WIP: Nightcrawler

X-Men Month continues with Nightcrawler in his modern costume. Man, what a difficult custom!

Many customizers have done a complicated take on the modern costume Nightcrawler, taking the opportunity to correct problems with the ToyBiz release. Talents like Robokillah and Norm have slimmed down the build and especially the face, with impressive results. I used the Marvel Legends 9 Nightcrawler as a base to simplify engineering (it’s nice to have the tail secure on the torso, for one), and also because I think it’s a good match for the character’s build. This is a guy who beat up Magneto with a cudgel; he’s not a twig. (Hey, what a great opportunity to link to Nightcrawler, Mutant Loanshark, on Random Panels!) As for the face, I agree with everyone except ToyBiz that it’s not a good match for the character. It should be slimmer or more youthful or less squarejawed or something. But ML series 9 came out two years ago, and I’ve grown accustomed to it.

For this custom, I cut off the shoulder pads, sculpted new shoulders, sanded the original lines, and painted. Simple!

I really like this modern costume, which is kind of an anti-Dave Cockrum heresy. This month’s Legion of Super Heroes ran a tribute to the man’s incredible design sense, and every word of it was true. Still, the Nightcrawler design has always bugged me because it doesn’t work on an articulated action figure. The lines are broken up by the waist swivel, and my Nightcrawler figures always have their hips aligned with their shoulders so they don’t look weird. X-Men Evolution solved this with a big white belt, and it worked; the modern design goes one better and stops the red before the waist. Hooray for toyetic design! The Cockrum original, though, reigns supreme in every medium besides plastic.