HOW TO: Make DCUC Titans Robin with lesternessman
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Good Evening Batfans! While I wait for Mattel to produce a classic Robin worthy of my DC collection, I needed something to go on my shelf in the meantime. Robin’s not all that difficult to make when you have the right parts to pull it off. The size of the Sinestro buck, while not all that great for Sinestro, is however, perfect for Dick in his later years as Robin. You’ll need a DCD Robin for some crucial components, namely the head(if you want a Perez feel to him), cape and tunic skirt/belt. Here’s a breakdown of the parts before any major work gets started.
As you can see, I removed Sinestro’s collar and filed down Sinestro’s boot tops. Careful, you don’t want to shave too much off that it bites into the leg. The next thing I did was remove the details from Sinestro’s gauntlets and slice some wedges into his feet to mimic the elf boots folds. An exacto will do, cut wedges and then sand them down to smooth them out. A smooth foot top just wouldn’t look right. You’ll need to sand the toe tips as well as we all know the elf boots were a tad pointy and Sinestro’s feet are not. A little off the sides on top of the foot doesn’t hurt either. The first time I did this custom, I added some epoxy to the tip to make it a tad longer. You can if you like, but I’m not all that sure its necessary. You could always use Deadman’s feet if you had some laying around.
Once you’ve got the feet shaped just right, use a little sculpting compound to start working in the boot tops. I use epoxy. Careful not to place them too low, or it’ll have a negative effect on the foot articulation-as in the foot won’t be able to move up and down. I learned that the first time around. Don’t spend too much time on the detail just yet, cause you’ll come back to these once they’re shaped the way you want them.
Next thing was to transplant some new hands on to him since Sinestro’s are, well, Sinestro’s. I suggest a set of Movie Master Batman Begins hands- but if you don’t have a set handy, you can use the ones on the DCD Robin, but you’ll have to slice them off just right and then make some posts for them to retain articulation.
Movie Masters hands:
DCD hands (gauntlets filed down):
Personally I prefer the Movie master hands because they fit in with the rest of the line a little bit better and allow him to grip a batarang.
Now, you’ll need to sculpt some new gloves over the gauntlets. Again, grab your sculpting compound and shape some up. Again, get the basic shape, because you’ll need to sand them down anyways.
Next up, the sleeves. Again, there are a couple options to go. The first time I did it, I sculpted them, as seen here-(disregard the tunic laces in front because having done this twice, you want to put these on in a later step). You can see however, how his size will shape up next to Cyborg.
Another method I’ve been using lately is with rubber bands to create the sleeve, and then adding some more wedge cuts into the biceps to simulate folds in the material. You get to decide which route to go. You can see the band style in the blurry pic of the gloves, two pics ups. You’ll see it again here soon.
The trunks in my opinion need have to have scales. Now, I am not all that big of fan of sculpting, but I did stumble on a splicing technique while doing another Robin. Essentially, I shaved the scales off of a ML Green Goblin, and transplanted them on to Robin’s trunk area. I didn’t do the entire area because you can’t see under the tunic skirt, but I did do enough so that any part of the trunks that were visible would have the scales. Here’s a few pics.
Like I said, once the skirt is in place, you can’t tell the whole trunks aren’t done. Plus, you don’t want to hinder articulation.
Don’t worry about little gaps, the paint will fix those.
Here’s where you put on the tunic laces and finish off sculpting the boot tops. I waited until towards the end to put the laces on the second time around because you don’t want to put them on early and have them get rubbed off while fidgeting with something else. Superglue works great, but I didn’t want to take a chance on messing them up. I used rubber bands, but you could use styrene if you are comfortable with the material. I bought some, and it ended up pissin me off, so I’ll stick with rubber bands. Skinny ones work best, but again, its up to you on what size you use. Just be careful to line them up even with each other and have proper spacing in between.
At this point I added points to the back of the boot tops. Once the material you’re using dries, start sanding them down to the shape you want them to be. I also started laying down some paint.
I used Model Masters Acrylic Guards Red, Light Flesh tint mixed with Warm Flesh tint, and Chrome Yellow. I also used Tamiya Park Green.
I’m too lazy these days to prime before I paint, plus, I’ve never gained any real benefit to it; others may disagree.
I also like to paint my logos by hand. More patient with my hand and brush than I am with a decal and a printer. Use whatever means you see fit.
At this point, you’re just about done. Take a moment to tie up any loose ends and you’re finished product will look like this
I hope you enjoyed this, and I apologize if some of the blurry pics are less than stellar. Lucky for you this was not a photo tutorial… now get out there and make A Teen Titan Robin for your shelf! Any questions, feel free to drop me a line. Thanks and see you on the boards!
