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Welcome to the wild, wet, and wonderfully weird world of action figure customization! This is where great customizers pool their figure-smashing know-how to help new customizers. Why customize? Because the toy companies will never make that gorgeous Red Sonja figure of your dreams, and customizing is the only way to get it! We have an ever-expanding collection of tutorials you can use freely to sharpen your skills. No matter how hard or how insanely impossible a task may be, keep poking, tearing, popping, and burning your way through your figures until you get the results you're looking for! And as always, feel free to ask questions of this great community we have here if you need help with anything!Figure Fundamentals | |
| Before learning to swim one must learn to float. Or hire a lifeguard. Or build a boat? Whatever! Stick a sponge in your brain and dive in! Fundamental lessons and recommendations for customizing tools are found here. | |
| Apoxie Sculpt Guide | Details on how to use and order Apoxie Sculpt. (by Jin Saotome) |
| Basic Joint Disassembly | Explains basic joint disassembly for modern multi-jointed figures. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Body Swaps | Beginner tutorial for swapping body parts (by wyLun) |
| Boiling Sculpey | Figures melting in the oven when you cure your Sculpey? Try boiling them instead! (by Gee_jays_Customs) |
| Cracking Figures Apart With Minimal Damage | An alternate method for cracking figures apart (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Cracking Open a Figure | A guide to safely cracking open a figure's torso and keeping the pieces intact. (by Mint Condition Customs) |
| Custom Beginnings | A crash course for new customizers. (by VariablePenguin) |
| Dismemberment & Prep | How to tear apart and prep the figures for customs (by Buzzy_Fret) |
| Eliminate Paint Rub | Learn how to eliminate paint rub from an action figure's joints. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Fixit Sculpt Guide | Details on using and ordering Fixit Sculpt. (by Jin Saotome) |
| Heat 'N Pop | If you don't have a pot, or water, or a stove, use this tutorial to remove those pesky body-parts. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| How Flexible is ProCreate? | A quick look at how ProCreate can help with your projects. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Joint Protection with Superglue | Super-Glue isn't just for covering your hands to play with porcupines, you can prevent paint-rub with it too! (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Joint Types | A guide covering the various types of joints found in action figures. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Paint and Tools | Overview on tools and paints you'll need to start customizing. (by Jin Saotome) |
| Pre-Paint Wash | Fathom demonstrates how to wash figures in preparation for painting (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Prepping Your Figure | Customizing is 90% preparation, and 10% artistry. This tutorial teaches you how to properly prepare your figures for painting and sculpting, and teaches you how to eliminate joint paint rub. (by Mint Condition Customs) |
| Preserving Your Paints | Ever get a new bottle of paint, use up half of it, and then when you get it out again it's all dried up? This quick guide shows you how to better preserve your paints for future use! (by Mint Condition Customs) |
| Reducing Paint-rub in Joints | Here's how to help stop the paint from chipping-off at the joints. (by Jin Saotome) |
| Sculpting Stars | Shows an easy way to transfer difficult shapes to clay. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Sealing Customs | How to seal your customs to preserve their great paint-job. (by Kyle Robinson) |
| Shoulder Joint Protection | How to protect ball and socket joints from paint rub (by Darththomas) |
| Shoulder Joint Protection Part 2 | An alternative method to using superglue (by Darththomas) |
| Start Customizing | Overview on customizing techniques. (by Jin Saotome) |
| Ultimate Starting Guide | The ultimate starting guide to customizing. (by Kyle Robinson) |
Painting Blues | |
| Stroke through this section to relieve your paint-related woes. Lessons on how to thin paint and choose the proper shade for plastic nipples can be found here. | |
| Air Brushing Skin | 4 steps to airbrushing and shading skin. (by Gee_jays_Customs) |
| Color Dye Your Action Figures | How to color your action figure without paint to avoid paint rub (by Mono loco) |
| Dry-Brushing | A mandatory lesson, this is a comprehensive study of dry-brushing. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Easy Face Painting (6-inch Scale) | How to paint a figure's face. (by kojikoji) |
| Metallic Color 101 | Shows you how to give your figure that cool metallic color. (by Kyle Robinson) |
| Painting a Head | Step-by-step instructions on how to paint a head. (by Hemble) |
| Painting a Trenchcoat | How to apply realistic shading and dirt effect (by Shinigami) |
| Painting and Aging Armour | How to properly paint armour or metal. (by Deaditor) |
| Painting Effectively | Covers common painting techniques and how to do them. (by Jin Saotome) |
| Painting Eyes | Use this tutorial to give your figures perfect eyes so they can stare at their perfect bodies. (by rateeg) |
