The weight lifting stuff was made a while back for a Rock figure. He was sold out by the time I went to buy him. Mark Henry was another choice, but he has a fist and open hand, which isn't good for bench pressing. After seeing the contest, I looked for an ideal figure on sale. I wanted the figure to specifically be part of the diorama, so he had to have a certain look to be ideal. I chose Test because of his clothing, hair, expression and arms.

The bench press and squat rack are made of hard wood with a prime and 3 enamel coatings. Way too time consuming because the grain showed even with sanding and 2 coats. I glued it together to look like welded seems. The hooks where the bar rests are picture frame hooks that were cut and painted. The bars are wood skews. I painted it to look like a worn steel bar. I used fabric rivets and metal tubes on each side of the bar. The plates are washers. I painted it to resemble the power lifting plates and the black iron type. I would have printed something on the plate if I had a printer, but I view the plates from the front mostly. The dumbbells are thumbscrews with a metal tube.

The figure is painted to appear like he is having an intense workout. Thus, I added subtle tones of red to the arms, chest, neck and face to look like he is getting pumped and struggling. To really highlight that look, I applied minor paint details to the vein sculpt. The pants were too plastic looking with little contrast from the boots and shirt. I gave it an acid wash jeans appearance, which is more common than working out in dressy slacks. I also posed him doing an upper body work out to make more sense. His hair was originally brown, but he should be blonde, so there are blonde brushed tones in the head and facial hair. I left the hair that is closest to the face more brown to show the roots and some contrast.

Hope you like this figure diorama combination!