I have been creating stuff by hand as far back as I can remember. As a child, I wouldn't play with my Star Wars figures like everyone else (having battles or reenacting movie scenes). Instead I would make them cardboard houses and furnish them with whatever scrap pieces of bits I could find that looked like something they might need. I continued to do "creative" things throughout my adolescence, always being the “weird artistic” kid in school.

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​In the late ‘90s I started to get into Star Wars prop & costume replicating. Through sites like therpf.com and thedentedhelmet.com I discovered a whole new world of fabricating, molding, casting, painting, and more. It was fun advancing my skills and learning new ones along the way. Though I don’t frequent those sites much these days, I met a handful of very good (and VERY talented) friends then that I still talk to today on a regular basis. 

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In more recent years I had been intrigued by 3D CAD modeling and printing. I wanted to give it a try, but every time I’d sit down to teach myself the programs, I’d get frustrated, confused and quickly throw my hands up and quit. I was always good at Illustrator & Photoshop, but the skill set needed for the 3D modeling just eluded me. Something about ‘old dog’, and 'new tricks'. Then one day it all just clicked. I found the program I liked and a brilliant teacher on YouTube that I could easily follow and understand.  Now I was ready to proceed! 

 

My plans were always to take classic toys of my childhood and make the bigger! Not just a little bigger, but 8 TIMES bigger! 

 

The first project I wanted to tackle was Lucky, the iconic Fisher Price Play Family dog. I figured he’d be an easy, simple enough shape to go for on my first try. He turned out to be a tad more complicated than I figured, but I eventually figured it out and I think I got his likeness down pretty good. 

 

From there I went on to do the Tomy Rascal Robot, more Fisher Price, and any other toy I could find that was measurable and replicable. I’ve been posting numerous progress photos of my projects on my Instagram.

 

Lots of steps, heartache and frustration goes into these things. I hope you enjoy and appreciate them as much I do enjoy making them.

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You can see more of my work on my other website: dcbvarietyhour.com