(I made this guy as an entry for the Steampunk contest, near the end of November, but, due to circumstances outside my control, wasn't able to submit it before deadline.)

Ever since you were a child, the mines fascinated you. Father frightened you with bedtime tales of gigantic, light-shy spiders (and worse) that preyed on those that strayed too far from the protection of their hydrogen lanterns. Uncle Neb whispered warnings of the incurable cancers and illnesses that infect those that toil too close to the steam pumps that drive the great augers. Your schoolmates were quite sincere in their descriptions of the secret society of mishappen mutants that inhabit the forgotten tunnels. It was all garbage. Nothing exciting or strange ever happens down here. Sure, there's the occasional accident, but you can get run down by a carriage topside too if you're not paying attention. Day-after-day, week-after-week, you scrape away at the rock walls, and the mine slowly erodes you in its own subtler fashion, whittling away your life until you grow old, weak, and retire to your pension. No gold watches anymore either, they're all brass now since the Alchemist Guild's colossal boondoggle in '23 that permanently transmuted every atom of the stuff on the planet into lead. You should have gone into crystal farming, like your brother, Tommy . . .

I used a 12" G.I.JOE Valor vs. Venom Voice FX Duke as the base body. The shirt, pants, and two of the knee pads are also from that figure. The aqua lung, boots, halligan (fireman's multi-function tool), goggles, and another pair of knee pads are from various Power Team Elite 12" military/police figures. The satchel is from the 12" rotocast Green Goblin. The lantern was made from a transparent screwdriver handle, the bubble from a miniature gumball machine, and a shoe lace--it doesn't light up, that's just a lens flare effect I added in an art program. There's also an assortment of small metal pieces attached to the figure's outfit/gear in various spots, those are mostly parts of tools like screwdriver heads. I made the cigarette out of paper--because Voice FX Duke's mouth actually opens and closes realistically, you can get a pretty good 'chomping on the butt' expression with him.