First I want to say that this custom is dedicated to the late, great Glenn Webb, for it was the recipe in his Youtube customizing videos that helped get me interested in customizing again.

Classic Baron Helmut Zemo was a figure I'd wanted for years, and I was super disappointed when we got the modern take on the character in the Mandroid Series. I love his classic stories, especially the Avengers story "Under Siege". Recently he took a dive off of my villains shelf, and thus I decided it was a sign that Classic Zemo should be the next custom I tackle.

I didn't want to make an exact copy of Glenn's recipe, so I decided to make a few alterations. For my Classic Zemo, I decided to add the black dots to his fur, and I removed his father's holster, which I replaced with one of the Modern Zemo holsters. I also added his sword holster to the belt, as well. I also went for a slightly darker purple and added an interchangeable head; I knew I needed the belt from the ToyBiz Zemo, so I decided to go for the equally cheap unmasked chase figure, which was, ironically, supposed to be Helmut's head, not that of his father's.

Recipe:
Base body, forearms, weapons, holsters, head: Baron Zemo (Mandroid Series)
Arms (from the shoulder to the elbow): Shatterstar
Belt, unmasked head: Baron Zemo (chase figure; ToyBiz, Mojo Series)

I disassembled modern Zemo, replaced the majority of his arms with those of Shatterstar's, and sanded down his joints to avoid paint rub as much as possible. I had to give him a white base paint job because nothing was showing up on the dark plastic of the modern Zemo body. I then gave him a coat of hot pink paint before dry brushing purple over him and then adding in a little hot pink here and there for some good contrast so the sculpt/musculature showed up better. I used Milliput to sculpt his boot and shoulder fur, as well as his sleeves. I painted his sleeves the same way I painted the body, and I gave his fur a grey base paint before dry brushing white over it and adding in the black dots. I painted his belt and crown a matching gold before dry brushing yellow over it so it didn't look too dull. I also painted his gloves and boots a matching bright yellow before gluing the holsters onto his belt.

This figure was a labor of love, and it's a thrill to finally add this guy to my villains shelf in his more famous outfit amongst his fellow bad guys and Masters of Evil in particular. RIP Glenn Webb; thanks for the inspiration and tips/tutorials.