Mark Stryker Old West Theme (Characters)

Very cool, Mark! You picked nice headsculpts for your characters. The outfits look all very nice. Maybe Maudie's dress could be a little bit wheathered to make it look more worn.

I love the photo edits, especially the last pic with the additional overlay looks fantastic.

Looking good! The American West is not an era we see a lot of modeling interest in anymore. Seems like "comic book post-apocalypse" is the current trend, along with modern military. It's fun to see something different. I'm sure it's fun to do something different. Nice to see this much effort put in to creating a realistic older female character.

Randam Hajile wrote:Very cool, Mark! You picked nice headsculpts for your characters. The outfits look all very nice. Maybe Maudie's dress could be a little bit wheathered to make it look more worn.

I love the photo edits, especially the last pic with the additional overlay looks fantastic.      

Thanks, Ralf. And yes, Ovy and Craig did some really cool work on my mediocre pics. I love all of them how they look with that aging patina; my knowledge of Photoshop is too limited to be of any use to me.

davidd wrote:Looking good! The American West is not an era we see a lot of modeling interest in anymore. Seems like "comic book post-apocalypse" is the current trend, along with modern military. It's fun to see something different. I'm sure it's fun to do something different. Nice to see this much effort put in to creating a realistic older female character.

You’re right, the Old American West doesn’t seem to get enough attention in the hobby. fire03 over at the Old Site seems to be one of the last members still doing Western figures; perhaps because finding the right accessories and clothing is a bit of a pain. You can generally find things that “could work” but aren’t always accurate to the period; but, it’s fun trying at least.

Cool pictures! Especially the last one of 'Miss Spetsnaz' is really true-to-life.

I missed Craig's rendition, but saw it now and it looked really evocative of the period.

These are looking fantastic! All of them have such a grounded western look, gritty and realistic. I love the bits of background, and look forward to seeing Stryker himself, and to see everyone come together and interact. And all the old photos look so awesome!! I was gonna say, the pocket watch with Mrs Stryker's picture is a must, and I see you already came to the same conclusion.

Amazing work Mark! They all look so good! The spurs in particular are terrific! Are there any others??

ElBundy wrote:Cool pictures! Especially the last one of 'Miss Spetsnaz' is really true-to-life.

GubernatorFan wrote:I missed Craig's rendition, but saw it now and it looked really evocative of the period.

Thanks. I can’t take credit for how cool the photos look — that’s all Ovy and csyeung.

ReverendSpooky wrote:These are looking fantastic!  All of them have such a grounded western look, gritty and realistic.  I love the bits of background, and look forward to seeing Stryker himself, and to see everyone come together and interact.  And all the old photos look so awesome!!  I was gonna say, the pocket watch with Mrs Stryker's picture is a must, and I see you already came to the same conclusion.

Thanks, Adam. Finding a proper pocket watch (one that opens) is proving difficult…

BAMComix wrote:Amazing work Mark! They all look so good! The spurs in particular are terrific! Are there any others??

There’s more coming. Lot of work to get them put together yet to be done. I made the mistake of buying a bunch of “cheap” WorldBox bodies (turned out, if they’re cheap, it’s because they’re bootlegs, and absolutely $#@t), so I have more bodies coming. Plus, still gathering clothes, accessories, etc.

Hannah finally has her dress (I think I need to iron that skirt). (I forgot to take a picture of her new shoes):




John & Kathleen Yorke

The Bank Owner, member of the Town Council, and his wife.

(edit: Obviously I didn't have to do much for Kathleen as Redman did it all for the Mina Harker figure. John's clothing -- all of it, including the watch chain -- is from AJ Clothiers, the shoes -- or Brogans -- are from Battlegear Toys).

Mina / Kathleen is very pretty, and fits right in to an Old West time frame in that outfit!

Very nicely put together additional characters.

Very smart! shame about those cheap bodies

Thanks, fellas.

