The donor figure was a thrift-shop find - a black, silver and green Batman modeled on the second set of character designs from "Batman: The Animated Series" - a Mattel figure?

Work began by removing evidence of all mold lines, using an exacto knife and wet-and-dry sandpaper to get rid of ridges, and (where necessary) Milliput epoxy putty to fill any depressions. In order to get a really good finish, three cycles of sanding and filling were needed. Working alternately with the wet-and-dry and the putty, irregularities were smoothed away and small flaws filled in.

Once this was done, the metamorphosis from Batman to Captain Canuck could begin, starting with the head. The cowl's "ears" were removed, and the back and top of the head rounded off as well. The brow line was carved back slightly to soften the figure's expression. The triangular eye sockets were filled in with putty. The same material was used to alter the line of the mask below the eyes, since Captain Canuck's mask slopes down from the nose instead of up.

The cape was discarded, and the neck shortened to compensate. The neck peg was filed down so that nearly all of the button on top was removed. This lowered the head enough to make its position look natural. Putty was then used to sculpt a new lower neck and to fill in the (now superfluous) depression in the upper chest and shoulders.

Batman's utility belt and pouches were carved away, and a new belt and buckle sculpted in putty. Putty was also used to create new swashbuckler-style boot tops. Fortunately, no additions were necessary to the gloves, but their scalloped trim had to be cut away and then sanded smooth.

While examining the figure in this state, at became obvious that the arm sockets were poorly placed. The right arm was 1.5mm too low, and the left one was 0.5mm too far back. To get the best final result, lots more putty and sandpaper work was going to be necessary. A decision was made to work towards a maquette instead of an action figure.

The limbs needed fixing in place, since putty alone would not be enough to immobilize their rubbery material. A 1mm diameter hole was drilled through the top of each arm into the torso. A length of stout wire was epoxied into both holes. This stopped the arms from moving. The same locking procedure was then used on the legs. Putty and wet-and-dry could now be used to fill the shoulder and pelvic joints and to reshape the shoulders. Some additional work was necessary to bulk up the legs at the rear, to avoid an excessive "step" where the figure's tights met the bottom of his trunks.

The figure was now the right shape, so painting could begin. After a clean-up using dish detergent, warm water and an old tooth brush, eight thin coats of white acrylic craft paint were brushed on over three days. A few irregularities were polished away with fine-grade wet-and-dry after the final coat.

Using a fine brush, the borders between the red and white parts of the costume were sketched in. Once all the lines were smooth and symmetrical, the bulk of the red was blocked in with a larger brush. Four thin coats of red were needed to get an even intensity of colour.

In order to suit the "animated" style of the figure, an attempt was made to "shadow shade" the maquette. Light grey was mixed and sharp-edged shadows were painted in under the chin, brow, the pectoral and abdominal muscles, in the small of the back, below the boot cuffs and below the belt. A darkish mid-grey was used to accent the finger joints. Dark red was used to do similar accent work on the red areas of the costume.

To emphasize the joints, fine black lines were painted into the grooves at top of the gloves and between the trunks and tights. The same thing was done at the top of the boots, above and below the belt and around the buckle. Note that only areas where two separate things met were emphasized this way - there's no black line between the red and white areas of the shirt, for instance.

At this point, a custom mix of white, yellow and red (with just a touch of green) was mixed and then painted over the exposed skin of the chin and around the eyes. The area under the chin was shaded with a darker variation of the same colour, as were the parts of the eye sockets shaded by the brow ridge.

A very dark brown line was used to separate the white mask from the flesh tone. This slightly softer colour gives a better effect than black in this case. Dark brown was used to sketch in the upper lids of the eyes. The whites were then painted, followed by mid-brown irises and black pupils. A bit of dark brown was added to the mouth, and the face was complete.

The last task was to paint in the two maple leaf symbols. This was done freehand, using a fine brush and well-thinned red paint. Once the shape of the leaves was established, their colour was built up with a second coat of red.