So I actually did this one last year, but I wasn't calling it "finished" until the shirt I ordered for it came, and that took forever because the company that makes the figure clothing is overseas and the pandemic messed with that. But this week I finally got all the shirts and jackets I ordered from them, so I can finally finish some of my wrestling figure customs!
WWE "Ruthless Aggression/Classic Superstars" RAVEN
The impetus for this custom was quite simple: Jakks only made ONE Raven figure while he was in the WWF, and while it was pretty good, it was in the "TitanTron Live" Scale, which lacked articulation and were smaller than the RA/Classic Superstars figures. They later made a "TNA Legends" Raven around 2008 or so, but it was a little big for the line, scale-wise, and since it was based on his TNA appearance he had braided hair rather than his "classic" ECW/WCW appearance. I'm a huge Raven fan, and I wanted a more basic Raven figure that scaled a bit better with the other RA/Classic Superstars guys.
The "recipe" was pretty easy, just a 2003-era Triple H head on a RA Jamie Noble body. I'd originally hoped to just use the Raven head from the TTL figure, but turns out the TTL and RA figures have a totally different neck peg situation going on, so that was out. Out of all the RA-scale heads I looked at, the "angry frown" Triple H head was the closest match for Raven. It's not perfect, but with some paint touch-ups it can pass, especially if he's looking down. The hair's a bit less curly than I'd like, but sometimes it was more straight and wavy than curly and tangled so it's technically still accurate. I repainted the hair with a mix of dark and light brown, with gold highlights, and then gave him Raven's "chin beard". Again, not perfect, but close enough if you squint.
I didn't have to do much for the lower body. They didn't bother painting the "ripped" parts of the jean shorts, so I went ahead and did that with some flesh tone to fill the "holes" and white for the frayed areas. The calves were solid black, so I painted over them with flesh tone as well.
The upper body was a lot of work; I knew I'd be getting the shirt but I wanted him to have all of his tattoos, anyway. So I painstakingly hand-painted all of his tattoos using various photos for reference; I couldn't get the "Rust Never Sleeps" lettering to come out clear enough on his right arm, so again I went for "close enough if you squint". He's got some scar tissue on that arm, so I very lightly scratched some of the paint off after the tattoo was done. I added some extra "tape" going midway up his forearm using Apoxie Sculpt, then painted it white. The Sandman shirt is the thing that ties it all together, though.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. There's a chance I might one day find an even better head, I guess, but otherwise I think it's pretty good. I got a leather jacket, too, but it's a bit too tight and I didn't feel like messing with it right now. If I manage to get it on I'll take more pictures. And I think I found a flannel shirt for him to wear around his waist, so again, if that works I'll take more pictures.