Before I get in to the meat and potatoes of showing my own custom figures I wanted to present some of the things that I have learned in my own journey as a collector and customizer. I have seen a few posts here and there out on the interwebs in which people are confused, or at least unfamiliar, with some of the tricks and techniques that are a customizer's bread and butter. I am by no means an expert, and you won't see a whole lot of sculpting or intricate paint work on my figures. But, there are a few simple things that I have learned over the years that I have seen make a huge difference in the level of satisfaction I have with my finished custom figures.
One of the most fundamental techniques in customizing figures - especially Playmates 4.5" Star Trek figures - is the "boil and pop" method of figure deconstruction.
So how do you go from the figure on the left to the one on the right without breaking, discoloring, or otherwise wasting your custom fodder?
Start with this.
This is the basis for my custom toolkit. Before the Dremel, or the X-Acto, or any of the fancy paints or modeling products come out pretty much everything starts here. The pot is old and beat up - not anything my wife or I cook in. The mug just happened to be handy one day and I found it to be the perfect fit for 4.5" figures - I'll explain more later on why I don't just drop the figures right in the pot. The fork could easily be replaced with a flat head screwdriver for the purpose it serves, but it's just become a part of the toolkit at this point. Lastly the Leatherman is just the perfect size set of needle nose pliers as I will show later.
The basic idea behind "boil and pop" is that plastic becomes softer and more malleable when it is warm. Softer and more malleable means you can pull joints and other connections apart to break the figure down in to pieces that can be swapped around as needed. As it cools back down the plastic returns to its original shape and consistency. But, a word of caution - I don't know all the chemistry behind it but I do know that too much heat can cause the plastic to discolor and too much direct heat can (obviously) melt it.
This is where the mug comes in. My preferred method (your mileage may vary) is to heat the water in the pot to a boil and then scoop out a mug full. I drop the figure in the mug for 2-3 minutes and then pull it out to begin whatever deconstruction is needed.
Head swaps are one of the most basic customs, and for a while I would try to just pull out the head and then shove it back in to the body I was swapping it on to. It worked well for some figures, but others were more difficult. What I eventually realized is that the arms are a lot easier to pull out at the shoulder joint then trying to pull off the head.
Once the arms are pulled out I submerge the figure back in to the mug of hot water so that the internal torso connections and neck post can soak and soften up. I then use the needle nose pliers in the empty shoulder joint to pry open the torso. Lying the figure on its side gives a nice flat surface where the shoulder joint is, and then a few quick hits on the counter top uses the wedge of the needle nose pliers to pop the torso open.
At this point you've got the torso completely separated and can swap out arms, the head, and everything from the waist down. But if you need to go further, you can keep pulling the figure apart at the hips, elbows, and knees. This is where the fork (or flat head screwdriver) come in.
The elbow and knee joints are held together with a small pin. The upper leg and upper arm have notch that the elbow or knee fits in to, and then a pin goes through to secure the parts together. By shoving the fork or screwdriver head in between that notch and the lower part you can pry them apart and pull them free from the pin.
Reconnecting new parts is just a matter of putting everything back in place and then dunking back in hot water to soften up enough until you can push the pins back through all three holes to secure everything.
As you will see once I start to post my custom figures, switching out the lower legs can increase or decrease the overall height of the figure based on what combination of parts you use. Some figures, like Harry Kim and Chakotay, have short legs. Other figures, like Q in Next Generation Starfleet uniform and DS9 O'Brien, have longer legs.
One of the reasons that I have been customizing Playmates figures is that the large number of figures released over the course of the line offers a huge library of parts to start from. The other reason is that they are relatively cheap to acquire on the secondary market. If you are just getting started with customizing you can pick up a figure for $2 or $3 that you can perfect your techniques on without worrying about destroying a $10 - $15 investment.
If you have any questions or need any further explanation I will be happy to answer them in the comments!
