New Superhero Revealed? FIRE-MAN (NSFW?) (updated with Part II July 2019)

Part I: A New Superhero Revealed? Leaked memo from IAFOOSHA.
Fort Part II see post 47 below.

Stryker started it. Blackpool encouraged it. This is dedicated to them. I can resist the potential for things that strike me as silly/funny only so much. It was actually a surprisingly difficult custom, and then there was research and too many potential things to recreate. Photo heavy, but I kept the images light.

NSFW (?) This contains somewhat adult humor so it may or may not fit your definition of "not safe for work"; there is certainly nothing truly explicit and the intent is humor, but you've been cautioned. For other disclaimers, please see at end.

SUPERHERO FIRE-MAN









































































Hope you found it at least moderately amusing -- I realize that different things resonate with different people and there are plenty of different angles to things and issues, some of them serious, some not.
Any favorite book covers so far? Just don't expect me to write the books...

#superhero #fiction #humor #humour #parody #dating #romance #firefighter #fireman #modern #comedy #vampire #roman #hero #fire #explosion #erotica #books #covers #tbleague #phicen #m34 #kitbash #custom

Pretty funny. Some of those book titles and blurbs had me laughing out loud -- just as over the top and ridiculous as the real thing -- some of them even sound like the titles of real Erotica fiction. Great pics, too, by the way. Nicely done. I applaud your willingness to take on such a subject matter.

I. AM. SHRIEKING. 

These are AMAZING. You absolutely, well... NAILED it. Not only the over-the-top nature of the subject matter, but also the way you framed it is so creative. As silly as these are, I greatly appreciate seeing images on this site that are geared to more than just the stereotypical male gaze, even if in a humorous way. Thanks so much for this!

Stryker2011 wrote:Pretty funny. Some of those book titles and blurbs had me laughing out loud -- just as over the top and ridiculous as the real thing -- some of them even sound like the titles of real Erotica fiction. Great pics, too, by the way. Nicely done. I applaud your willingness to take on such a subject matter.

Thank you very much. Very happy it made you laugh. The over-the-top corniness of the real thing is very much one of the main things I was reacting to and finding funny. Glad you approve!

skywalkersaga wrote:I. AM. SHRIEKING.  These are AMAZING. You absolutely, well... NAILED it. Not only the over-the-top nature of the subject matter, but also the way you framed it is so creative. As silly as these are, I greatly appreciate seeing images on this site that are geared to more than just the stereotypical male gaze, even if in a humorous way. Thanks so much for this!

I am absolutely delighted by your reaction. Thank you very much. Like I wrote to Stryker, the over-the-top nature of the subject matter was my main "inspiration." The framing was tricky -- to me the thing is funny of itself, but I don't want to project a misleading image. In an earlier draft, it was a straight-up dating profile, replete with much more glaring colloquialisms and misspellings, but I ended up thinking that would make it look like I'm poking inappropriate fun at the wrong things (though I did intend to mock the omission of proofreading and spell check when posting in public -- admittedly it happens to all of us, but not on the massive scale that I had planned) -- now that I look at it, it has slipped into at least one of the profile "slides" but I'm too lazy to change and update it. And I figure women deserve to objectify men as much as men women -- you know what I mean. So, welcome. Of course, physical excellence can be inspirational, not just an object of lust.

Wooow, you captured the tone quite perfectly with all of these. I found the last Roman era cover to be the funniest, it just came out of nowhere after all the modern settings. For some reason I could see it being a great skit on Robot Chicken.

Yeah, I agree about the Roman one — and even more hilarious that it still tied into the fireman theme! :’D

TAKE MY MONEY AND SHUT UP

Joke aside this is so cool and well executed! You're on fire GF!

AlKelAstra91 wrote:Wooow, you captured the tone quite perfectly with all of these. I found the last Roman era cover to be the funniest, it just came out of nowhere after all the modern settings. For some reason I could see it being a great skit on Robot Chicken.

skywalkersaga wrote:Yeah, I agree about the Roman one — and even more hilarious that it still tied into the fireman theme! :’D

Thank you both very much! To be honest, I think I like the Roman one best, too, although it is the one that sticks out from the others the most. In this instance, it is also meant to channel the over-the-top drama and hype around the old "Sword and Sandals" movies (as well as their themes). And the Romans really did have firemen, but (perhaps luckily, in this case) we don't know much about what they would have looked like. I'm surprised shazzdan hasn't chimed in on that...

blackpool wrote:TAKE MY MONEY AND SHUT UP Joke aside this is so cool and well executed! You're on fire GF!

Oh, I see what you did there! Masterfully done. And thank you very much. It is your enthusiastic reception to Stryker's original post that pushed me over the edge and made me try this out in the first place! So you are to partly to credit (or blame).

Wow, that was a lot of work! I love the flame effects and the hs mods you did are undetectable I only know you did them because you told me. Love all the hs's you used and photography. Clever idea using the younger brother's hero worship to glorify his brother. I'm not much into comedy as I'm a miserable git but the execution of your photoshoots/story boards has improved no end! Well done!

