This is my entry for the Ganmetall Celsius Custom Show on July 10th at the Toy Art Gallery in Los Angeles, CA.  I don\’t know what this guy\’s name is.  I just know he\’s landed from a crazy dog fight, torn off his helmet and about to throw down with the enemy.  Watch Out!

This is only my second show so far. But the same fear has run through me for each show.  What if I come up with the same concept as someone else?  Maybe it\’s because I\’m a twin, but I strive to be unique.  So I really took my time thinking what I wanted to do for this guy.  I finally settled on two distinguishing modifications that would help my toy stand out.  The first concept was proven possible with the help of my heat gun.  After warming up the vinyl I was able to bend the wings into practically any shape I wanted.  The other was the concept of my character kneeling down with the wings draped over his shoulders.   From there, just like most of my pieces I really don\’t have any solid plans aside from just see where it takes me.

Another aspect of this piece was my exploration of a new material.  I have recently decided to get away from sculpey to materials that are more durable.  I purchased some Aves Apoxie Sculpt and found it to be tough as nails. The leather pilot\’s cap is actually a sculpey blend over the apoxie sculpt head.  I wasn\’t able to get the finer details with the apoxie sculpt and felt that the sculpey would hold up as long as it was on a rigid surface.   I have since used Magic Sculpt and found I like it more than Aves but it\’s another great tool to have.   The plus on Magic Sculpt\’s side is that I can actually get the finer details.  Not quite as easily as I do with sculpey, but it\’s simply a matter of speed and not workability.  I think over time as I become more confident in my sculpting skills it should be plenty of time.