hardest colors to paint with because if you don't have a good white base it will look blotchy and nasty. Now I dry brush blue over all the fur parts. By dry brushing it will leave the creveces the darker color and there by giving that shading effect.

Next is painting the yellow of the leather. Once that dries I do a darker yellowish brown wash in the crevaces to ad shading detail. Finally I touch up the blacks, blues, and yellows as needed.




For those of you who have created your own customs, be sure to check out the details for the TNI Cool Custom of the Week $100 monthly give-away. Click here to read more.