Started	:	~ Unrecorded ~
Finished	:	March, 23rd 2005
Base	:	TitanTron Live Stone Cold Steve Austin (WWF)
Parts	:	Head of Hardcore Holly (Jakks, WWF), partial feet of Curse of the Spawn II, Final Fantasy Skeleton hands, Hair of The Freak (Spawn line)
Materials	:	Marabu Paint, Citadel Paint, Fimo, Pattex Power Clay, liguid latex, synthetic resin, glue, hot glue

Character & Intent

Once again, I re-made a figure I had tackled before...
And if you know what version 1 - one of my earliest works-
looks like, you can probably imagine why.

Another reason is that Midknight still ranks amongst my favorite
fighting game characters. He tragic, a stunning visual and his modes
of attack are quite creative. So it was natural that I -once again -
attempted to make a figure worthy of the character. If I have
succeeded.. well, you be the judge

Creation

This figure was "in production" on and off for a LONG time
while I gathered parts and ideas - So please forgive me if some of
the details are rather hazy.

It all started out with that mangled lot of wrestling figures I mentioned
before. Amongst them was a violently decapitated Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The attire almost immediatly made me think that he would make a good base
for Midknigt: The shorts, a short-sleeve jacket and a quite perfect belt stood
out to me.

The rest of the figure, however, was a difficult affair. How to make a head without
a remaining peg hole ? Where to get the skeleton parts ? And how the hell would
I turn a closed jacket without a colar into the gruesome evidence of Mitchel Middle-
ton Knight's suffering ?

The answers came piece by piece.

The first thing I actually made was the head, in the form of another cast of the same
Hardcore Holly head I had already modified for my Lobo figure. Quite a versaitile
piece, as a few modifications of the chin and nose as well as a new, sculpted hair-
cut changed it's appearance drastically. Of course, I also had to sculpt the neck
again, as the head came without one.
Since most sculpting materials are too brittle to serve as pegs, I sculpted it from fimo,
took a mold with liquid latex and finally poured the peg in synthetic resin, which I
glued into the head using the most powerful glue I could find.

What followed was LONG search for the skeleton parts I needed to complete the
figure. After months of searching and quite a few failures, salvation finally came in
a form it doesn't take often : A Skeleton Warrior, courtesy of the Final Fantasy line.
Although I still remain unable to replicate it's skull for other projects
(GAWDFRELLINDAMNIT),
it provided me with quite a few necessities for this one.

First of all, I took a fimo mold from it's chest and the chest of one of the remaining
wrestling figures. Then I filled those molds with liquid latex and cut the results into
the required shape before gluing them together and into a dremeled cleave (or rather:
A gaping hole) in the figure's chest. Afterwards, I spent quite some time adding little details
by applying some more latex with a kebab prick.

As the next step, I dremeled cuts and wounds all over the arms and legs.
Using the same method, I turned the formerly perfectly good shorts into this
shredded mess. Additional fimo sculpting completed their cloth look.
(By the way... To achieve the look of ripped materials... Rip the material).

The feet were something I battled with for a long time. Since the Skeleton Warrior
came with boots, I had to find an alternative. Finally, I settled for the front halfes
coming from a Curse Of The Spawn figure. Since I once again used duplicates,
which I could not get the air bubbles out of, I had to apply an appropriate sort
of glue to fill the holes and replace the tips of the toes.
The rest (everything you can see beyond the bone lines on top) was sculpted
using Pattex Power Clay, Fimo and lots of anatomical references.

The hands probably were the biggest hurdle, as I couldn't get the molds
and resin to come out right for a long time. In the end, I decided against
articulating them in order not to damage the half-way usable results
and glued them into place.

The wrist-and armbands are sculpted using fimo, while the flowing
parts of the latter are simply strips of liquid latex mixed with red paint.

Finally - and this is a several-month "finally" -, the paintjob was
nothing out of the ordinary... Primer, paint using lots of drybrushing
and finally the closing layer of spraypaint finish.

Glueing the ponytail in place concluded one hell of a learning
experience and finished what might be one of my best works
to date.