Action Figure Customization: Ninja Commando Kitbash (Part 1)

From Snake Eyes to Sho Kosugi to Sub-Zero, I’ve always been a bit obsessed with ninjas. But as of late, I’ve been on a really big ninja kick as I’ve been playing a lot of Cyber Shadow, Ghostrunner, Strider 2014, and I’ve got the recently released Ninja Gaiden Master Collection on my video games backlog. All of these games feature an ultra-stylized, futuristic take on the mythological ninja archetype and I was compelled to make one of my own in the form of this, what I consider to be my first “premium” action figure kitbash. I dare say it's my most ambitious project to date.

Unlike the more experimental practice pieces like my Fireteam X series, I had more of a vision for what I wanted to achieve with this project and planned on really taking my time with this one rather than coming into it with a vague idea of what I wanted and just winging it for the rest. Granted, this project still leaves plenty of room for me to try out new stuff but I knew I would be using a better class of material rather than the cheapo bootleg toy soldiers from my previous customs.

I started jotting down influences and formed an idea in my head for a look that would be heavily inspired by the Red Ninjas and Night Creepers from GI Joe, Ninja Slayer, and Shadow from Cyber Shadow.

For a starting point, I decided to go with a 4” scale Batman from Spin Master that I got for about $3.50 on Amazon (technically, it was a $7 two-pack that also came with Man-Bat) because I was genuinely impressed with quality of plastic and the articulation, especially for a more kid-oriented line of figures as opposed to the McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse line. I remember being pretty skeptical when I heard that Spin Master, a company largely know for outdoorsy Playskool type stuff but this is a really solid figure. That said, the first step was to soak it in dish soap and warm water (giving the joints a good scrub with a toothbrush). Then I sanded it down to tooth up the surface for paint and glue as well as get rid of any remaining mold release or factory protective coating. The key is to scuff up any shiny surfaces.

With my trusty snips and dremel tool, I cut out any visual cues that would hint at this figure’s origin as Batman (namely the ears and other pointy bits) and smoothed over the surface. His cape I was on the fence about, as I had the idea to maybe use it as his iconic ninja scarf/cloak a la Strider Hiryu or Ninja Slayer but it was one I would abandon once I started kitbashing.

When going through my bits box and leftover parts from model kits, I didn’t immediately start gluing things on but rather, I dry fitted potential details using sticky tack to really see what best aligned with my vision of how I wanted the figure to look. The details I prioritized first were the visual cues that screamed “ninja commando” the loudest: mask/menpo, hood, metal plate/headband thing, and body armor.

The menpo I made from cutting up a helmet that came with a Dollar Tree Final Faction figure after all the crafting videos I’ve seen on youtube, I feel like it’s now a rite of passage for nascent hobbyists to use Final Faction figures in their builds. The head piece was cut from a soft rubber helmet that came from an old Marvel figure that I thought about repurposing as a hood before deciding that wasn’t going to work out. The breastplate, also a soft rubber material, came from a 6” Power Ranger figure I bought on clearance to salvage for parts. If anything, I was going through my spare parts and sizing up what would fit and what wouldn’t, modifying (read: butchering with snips and a hobby knife) the bits I thought might have potential but not committing to gluing anything down just yet.

The more I test-fitted, the more I was able to narrow down the major details and started gluing, ultimately deciding to keep the armor, the menpo, and the headband though I would later decide that it looked better on the outside of the hood like the GI Joe Red Ninja rather than on the inside of the hood like Ginzu or Shadow. I also ditched the cape around this time and filled in the slot it was attached to (as well as the accessory port in his back) with Milliput.

And speaking of the hood, I ultimately picked the hooded cloak from a 3.75” Star Wars figure (Jyn Erso from the Rogue One line) since I had at least two of those and a Cassian Andor lying around that I also bought on clearance quite some time ago, knowing that I would make something out of them eventually. I snipped the Star Wars figure’s hooded cloak so that it would fit and trimmed off some material so that it would more closely resemble that iconic flowing ninja scarf you see on Strider, Ninja Slayer, and Ryu Hayabusa.

The sheathe on his back (and later on, the straps I glued to it) is from a holster that came with the 3.75” Black Series Cassian Andor. That sword is borrowed from one of my many Snake Eyes figures but it’s ultimately not the one I wanted to use for the figure. I just wanted to see how a sword that size might fit.

Now that the major details were in place, I would set the figure aside, sleep on it, and have two more kitbashing sessions where I would incorporate additional details to flesh the figure out more and maybe cover up any lingering visual cues that might hint at his previous life as a Caped Crusader. Around the midpoint in my kitbashing processes, I added some leftover option parts from my Armored Puppet Ryuen model kit as well as added the aforementioned straps to his sheathe.

I also noticed that there were some gaps left by armor that I felt weird leaving unfilled, so I used what was left of the Final Faction helmet that I cut up to make his menpo.

Once again, I set the figure aside for a couple days and came back to it, deciding that it needed some accessories. Digging through my leftover model pieces, I found a double-sided blade and a blaster handle that I decided to combine into a sword/tonfa hybrid (again, heavily influenced by Strider Hiryu and his iconic sword, Cypher).

I also found a Final Faction figure’s sword, the handle I would have to dremel down so that it would fit in the figure’s hand, as well as a bandolier that came from a much larger figure that I thought would make for a good source of individual Rob Liefeld-approved pouches for breaking up the surface with that extra bit of detail.

For the final leg of the building phase, I decided that there were still a few more visual gaps I wanted to fill in as well as add some additional detail to his boots. Again, a lot of it is leftover option parts from my Armored Puppet Ryuen model kit that I modified with my dremel until I eventually found a good enough place to stop. As I might have mentioned before, there is always a temptation to overbuild in the kitbashing phase but I was surprised to learn how gluing on just a few additional parts can radically change an action figure’s profile.

And with that, I decided to call it a day on the first leg of this project and set it aside once again while I wait for a bottle of special primer I ordered to arrive in the mail. But I’ll talk more about the painting phase in Part 2.

I would also like to mentioned that this was my first project using real superglue designed for hobbyists and not either E6000 adhesive or dollar store crazy glue. So I’d like to end Part 1 with a recommendation for the Bob Smith Industries Maxi Cure/Insta-Set combo pack, which (as the name would suggest) contains a bottle of Maxi Cure glue as well as a spray bottle of Insta-Set kicker/accelerant that instantly dries the glue.

The pack was about $10 on Amazon but honestly, it bonds so well to different types of plastics (stronger than anything I’ve used previously, including Gorilla Glue), you don’t have to wait around for it to dry, and it feels like I have so much more control over how and where the glue flows than I do with other brands. It’s pretty invaluable on projects like this, which is why I bought an additional combo pack for later use. If I’ve learned one thing in this early stage of my crafting journey, it’s that cheap super glue just isn’t worth it.