CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES: 101 – “10 QUESTIONS WITH PaPa-SIN”!

CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES: 101 – 10 QUESTIONS WITH TRYNON “PAPA-SIN” ROBINSON
This week on CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES: 101 “10 Questions for a Customizer”, we have Trynon Robinson, aka “PaPa-SIN”.

CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES: 101: Tell us a little about yourself Trynon.

TRYNON ROBINSON: “I was born February 23rd of the same year the Vietnam War ended and terrorism began its rage in Munich. I am most commonly known as PaPa-SIN.
Culturally, I am African American, but my blood is African, Haitian, Taino, Cherokee Indian, French and Scottish Irish…at least that’s just some of what’s in my blood. I’m a proud African American but I don’t believe in race, which I know sounds confusing. I believe in culture so I am proud of my culture. Culture has nothing to do with race; it’s simply a way of passing tradition down from generation to generation. Some traditions like racism have to be left behind in order to preserve what’s left of our cultural individualism. Religion, media and government (under the guise of prosperity) are slowly wiping it all away. I see all culture as my culture. We are all black, white and every color in between.

I have many interests. I like female heroines of color, mechs and monsters. I do take commissions but I prefer original concepts versus another Superman or Duke. I prefer to work on original concepts or be given a general idea to run with. I do light sculpting and heavy kit bashing. I started a page called 1:18, 3.5 and 4inch Scale Custom Action Figures and Dioramas on FB. You can contact me there or check out my work – every album labeled SIN is my work. I have a couple bros on the page as admins with me who are pretty knowledgeable as well. We all wheel and deal to get the parts we need. We deal with figs daily. For some it’s a hobby, for others it’s an art.”

CAF:101 – First off, as I always ask fellow customizers, how long have you been customizing and what got you started?

TR – I’ve always been an artist and loved Star Wars and GI Joe figs. I saw some customs on FB and already had a lot of figs as a collector so I slowly started making my own using trial and error, along with a few tips from people along the way. I like reconfiguring and coming up with new ways to combine parts and pieces. I’m more of a kit basher and character designer than anything. I have also created my own post-apocalyptic world based on my own artwork and writings. So, in a way, doing these custom figs helps me continue my story.

CAF:101 – What’s your favorite figures to customize?

TR – Female figures are my favorite. However, I do like GI Joe, MU and Star Wars figs. There are a lot of nice new figs out there to work with but, since I have a family, I focus on what’s affordable as well as articulation. I also lean toward a minority perspective. Most of my characters are people of color, mostly because there are very few hero toys in the 1:18 to 4 inch perspective for people of color. I would like to do more kid figs but options in parts are horrible. I’m starting to look in the girl toys for options. I’m a big android and cyborg nut as well.

CAF:101 – What’s your workspace like?

TR – Clean, a mess, clean, a mess, etc. I have two rooms in the basement – one for dioramas and the other for figs and man cave…lol. The dio room is filled with cardboard, foam, finished and unfinished dios and vehicles. The other side of the basement has plastic cabinets with drawers of smaller parts for dios, like oil drums, gas tanks and figure parts. In my living room I have a wooden tv tray that I work on which has a plastic tray to keep smaller bits from rolling away. On the floor next to it is a tool box filled with paints and other supplies including my dremel.

CAF:101 – What paints and brushes do you use?

TR – Brushes – I use whatever is cheap. Paints – I use Model Master and Citadel.

CAF:101 – If you could give advice to someone who is brand new to customizing, what would it be?

TR – Keep going… today’s “not so good work” can become tomorrow’s “Wow” work.

CAF:101 – Give us your best “secret trick” you use when customizing.

TR – Think like MacGyver.

CAF:101 – What other things are you into besides customizing?

TR – Writing, drawing, painting, sculpting, photography, activism, debates, etc.

CAF:101 – And now we’ll consult our Magical, Mystical Randomizer for the last three questions:

CAF:101 – What is your favorite lie that you have ever told?
TR – Saying no when I wanted to say yes as in regards to women. I get some satisfaction in it though don’t ask me why.

CAF:101 – What cause are you willing to fight for?

TR – My family, friends and people in general. I’m a very liberal person to a point. I believe in culture, not race. I believe in equality…period. I don’t care for preachers, politicians and policemen. Unless in an attempt to protect those I love, I’m a nonviolent person. I love our troops but fock wars. I was born in Los Angeles so I’m used to a certain limit of madness. Maybe not at a war level but I’m lucky to be alive more than a few times over.

CAF:101 – If you could see 24 hours into the future what would you do with this ability?

TR – Disappear before they were on to me.

For more on this or to get customizing tips from Rob Panick, make the JUMP to the forums!