That’s right, true believers! This week I sit down with the master of teams, custom action shots and one of my personal favorites, raynir! Believe it or not, his name doesn’t actually mean "norse god of precipiation." Intrigued? Check out the interview!
CTV: Are there any tools that you couldn’t live without?
raynir: The dremel rotary tool is my best friend…makes life so much easier…
CTV: What inspired you to get into customizing?
raynir: Wanting ML figures that didn’t exist and once I discovered Fwoosh, the addiction began…
CTV: What does your name mean?
raynir: It’s a deviation of the middle name of one of my favorite poets Maria Rainer Rilke. It just looks cooler how I spelled it ..lol
CTV: Have you ever customized for family/friends?
raynir: Nope.
CTV: What would you say your specialty is (this one’s a big duh)?
raynir: Teams.
CTV: Bingo! Speaking of, you’ve got to have a lot of patience to complete entire teams. How do you do it?
raynir: Patience is something I have in abundance…maybe too much, hehehe. But seriously, if I do one member of a team, it’s enough motivation to go do the next. (Plus, it takes the “who am I gonna do next?” out of the equation.) It snowballs until I finish the whole team. I just get a kick seeing a group shot. And at the end, I feel more satisfaction. I feel complete! lol.
CTV: Thank god you do. I always love seeing your team shots. How do you choose which teams to make?
raynir: It boils down to teams which I grew up reading and if I really like them.
CTV: What is your favorite custom (that you’ve done)?
raynir: Savage She-Hulk. I was very pleased and proud of how she turned out.
CTV: Where did you learn how to paint? Your portraits are beautiful.
raynir: Thank you. I have been painting since I was in high school and I majored in illustration in college.
CTV: How do you decide on which parts to use for your customs?
raynir: Similarity to reference material, I want my customs to be comic book accurate as much as possible. There are some parts or base figures begging to be customized into a particular character.
CTV: How many commissions do you receive on a weekly basis? Monthly?
raynir: 3 at the most, 2 or 1 in a month . It’s not on a regular basis, there would be months where I don’t get any orders.
CTV: How do you decide how much to charge for a commission?
raynir: It depends on how difficult the work will be and how much the base figures cost. Sometimes I will factor in the motivation, for example if I don’t really like the character or if I’ve done the character before.
CTV: Do you have an ultimate goal in regards to your customizing?
raynir: Not really…but it made me think about branching out into doing sculptures.
CTV: What do you like most about customizing? What do you like least?
raynir: The fact that I’m creating in 3-D…the process of re-imagining an existing figure, chopping it up and making it whole again is very enjoyable. My least favorite part is the sanding…it’s just dirty work. I almost forgot, I hate painting eyes. It may just be the most exhausting part that will make me swear so many times…its just too small in there…ARGH!
CTV: What type of process do you go through as you customize?
raynir: First is deciding who to make and getting reference pictures. Second is imagining what would work best for a base figure. Third, gathering other parts. Then, I finally go to work…
CTV: What does your workspace look like?
raynir: My workspace doesn’t really look like this…only once in a blue moon. I had to make it look good for this interview 🙂 . It usually looks like a bomb went off in there, the classic messy artist studio syndrome.
CTV: What is with you customizers and messy spaces? 😛 At least you made it look good for the pic. Do you own anyone else’s customs?
raynir: Nope. Maybe someday…
CTV: Do you keep your own customs?
raynir: A few. Savage She-Hulk, Powergirl, classic FF, and the Inhumans are some of the few that I still have in my possession.
CTV: Who is your favorite customizer?
raynir: Zombihamma, Darthleon, DoubleDealer, Actorjez ,Cal, etc. etc…
CTV: The usual suspects. What was the first custom you ever made? Do you have pics?
raynir: Tiger stripe Wolverine, it was a basic repaint of ML 5 Wolvie.
CTV: Definitely doesn’t look like a first custom. It’s just that good.
raynir: Thanks :). Here he is in action:
CTV: Poetry in motion.
raynir: I love to do action shots!
CTV: And we love seeing them!. You’re very good. What do your family and friends think of your hobby?
raynir: They’re pretty cool with it….I think… or maybe they think I’m a complete geek!
CTV: It’s possible! Do you have any words for customizers just starting out?
raynir: Just have fun with it…we learn as we go. I’d also recommend Fwoosh’s
Custom Shop Talk board. I’ve learned a lot over there.
CTV: Raynir also left a sneek peak: A very early shot of Thundra.