| Painting Transformers | Helpful tips, from the master himself, on how to paint Transformers. (by Shinobitron) |
| Reaslistic Skin Tones | Explains the method I use to achieve my skintones (by Darththomas) |
Mods and Special FX | |
| Add oomph!, pizzazz, and all sorts of other funny-sounding nouns to your figures. Convert joints, sculpt pouches, generate laser beams, guides for all that stuff can be found here. | |
| Ankle Rockers | How to give rocker movement to the ankles of Hasbro's older figures. No cannibalization of other figures required. (by Rider) |
| Articulating Digits | Finally, a simple way to add basic finger-articulation to those static hands! (by VariablePenguin) |
| Attaching Cast and 3D Printed Heads to Neck Balls with Foam Strips | The second most awkward tutorial title returns with a foamy vengeance! (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Attaching Cast Heads to Neck Balls with Tissue and Glue | An awkwardly-named tutorial to help you attach those stiff cast heads. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Attaching Heads With Hot Glue | How to attach a head with hot glue, no cutting or drilling required. (by pock63) |
| Better Ankle Articulation for the McFarlane Space Marine | Minor mod for better ankle articulation (by rsaaland) |
| Charged Punches Effects | Shows how to make punching energy effects for figures (by AtomowyFigiel) |
| Conforming Sheet Styrene | If you need to make a visor for a helmet or a piece of armor, this tutorial shows you how to get that styrene to curve around parts of your figure. (by Mint Condition Customs) |
| Converting Swivel Heads to Fit Swivel-Hinge Necks | Convert those swivel heads Marvel Legends style! (by Kyle Robinson) |
| Converting Swivel Wrists to Swivel-Hinges | How to transplant swivel-hinges to articulate simple swivel wrists (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Creating a Knife for Figures with Closed Fists | How to create a knife for figures with closed fists. (by Deaditor) |
| Creating Flexible Armor | Use latex and Apoxie Sculpt to create flexible armor pieces (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Creating Texture Stamps | How to use liquid latex to create texture stamps (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Custom Decals / Insignias | This tutorial shows you how to make and apply custom decals and insignias for your action figures. (by Mint Condition Customs) |
| Detachable Floating Ab Joint | How to use a LEGO Technic pin to create a detachable ab joint for almost any Marvel Legends female figure. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Detachable Leg Joint | How to use a LEGO Technic pin to create a detachable leg (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Detachable Shoulders and Arms | How to use LEGO bits to create detachable shoulders (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Detachable Waist Joint | How to use LEGO to connect any figure torso to any crotch (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Easy Pouches | This is a step by step guide on how to cast pouches quickly and cheaply (by Valkyriezero1) |
| Energy Blasts | How to make cool energy blasts! (by hellz-yeah) |
| Explosive Effects | Guide to creating powerful surges of energy. (by superarticulated) |
| Extending Neck Pegs | An easy and simple mod to fix those short, stubby necks. (by antithetical) |
| FB JuggerClub - Convert a Zip Tie into a Ninja Sword - EASY! | How to Convert a Zip Tie into a Ninja Sword - EASY!! (by Juggernaut Customs) |
| Gun Hands For Girls | Hot chicks love to shoot hot lead, use this tutorial to make your babes' hands hold their favorite toy. (by Kyle Robinson) |
| Gun Holsters | How to Make Cheap Holsters for Action Figures (by Skydive) |
| Hair Sculpting | Tutorial that explains how to sculpt hair. (by Punstarr) |
| How to Solder an LED Circuit | You want to be able to add LED's to your customs, but you don't know how to solder? Look no further, this tutorial teaches you how to solder and where to buy supplies. (by Mint Condition Customs) |
| JuggerClub - How To Make Easy Weapons | This tutorial is a simple flow chart, start to finish, on how to make easy weapons for your actions figures. Spears, swords, daggers, staffs, etc... BE CREATIVE! (by Juggernaut Customs) |
| LED Eyes | How to add funtional LED eyes to your action figure. (by VariablePenguin) |
| LED Light-up Effects | This tutorial teaches you how to add an extra level of creativity and value to your customs by showing you how to add LED light-up effects! (by Mint Condition Customs) |
| Magnetic Ball-bearing Neck-joints | How to use magnets to create super-poseable neck-joints. (by VariablePenguin) |
| Making A Latex Head Mold | An easy, inexpensive way to make latex head molds (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Medusa Hair Tutorial | This will guide you on how to give your Marvel Legends Medusa the hair befitting a Queen! (by DarkX0rn) |
| Optic Blasts | How to make nifty optic blasts (by Kyle Robinson) |
| Optic Implants | Better than tying a hunk of leather to your face! (by superarticulated) |
| Oymaru Molds | How to use Oyumaru to make flexible molds (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Posable Capes | So this is just an example of how one can go about making a custom cape or cloak that isn't just a hunk of plastic. (by Deaditor) |