Yeah, those cheap bodies were a total waste. One of the ankles on one of them is so loose, the foot actually spins like a pinwheel when you pick it up. Those BLEEPers are going in the trash.

Another character finished.

Jarrod Maragon Hannah's brother. Works odd jobs, including as a Clerk at the Mercantile and as a Hostler for the Stables. Lives with Hannah & her husband on what was once their family farm, now just a homestead with a few animals to tend.




Head sculpt: Hot Toys Solo: Han Solo
Body: Worldbox AT025
Clothing: AJ Clothiers
Shoes: Brown Brogans from BattleGearToys

Looks like Jarrod has an itchy trigger finger, or two. That boy's gonna be trouble, I tell ya!

Another great character, Mark. Given Han Solo's intended resemblance to a cowboy (a space cowboy nonetheless), and this guy's casting as a young Han Solo, I suppose it is not surprising that this works well. Does he have an eye on the banker's wife?

GubernatorFan wrote:Does he have an eye on the banker's wife?

Nah! He’s more likely to be chasing a saloon girl, and getting in trouble with the gruff bunch of drunkards hanging out there, or the Mayor’s daughter.

another cool looking character Mark!

Nice new characters! John and Kathleen look nice a nice couple, though she could well be his daughter I think... which makes for an interesting story.

Jarrod looks like a good match to be Hannah's brother. Great choices!

Cool new characters! Very nice choice of heads and outfits. Redman's Mina looks very good in your photo.

Thanks @all for the nice comments.

@Diana. Times were definitely different back then for most couples. It wasn't uncommon for women to be married to older men; it also wasn't uncommon for women to be married as early as 14 -- not so much in "Higher Society" in the East, but in the Old West... yeah... life expectancy was often short, children didn't often live to adulthood -- which is why so many young women had multiple kids. They may seem mismatched, age wise, but period wise pretty much normal. Not that there weren't "younger" couples, just fairly common for "older men younger women." I'll have (hopefully) some younger couples at some point. (I was even thinking of swapping out John's head since I screwed up and cut off too much of the attached neck on the sides -- so I could replace it with a younger head sculpt).

Okay, he's not quite finished yet (still have to paint the hair, and fix some screw up where I cut too much of the hair away to get that hat to fit), and he needs a badge, I guess (assuming I'm keeping him as a US Marshal).

Mark Stryker, Deputy U.S. Marshal. Former gunfighter and outlaw at a young age. Lost his parents during an Indian raid on a wagon train. Logan Pollard took the 9 year old boy under his wing and taught him the ins and outs of survival and the ways of people in general. I have most of his backstory figured out, but it's still not complete, so I'll leave it at he's in his early 30s by the time he becomes a lawman and married to Hannah.

Here he is standing off against an (unseen) bad hombre.




Most of this is from the LIM Toys Gunslinger, the hat is from the VTS Wilderness Rider (I just liked that one better than the one from LIM); duster is from the Thunder Toys Hell Ranger. He needs more shotgun shells, so I have a few coming (another 5 I think).

Great looking western style figure - would fit right in to the movies I've been watching a lot of lately (1940s "B" westerns on Turner Classic Movies). I like the details of the trousers with suspenders (braces).

He already looks excellent, Mark. And not just for being your minime.

Ahh, there he is....I was wondering when your mini-me would appear! He is looking awesome!

Really loving the intro to your characters and 'verse so far, glad you are finally sharing them with us.

Yippiyayeah,. it's the Styrker himself! For some reason I expected him to have long blonde hair.

Here some Photomanipulations of Hannah2 and the Yorkes

Thanks, everyone. Ovy, those are spectacular. I’m probably going to have to make the “lid” for a pocket watch — I have yet to find one that comes with one already, just so I can put one of those awesome manipulations of Hannah in it.

Excellent work, Ovy.

That is a bad ass Stryker figure. Like your bash of your western figure, parts fit well together.