“Momma’s little helper!” Ah, Harley. I simply loved Harley’s use of a bazooka in Batboy: Return of the Joker. It’s so…Freudian. That being said, I wanted to create a Harley figure as seen in the film.

My original plan was to adapt a standard Harley figure to accommodate a bazooka. I wasn’t thrilled with this idea, and stalled by making the bazooka first. It’s made from a styrene tube, random parts from the parts box and a few strips of vinyl. I would like to note that, having analyzed the frames on the film several times, the design of the bazooka actually changes from one shot to the next. Depending on Harley’s position, the placement of the handles changes.

Luckily, before I started to hack a Harley figure to bits, I had acquired one of the female figures from the “Tenth” line. (Don’t ask me which one, because I couldn’t say. I can tell you she had ponytails and tattoos and had big platform sneakers.) Initially, I hadn’t thought the figure held much use for me, as she was covered in a great deal of muscle tone and texture. She simply didn’t seem appropriate for animated customs.

However, I was struck by how easily her pose could be adapted to holding a bazooka. That sealed the deal for me.

The changes weren’t drastic, but were fairly laborious. I chopped off the big clunky shoes and swapped them out with legitimate Harley feet. I used Kneadatite to create new ankles allowing for a dramatic stance. The left arm was fine, but I had to reposition the right arm to fit the previously created handles of the bazooka. (Good thing I made that first.) The hands were swapped with better hands from the parts box. Finally, the original head was replaced with Harley’s.

Once the figure was assembled, I set about sanding down all that sculpted detail. What a chore. In same case, I filled in areas with Kneadatite and sanded it down again. I would sand, cover with Alumilite, and sand some more. In the end, I feel she could still be smoother, but I opted to keep my sanity.

I feel this is one of my best Harley’s, as she’s in a totally new pose. She really adds some needed contrast to the Joker Harley Fashion Show.

Created Summer 2001