It’s been a little while since I last posted a custom. I’ve been hard away actually making them! But to break the fast, here’s my latest project. It’s a set of figures based on the classic arcade game Contra. The two main characters, Bill “Mad Dog” Rizer, and Lance “Scorpion” Bean, reimagined as movie concepts. I asked myself “what if Contra had been turned into a live action movie in the 80’s?”. Of course the only two actors on the planet who could play Mad Dog and Scorpion are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, respectively. Heck, even the cover to the original game was traced over Predator movie stills. It just seemed perfect. Then all the right pieces fell into place, and after I sprinkled some magic customizing fairy dust (I need to be more careful around paint fumes), that was that! I also recreated three of the weapons from the Contra game: The Spread Gun, Machine Gun, and the Laser, using various acrylic rods and beads. They can easily be swapped between guns too.
The Contra Mad Dog and Scorpion custom figures are currently for auction on eBay. If you’d like to own these, please feel free to bid. If you know someone who might be interested, pass the link along.
And be sure to check out the full photo set and write up for how these customs were made by clicking a photo below, or by clicking right here.
Thanks for looking!
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*** Head on over to my Ebay Auctions to see what’s available this week, or commission me if you’d like your very own custom action figure like this one. ***
What if the classic arcade game Contra had been made into a live action movie back in the 80’s? That was the question I asked myself while tackling this project. Since the original characters were so obviously based on Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone (so much so that the cover to the original game was traced over movie stills from Predator), I decided that none other than the two action stars themselves would play the lead characters, Bill “Mad Dog” Rizer, and Lance “Scorpion” Bean.
They were each made from NECA parts. The bodies are NECA Jungle Encounter Dutch, the head for “Mad Dog” is Dutch, and the head for “Scorpion” is from a NECA Rambo. I had to paint over the blood on Rambo’s forehead, and the camo paint on Dutch’s face and match the flesh tones to the figure bodies. I used parts from the sash of a Hasbro Marvel Legends Elektra for Mad Dog’s headband. Their pants were repainted their respective red and blue to match the game sprites, but done in a realistic camo pattern.
Mad Dog’s gun comes from a Marvel Legends Hope Summers, and Scorpion’s is cobbled together from a NECA Aliens pulse rifle, and some other fodder guns, and both were painted black and then dry brushed with Citadel Mithril Silver. And then finally I gave them their classic weapons: The Spread Gun, Machine Gun, and laser. They were pieced together from clear acrylic rods and beads, and can be swapped between the guns via pegs on the ends of the weapons. And now my movie concept Contra figures are ready to take down the Red Falcon Organization!
