The Phantom of the Paradise - 1/12 Scale Handmade Action Figure

THE PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE - 1/12 SCALE HANDMADE ACTION FIGURE

That’s the hell of it

So I really want to continue writing out these incredibly long explanations about my process, my feelings about the project, and why I’m making the figure, but it takes so much effort and time! Also, does anyone really care that much to read my entire novel about making an action figure from an obscure (but amazing) movie from 1974? I do, but I’m going to try and keep things short anyways.

The Phantom of the Paradise is a low-budget movie released in 1974 that was written and directed by Brian De Palma, who would later go on to make Carrie and Scarface (as well as a ton of other amazing movies!) and is credited with starting the glam rock music as well as being the inspiration behind the music and style of Daft Punk (their faux origin story actually includes the villain of Phantom). It’s basically a rock musical where a musician is framed by an evil music producer, is horribly maimed in the process of escaping from prison, and kills the performers at the producer’s new performance venue, the Paradise. And the music is *chef’s kiss*

See this movie when you get the chance. I hear the good people of Winnipeg go apeshit at the mere mention of Phantom! I’ll do my best to keep this as layman as possible and just assume that no one reading this has seen the movie.

Workin’ so hard to be somebody special

This was technically my third piece that I made for Gallery 1988 (my second was the Mega Man oNE Sheet Poster), but this was a pretty major milestone in that this was for their 15th CRAZY 4 CULT show - and that this would be their first in-person show since the start of the pandemic! There was a lot of (self-inflicted) pressure to make this good. I knew the Phantom would be a good choice - especially since I’ve wanted to make a figure of him since I saw the movie!

A little background on CRAZY 4 CULT: this is Gallery 1988’s flagship show, where all of the pieces are based on cult movies of all types. Sometimes they even have a printed coffee table book based on the show (they didn’t do it this year), and it generates a ton of buzz.

Initially, I thought the process would be pretty easy until I realized the amount of effort each individual part of the process would require - sculpting the accessories and individual pieces, sewing an outfit from fake leather, making a double-layer cape, and sculpting a (relatively) recognizable likeness of actor William Finley. This was definitely a lot more work than I thought it would be. Luckily, all of my previous figures were just practice for this one.

The first part that I started on was the cape - not only did it need to be double-layered (silver and black), but I also wanted to make it wired so I could pose it! I had to actually buy fabric from the store for this one, because I wanted a very unique look for the materials. I found a “cellophane” silver spandex-type fabric and a shiny black spandex. They’re a little difficult to describe, but I felt that they would be accurate while still looking really cool! Despite being my first go at using a sewing machine, I don’t think I realized how difficult it would actually be to use it. First off, sewing machines are crazy fast - I mean, I know that they’re fast, but I seriously had no idea that they could be that fast! I also got the fabric caught a few times because stretchy fabric is really hard to sew - and, because of the smooth textures on the faces of the fabrics, I’d have to start over with new pieces of fabric if I messed up the stitch. It took my four tries, but after I drew the stitch path in pen and taped the fabric to coffee filters (this is seriously a good trick to know) and ran it through, I was able to get something that was passable. It still took much less time than if I had hand stitched it.

After feeling completely demoralized with machine sewing, I decided to work on a part that I knew I could right on the first try - the voice box! In the movie, the Phantom has a voice box attached to his chest that gave him a robot voice because he couldn’t talk due to the accident that disfigured him - it even has blue and red lights! Keep in mind that The Phantom of the Paradise came out in 1974 and Brian De Palma was good friends with George Lucas! Anyways, I figured that I could start by making the basic shape of the box out of styrene, sand the corners so they would be rounded, then wrap the box with a thinner sheet of styrene to get the over hang of material that you see on the box in the movie. Then I would use my pin vise to drill out all 8,000,000,000 holes. Then I would glue on all of the tiny details and call it a day! Sure, my hand might get cramped, but this should be pretty straightforward!

It took five tries and $60 worth of materials to get that one part right.

Everything up to and including wrapping the thinner plastic sheet around the box shape worked exactly as it was supposed to with minimal effort. Before drilling the holes, I created a template in Adobe Illustrator to help me line them up while drilling them - throughout the process, everything seemed fine, but I wouldn’t be able to see the final product until I removed the paper template. Long story short (sort of), the lines were way off. I tried this three times with different glues and trying to keep my hand as stead as possible. No luck. I resolved that I would use photo-etching to make the part, so I bought all of the materials and tried to make that happen. No luck there either. For the final try, I cut out a rectangle from thin sheet aluminum and poked out the holes with a sewing needle while the sheet was flat, then I wrapped the holy sheet around the box - this worked! This also happened in the middle of moving and numerous other issues, so this whole thing set me back like a month!

I finally get it close enough to move on!

Then my wife and I moved to a new apartment, which set me back a few weeks so I could set my new space up. Luckily, sculpting the head and sewing the outfit went pretty well - I was expecting the head sculpt to be a lot more difficult since it was my first time trying to capture the likeness of an actual person! Luckily, William Finley has really distinctive features that make the sculpting process quite a bit easier. For the outfit, I was able to use my secret stash of awesome fake leather. I was even able to sew part of it using my sewing machine thanks to the patented “coffee filter” method!

Like the Rocketeer figure, the base for the Phantom was a last-minute creation. My initial plan was to recreate the synthesizer and make it a “play set” in a way - definitely not going to happen with the deadline for the show looming! Instead, I bought a 45 record (I paid a dollar for it, so I don’t remember the band/artist) and created a fake album label, attached it to a wooden base, and then wrote in it with red paint to simulate blood. Overall, I think it turned out pretty cool!

I literally finished this at 3am, so this photo is the result of me falling asleep while framing it.

Through the sacrifice you made we can't believe the price you paid

Going to the CRAZY 4 CULT show in person at Gallery 1988 was absolutely surreal - the gallery was PACKED, and people were buying art like crazy! It was awesome to see people looking at my art, but I think it was so much more powerful to see people walking in and just buying art because they wanted it. I’ll get into the craziness of the art world someday on a blog or video, but when you see people spend big money on art know that they’re doing it to avoid paying taxes - most rich people don’t give a shit about the art they buy, they just care that it grows in value. So, seeing people buy art because they wanted to own it made me feel good about having my work shown at Gallery 1988!

Also, the Phantom figure was sold either that night or early the next day when it went online! I seriously cannot describe the feeling of knowing that someone bought the figure - I was a little sad that I don’t get to keep it, but it also makes me incredibly happy that it went home with someone who loves Phantom of the Paradise!

By the way, if you’re the person who bought the figure then you should reach out - I’d be happy to hear from you!