Black Queen Process

Since Mystique progression was so popular, I thought I'd share a little bit about the process for the Adam Hughes' designed Black Queen.

I start with a wire armature to approximate the pose, work the anatomy in clay and eventually refine the figure in wax. The clayup, or rough, is sculpted in Chavant NSP Medium plasticene, and is then molded in silicone and cast in wax for cleanup and detailing.

Her cape was shaped from wire mesh (I hate this stuff), coated with a fairly thin layer of clay, then molded and also cast in wax for cleanup sculpting. I've included a few shots that reveal a little of this process. The cape alone was very time consuming and I was relieved when that portion was finished.

Her corset was also a unique challenge, as Adam had been specific about being able to see through some of the lacces to her belly and her cleavage. This required me to sculpt the center panel of the corset as a separate piece. This was an exceptionally delicate piece, and I was happy with the result when it all came together. You can clearly see the cavity in her torso for the plug in one of the shots.

The whip was cannibalized from a previous Sideshow project. I cast up lots of little resin copies, cut and pasted them together for the result viewed here.

After Sideshow receives a wax master from me, they'll cast it in resin, provide a paintmaster copy, and it all gets shipped to Asia for mass production.

The paintmaster was accomplished by Mike Najera.


A number of comments on my collaborations with Adam Hughes point out that often times the resulting sculpture may not look so much like Adam's concept sketches. As I'm working through a piece, I'm receiving a lot of art direction from Adam as well as from the development team at Sideshow. Usually a sculpture will go through an evolution as art direction is given, things are re-assessed, and changes get made. This is why the end result might appear different from the concept, I sculpt what Adam and Sideshow want me to sculpt.