This was my second stab at Minimate customization, and my first at real sculpting and painting. The contest had prizes that were too tempting to dismiss, Marvel Minmates: Max statues. Commonly known in the Minimate world as Maximates, these unarticulated statues were made to skirt around the size restrictions in the license with Marvel. Alas they didn't catch on and only the Sentinel and Galactus were made. Spider-Man and Wolverine versions were shopped around but never made it to production.

 

(Click for larger versions.)

For my contest entry, I wanted to do something different from inevitable Marvel and DC entries. While looking for old sci-fi covers, I came upon this wonderful archive and this cover in particular. It was Sci-Fi, it was classic, it had a pair of relatively simply figures and it had a good hook.

 

Little green tentacle aliens! Aren't they great? They were just what I needed to make the cover memorable. In actuality, I only made four of these little guys, then took photos of them from multiple angles. After some clipping and quite a bit of copy-and-paste the composition was complete. And only four little hobbits had to die.

The big thing that holds me back on Minimate customization is faces. I just can't seem to make good, authentic-looking Minimate faces. You can put tons of effort into painting and sculpting, but if the face isn't right, the Minimate isn't right. There's a definite knack to it and I'm envious of those with the talent. You know who you are.

There were so many great contest entries, I was surprised I came in third out of nearly thirty covers. Looking over all the excellent entries again, I think it's time to do another one of these contests. Although I'm not volunteering to run it. :)