Marvel Legends Icons Agency X – Custom Deadpool, Bob (Agent of Hydra), Taskmaster, and Agent X

In the past couple of weeks I’ve posted customs that I entered in CustomCon 24.  First, I posted my Earth 2 Superman, Batman, Hawkman, and Robin customs, which were part of a group entry for the DC Universe Classics Justice Society of America.  Last week I posted Iron Fist, Steel Phoenix, and Shang Chi, three Marvel Legends customs which made up a solo entry called Marvel Legends Martial Arts Masters.

To wrap it up, here’s my write-up on four Marvel Legends Icons customs – Deadpool, Bob (Agent of Hydra), Taskmaster, and Agent X – whom I entered into CustomCon as Agency X.  For those of you paying attention, I submitted them under a pseudonym, Iron Molars, which is an anagram of my real name.  I did so in part so I could write up a gratuitous self-description, but also because I was just a little embarrassed that my three submissions were all on the last day.

Traditionally, CustomCon saves up for a big finale on the last day, but this wasn’t a case of me thinking my stuff deserved that.  Rather, it was because I was just so overloaded getting the rest of the days entries throughout the week prepped that I didn’t have time to get my own stuff finished.  I took these pictures the same day I put the final day of CustomCon up.

Deadpool

This project started with the 18-inch Spider-Man that Toy Biz made several years back.  I had picked up an extra one cheap when Kaybee was closing a bunch of its stores, and was using any leftover Apoxie Sculpt I had to fill in between the web lines on it, with the ultimate goal of making an 18-inch Deadpool.  Years later and nowhere near done, I started on an Icons-sized Deadpool using a Icons Human Torch in the flame-on deco.

After making a 6-inch version of Deadpool in his UDON costume, I had no desire to work with fishing line again, so I sculpted all the costume seams.  The wrist cuffs, boot straps, neck strap, chest harness straps, and the shoulder thingies (seriously, I have no idea what those things are) on the harness straps are all craft foam.  I spent a lot of time making those shoulder thingies (3 separate pieces of craft foam per piece) and should have just sculpted them by hand.  The belt pouches are from an old Mattel DC Super Heroes Batman, and the katanas are from a Hasbro 12-inch Storm Shadow.  The belt buckle is a thumb tack, and the center disc on the harness is sculpted on top of Human Torch’s Fantastic Four symbol.

I had a lot of fun doing the little details.  The head is Johnny Storm’s, with the flames shaved down and the mask details sculpted on.  The buckles on his boots are just paper clips, and the katana scabbards are masking tape with a super glue coating and paint, and the swords are still removable – if I were to revisit this custom (and I won’t) I would find a better way to do those.  Also, even though I was in such a rush I forgot to take a picture of it, extending from his right wrist cuff is the handle of a throwing knife, which I saw in an issue of Cable & Deadpool.

Lil’ Rhino is a Heroclix Rhino, with shoulder pads, wrist and ankle cuffs added, and his horn sawed off.  If I knew how to drill a hole small enough, I’d put him on a key chain for Deadpool to hold.

Bob, Agent of Hydra

If you haven’t read the latter part of Fabian Nicieza’s run on Cable & Deadpool, then you probably have no idea who Bob is.  I advise that you read the entire run as soon as you can.  Bob is Deadpool’s sidekick, acquired on a raid of a Hydra base.  It’s just great stuff, so don’t miss it.

I knew I wanted to make a Bob, but had no idea how.  I ended up re-purposing a base body I had put together for an Icons-sized Daredevil (I didn’t know at the time Hasbro was going to make an excellent one).  It’s a rotocast House of M Spider-Man with rotocast Daredevil head, gloves, and boots, all from Toy Biz way back when.

That’s a thumb tack for his Hydra insignia.  The harness straps are craft foam, and I should have used that for the belt, arm, and leg straps, but I used rubber band for those.  Craft foam takes paint and glue much better than rubber bands, and can be sanded to look a little less angular than rubber bands.  The belt buckle is from the Batman whose pouches I used for Deadpool, but I also got to make another buckle out of paper clip on his hip strap.  And because I didn’t have any more Batmen lying around to take their belt pouches, I sculpted all of the pouches and the holster in Super Sculpey.

