Know, O prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. Hither came Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.

INSPIRATION

One of my fondest memories growing up was hanging out with an older neighborhood kid and reading his stash of Savage Sword of Conan comics. I’d sit there reading for hours and be totally captivated by the incredible art, exotic characters, and savage (way too savage for a little kid really) stories. They blew my young mind. Now that I’m old and sotted, I sometimes get that nostalgic yearning for simpler times, and a Conan figure hits that sweet spot between nostalgia & my current hobbies (1:6 figures). Though there are plenty of Arnold movie Conans out there, I was determined to create a fantasy-painting-style Conan figure to commemorate those fond times. A tip of the hat to Joe Jusko, John Buscema, Earl Norem, and all of the other artists who so vividly brought Conan to life and who inspire me to this day!

MY PHILOSOPHY ON MAKING A CONAN FIGURE

1. On a fantasy Conan figure, the muscles / physique are the whole point of the figure. They’re not a supporting element, but the main event. A Phicen body will not do, it’s too small, too realistically sized, too soft. I don’t mind visible joints either as long as they are tightly fitted and keep the silhouette of the figure. I ended up spending oodles of time creating a massively muscular body by combining parts from several figures + sculpting what I couldn’t find.
2. The headsculpt doesn’t need to look like Marvel artwork (Jusko/Buscema art) but must achieve the same feel: Robust facial structure yet a little gaunt (ie, not that well fed). Not old, but not so young that it looks in any way naive or soft. Serious and grim without looking totally evil. Naturally, a glorious lion’s mane of hair is needed, and only real hair will allow the range of motion needed.
3. Clothing must accomodate the body, not the other way around. Since most commercial clothing and gear wouldn’t fit on the huge body, I ended up scratchbuilding much of it instead.

Anyways, I’ve worked on some form of this figure for over 5 years. It’s gone through many iterations, originally being much more cartoony, but the current iteration was done in the last 2 years. In that time, I learned to sculpt and paint better and even do light 3D CAD work to solve customization issues. Those in turn have opened up the possibilities of customizing for me (teach a man to fish & all that). I hope that you like it.

(Sorry for the hodge podge pictures. I really need to setup a proper photo station & get a good SLR

MAKING OF CONAN

RECIPE

Head – DCD Dr Manhattan – resculpt forehead, added real hair

Body – DCD Dr Manhattan chest & legs, ACE waist, Marvel Icons Wolverine shoulders & biceps
– Sculpted: Forearms, neck, traps, nipples
– Feet are 3d printed, ankles are the shoulders from a 6″ wrasslin’ figure (this creates marvel legends-style rocker ankles)
– Hands are from Enterbay NBA ballers. They’re big but don’t have gripping hands, so I drilled a hole into a fist and resculpted the fingers around it.

Kidney belt & bracelets – Scratchbuilt from clear box packaging, apoxie sculpt, wire

Swordbelt – Boromir, weathered

Loincloth – Made from white cotton, dyed, cut & weathered, with an elastic waistband

Sandals – Scratchbuilt

Necklace – HT Predator

Axe – Phicen, repainted to brown leather, added blood effects

Base – Sculpted from pottery clay

Rocks – Styrofoam

Decapitated head – He Man figure, sculpted on neck and eyelid, added hair, repainted

BODY WORK

DCD feet were too small, so I replaced with 3D printed feet (which were also much better sculpted). Added shoulders from a 1:12 WWE figure to create Marvel “rocker ankles”. Sandal bottoms are the bottom of a 12″ wrestler figure’s boots:

Many variations on the kidney belt and loin cloth design were tried:

Demon head from original to v1. I felt the wide open eye was too cartoony, so I sculpted a more closed eyelid onto it eventually:

My first time sculpting stonework and first time using regular clary. It was actually quite fun, though regular clay shrinks a LOT when it’s dry. On the plus side, it holds detail better than anything I’ve seen:

WHAT IS PUNISHER MAX?

MAX is Marvel Comics’ mature comics arm. MAX allows creators to re-interpret famous Marvel characters without worrying about the ratings board or appealing to kids. It produced one of the greatest comic runs in history: Garth Ennis’ The Punisher (2004-2008). Over 60 issues, Ennis takes the basic Punisher idea WAY beyond its simple vigilante origins. It deftly weaves in commentary on Iran Contra, corporate greed, human trafficking, Vietnam, Russian warrior mentality, Afghanistan, and more. Yet it all feels like a natural extension of the Punisher story and still remains a gruesome, lurid pulp fiction tale. Highly recommended.

CHARACTER:

Presented here is my take on Barracuda (aka ‘Cuda), the Punisher’s most fearsome enemy throughout the series. Barracuda’s fun-loving exterior masks an utterly ruthless and cunning personality. Abandoned at an early age by an abusive father, ‘Cuda fought his way through juvenile facilities and eventually joined the US army during the Vietnam War. There, the military (and later CIA) found a use for his savage talents and he spent the next 2 decades fighting in clandestine operations all over the world. Upon leaving the military, ‘Cuda found success as a contractor/assassin/man who gets dirty jobs done until meeting The Punisher, Frank Castle. Their first meeting leaves Cuda blind in one eye, missing a few fingers and obsessed with revenge. This sets the two men on a collision course that leads to a bloody, brutal conclusion.

FIGURE:

I was going for an extremely cartoony look with this figure. I wanted cartoony, bulky proportions. In the end, the skin detailing on the arms was a little more realistic that I intended, but live and learn. Initially, I gave him short legs and a huge torso like the comic, but it just didn’t look right in 3D, so I made him taller.

I have to admit that I finished most of this figure in 2010-11, then abandoned it for years. Once I finished the interesting parts (ie, things I’ve never done before) like the custom muscle bod and large clothing, I lost interest. Over time, I tweaked things like extending the legs for better proportions and improved the paint finish, but it wasn’t until this year that I really resolved to finish and photograph it. You can see its companion figure, The Punisher, that I posted a few years ago here.

Head: WWE wrestler, recast and de-haired.
Body: Combination of DC Deluxe, Marvel arms, BBI legs, and recast forearms from wrestlers. The elbows are Spiderman’s knees!
Jeans: 1:6 farmers overalls that I turned into regular baggy jeans.
Boots: BBI reshaped & repainted
M60: Some undersized gashapon piece of crap, but it was the only M60 I found that didn’t break apart upon the slightest touch (Hot Toys, I’m looking at you)

Height comparison with DID first generation body (which is taller than most bodies):