| Ripped Masks | Because heroes can't always keep their masks in pristine condition, here's a tutorial showing you how to make a "ripped mask" for your action figures. (by Kyle Robinson) |
| Sculpting Clothing | Because real manly super-heroes don't wear tights, here's how to sculpt clothes on your figures. (by Kyle Robinson) |
| Shoulder-Mounted Rocket Launchers | Now your Tansformers can ditch their puny laser-guns and upgrade to full-blown rocket-launchers! (by Shinobitron) |
| Steel Claws | How to make steel claws for Wolverine. (by Kyle Robinson) |
| Steel Claws 2 | No, it's not a bad sequel about a giant mechanical man-eating shark, here's another way to make those nifty steel claws for Wolverine. (by Jin Saotome) |
| Sword Canes | Because airport-security won't accept "but I need the sword to cut-up my fruit!" as an excuse, here's how to make sword-canes for your figures. (by deadeye) |
| Symbiote Tendrils | How to make Symbiote tendrils (by Kyle Robinson) |
| Symbiote Tendrils 2 | Another tutorial showing how to make symbiote tendrils. (by Jin Saotome) |
| Using Magnets and Screws to Create Swivel Joints | Learn how to add simple swivels and magnetic joints to your figures. (by Jin Saotome) |
Repairs | |
| Some day those figures are going to decide they need to fly off the shelf, and you're gonna have to glue the pieces back together. Here are some common problems you may encounter and how to fix them. | |
| Bent Limb Fix | How to straighten bent parts on your figures. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Broken Shoulders and Hips Fix | Did Spiderman slip-off a roof and break something? Here's how to fix your figures' hips and shoulders. (by Jin Saotome) |
| Fixing Waist Joints | How to use spare screws and other misc parts to repair broken waist joints. (by TheLastSuperman) |
| Joint Peg Repair | Did your figure arrive in the mail with a broken leg? This tutorial can help! (by Kyle Robinson) |
| Juggernaut Customs - Replacing Broken Pegs | How to replace broken pegs on action figures! (by Juggernaut Customs) |
| Neck Peg Fix | How to repair a broken neck peg (by Gee_jays_Customs) |
| Peg Fix | How to replace broken pegs with screws (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Repairing Broken Pegs with Screws | When your figure gets injured in battle, instead of amputating, just replace his peg with a screw! This tutorial shows you how to do it. (by Mint Condition Customs) |
| Stuck Waist Joints | If you've ever had a figure with a stuck waist joint, this tutorial shows you how to get him turning again! (by Mint Condition Customs) |
| Tightening Joints | How to use super glue to tighten joints. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
Targeted Tips | |
| Here you'll find tutorials and ideas involving specific figures, parts, or gear. | |
| Cape Storage | How to store figure capes and clothes (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Fabric Vest for a 12-inch Figure | Quick overview of how to make 1/6th scale fabric clothes (by Vlad Basarab) |
| Hulkbuster Armor | How to turn Movie Iron Monger into hollow Hulkbuster armor. (by jadomiddlecustoms) |
| Improving Marvel Legends "Slender Female" Figure Articulation | How to improve articulation in Hasbro's older female figures. (by Holy_Ghostbuster) |
| Landmine (Movie) Finger Mod | How to individually articulate Landmine's fingers (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Make a Base | What to use to make a base to display your action figures. (by Jin Saotome) |
| Making a Sheath | Don't like the sheath that your figure came with? Or your figure doesn't have one to go with their sword? Let's make your own! (by onewingedcrow) |
| Modding NECA's Street Fighter 4 Ryu Figure | Articulating, modifying and fixing NECA's SF4 Ryu Figure. (by MrGore) |
| NECA Balrog Repairs | Explains how to repair parts of the NECA Balrog figure (by Deaditor) |
| On Plastic Wings | Disappointed with the standard Marvel Legends Archangel? Here's how you can make your own, complete with poseable wings! (by Jin Saotome) |
| One 12th Multitools | Making a Folding Multitool for 1/12 scale (by Jason Stead) |
| Preventing MAFEX Arm Loss | For those pesky MAFEX ball-jointed arms that keep falling out. (by SuperFigures123) |
| Prototype Biomass Weapons | Two methods on how to make shapeshifting weapons for Alex Mercer. (by jadomiddlecustoms) |
| Removing DCSH/DCUC-syle Belts | Here's the easy way to slip-off those sturdy belts. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Rings and Stones | How to make real-like rings with stones (by Vlad Basarab) |
| SMC Venom Jaw Mod | Sick of accidentally ripping-out those flimsy "teeth" in Venom's mouth? (by Jin Saotome) |
Miscellaneous | |
| If you're looking for a guide on taking pictures, or how to keep your pet birds from using Barbie's hair as nesting material, you may find it here. | |
| Figure Photos | Because blurry pictures make us cry. Learn how to take clear pictures of your figures here. (by Henchmen4Hire) |
| Using LEGO for Customs | Ideas for using LEGO elements to customize (by Eternomorph) |
Using LEGO for Customs created by Eternomorph
How Flexible is ProCreate? created by Henchmen4Hire
Cracking Figures Apart With Minimal Damage created by Henchmen4Hire
Medusa Hair Tutorial created by DarkX0rn