I meant to ask about the headsculpts you used here.... the one with glued [?] 'real hair' that looks kinda like Bruce Campbell, and the one with the long sculpted hair -- I cannot place either. Curious which sculpts those are!

shovelchop81 wrote:Wow, that was a lot of work! I love the flame effects and the hs mods you did are undetectable I only know you did them because you told me. Love all the hs's you used and photography. Clever idea using the younger brother's hero worship to glorify his brother. I'm not much into comedy as I'm a miserable git but the execution of your photoshoots/story boards has improved no end! Well done!

Thank you very much. Yep, it was a lot of work -- not sure why I invested so much time into something so silly, but once I got going, there was no stopping me. I had always wanted to assemble a regular firefighter, and this gave me the final impetus to complete collecting the pieces and weather them -- though some of them don't even show up in the presentation, which was steered into calendar and erotica cover imagery territory for the sake of plotline and comedy. For the head sculpts, if you're interested, see my response to skywalkersaga below (since she also asked about them). The flames are a combination of things -- I bought a backdrop which I didn't use (since it had not yet arrived -- and probably would not have looked as good anyway), but used fire/flame/explosion photos opened up on two different computer screens (one horizontal, one vertical -- since I didn't have a single one that was large enough, although I probably could have used a TV) and then for some of the images I superimposed translucent layers of fire and smoke png images. But this was not high-end photoshopping by any stretch of the imagination -- although I have Corel PhotoPaint, I didn't have to leave the basic comforts of Corel Draw to do it. Not that it matters, but in the original (and largely unreferenced) "script" it is the older brother promoting his younger brother, though your interpretation would have made better sense. And very glad you liked the humor anyway. There are some short and less sophisticated (and certainly less elaborate) recent ones here and here -- both of them Star Wars-related.

skywalkersaga wrote:I meant to ask about the headsculpts you used here.... the one with glued [?] 'real hair' that looks kinda like Bruce Campbell, and the one with the long sculpted hair -- I cannot place either. Curious which sculpts those are!

All the male head sculpts except the one for the very fake-photoshop-looking extra "vampire" are the same sculpt, Easy&Simple ES 26013 1/6 PMC Urban Operation Grenadier (here's a link). I had looked in my catalog of heads for something that resembled Stryker's fireman as closely as possible, and failed miserably; this and Timothy Olyphant's big bald noggin from Hitman were the closest matches, and the eyebrows on this seemed more on target. So I ordered an extra one and began modifying the one I already had. I sliced off the long sculpted hair and the ears (since they were only partial -- being half hidden beneath/integrated into the hair sculpt); transplanted ears I sliced off another, damaged, Easy&Simple head, and then got to gluing on the hair (I probably should have just sculpted it out of air-drying clay for more accurate and more manageable results). Three times until I got to a decent enough result (which is still far from perfect but I gave up trying after this). In the largely unreferenced original "script" it was made clear that "Chad" (the fireman) got his thankful, helpful, and adoring brother "Tad" in on some of the covers, so it made sense for fun -- and in some cases irony -- to use the resulting two different versions of the same head sculpt in the photos. I don't take progress photos, but I did take the one below during one crazy-looking stage of Chad's transformation... By the way, maybe you missed this.

Absolute Great Work ! The Figures, especially the Hair Job is fantastic, and the Book covers are so funny Thanks for the entertainment

Ephiane wrote: Absolute Great Work ! The Figures, especially the Hair Job is fantastic, and the Book covers are so funny Thanks for the entertainment

Thank you very much Ephiane, or should I say, Your Highness of Ephland. Coming from you, this is a very flattering and encouraging compliment, and I am very happy you were entertained. The hair job could have been better (especially if I knew anything about cutting hair), and I did have to retouch it with water mixed with shampoo and conditioner every time it happened to touch anything else, but in at least some of the shots it ended up close to the desired look.

Ah, I understand now -- thanks for the explanation about the headsculpts...or rather sculpt, singular. You definitely made them look different enough that I didn't even realize it was the same sculpt at first, though definitely still looking like brothers. I really love your work on the hair.... I can imagine how difficult it was to get it to look how you wanted. But it turned out excellent, imo. Adding hair is such a great way to customize a sculpt and make it your own.

And yes, I might have missed some threads as I've been going back and forth between houses the last couple of days and often stuck on my phone all day in areas with not so great internet connection. So bear with me if I'm a bit slow to comment/respond atm... this house move cannot be over fast enough for me, sigh....

Moving is a pain that’s for sure. Six months from now, it’ll all seem like a bad dream, Young Jedi.

skywalkersaga wrote:Ah, I understand now -- thanks for the explanation about the headsculpts...or rather sculpt, singular. You definitely made them look different enough that I didn't even realize it was the same sculpt at first, though definitely still looking like brothers. I really love your work on the hair.... I can imagine how difficult it was to get it to look how you wanted. But it turned out excellent, imo. Adding hair is such a great way to customize a sculpt and make it your own.

