How to Make Custom Action Figures

Making action figures is a fun project that can also be challenging. The action figure manufacturer uses different methods and techniques in order to create high-quality action figures. If you want to know how to make custom action figures, this guide will walk you through the process from start to finish.

How are Action Figures Made

The action figures manufacturing process is so complex that it takes a lot of specialized equipment and many steps involved. Action figures are usually made of plastic, and many high-quality action figures are mass-produced in toy factories.

The action figures are made through a series of toy production processes such as prototyping, mold making, injection molding, sanding and washing, painting, assembly, and packaging.

How to Make Action Figures

Make Action Figure Mold

The first step in the process is to create an action figure prototype. We may use clay, wax, or other materials to make the action figure model. Make sure that the action figure model is not too big or too small, and that it has a good balance of weight and posture.

Once the action figures prototype is right, we will complete the production of the action figure steel mold within 30 days, steel mold weighing 400 kg. The mold is made up of two parts: a steel tool called the master and a plastic material called the pattern. Steel mold will be installed and used in the injection molding machine.

Injection Molding

Injection molding is a manufacturing process that uses a steel mold to shape plastic into the desired shape. Injection molding consists of three main steps: injecting the plastic material into the steel mold cavity; waiting for the plastic material to cool and solidify, and opening or breaking away the finished action figure part from its casting gate.

Injection molding can produce high-quality parts at a low cost. It allows manufacturers to create a large number of action figure replicas using the same steel mold, which reduces production costs. In addition, this process has a high throughput rate due to its speed and efficiency.

Sanding and Washing

Put the finished action figure part into cold water, and sandpaper it two to three times until its surface becomes smooth and not rough. Then wash the action figure with clean water, until it dries, and prepare to spray paint it.

Prime Action Figures

Before beginning to paint action figures, it’s a good idea to prime them first. Primer is a special type of paint that helps the color we are going to apply stick better and last longer. It can be applied with a brush or sprayed on and comes in different colors (including black, gray, white, and brown).

Paint Action Figures

Now to make the paint, we use acrylic paint for this step. Acrylic will give action figures a nice, it is dry quickly, durable, uniform in color, and easy to clean up if we make a mistake. Spray painting is used on large areas of action figure coloring, such as primer, and body part color. Hand painting can be used when the figure is small, or the figure part is too intricate for a machine to paint properly.

Paint action figure areas with one color at a time, don’t mix colors together yet! Make sure that each area has enough coverage so that no bare plastic is showing through when the paint did.

Protect The Paint

When finished painting, apply a protective sealant. This will help to protect the paint job and keep it looking fresh for years to come. When choosing a sealant, look for one that offers UV protection and is water-resistant (to prevent chipping).

Start with a very small amount of sealant on a brush and then build up from there as needed, too much may cause streaking or smudging of the paintwork, so be careful not to overdo it. Apply the sealant evenly over all parts of the action figure’s body, paying special attention along joints where they might be prone to chipping or scratching off over time.

Assemble Action Figures

The last thing we need to do is assemble all of the pieces that make up the action figure. In most cases, this will be a basic plastic action figure kit that has been cut into pieces and then assembled on it. Assemble action figures do not need to use glue, attach the head to the body, and then attach each arm and leg to the body. Attach any accessories, such as weapons or clothing.

How to Make Custom Action Figure Packaging

When all the action figures have been assembled and quality checked by QC, the action figure will be packaged next. Like custom action figures, the packaging of action figures also requires the customer to provide us with AI design files, so that we can customize the packaging for our customers.

The types of action figure packaging we can customize for our customers as below picture, such as gift boxes, color paper boxes, handing boxes, window boxes with blisters, and clear PVC boxes.

How to Make Custom Action Figures

If you need to make custom action figures, you can send us your design, either a 2d design or a 3d design file, as a toy factory in China with 17 years of experience in action figure production, we specialize in customizing action figures for overseas customers like you.

If you don’t have a 3d design file, our toy designers will make a 3d model based on your 2d design, and then 3d printing to make an action figure prototype sample, after painting, assembling, and packing, we will send you samples for you to take photos and check the quality to confirm that the samples meet your requirements.

The next step is creating molds for each part required by the action figure design. Once these molds have been created they are sent to an injection molder where they will be loaded onto machines that squeeze molten plastic into them at high pressures, producing thousands of identical parts per hour! Finally, all those plastic parts are assembled together by hand into complete action figures, and then we package them up and send you the finished action figure by air or sea so that you can sell your action figures at retail stores around the world.

Conclusion

I hope that you have found this tutorial on how to make custom action figures helpful and informative. With so many action figures manufacturing processes to choose from, as a professional action figure maker, we can help you customize action figures with a wide range of colors and textures. This makes it possible to create an endless variety of action figures that appeal to fans everywhere!