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The shoes themselves are cast
from the same custom mold as
the shoes that my Game of
Death Bruce Lee wears.  Only
the paint scheme is different.  
And, again, those are real
working laces!
Tom Hanks as "FORREST GUMP" (1995)

Okay, so Forrest Gump wasn't exactly the first movie
character that came to mind when I thought "action
hero" or "action figure"...

But once it occurred to me, I just couldn't NOT do him...
Forrest wears a lot of blue shirts in the movie (and mostly plaid at that), so I hunted and
hunted for the right fabric.  Oh, sure blue plaids are everywhere, but look again and you
discover it's not plaid but a gingham or checkered pattern...  Then when you find a blue
plaid, you gotta make sure the pattern's tight enough to resemble a decent plaid in
one-sixth scale.  Then hopefully it's also the right shade of blue...  I think I went to every
fabric shop in the Southern California area before finding this one at a shop in Torrance,
CA...  I used this because it's fairly similar to no less than three of the shirts he wore in the
film (all pictured on this page)!
I'm not sure how I would have done the hat,
especially the "Bubba Gump Shrimp Co." logo, if
inkjet printers hadn't've been invented...

The hat itself is a modified 21st C. hat, molded and
recast in a urethane, painted red and then
weathered.

I got a reference logo off the internet,
pushed and pulled it to get the
perspective out of it, and then
Adobe Photoshopped it into the
right size and proportions.
Most shirt buttons for Joe-scaled clothes
are actually oversized, which has always
bugged me a little, so I finally figured out
a way to make truer-to-scale buttons
using a 1/16" diameter hole punch.

And what better time to feature
these accurately scaled
buttons than on a
   "completely-from-
      scratch" shirt like
           Forrest's...?

             And in case you're
                wondering, the belt
                  came from one of
                    the Reservoir Dogs
                       figures, and the
                      pants from a
                    Dragon Ben figure
                 (WWII P-40 Pilot).
                 So, no need to
                 make them from
                scratch thankfully!
The suit here is also a
"completely-from-scratch"
outfit.  It's completely lined on
the inside and features false
pocket fronts for detailing.

Looking at these pictures, I
think I need to go back and
make the pant legs a little
more form-fitting and enlarge
the side pockets as well...

I also need to add some
buttons on the front and on
the sleeves.
...especially not after Dragon released the
U-Boat Captain "Herbert" figure.  I bought the
head, molded it, cast a duplicate and studied it
carefully to see what I could keep.  Funny thing,
though, I ended up keeping only the ears, and
resculpted the entire face...!  Oh well!
At some point, I'd like to go
back and "finish" this figure
with all of the following
accessories:

- red, white and blue socks
- a suitcase
- a box of chocolates
- a copy of "Curious
George"
- a 1/6 scale white feather
- a ping-pong paddle
- and maybe even a little
Congressional Medal of
Honor...

Oh, and of course, a perfect
one-sixth scale wooden park
bench!

How cool would that be!

I've also thought about
converting one of the Harry
Potter figures to Young
Forrest, complete with leg
braces...  but, there I go
again, more ideas than I
have time to fulfill...  (sigh).