DIY Pop! Crowley Tutorial

I'm still feeling a bit under the weather, so before I go on to my Tampa Comic-Con roundup, lemme walk you guys through making your own Supernatural Crowley doll!

(This is ONLY for making Crowley as you see him here; if you want to make a different character, I'd advise starting with one of Funko's blank DIY figures.)

Now, this is dead simple stuff, but if you'll pardon the expression, the devil is in the details.

(OH YES I DID.)

Ahem. So.

You Will Need:

- A Vincent Vega Pop! doll:

- and a Peter Venkman doll:

They'll cost you about $10 each online.

(It's all coming together now, right? Told you it was simple!)

You will also need:

- craft or model paints

- a pointed craft blade

- Epoxy and/or E-6000 adhesive

- Paper clay or Sculpey

- sandpaper

And for the box:

- gloss photo paper

- spray adhesive (or other paper glue)

- white posterboard

Start by carefully cutting the heads off both dolls:

Use the seam as a guide, & take your time.

Next paint Venkman's hair, since it's a little dark for Crowley:

Thin your acrylic craft paint with several drops of water, and use the softest brush you can find to prevent brush strokes. Also use flat paint; anything else will be too shiny.

Your watered down paint may take several coats to cover - mine took about four or five. In between coats, use a scrap of paper towel to buff out any bumps or brush strokes.

The eyebrow were the hardest, since I didn't want to chance painting them on directly, & figured cutting them out of paper would be too thick. So instead, John painted a thick swatch of paint on a plastic bowl...

 ... and I used my craft blade to cut them out.

Peeling the tiny eyebrows up is SUPER tedious (the paint wants to stretch), and will likely take you several tries. (See how many I did?) However, if you can do it, you'll have tissue-thin eyebrows that you can position as you like before gluing.

Or do it the easy way, and just paint the eyebrows directly on his face. (Or cut them out of paper.)

For the beard scruff I used an art marker, but be warned: the marker will rub off if you get it wet. This was great for getting the shape right, since I could "erase," but not very durable. So if you plan to handle your figure, go with paint instead.

Now the body:

Paint the shirt black and the tie dark gray. If you don't mind Crowley holding a gun (which you could always sculpt longer to look like the Colt - eh?), then you're done! If you want him to hold a blade, though, keep reading.

 Use a sharp craft knife to jab into the shoulder seam of the gun arm all the way around. The plastic should cut relatively easily.

Next shave off the gun:

And use sandpaper to smooth out the top of the hand.

Mix up a a little paint to match the face, and re-paint both hands to cover the scuffed plastic. 

(Another option, if you're not up for color-matching: when you're done with the figure just splatter the blade & hand with red to look like blood.)

Now sculpt your angel blade. I like paper clay because it's light & doesn't require baking. Roll a thin tube of clay, tapered at one end, and use a toothpick to make the hilt and blade grooves:

The angel blade has an extra long hilt, so cut off a small section to stick under the hand, too.

Let the clay dry completely, sand gently, paint with silver liquid leaf, and carefully glue both pieces in place with E-6000:

Use epoxy to re-attach the arm at a lower angle (don't want Crowley stabbing himself in the eye!) and then carefully attach the Venkman head to the Vega body. This part is tricky, but the fit *should* be tight enough that you won't need any glue.

And you're done! With the figure, that is.

For the box, John's done most of the work for you. So, just print out the two sheets I'll provide below on gloss photo paper, and glue them securely to a sheet of poster board with spray adhesive:

Use a craft blade to cut everything out, score your folds, and glue in the clear plastic window from one of the original Pop! boxes. Fold your box together, and secure with more glue.

To make your new Crowley fit in the old interior plastic holder, use your thumb to pop the right arm section of the plastic back, making room for the new arm angle. The fit will be tight on the head & feet, but it *should* work without any other adjustments.

And you're done! Now bring your new Crowley to Mark Sheppard the next time he's at a local convention, and ask him to sign it. Be sure to tell him John & I said hello again. ;)

******* 

Here are the box graphic files. Click each to embiggen, then right click and save.

You should be able to print both at actual size for a perfect fit, each on a standard 8.5X11 sheet of paper. Remember to glue them to your posterboard side-by-side, though, so the front & side windows line up!

Happy Crowley Crafting, everyone! 

*****

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