'War Tourist' Customs by Jon-Paul Kaiser + Lisa Rae Hansen for ToyConUK
Revealed at ToyConUK Saturday last were two huge War Tourist customs from Jon-Paul Kaiser and Lisa Rae Hansen, based on the existing form design and created by Sam Griffiths aka Planet Domu and David Bishop aka runDMB.
This duo is not to be mistaken for their 4" resin forms (Artist Series), but an upsized and at-large 2-feet tall fibreglass behemoths! One was to be done by Jon-Paul, while Lisa Rae won a contest to do the second (I last WIPs featured), and both look splendid, indeed! Both figures are available for purchase via Sam (please enquire via sam@planetdomu.com).
Here's a closer look at both pieces, including comments from both Jon-Paul and Lisa Rae themselves, when I asked them; ""What inspired your custom design, and what does it mean?"":
"My War Tourist is inspired by my Riot Cop custom (I did) earlier in the year, though this guy is a little more old-school and brutal. Specifically he's based on a policeman from the 1980's, one of the numerous heydays of British civil disobedience and this time was particularly known for the violent clashes between the coal miners and the police in the UK during the infamous Miners Strikes.
The motto on huge helmet comes from Full Metal Jacket - I think the character 'Joker' has it written on his helmet." ~says Jon-Paul Kaiser.
"(My) War tourist is called "Endzone". He came about because the original figure brought an American footballer to mind, in the "hut hut" position. I went with the strip being Toycon themed to celebrate it being the first ever British toy convention but he had to be battle damaged to keep with the original "War Tourist"-name. It just all seemed to fit, to me he is an epic character that has survived and witnessed wars but is kind a mascot or symbol of hope for new beginnings. The original sculpt that Sam Griffiths sent to me was stunning, and it was an honour and immense fun to work on the giant!" ~added Lisa Rae Hansen.
UPDATED: Both figures are now made available to purchase, at US$$2,650.00 for JPK's and US$2,295.00 for Lisa Rae's - Click on each image below to purchase!
