When the basic spidey suit wasn’t sufficient for Peter Parker, he took on the prototype Iron Spider suit created by Tony Stark. Today we’re looking at a fan art version of the Iron Spider-man as made by Royal Custom Brotherhood. 

Sculpt and Design – 3.5 out of 5 stars  

We really enjoy this design of the original Iron Spider suit. Shortly after Spiderman’s fatal fight with Morlun and during the turmoil of the superhero registration act, Tony Stark created this suit for Peter Parker. 

Like its original design, the suit Spidey wears in this statue has three extra “waldoes” that allow Peter to skitter over surfaces like an actual spider. He can also use them to grasp and see around corners. 

In this stature, the arms are rendered quite beautifully. They connect to the back of his suit well and made a great addition to the Iron Spider suit. 

The main pose of this figure has Spiderman standing atop a broken piece of Captain America’s shield and a busted Iron Man armor helmet. His right leg balances on the ruined logo of the Avengers Tower. 

We see several bricks and pieces of rebar that suggestion an explosion of some kind. Although the three nods to the Civil War conflict are rendered well, the ruins of the explosion fall a little flat. 

Spiderman pose is dynamic and true to the character. He has a wide stance with a big of a crouch and his arm reaches out prepared to thwip some webbing onto the nearest surface. He truly looks ready for anything that might be about to come his way. 

Many parts of Spidey’s armor have a scaly texture that brings to mind insectoid features. It’s an interesting texture and it definitely looks good on the model, but spiders are actually arachnids. They don’t have a scaly texture on their bodies or on their eyes. 

There is also the question of Spidey’s rippling muscles in this sculpture. Looking at old versions of the Iron Spider costume and comparing it with Iron Man’s armor, it doesn’t seem as though quite so much muscle should be visible through the suit. And yet here we see Spidey’s quads, abs, obliques, and so much more. It makes the suit looks a bit more like a cloth costume rather than the iron armor it was designed as by Stark. 

On the plus side, this statue comes with a fully detachable arm accessory. Spiderman’s left arm can be switched out to an arm the is grasping a slightly damaged version of Captain America’s shield. The base also changes so that Spidey is standing on a piece of Mark 42 Iron Man armor rather than the shield. 

Paint – 3 out of 5 stars  

At first glance, the paint work on this figure is stunning. It’s visually striking with the yellows, golds, reds, and blacks that constitute the Iron Spider armor. The three extra appendages on the armor are especially effective in gold with silver highlights. 

The color choices are definitely the best part of this figure’s paint. If you’re looking for a statue that catches your eye immediately with its strong contrasting colors, you can’t go wrong here. 

Upon closer inspection though, there are a couple of things that could be improved. 

For one thing, the Iron Spider armor is completely high gloss, with no variations in paint texture. There isn’t much work done to explore shadows and highlights on the armor itself. The only shadows present are the ones created by the sculpt itself. 

In contrast, the paint on the rubble at the base of the statue is flat and unconvincing. The bricks don’t appear realistic, nor does the rebar, especially in comparison to the sheen of the Iron Spider armor. This contrast in depth might be intended to make Spidey pop, but it doesn’t quite get there. Captain America’s shield is especially dull. It makes sense that it might be a bit faded due to damage, but that isn’t conveyed through the paint. 

Value – 3 out of 5 stars  

Just like all figures from Royal Custom Brotherhood, we feel this is a well produced piece that makes for a great edition to collection. It was originally sold at $900 retail. Edition size is 120. Like most figures from RCB, it sold out upon release and will now most likely increase in value. However, as a fan-made figure, it’s hard to tell what demand might be in the future. The piece was sculpted by Angad x Strivens.