I’m really happy with the Hydra ID card and Bob’s head sculpt.  I scanned the Hydra logo from the C&DP comic and cleaned it up in Photoshop, then printed it out and laminated it.  The belt clip is some craft doohickey that I picked up but can’t remember what it was actually for.  The original Daredevil head sculpt was always a little off, but that played well for Bob.  I modified the jawline and re-sculpted his eyes, mask line, and mouth.  I tried to give him that shocked expression he had when Wolverine decapitated Deadpool.  Spoiler! 😉

Taskmaster

I would have stopped at Deadpool and Bob, but after those two I got the idea for the Agency X CustomCon entry, so UDON Taskmaster was next on my list.  Like Deadpool, the base is an Icons Human Torch, but of the blue and white variety.  I did want to give him a gun-holding hand, so I used one from the Storm Shadow that donated his katanas to Deadpool.

I also wanted to retain articulation on that hand, so I drilled down the forearm until it was a cylinder and then crafted another cylinder of craft foam around that.  On the foam I glued more foam and sculpted other elements of the gauntlet. The projector are two thumb tacks glued together on a piece of foam glued to the hand.  With this setup, the entire structure can swivel with the hand, and the hand can still be moved up or down.  I skimped on the knuckles, just painting them on – a little dab of super glue could give them some shape.

I had learned my lesson about rubber bands, so I used as much craft foam as I could.  The harness, holsters, buckles, and pads on the shoulders, torso, hands, thighs, knees, and shins are all craft foam.  It can be “sculpted” – for example, the center line on the hip pads was achieved just by pressing the edge of a ruler into it.  The center seam on his torso is craft lace, and I sculpted the leggings, foot guards, and soles on his feet.

The hood was another part I am very pleased with – I wanted it to be removable and able to turn with Tasky’s head.  The circular base of the hood is part of a vitamin bottle my wife donated to the cause.  I then wrapped the head (sculpted on top of  a shaved Johnny Storm) in plastic wrap and built an armature that fit onto the vitamin bottle.  After the armature was cured, I filled out the sculpt and made it more roomy inside, so the head had more mobility.  The front bottom “flaps” of the hood are craft foam to keep it flexible and make it easier to remove.

Finally, I ordered some 1/6 pistols that came from Hong Kong – this somehow completed the custom in a very satisfying way.

Agent X

Agency X wouldn’t be complete without Agent X, but it took me a long time to actually begin work on him. I was pretty worn out by the previous three. Like Deadpool and Taskmaster, Alex Hayden is a Human Torch underneath it all. I always liked how the Johnny Storm head looked like it came from UDON art, so he’s just shaved down with scars sculpted back on. I keep going back and forth on whether the scars are a little too pronounced, but ultimately laziness won out so I kept them as originally sculpted.

One of the challenges of this custom was to transform the form fitting costume to t-shirt and pants, without having to re-sculpt everything.  For the t-shirt, I added plastic craft laces around his neck and biceps to give the appearance of a collar and sleeves.  I tried to reduce the sharpness there by filling it with Mod Podge, but don’t think I did enough.  At his waist I sculpted some clothing folds.  The center seam on the shirt is craft lace.

For the pants, the pocket edges and zipper flap are sculpted, and the legs were widened at the knees and above the boot tops to approximate pants instead of tights.  On his belt, the buckle is sculpted (poorly) and on the thigh packs the buckles are cut out plastic from a card bubble.  The thigh pack straps are craft foam with pouches sculpted in Apoxie Sculpt.

The buckles and soles on his boots are all craft foam, and his gloves are sheet vinyl blended into his hands and details added using Apoxie Sculpt.  The hands retain the swivel but the gloves restrict the hinge movement.  I am very pleased with his bullet proof vest.  It’s sculpted in Apoxie Sculpt, with the zipper seams done with plastic craft lace.  The zipper teeth were sculpted in a thin layer of Super Sculpey, and the zipper pull was made with a paper clip and craft foam.

Each of the figures in the set include one or more accessories, and for Agent X, I wanted something a little different.  I thought about giving him a gun-toting hand like Taskmasters, but didn’t want to buy another 12-inch Joe just for a hand.  Instead, I opted for a “weapon” he used in his too-short run by Gail Simone.  The toilet brush (I debated with Robokillah if it was a loofah, but defer to him) was constructed out of a twisted paper clip with brush and handle sculpted in Super Sculpey and Apoxie Sculpt.  The “I accept” message was printed out, stuck on the handle (before the brush head was added) and then coated with several layers of Mod Podge to stiffen it up.

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Well, that wraps it up for the customs I made over the past couple of years and thrown together for CustomCon 24. I had a lot of fun making them, especially this last set. Feel free to ask questions – I know I’ve already been extra wordy with this write-up, but I’m sure there’s stuff I can flesh out even more if you’re interested.

Thanks for looking!