Erick Scarecrow and ourselves teamed up to bring you a customisable SOOPA and Shiitake. A member by the name of 'Fransisco' responded with a custom called 'Hoodie'. Fransisco has been producing some really interesting customs with a heavy cartoon influence. We were able to get hold of some work in progress shots as well as a few words from the artist.

"I look to take an object in it's original form and transform it into something very different. This means I look for familiar shapes and silhouettes to work an idea around. For example, the first feature of the SOOPA that caught my eye was the slanted sides and sunken center panel, I began to see a hooded figure with super short legs. Once my eye latches on to something like that it's like a dog with a bone and I'll push the idea through as far as it will go."

The hand surrounding the baseball was improvised and probably the most tricky surface to work with. I sketched out the basic lines first, then adding in the color. Towards the end it was easy for me to keep uploading, previewing in 3D, going back to the template and refining before repeating the process until I was finally happy to submit the last draft."

- Francisco

• See the Hoodie in 3D for yourself.

Click the images below for bigger versions:

Not only does Erick Scarecrow design plush, plastic and custom toys but also runs his own company ESC-Toy LTD. Under ESC Erick Scarecrow has brought us creations including the Mousey Micci, Muraida, SOOPA Coin Up Bros., Shiitakes and many, many more. Renowned artist's have put their mark and given their particular take on his work over the years, and so with Erick's passion for customisation in mind we recently approached him to see if he'd be interested in collaborating. Safe to say he was excited to have the chance to give artists and a new audience out there the chance to try their hand at some ESC-Toy style digital DIY.

PI3D: It's been said that one of your main influences is Asian culture, what have you been inspired by most recently?

Erick: Very good question. I have to say listening to 70's music and reading UFO phenomenon have been sugaring my creativity.

PI3D: Many of your characters appear designed with a strong story behind them. Do you feel it's important you start out with a theme/story in mind or is producing a figure in the beginning just what takes your fancy at the time?

Erick: I have to admit I don't have stories at the time when I produce characters. Its actually in reverse, first I create the characters then the story grows from it. If I am required to work from an existing story I can develop the designs this way as well. I was recently asked to contribute designs for a film. I couldn't review the script due to confidentials but the basic story was expressed to me which I understood and helped me develop the designs.

PI3D: Do you find dreaming up new ideas comes naturally, or is it a lot of hard research and development?

Erick: Developing new ideas is very easy for me. I'm blessed this way but my problem is I get bored easily. Every artist has a pattern of how they create whether they know it or not. Over the years I've come to understand my creative patterns and control them so this way I don't get bored as much :)

PI3D: Do you ever feel the pressure to come up with the goods?

Erick: Sometimes I feel the pressure. I feel like my job is never done and that is always something to do. The pressure is good in many ways though. It keeps me hard at work and distracted. I play a lot of video games so if I wasn't releasing new material every month I'd be playing more and more games on a weekly basis.

PI3D: There are many custom variations by artists on your vinyl figures, do you have any favourite version out there?

Erick: This is a very hard question to answer because I'm still in awe and grateful at the fact someone took their time to customize my material. Its very inspiring because their artistic perspectives are so different. Now with the new online collab I have with Pimpit3D I am seeing more renditions from digital artists. Its very humbling because I can't wait to see what they do next.

PI3D: What's up ahead in the near future for Erick Scarecrow and ESC-TOY? (Any SDCC news?)

Erick: The future is exciting. I'm working on new releases at ESC and with other artists/companies for their own projects. Among the different groups that I'm working with is Sony. I can't give away too much right now but I'm very happy about it.

Thanks to Erick for that great insight into his world. If you think you'd like to get customising an ESC toy for yourself, and make your own mark, templates are available for download now (see the links below).

