IRON ZOMBIE - TERROR IN THE TOY BOX
(BEST SEEN LARGER THAN UNLIFE....)
IRON ZOMBIE - TERROR IN THE TOY BOX
Infected by an off-world, inter dimensional Zombie virus Tony Stark is transformed into the Unmincible Iron Zombie!
Chopped in half during a recent battle Iron Zombie remains hideously dangerous and infectiously at large in the Toy Box, here seen having Iron M.O.D.O.K for breakfast....
IRON TOYS: “It’s...a...ZOMBIEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!!”
IRON ZOMBIE: “BRAINSSSSSSSSSchlurppppppppp!!!”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Care and Handling of Action Figures:
Important Safety Tip #1:
Do NOT store Marvel Zombies in the same Toy Box as uninfected figures.
This was a hysterically crazy Halloween inspired photo shoot that took days to set up and execute, mostly due to the odd angle and multiple figures included in the scene.
The action figures have one thing in common, of course, they’re all Iron Man related......from the articulated plastic figures to the die-cast monster truck.
I’ve also included eleven of my custom converted figures or scratch built Iron Man sculptures. Custom modifications include The Incredible Shrinking Iron Man, Iron Spam and Iron Cyberman. Sculpts featured are My Little Iron Pony, Iron M & M, my 50 mm Movie Mk 1 suit, the Iron Mobile, the Tony Stark Built S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier, Iron M.O.D.O.K and Iron Zombie. All of which have separate photosets in their own right within my stream where you can learn more about their construction.
(Somewhat tragically, this is not my entire collection.....clearly Iron Zombie is not the only one who needs an infusion of brains!)
Iron Zombie is a popular character in the Marvel Zombie alternate universe, where the familiar super heroes have become frightful Undead monsters chomping their way through the population of Earth and indeed, the entire cosmos!
I ended up constructing an overhead bridge to set the camera up on and eventually settled on a combination of natural and artificial light along with a slow shutter speed activated by timer.
There were a LOT of rejected pictures but I learned a lot from each one, a process which reminded me so much of working in other artistic mediums, for example, painting, sculpting and drawing.
Setting the scene was a challenge. Treating the shoot as a series of drafts worked well, as I had to do a lot of tweaking of the figures since some of them masked others to an extent that could best be determined by trial and error in camera.
Making minor changes also encouraged me to come up with extra gags along the way. Such as the trio of Mini-Mates figures standing on each others’ shoulders to get out of the Toy Box. (You’d think one of those bigger blokes would have given ‘em a hand, but it’s every Iron Man for himself when there’s a Zombie on the loose!) Then there’s the armour spilling out of Mr Stark’s briefcase, and what’s that bottle of Old Fortran doing in there, eh Tony? Having a Super Hero Squad figure vaulting over the Toy Box wall with one hand was an idea that I’d had for a while, ever since I noticed that the little figure can actually balance on it’s palm and yes, that Space Armour Iron Man is using his spring loaded hook to hoist himself over the wall.
My favourite gag is War Machine putting the boot into one of the other figures that’s grabbing onto his leg....you go Rhodey!
The long but amusing process meant that I didn’t need to do too much Photoshopping at the end of the day. An ominous border around the frame, a bloody footprint here, some power glows and boot jet flares there and that was pretty much it. Well okay, I digitally inserted Iron M.O.D.O.K’s brains into the picture but I swear the image was taken from a plate of real human brains....
The blood, by the way, is food colouring, and since the figures were slipping and sliding all over the place on the Toy Box floor it was the devil’s own work to keep ‘em out of the gore. It was like playing Dominoes in a pool of blood....well, so I’d imagine! The way they kept falling down I have to wonder if the lads had been partying with that Old Fortran before the shoot....
Mind you, it occurs to me that so many heroes could just as well “FOOM!!” the lone Iron Zombie with their fearsome firepower as turn and flee but you know how it is with the Undead. Once panic sets in it’s head for the hills ‘cos nobody wants to get ‘et, or worse, bit and TURNED!
Thanks to Gail for putting up with me during the weekend of terror that this took to shoot. (Now that's undying love!)
