Prior to working overseas, or as an Instructional Designer / Content Manager, I made a large number of custom figure "concept" series for fun. Among the most popular was one I called "PREDATORS: 1000 AD":
The core concept explored the alien hunters from the "PREDATOR" franchise who, in the colonial parlance, "went native” - adapting to the cultures and regions they hunted within.
Instead of relying solely on advanced technology, they incorporated trophies, as well as scavenged armor and weapons, into their gear. While lasers and explosives made sense when facing modern military forces, they felt out of place in a setting like 1000 AD. I imagined these hunters intentionally limiting themselves - creating a kind of self-imposed handicap to make the hunt more challenging and engaging. The results were a series of Frankenstein-like custom figures, assembled and spliced together prior to any extensive sculpting work.
Here's a few early views into the figure concepts:
An early view of "Crusades Predator" (Europe/Middle East c.1200AD) that later evolved into "The Predator of Antioch".
Ronin Predator (Japan c.1400AD)
Mayan 'Bad Blood' Predator (North America c. 1000 AD)
An early concept of this character utilized a heavier set body - this was later repurposed for a different figure concept: The Druid Predator.
I resculpted the missing mandible from a NECA "Wolf" Predator head, along with much of the face and cranium - moving the open mandible head to it's own (primarily resculpted UFC figure) body:
Many of these pieces - particularly
the “Bad Blood” Predator - were inspired by the work of Narin, a
well-known sculptor within the AvP/Predator online communities. His
design aesthetic diverged from the canon established in Predator 2,
favoring more ornate armor and a surface treatment that blended rough,
dragon-like textures with smoother, muscular forms. I worked to
replicate a similar effect using texture stamping, drawing from a
variety of sourced materials.
One Predator fell outside of the 1000 AD theme: the Nanotech Combat Armor Predator. For this design, I envisioned a far-future caste specializing in espionage and tactical strikes during interspecies conflict - particularly in wars against the “Space Jockeys,” seen in ALIEN and later, humanity as it began colonizing Predator hunting worlds.
Unfortunately, I forgot to do a final light-box photoshoot of the finished figure & paintjob before it sold from it's display case at Silver Snail in Toronto some years ago.
See Part 2 of these 1000AD Predators here, where I discuss some of the splicing and articulation methods used to seamlessly merge super-articulated UFC action figure joints with NECA Predator sculpts.
Many of the figures in this series went on to win custom figure competitions as well.