Scarlet Witch

Avengers Month continues with Scarlet Witch! This is the ML11 version with some new pieces to make it not a figure that deserved to be recalled but we’re all glad we got it anyway.

There were some major problems with the ToyBiz Scarlet Witch, notably a paint wash that seemed to give her stubble, and legs that had no swivel. This happened with ML10’s Mystique, and is starting to turn up in Hasbro MLs too, and I hate it. A thigh swivel is a part of posability, and can’t be subtracted. Without making me angry.
So a year ago I tried to improve the Scarlet Witch figure by 1) sculpting a boostier with points, instead of painted-on detail, and 2) building in some thigh swivels using some fabric snaps. And that just didn’t work. Swivel joints are supposed to be child’s play to do, and I can’t master them for the life of me.
So this month, I cut off the hips and replaced them with Psylocke hips, legs, etc. It worked great! Psylocke as these true ball joints with enough clearance to take a coat of paint. I painted it up, and shaved a bit off the knees (cast in blue plastic) to help fight paint rub. I took off too much, though, and one of the knees broke, coming out as a thin ribbon of plastic. I’ve done this with two or three recent-issue ML females, and I guess that the plastic can’t be thinned if its going to get over the détentes.

So, to fix my fix, I grafted on the legs of a Charmed girl (Rose McGowan, I think, a head that will show up here shortly on something). These knees were flesh-colored, and went easily to pink.

I had this cool metallic pink I used, but it made the red look kind of shoddy. I went over it with a layer of Tamiya transparent red to make it consistent and make it smooth. Ever since I got these paints, they’ve been my crutch. Custom doesn’t seem to be coming together? Use some Tamiya Clear! It fixes any paint job, turns a sandwich into a banquet, removes embarrassing stains…