This week's custom is
Hellfire Club Emma Frost by Jscott991
Here's what went into it...
"
I have wanted to do a custom Emma Frost for some time because the Hellfire Club set version simply didn't do it for me. The legs were wonky and the head sculpt was just ok. The torso, really, isn't that good, but that would be very hard to improve on (as shown below).
I had two ideas after the Sharon Carter three pack was released. The first is an old one I never got around to doing because I didn't like the Walgreen's Emma head enough: paint the Allfather Scarlet Witch body and cape white, and pop Astonishing X-Men Emma Frost's legs on there with a new head. This would give something like the bodysuit from Uncanny X-Men #281 that I love (I fell in love with Emma when I read this issue as a kid). It wouldn't be perfect because of the upper legs (Astonishing X-Men is from that period when Emma wore pants).
The second idea is more expensive. Take a Hellfire Club Emma and pop off the legs. Then try to remove the upper thighs from the Hellfire legs and put them on top of Astonishing Emma's legs. And use the cape from Scarlet Witch (painted white of course). This runs the risk of messing up a fairly expensive figure and still being imperfect.
I did the old idea first. And I learned that painting miniature starships isn't like painting a 1/12 scale action figure. I'm just not satisfied with how my painting turned out. Getting rid of all the red and avoiding "pink" spots is simply too hard. Plus the Sharon head doesn't fit cleanly on the Scarlet Witch body. So this was just a so-so result.
So then I did the Hellfire Club custom. And it's so close to being excellent. But, darn it, I cannot get the thigh piece on the Hellfire club legs to pop out. And I'm worried that even if I did, the peg won't fit in the Astonishing Emma's legs anyway (this has happened to me before when I tried to make a Lara Croft wearing shorts out of a Mary Jane Watson body). I had thought all along that Hellfire Club Emma was using the same legs as Allfather Scarlet Witch (the thighs came right out of those, but, strangely, removing the legs from the Scarlet Witch body entirely was impossible). But they are ever so slightly different. So I gave up and used the imperfect solution -- Astonishing Emma's legs on the Hellfire body with a new cape and head. And it works. And it's easy. And it's well put together. But I just don't like the pants look.
...
I took another stab at getting the thighs out of a Hellfire Club White Queen and I was successful.
I also managed to find a Jean Grey Black Queen cape that had been painted on eBay for a very low price so now I'm considering repainting this cape white. This might finally give me the ideal Emma.
...
I'm 99% done now.
The recipe is Sharon Carter head, Hellfire White Queen torso, arms, and thighs. Astonishing X-Men Emma Frost lower legs. And Lilandra's cape painted white.
Alternatively, you can use the Black Queen's cape painted, but Lilandra is easier to get right now.
Looking at her in the pic, I probably will paint the pendant blue at some point."
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Great custom! Always regretted that I couldn't get my hand on that SDCC exclusive version of Emma Frost. I have the astonishing (I think) version that came out a view years back but would've much preferred the one from that box set.
AndyL -
2025-04-20 @ 5:47 pm
Great job. Love that you used the older Scarlet Witch body. IMO it's a darn shame that model has not been used more often. It was far superior to the rubbery Kate model and once they fixed the feet when they did the Family Values set they should have put it in proper rotation for female characters. It is a different shape. It has a longer torso and shorter legs than the Shreik mold but as a spa owner/trainer my entire life is about different body shapes and sizes and understanding that all of them can be beautiful and fit even though they don't all fit the same mold. Pun intended. All they would really have to do is give that model double jointed elbows and fly with it. Sure there's going to be some whining about the pins in the legs but overall thing another female mold would greatly benefit the line. And given time I'm sure they could engineer the pins out of those legs easy enough. Technology is amazing these days.
On 4/20/2025 at 8:04 AM, MeGrimlock78 said:I wanna see more of that Arcees in the background!
The Arcee in the background is the KO Rose (RT-01) version of the Masterpiece Arcee. I have a ton of Arcees (including Fan Toys and Nicee), but she's by far the best. Here she is next to the official MP-51. She is a huge improvement.
On 4/19/2025 at 10:18 PM, Psychosomatic said:Nice work! I wonder if they will ever re-do any of the Hellfire Club figures from that SDCC Set.
JayC says we will get a '97 Emma Frost this year. She probably will look a lot like a proper Hellfire Club White Queen (though I suspect she will have a choker, which I hate).
I wanna see more of that Arcees in the background!
On 4/19/2025 at 6:18 PM, Psychosomatic said:Nice work! I wonder if they will ever re-do any of the Hellfire Club figures from that SDCC Set.
I've said this before: they need to re-do that set, update it with APPROPRIATE bodies, and add all the members (Leland, Master Mind, etc).
The Hellfire Queens bodies were designed a certain way, and clothed for a specific purpose. As the set would only be available thru hasbo's own site, there simply is no reason to not offer them again. And, of course, its another cash grab for them, but I'm positive collectors will happily pay. Not when you have fools out there paying $50.00 for a Spider-Man figure that shouldn't cost more than $20-30.00 tops. Improved articulation for the Hellfire inner circle? Possibly soft goods capes? Throw in some Club furniture like ornate chairs and a couch, and you better believe they're gonna pay more than $80.00.
This set, and a Marvel Monsters set....baffling why they're not done. Just money left on the table.
Nice work! I wonder if they will ever re-do any of the Hellfire Club figures from that SDCC Set.
Wow. Thanks! I did this last year and have actually repeated this recipe three times.
Here are more recent pics, although they are basically the same.
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