ToyLanta 2022 Custom Figure Entries Man of India and Rakshasa!

For ToyLanta* 2022, I chose to bring my beloved Man of India with his adversarial creature, the Rakshasa!

Here is a small rundown of the development these two 100% playable custom G.I. Joes!

The Man of India or Indian Adventurer was one of my two entries in this year's show. He is the Adventure Team's newest member from South India!

I wanted to make a 1/6 Sikh with rooted hair in traditional Indian attire but also in Adventure Team colors! I had previously entered him in KYJoe 2021, but he did not get any love there, and he needed to be on display with my newly premiered Rakshasa!

He has a Cotswold Ed head with rooted Saran Midnight hair from RestoreDoll. His eyebrows were carefully wiped off with acetone and will be replaced with thicker, more striking ones after rooting.

The rooting is completed, but this is how I boil perm the figure so his beard will stay down, and his mustache will stick up. Learn more about the hair rooting process here!

His roots are trimmed to appropriate but still striking lengths. The mustache is treated with Satin Modge Podge to keep its durable shape. The eyebrows are painted via toothpick with Angelus Black Leather Shoe Paint mixed with Angelus 2-Hard Plastic Adhesion Promoter. This leather shoe paint sticks extremely well and does not rub/crack off the vinyl head. (Ideal for playability!)

I wanted my Adventurer to have a traditional Nehru jacket, so I based his 1/6 jacket after my Mego Hadji's 1/9 jacket. I also see many photos of Indians in baggy Harem pants, so I made a new pattern for bigger pants. His pointy shoes were made from high quality felt dipped in Modge Podge for durability, similar to my Master Pai Lee. 

The turban is made of an 18 x 2 inch piece of thin knit cloth. It takes 0 sewing, but does take some patience to learn how to tie. With some 1/6 modifications, I learned how to tie a basic turban here!

My second entry in the show was the traditional Indian monster, the Rakshasa! I unfortunately did not get to make an Adventure Team themed comic this year, but somehow the Man of India is supposed to encounter this creature in South India!

I remember talking with my friend Mark about really pushing the limits of making a custom playable G.I. Joe. Since this was an adventure in India, I wanted to try a six-armed creature similar to much traditional Indian artwork. According to the New World Encyclopedia, a Rakshasa is defined as a demon or unrighteous spirit in Hindu mythology.

I was not going to execute this figure unless I could get a successful Cotswold torso drilled with four extra arm holes. It took many tries, but these were all failures because I was attempting to drill the holes with a hand drill. To get clean, well placed holes, I had to place the torso under a friend's drill press. If you attempt this, save yourself time by finding a drill press! Also, please watch your hands!

The arms were joined with extra elastic and hooks from older fractured Joe bodies . These four lower arms are as functional as the top two!

With the body made, I could continue with making the head. I wanted a mean looking head that could be rooted easily, so I used a Cotswold D.J. head. I carefully dremeled his flat top to be round like a bald head; it does not have to look perfect, because it will be covered by rooted hair!

I ended up balding two; the other one is for a future project. The Rakshasa will soon get supernatural eyes and eyebrows!

I rooted his hair extra long and eyebrows with Saran Candescent Carrot Hair from CustomDollHair!

This is the figure figure before I braided the hair. The eyebrows were cut and treated with Modge Podge. I then used Angelus paint for the eyes and created my own patterns for his attire. His necklace was hand beaded by me as well.

The Rakshasa was also my first project that included hand-casted parts by yours truly. This is the Playing Mantis Dr. Evil Kabai Singh sword being prepped for a platinum silicone mold.

The finished the two-part silicone mold took about 2 days to make.

I used Reynolds Smooth-Cast 45-D to make copies of the original sword. It cures milky translucent, but with some SO-Strong Color Tints, you can easily adjust its colors.

These were the lucky six that made it to the final figure. The swords are far from perfect, but they worked for the time being. The mess below the swords was the cut-off flashing.

I took home first place which amounted to a $75 cash prize. I always like to get a 'prize' figure with the award money, so I bought a 2017 DFW G.I. Joe Con exclusive Emergency Medic for $50!

I had a BLAST working on these figures! I want to continue pushing myself on designing new pieces for my world of Joes. I am thinking a G.I. Joe Aborigine might be coming soon... Special thanks to Mark Cole for putting up with all of my late night emails!

If you have any questions about the making of these Joes leave a comment or shoot me a message!

Happy Customizing!

For coverage of the ToyLanta 2022 convention, click here!

For coverage of the ToyLanta 2022 Maker's Space, click here!

*This article was formerly called JoeLanta 2022 Custom Figure Entries Man of India and Rakshasa! Because of the new 2022 sister show addition of JoeLanta in the Fall, I will call this convention by its proper show title, ToyLanta.

-Chuck