Over the past few years our fellow boardie Billium has become a great friend of mine. We talk pretty much daily about Legends. We even started customizing around the same time and have been swapping ideas back and forth every day. I know for a fact that every custom I have made so far has been better thanks to having Bill's input.

Well, back in December, inspired by what we were seeing in the Secret Santa thread, we decided to do a little custom swap of our own. Billium rocked out an amazing BAF Freak for me in like a month, completely putting my slow ass to shame. To be fair though, I did suggest that we shoot to ship my late Feb to March. He just rocked his figure out so quick and perfectly though.

When it came down to character selection, a few factors came into play for me. First, I wanted to stick to Iron Man villains. I just feel like it brings out some of my better work. Thankfully, Bill loves Iron Man and his cast of characters just as much as I do. Second, I knew I wanted to go Silver Age. When I think of the comics I know that he loves, I think of the earliest days of Marvel. I also knew I wanted to do a character that could find a home in multiple displays. Third, I wanted to avoid a costume that I've already done. I know Bill want's a Blacklash and I would have loved to make one for him, but it wouldn't feel right redoing a custom that I've already done for this. At the same time, I had to do something that I didn't think he'd see coming. So all of these factors led me too...

The Mysterious Melter!

This guy has such a ridiculous costume back in those early days, I hoped to make something that would really stand out. I wanted to make this ridiculous costume in hopes that every time Bill sees it, he would laugh a little. Also, I hoped that he would get this and instantly want to start making the rest of the original Masters of Evil. TBD and those.

So here's the recipe:

Head - Hawkeye
Torso, Arms, Swap Right Hand - Shatterstar
Fists - Eel
Legs - Hydra Soldier
Boots - Nick Fury
Feet - Hobgoblin
Cape - Polaris
Harness and Gun Tube - Pyro

Bill has mentioned in the past that he likes when Melter has a gun. In my research I found a few reference images from more modern depictions of the classic Melter that had a gun with it, so I thought I'd incorporate that into the figure. I skipped a rivet on the belt in the back and drilled a hole instead that would let the tube slide in.

Also, when I made Blizzard, Bill was very complementary of the Ice slide and effect that I made. I knew that I wanted to make a hot glue effect him.