• Checkout and customise the SOOPA.
• Checkout and customise the Shiitake.
• Erick Scarecrow's Blog

Click the images below for bigger versions: Just thought I'd bring to your attention the work of Brian Castleforte. Some great inspiration for your own custom artwork. Brilliant body of paper-craft work; turning simple cut geometry into fantastically appealing eye-candy. Check him out here.

In collaboration with Dolly Oblong we are excited to announce this unique dual function creation for your customisation. Designed by Dolly O herself, Gami has a download-able template that's not only customisable for online 3D, but also ready to cut-out and buld into paper-toys. Take a look at the template here.

"Gami means paper in Japanese and also refers to spirit, by designing a skin every designer can put their own spirit onto this chap :) - Dolly O.

Pimp the Gami online to your heart's content, print out the designs you like best, build them and feel free to send us your photos.

• Dolly Oblong's blog.
• Checkout and customise the Gami on Pimp It 3D.
• Download the PSD template for the Gami now. Pimp it and print it

This technique will be right up your alley if you are looking to inject a bit of humour into your templates. Very easliy you'll be able to achieve some surprisingly stunning results.

Claes Oldenburg sculpted everyday objects in unfamiliar materials. He took hard, rigid bodied items and transformed them into something soft and plump. Checkout this drum kit piece.

The pimped object on the right-hand side is an example of a great faked material. Get clever with your customs and transform the way the object is perceived. This particular design by Dr.Pimp especially plays on the egg silhouette and uses the suggestion of chocolate wrapped foil to contradict the original physical vinyl toy's properties. Checkout the original un-pimped object here.

The easiest and most effective method to use when faking a material is to find photos of actual surfaces (metal, wood, fabric, etc) and work those into your templates. To get you started take a look at these great free cardboard textures. You'll be able to have a ton of easy fun turning everything cardboard on Pimp It 3D.

• FREE CARDBOARD!!! (textures).

Click the images below for bigger versions:

Patterns can be utilised to great effect when customising pretty much any object on Pimp It 3D. Repper allows you to generate repeatable patterns from any image you feed it. It's stuningly easy, and makes generating some fantastic custom designs endlessly fun.

• Start using Repper's FREE online tool.
  Note: Didn't appear to work properly in Safari on Mac, but was fine in FireFox and IE 7.

Click the images below for bigger versions: Found a great "how to" for all you 3D pimpers out there. The techniques in this off-site tutorial should give you some great inspiration for your custom designs. You can see how easily and quickly some dramatic, jaw-dropping flame effects can be produced.

• How to Create a Hellacious Flaming Skull in Photoshop.

Click the images below for bigger versions: In a previous post we talked about how "Each gang on Pimp It 3D needs to have it's own unique emblem, logo or badge that sets them apart from the rest". Came across some more inspiration for your gang emblem creation. Checkout the links below...

• Typefunkography
• Carbonmade
• Logopond
• Logo Faves
• Neatorama
• How to create a shield emblem.
• Video tutorial on how to create a shield emblem.

• Checkout the gangs of Pimp It 3D.

Click the images below for bigger versions: If your pimp'in and are looking to include some repeat patterns in your designs, then be sure to checkout Pattern 8. Patterns break up bold blocks of colours and give your customs a pro feel. Also take a peek at the video tutorial link below >

• Visit Pattern 8
• You can watch a video tutorial featuring some crude Photoshop techniques: "Pimp'in Dunks In 3D"

Click the images below for bigger versions: Each gang on Pimp It 3D needs to have it's own unique emblem, logo or badge that sets them apart from the rest. If your thinking of forming one, then be sure to check Hydro74. They're a design studio out of Florida. You'll find some incredible inspiration for gang emblem creation. Gang emblems should represent a particular style and be a visual summary of what your gang stands for. Gangs with members dedicated to pimp'in vehicles for example would incorporate elements of cars. Perhaps your into skulls?, maybe diamonds, robots, or even hearts?

• Hydro74 website >
• Checkout the gangs of Pimp It 3D.
• Start a gang now.