Ash Evil Dead 2 Horror Custom Action Figure Art

I've been a fan of Sam Raimi's three "Evil Dead" movies for many years. The hapless hero of these movies is a discount store clerk and part-time undead slayer named Ashley "Ash" Williams. While now-days we're used to getting figures for every movie released, back when these movies came out (1981, 1987, and 1993 respectively) very few movies did. In fact, by 1999 there still weren't any Evil Dead figures so I took matters into my own hands for the very first time...

The first custom action figure that I made was Ash. He's pretty terrible by today's standards but considering the parts that were available to me in 1998 and that it was my first custom attempt, he ain't all bad. In fact, I sent photos of him to Wizard Magazine and in August of 1999 he was chosen as "Homemade Hero of the Month."

Fast forward to 2010...and in the meantime McFarlane, Sideshow, Diamond Select, and Palisades have given us Evil Dead figures in numerous formats and scales. In fact, the Palisades figures were the scale that I always wanted...1:18th (or 3 3/4"). While they were highly detailed and articulated, they were a bit lanky and just didn't have the presence of modern Star Wars or G.I. JOE figures. And so I tasked myself with creating an Ash that could stand confidently, shoulder to shoulder with figures from these lines. Below is the result...

I was mostly inspired by his appearance in Evil Dead 2 but I did take some liberties including his bare chainsaw arm and open shirt from the Army of Darkness poster.

I also added details that only the hardest of the hardcore Evil Dead fans would notice like the hook that holds the pull-start on the chainsaw when he needs to start hacking zombies on the fly. I sculpted the wrist watch on his left arm and sculpted his hair to give it the Campbell signature coif.

My fellow customizer and good pal Stocos28 hooked me up with the chainsaw which looked pretty good right out of the box but I added the top and side handles to make it more accurate. The chest straps are a combination of existing pieces and sclupted parts. He is also, of course, completely repainted including the face to give him a quirky Campbell expression.

One more piece I created for the fans is the mechanical hand accessory that Ash made for himself in Army of Darkness.

I also redecoed a Palisades Neconomicon to complete the figure.

I hope you dig him. I haven't decided if I'm going to sell him as I put a lot of work into him and as you can see he has a lot of sentimental value. But if you really really really gotta have him, make me an offer I can't refuse. ;-) Until next time I remain "The Insidious One."