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What exactly is a custom figure?

A Mattman's custom begins with the intention to create an action figure of an actual Marvel comic book character that either has not been made at all in this scale, or has not been made in a particular costume.

Let's take a walk through the process. I have been working on recreating accurate groups of figures to reflect actual membership rosters of the Marvel Avengers through their beginning in 1963 until now. In order to complete one era's roster I needed an Iron Man as drawn by George Perez in his run with the series. Here's what he looked like:

Now, here are some shots of the parts and tools at my disposal:

Out of that mess I chose these figures as my base to build upon:

Here is the figure showing the combined parts assembled and where Miliput epoxy clay was added to create missing details and to blend in areas that were combined:

Spiffy, eh?

This is the main "morgue" of 5" custom fodder. Each figure is hung by a piece of copper wire wrapped around one leg. The figures are grouped in a vague system of similar body types.

In addition to the hanging morgue, there are also plastic trays and buckets of less versatile figures.

Below is a chest with shallow drawers holding loose arms, legs, and torsoes.

This is my messy but ergonomic workplace. Note the two Dremels. One is strictly for sanding the other for grinding and carving. Minimizing bit changes saves time.

And here is the main workspace:

This box contains loose heads, the one under it, loose hands.

Here is the figure after further sanding and a coat or two of Citadel primer:

Painted and ready for finishing touches, minor tweaks, and coating.

And the way you see a Mattman update: posed in one of the diorama settings.

Noticed the mask was not angled enough, so I fixed it.

Added yellow draftsman's tape and a gloss overcoat.

And the finished product, front & back:

Iron Man head with Miliput mask peaks

Magneto arms

Beetle forearm held in place with a new styrene pin.

Trimmed from a spare accessory

Iron Man hand

Falcon legs with Miliput filling of lines and grooves

Azrael hand with Miliput-lengthened fingers and a styrene rod cut into a repulsor

Sanded forearm from the blue manga figure

Miliput sculpting of the upper armor, chest logo, waist armor, and side rib sections

Not much of Azrael was used, but he did have a hand in it all.