Custom Amiibo – GamesArt

Künstler Toby Thornton aus Frinton in England, nimmt sich amiibo-Figuren aus dem Hause Nintendo vor, und verändert sie nicht nur in ihrem Aussehen, sondern auch in Form und Darstellung. Toby lässt die Haltestreben der Original Figuren verschwinden, positioniert auch die Köpfe in einem anderem Winkel, wenn es für ein besseres Gesamtbild sorgt. Seine neu positionierte amiibo-Figur, erhält eine schwarze Grundierung, um dann mit einer dunklen Vorlage neue Farben oder Kostüme ins Spiel zu bringen.

Seine Arbeiten werden schlussendlich noch mit Steinen, Gras und kleineren Feinheiten veredelt, die dem neu entstandenen amiibo-Charakter richtig Tiefgang und Realismus verleihen. Wir von GamesArt, haben dem Künstler ein paar eigene Zeilen über seine Werke und seine Videospiel-Affinitäten entlocken können.

Toby Thornton
My name is Toby Thornton and I paint miniatures for tabletop battle games for a living. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years now and have grown up loving videogames. Nintendo was my first love and so when they released their range of Amiibo figures I knew I had to have them all. I have always wanted to paint a Link figure but this is the first time I’ve found a suitable figure to paint. It also turns out it’s an expensive hobby so I thought it would be a great idea to apply my miniatures painting skills to these Amiibo and sell them on my etsy page. And so Amiibo Workshop was born.
I’m mainly interested in repainting and converting the more human characters such as Link, Captain Falcon and the Fire Emblem characters but I’m also open to some other projects like the Star Wolf conversion I’m currently working on. My painting style is less suited to the cartoon aesthetics of Mario and Toon Link. Once I’ve picked my Amiibo I think about how I can make it look better. Mostly this means removing any support stands and in the case of Link changing the position of his head to look more forward. But I also think of how I can make them look cooler or different like Star Fox being changed into Star Wolf. Removing the stands often leaves a hole in the figure that needs to be filled and smoothed over with modelling putty. I will also remove any mould lines and straighten any bent parts such as swords. Next up is the fun part, painting them!
I like to completely repaint the model from scratch. So I use a Black Primer to create a blank slate to work from. I usually stick to the classic colours used for the character but I carefully weigh up the various outfits they wear in the game and make a decision based on what I think looks best. I use a layering method of painting using Vallejo Acrylics with 3 to 4 layers of paint that gradually get lighter creating highlights and shadows. This gives the Amiibo much more depth, detail and character. Once fully painted I like to texture the base using ballast, rocks, silflor grass tufts and flowers. I try and base them how I imagine it would look in their game.
The whole process is quite time consuming and requires a lot of patience and skill. I generally do a little bit at a time in between my other work. It’s very relaxing for me.
My favourite game series of all time if The Legend of Zelda so Link was a natural starting point for me. I grew up playing Snes, N64 and Gamecube. I’m hoping they make a Ganondorf figure soon! So far I’ve only completed Link and Marth but my current projects include, Captain Falcon, Ike and Star Wolf. I hope that I can inspire others to create their own custom Amiibo.

Vielen Dank an Toby für seine Worte und Euch allen viel Spaß mit den Bildern zu seinem Werk. Ihr interessiert Euch für weitere Werke von Toby Thornton – dann findet Ihr diese HIER. Der grandiose amiibo-Link kann im übrigen auch käuflich erworben werden, wenn Ihr Euch dafür interessiert, dann findet Ihr diesen HIER.