And yes, I might have missed some threads as I've been going back and forth between houses the last couple of days and often stuck on my phone all day in areas with not so great internet connection. So bear with me if I'm a bit slow to comment/respond atm... this house move cannot be over fast enough for me, sigh....

You're welcome and thank you for the very kind words. Glad it works well enough. The hair had to be voluminous but compact, swept up in slightly sideways swirling direction, yet overhanging the forehead. It really would have been a lot easier and more accurate overall to sculpt it, but I went with real hair and then didn't want to shelve the whole experiment. It occurs to me that if someone does spot the fact the head sculpts are indeed the same, I really should have found a way of incorporating the originally intended info that both brothers make an appearance, but oh well.

My heart goes out to you on the subject of moving -- I knew you were going to do it, just didn't know it was already going on. Glood luck and hang in there -- everything will work out in the end. And do try to stay put this time.

Your perception of life's cringiness is phenomenal. And objectification of men is one step closer to equality, or something.

Ovy wrote:Your perception of life's cringiness is phenomenal. And objectification of men is one step closer to equality, or something.

Thank you very much!

Thanks for the well-wishes, guys. House moves are indeed the bane of my existence, but sadly I am used to them. I have not had a permanent living situation now for over 12 years. In the last eight years alone, I have moved seven times.  Some of the moves have been more traumatic than others, but all have been draining in their own way. Hopefully this is one of those times when the stress and physical exhaustion turns out to be worth it. 

While it's still not going to be a completely permanent situation, there seems to be a chance this time that we could be in the new place for several years, at the very least. However long it takes before we are finally able to own our own house.

skywalkersaga wrote:Thanks for the well-wishes, guys. House moves are indeed the bane of my existence, but sadly I am used to them. ... While it's still not going to be a completely permanent situation, there seems to be a chance this time that we could be in the new place for several years, at the very least. However long it takes before we are finally able to own our own house.

You are welcome. Hope it's going well and that it will be a relatively stable and satisfactory solution until you're ready to settle down in one place for good.

Thanks, GF! I dearly hope so, too. : )

Btw, I was just curious about the female head sculpt in the final Roman cover — that’s the brunette Verycool ‘Jenna’ head, right? I was potentially looking at getting that sculpt loose, but noticed the gaze on it seemed a little odd, like slightly to the side. Have you noticed that with it, or was I just imagining things?

skywalkersaga wrote:Thanks, GF! I dearly hope so, too. : )

Btw, I was just curious about the female head sculpt in the final Roman cover — that’s the brunette Verycool ‘Jenna’ head, right? I was potentially looking at getting that sculpt loose, but noticed the gaze on it seemed a little odd, like slightly to the side. Have you noticed that with it, or was I just imagining things?

Yes, it is what you're thinking of.  It is actually "Jenner", even if our own new product announcements, perhaps because it included machine-translated text, had both names referenced (HERE). It is the same sculpt at the one in Singed by Eros and Burning Sensations (sequel to Burning Desires and Burning Passions -- I hope someone got that!). I suppose I was quasi-subconsciously finding the association of that name (and possibly face) with virginity ironic. At any rate, she is just like the promotional photos, although they do not emphasize it: the gaze is slightly (very slightly) to the left (camera right), especially in her right eye (camera left). It looks ok in hand, and can look ok if you want her to appear looking straight ahead.

Ah, gotcha, thanks for explaining. Glad I wasn’t totally crazy for noticing the unusual gaze, though it’s good to know that it still works ok with making her look forward/ahead if need be.

And lol, I did notice her on the other covers as well — one of my faves was the Singed by Eros one , as I was imaging an erotica retelling of Cupid and Psyche, one of my favourite folklore motifs (seen also in Beauty and the Beast, East of the Sun & West of the Moon, and many other ‘monster husband’ or ‘ Search for the Lost Husband’ type tales).

skywalkersaga wrote:Ah, gotcha, thanks for explaining. Glad I wasn’t totally crazy for noticing the unusual gaze, though it’s good to know that it still works ok with making her look forward/ahead if need be.

Not crazy at all -- in fact, good eye. I'm not even sure I had noticed or processed that myself. Anyway, here are a couple of more zoomed-in shots I just snapped for you. I don't know whether they are all like that or just mine. If you really look for it, the difference between the right and left eyes' gaze direction is actually almost disconcerting, but in practice it has a much less obvious effect. (The theory behind the position of the pupils, etc, might be valid, it just seemed a little too much of a variation to me.)



PS -- Looking at the photos, it occurs to me to note that if it looks like the nostrils are uneven, that is all (or mostly) just the shadow from the direction of the light.

Thanks for the close-up, GF. It's a very pretty sculpt, even with the wonky eye, lol. And I'm guessing it is purposeful, as the other ones I've seen on ebay seem to all have the same thing going on. I'm tempted to get one, but had just wanted to make sure the eye/pupil position wouldn't make it harder to do certain poses, etc.

ETA: Maybe it's her 'shooting' eye?