FearlessJay
Freakalicious
First: This is the first mod I've ever attempted, so please be gentle. I'm also sick at the moment, so forgive any spelling/gramatical errors.
I'm a long time collector and longer time fan of Smallville, so when I came across the head sculpt by Spense, I knew I had to attempt to create the Smallville Season 11 Superman.
For those who don't know, Smallville ended it's TV series run after 10 seasons, but began a comic book series dubbed "Season 11" set after Clark Kent had become Superman. This is my own interpretation of the suit from those comics.
I shot these with my phone, so they aren't the highest resolution.
The Head: Starting with the basics, as I mentioned, the head sculpt (including painting) came from Spense. It's a great likeness, especially in person. The head came with a neck which I had to dremel/sand off and I had to pretty much hollow out the head to fit the body I chose. The hair was a bit more dark brown, so I carefully used a sharpy to add a black and more slicked back look without ruining the great paint.
The Body: Body is a GIKP-02A Heroik Muscle Body. I painted the hands and neck (at Spense's great suggestion) Folk Art Skintone. It's not a perfect match, but barely noticeable.
The Suit: The light blue suit is the Triad Hero Type Blue. Since, in the comics, the Season 11 suit is two-toned, I tried a variety of ways to get the look I wanted. I'm not much on sewing, so I tried adhesive blue fabric, a blue paint pen, a comination of both - and the results varied. I settled on using blue duct tape adhesive paper from Joann Fabrics. It not only holds well, but it has the texture I was looking for. I then lined it with light blue adhesive vinyl. Neither are holding perfectly, so I intend to revisit this someday, but for my first mod, I'm pretty happy.
Shield and Belt: The shield and belt were hand made. Oddly enough, I used the 8x11 sheet magnets you can pick up at any office supply store. The original idea was I'd use the magnets to hold each item in place... that... that didn't work so well...
Anyway, I do recommend them though because they are very pliable, yet sturdy. I stripped away the white film coating them, primered, and then painted. As you can see, I used gold instead of yellow to let it stand out more, while the red is a gloss. I also made sure the "S" was a separate piece from the gold background for a couple of reasons. 1) In the comics, they have made clear the "Shield" is actually led lined to protect his heart from kryptonite bullets (smart IMHO). And, 2) It just looks way cooler
I did similar with the belt, the bottom layer is gold, while the top is red. The buckle is similar with a red shield beneath the gold to give it a slight outline.
Oh, and getting all this to stay together: Glue was involved as the magnets proved they were not strong enough.
Cape, Stand, Boots: I'm a little upset with myself because I didn't get a shot of the boots. In the comic, there's this distinct "V"-like shape etched on the outsides. I found a black pair on ebay with nearly the exact shape. I snatched them up, primed and painted them with the same red.
The cape, well, thank Hot Toys for that one. Or, I guess, thank Thor. I took his cape and turned it inside out (leaving the flat surface on the back but a nice texture visable behind). The shoulder piece which would normally attach to Thor, I shoved inside the cape, and sewed the holes closed. I now use the same curved plastic inside the cape to imitate a billowing affect. I then painted small buttons red (from Joann's again), sewed the female pieces to the cape, and placed the male pieces under the suit. I'm not happy the buttons are showing, but again, something to revisit later.
Lastly, I used a Transparent Bones Figure display to mount him. Since he's at the top of my self, I dropped the clear display from the top (where a light would normally mount). Since it was too small for the body, I replaced the small metal waist holder (term?) with a sturdier piece from a large wire hanger. I then bent the piece so it would wrap under his arms, rather than around his waist. Finally, I wrapped the metal in dark blue vinyl so it would blend in with the suit.
My only complaint here is the stand makes the cape bulge, but I'm sure I'll find a way around that eventually.
Regardless, there you have it. My attempt at a Smallville Season 11 Superman. I hope you like it because I'm certainly happy with the end result. Again, I'll likely revisit it someday, but for now, I feel like I get to see Tom Welling as Superman every day - something many a Smallville fan dreamt of since the first episode.
