HOW TO #1
The Evolution of Matter-Eater Lad
I’ve been wanting to make a Matter-Eater Lad figure for a while. He’s one of the classic members of the Legion of Superheroes, has a great costume, and an awesome power--he can eat anything. But, I didn’t want him to have an overly exaggerated muscular build. I wanted him to have the slim, athletic look of a Curt Swan drawing. So the key would be finding a good model to start with.
1
On eBay, I found this figure of Robert DeNiro from Cape Fear. It had the right lean, muscular look, and I also liked that it had a strong nose. I always thought Matter-Eater Lad looked Italian with his curly black hair. This first thing I did was soak the figure to get some of the bronze paint off. Then I needed to perform a facelift to make him look younger. I sanded some of the heavy lines on the forehead, and then filled in the wrinkles with epoxy putty. I threw a quick coat of flesh tone paint on to see how it was looking.
2
Next comes the dirty work. The De Niro figure had baggy pants on but he needed to look like he was wearing a superhero uniform. First, I sawed the original legs off. I had some extra legs from another kit that were the right size. They were from a female kit, but the thighs were muscular. I removed a section below the knee for a more masculine proportion, and cut the ankle on the left leg to reposition the foot. I used a Dremel tool to grind off the shoulders and the pants detailing on the figure’s waist. Very dusty work, so a dust mask or respirator is recommended.
Next came the haircut. The De Niro figure had long hair that needed to be trimmed. Again using the Dremel tool, I ground off the hair around his neck to make him look more like a cleancut Legionnaire. Again, a dust mask is essential for this part of the process.
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This guide is about altering a figure to achieve the look that you want.