Started	:	Early May 2006
Finished	:	June16th, 2006
Base	:	Marvel Legends Black Panther
Parts	:	Marvel Legends Nightcrawler hands and feet, Marvel Legends Bullseye head (cast),
Materials	:	Fimo,"Green Stuff", liquid latex, synthetic resin, Citadel Paint, Pattex Repair Extreme and Blitz Plastik glues, plumber's expoxy, magnets, cheese pricks, toothpicks, primer, clear matte spray
Points of Articulation	:	~25

Character & Intent

Kain is deified. The Clans tell tales of Him.
Given the choice - whether to rule a corrupt and failing empire, or to challenge the Fates
for another throw, a better throw against one's destiny - what was a king to do?
But does one ever truly have a choice? One can only match, move by move,
the machinations of fate, and thus defy the tyrannous stars.

What can be said in short about a character as multifaceted as the Scion Of Balance...
the emporer of Nosgoth... the last and first of vampires... he who refused the
sacrifice - Kain ?
Well, what can be said in short is that he is one of the most fascinating and unusual
characters in the history of video games, and maybe of a pop culture. Like Raziel,
he is both a destroyer and a redeemer, equipped with the sheer power of will
needed to obliterate any foe - ultimately including the tyrany of history itself.

Of course I needed a figure of him, so I didn't hesitate for long when I realized
the Bullseye's richly overused head could be re-shaped into a recognizable
likeness. Ironically enough, NECA announced a new Kain figure as part
of their upcoming "Video Game Cult Classics" series shortly before
my custom was completed. But in the end, that will only mean
that I might have to find shelf space for two Kains.

 Creation

As I mentioned in the section above, my work on this custom started
when I noticed a certain similarity in features between Kain and Bullseye.
Work on a hastily-made ceramic duplicate showed that my idea was indeed
correct and I was able to create something that was clearly recognizable as
Kain. (I wish that a better sculptor would try the same and do the character
some well-deserved justice, though).

Shortly later, I had picked out an appropriate body. I chose the Black Panther
because his costume texture reminded me of Kain's hardened hide while the
anatomy matched up closely enough.

After the usual removal of the glue-on parts and the head, I decided to make this
slightly short figure a little taller by cutting the thighs up and inserting small plastic
rods (cheese pricks, I think) in between, filling the gap with plumber's epoxy.
Cutting the legs up has already produced some material loss, though - So
I can't be entirely sure if anything was really gained.

Originally, I planned on sculpting the hands and feet, but my inner dissatisfaction
with the facial likeness on the ML Nightcrawler allowed me to cut the last intact
one I had up in good conscience. As with Raziel, the feet required some
shortening and sculpting in order to match the Nosgothian vampire talons.

Most of the modifications on Kain's body and suit consist of pure and pain-
staking sculpting (The emphasis lies on "pain"). The most problematic area
were the shinguards, which required a level of detail that I couldn't quite
achieve using Fimo. A briefcase-burdening order of the the product
simply known as "green stuff" plus even more meticulous sculpting
provided a decent solution to this problem.

The chest area is a little different for more than one reason. Firstly,
I embedded a small magnet into it in order to to give the cape a good
hold. And secondly, I used my appreciated Dremel tool to give the
chest muscles the horizontal crevasse that the design required. (If
you are ever going to face a task such as that one, you will
require a dremel head that looks like this). After the
dremeling, I smoothed the crevasses out by pushing some
Pattex Repair Extreme glue into them and whiping the
surplas mass off carefully.

The aforementioned cape was produced in unusual ways,
as well. I used liquid latex mixed with an appropriate ammount
of paint and poured some of it on each side of Black Panther's
cape. This gave me a negative version of each side, which I simply
glued together and then cut into shape.The straps holding the cape
were made seperately using the same method and glued on. Finally,
I glued a magnet onto two pieces and a small piece of metal onto
another. Now the cape was fit to be closed much like the supposed
real thing would while remaining in the right spot on Kain's chest.
The golden clasps were sculpted seperately and glued on.

Kain's long, flowing hair was a challenge which required more than
one attempt. In the final, successful one, I sculpted the scalp-enclosing
part first and then followed up with the oddly ponytailed back.During
this, I covered Kain's back with thick layers of aluminum foil in order to
avoid unwanted adherence of the green stuff epoxy.

My humble attempt atKain's legendary sword, the Soul Reaver,
was made based on a chopstick that was cut up and dremeled into
the characteristic flamberd shape. Then, I flattened some Green Stuff,
allowed it to harden, and cut it into the basic shape of the... whatever
those odd designs on the side are called. Wings ? Regardless of semantics,
I glued them onto the wooden blade and sculpted the skull and their own
details on top. The handle was mostly sculpted on top of the wood, as well.

In order to allow Kain to hold his destined weapon, I repositioned the thumb
on the right Nightcrawler hand slightly by cutting into it's base, gluing a splinter
of a toothpick into the gap and filling the rest of it with glue.

After the usual paint-rub avoidance sanding and priming, the figure
was ready for painting. This gave me some trouble in the detail areas,
but I think the end result is presentable, all in all. Dare to disagree !

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