I'm a long time collector and longer time fan of Smallville, so when I came across the head sculpt by Spense, I knew I had to attempt to create the Smallville Season 11 Superman.
For those who don't know, Smallville ended it's TV series run after 10 seasons, but began a comic book series dubbed "Season 11" set after Clark Kent had become Superman. This is my own interpretation of the suit from those comics.
I shot these with my phone, so they aren't the highest resolution.
The Head: Starting with the basics, as I mentioned, the head sculpt (including painting) came from Spense. It's a great likeness, especially in person. The head came with a neck which I had to dremel/sand off and I had to pretty much hollow out the head to fit the body I chose. The hair was a bit more dark brown, so I carefully used a sharpy to add a black and more slicked back look without ruining the great paint.
The Body: Body is a GIKP-02A Heroik Muscle Body. I painted the hands and neck (at Spense's great suggestion) Folk Art Skintone. It's not a perfect match, but barely noticeable.
The Suit: The light blue suit is the Triad Hero Type Blue. Since, in the comics, the Season 11 suit is two-toned, I tried a variety of ways to get the look I wanted. I'm not much on sewing, so I tried adhesive blue fabric, a blue paint pen, a comination of both - and the results varied. I settled on using blue duct tape adhesive paper from Joann Fabrics. It not only holds well, but it has the texture I was looking for. I then lined it with light blue adhesive vinyl. Neither are holding perfectly, so I intend to revisit this someday, but for my first mod, I'm pretty happy.
Shield and Belt: The shield and belt were hand made. Oddly enough, I used the 8x11 sheet magnets you can pick up at any office supply store. The original idea was I'd use the magnets to hold each item in place... that... that didn't work so well...
Anyway, I do recommend them though because they are very pliable, yet sturdy. I stripped away the white film coating them, primered, and then painted. As you can see, I used gold instead of yellow to let it stand out more, while the red is a gloss. I also made sure the "S" was a separate piece from the gold background for a couple of reasons. 1) In the comics, they have made clear the "Shield" is actually led lined to protect his heart from kryptonite bullets (smart IMHO). And, 2) It just looks way cooler
I did similar with the belt, the bottom layer is gold, while the top is red. The buckle is similar with a red shield beneath the gold to give it a slight outline. Oh, and getting all this to stay together: Glue was involved as the magnets proved they were not strong enough.
Cape, Stand, Boots: I'm a little upset with myself because I didn't get a shot of the boots. In the comic, there's this distinct "V"-like shape etched on the outsides. I found a black pair on ebay with nearly the exact shape. I snatched them up, primed and painted them with the same red.
The cape, well, thank Hot Toys for that one. Or, I guess, thank Thor. I took his cape and turned it inside out (leaving the flat surface on the back but a nice texture visable behind). The shoulder piece which would normally attach to Thor, I shoved inside the cape, and sewed the holes closed. I now use the same curved plastic inside the cape to imitate a billowing affect. I then painted small buttons red (from Joann's again), sewed the female pieces to the cape, and placed the male pieces under the suit. I'm not happy the buttons are showing, but again, something to revisit later.
Lastly, I used a Transparent Bones Figure display to mount him. Since he's at the top of my self, I dropped the clear display from the top (where a light would normally mount). Since it was too small for the body, I replaced the small metal waist holder (term?) with a sturdier piece from a large wire hanger. I then bent the piece so it would wrap under his arms, rather than around his waist. Finally, I wrapped the metal in dark blue vinyl so it would blend in with the suit.
My only complaint here is the stand makes the cape bulge, but I'm sure I'll find a way around that eventually.
Regardless, there you have it. My attempt at a Smallville Season 11 Superman. I hope you like it because I'm certainly happy with the end result. Again, I'll likely revisit it someday, but for now, I feel like I get to see Tom Welling as Superman every day - something many a Smallville fan dreamt of since the first episode.
