Shang (Mulan)

Mister, I'll make a man out of you!

 

In my Shan Yu and Hades posts, I mentioned the DBZ pops I'd been given to use in customs. Trying to think of who might work for the remaining pieces, I thought of Captain Li Shang, the love interest in Mulan. The clenched fists of Goku just made me think of the training montage, and subsequently put I'll Make a Man Out of You in my head.

I used the head from Grey Worm as it had the right sort of hair to be my basis for Shang. I repainted the skin tone and added in his little man bun. For the body, I used the Goku I had laying around. I added in the various layers for his clothes, including the cape. I was happy with how it was looking at the bake phase, but he randomly cracked in his cape, skirt and sleeves. I repaired this with more clay and rebaked a few days later, but it still didn't really cooperate. I've made a few customs now, and this was the first I've had cracking issues with, so I was a bit let down by it.

After how beautifully Gaston turned out earlier today, I have to admit that I'm disappointed with how Shang has turned out. Can I tell that it's Shang? Yes. Is it my best custom job ever? Not even close. But he's done now, and I'm glad of it! Hopefully my next one will be a little more cooperative.

The Run Down:

Base Pop/s: head- Grey Worm (Game of Thrones 32), body- Super Saiyan Goku (Dragonball Z 14)

Biggest Challenges: I'm not sure why, but the clay kept cracking for me with this one. I struggled not to rage quit.

How I'd Improve It: Redo it from scratch, and hopefully not have the clay cracking issues. I also don't like some of the aspects of the paint job, as they're details that are hard to read. I'd also have liked to have added his training stick in his hands, but their positions didn't make sense for a rigid pole's necessary angle.