IRON ZOMBIE - TERROR IN THE TOY BOX
(BEST SEEN LARGER THAN UNLIFE....)
IRON ZOMBIE - TERROR IN THE TOY BOX
Infected by an off-world, inter dimensional Zombie virus Tony Stark is transformed into the Unmincible Iron Zombie!
Chopped in half during a recent battle Iron Zombie remains hideously dangerous and infectiously at large in the Toy Box, here seen having Iron M.O.D.O.K for breakfast....
IRON TOYS: “It’s...a...ZOMBIEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!!”
IRON ZOMBIE: “BRAINSSSSSSSSSchlurppppppppp!!!”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Care and Handling of Action Figures:
Important Safety Tip #1:
Do NOT store Marvel Zombies in the same Toy Box as uninfected figures.
This was a hysterically crazy Halloween inspired photo shoot that took days to set up and execute, mostly due to the odd angle and multiple figures included in the scene.
The action figures have one thing in common, of course, they’re all Iron Man related......from the articulated plastic figures to the die-cast monster truck.
I’ve also included eleven of my custom converted figures or scratch built Iron Man sculptures. Custom modifications include The Incredible Shrinking Iron Man, Iron Spam and Iron Cyberman. Sculpts featured are My Little Iron Pony, Iron M & M, my 50 mm Movie Mk 1 suit, the Iron Mobile, the Tony Stark Built S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier, Iron M.O.D.O.K and Iron Zombie. All of which have separate photosets in their own right within my stream where you can learn more about their construction.
(Somewhat tragically, this is not my entire collection.....clearly Iron Zombie is not the only one who needs an infusion of brains!)
Iron Zombie is a popular character in the Marvel Zombie alternate universe, where the familiar super heroes have become frightful Undead monsters chomping their way through the population of Earth and indeed, the entire cosmos!
I ended up constructing an overhead bridge to set the camera up on and eventually settled on a combination of natural and artificial light along with a slow shutter speed activated by timer.
There were a LOT of rejected pictures but I learned a lot from each one, a process which reminded me so much of working in other artistic mediums, for example, painting, sculpting and drawing.
Setting the scene was a challenge. Treating the shoot as a series of drafts worked well, as I had to do a lot of tweaking of the figures since some of them masked others to an extent that could best be determined by trial and error in camera.
Making minor changes also encouraged me to come up with extra gags along the way. Such as the trio of Mini-Mates figures standing on each others’ shoulders to get out of the Toy Box. (You’d think one of those bigger blokes would have given ‘em a hand, but it’s every Iron Man for himself when there’s a Zombie on the loose!) Then there’s the armour spilling out of Mr Stark’s briefcase, and what’s that bottle of Old Fortran doing in there, eh Tony? Having a Super Hero Squad figure vaulting over the Toy Box wall with one hand was an idea that I’d had for a while, ever since I noticed that the little figure can actually balance on it’s palm and yes, that Space Armour Iron Man is using his spring loaded hook to hoist himself over the wall.
My favourite gag is War Machine putting the boot into one of the other figures that’s grabbing onto his leg....you go Rhodey!
The long but amusing process meant that I didn’t need to do too much Photoshopping at the end of the day. An ominous border around the frame, a bloody footprint here, some power glows and boot jet flares there and that was pretty much it. Well okay, I digitally inserted Iron M.O.D.O.K’s brains into the picture but I swear the image was taken from a plate of real human brains....
The blood, by the way, is food colouring, and since the figures were slipping and sliding all over the place on the Toy Box floor it was the devil’s own work to keep ‘em out of the gore. It was like playing Dominoes in a pool of blood....well, so I’d imagine! The way they kept falling down I have to wonder if the lads had been partying with that Old Fortran before the shoot....
Mind you, it occurs to me that so many heroes could just as well “FOOM!!” the lone Iron Zombie with their fearsome firepower as turn and flee but you know how it is with the Undead. Once panic sets in it’s head for the hills ‘cos nobody wants to get ‘et, or worse, bit and TURNED!
Thanks to Gail for putting up with me during the weekend of terror that this took to shoot. (Now that's undying love!)