With some time off of work, I decided to work on some customs. First up, we have Man Mountain Marko, the hired Maggia muscle that once worked for Silvermane when he was trying to get a hold of the petrified tablet. I love adding a Spider-Man villain to the shelf, especially an obscure one that I just don't see Hasbro ever making. Best part? He's completely made from fodder I had lying around.

Recipe:
Head: Nuke
Body: Tombstone
Left calf: Super-Skrull

I had a spare Tombstone that I had taken the left calf from to fix an Absorbing Man Series Venom figure a few years back. I never thought I'd find a use for him, but thankfully, I recently purchased a few extra Doctor Doom figures with two to act as Doombots. And wouldn't you know it, he comes with the left leg for Super-Skrull, which was just what I needed. I removed the calf, and Dremeled the top of the calf and ankle joint before painting it a flat black. It was, of course, a perfect fit for the Tombstone base body.

I then Dremeled off most of the lines going down his chest, except for a few spots where I thought it might look like wrinkles. I Dremeled off the front part of Nuke's hair and resculpted it with Milliput to better match the character; I painted it tan before adding a black wash. I then painted the face a fleshtone to cover the American flag paint, as well as his fists after I Dremeled the wrist joint so they would match in colors. After that, I sculpted some pantlegs and sleeves which were later painted a flat black. I heated and pressed his collar down, too. I also Dremeled off the studs on Tombstone's belt and slightly resculpted the buckle before painting it silver and the belt a glossy black after sculpting over the metal studs. To complete it, I repainted his eyebrows black and added some matching chest hair, too.

To really add some value to the figure, I sculpted him the petrified tablet that he fought Spider-Man for. I painted it tan before doing a black wash over the top of it to make the sculpted hieroglyphics stand out.

I mentioned that I was making this guy to my uncle who read the original Tablet storyline when it was coming out in the late 60's, and he remembered who he was right away when I name dropped him. He thought the head was a really good choice and that it looked just like him, which was all the approval I needed to hear. It's a pleasure to add this bruiser to the Spidey shelf.