This story is the end of a chain that began with VomitThunder and MehMehJin, two young illustrators turned art figure makers. When they first turned their designs into sculptures, they had a help from MessyDesk, a master caster of resin figures. He in turn learned his craft from BBoyBlackz, the man who makes a living from making figures of hip hop artists. Who, was mentored by Mufizal Mokhtar.

It was fun to go up the chain to find the man that spared it all. It resulted in a story that I am proud of.

So, here is the full version of the story:

When the opportunity to further his studies came, Mufizal Mokhtar naturally wanted to take up arts. Anyone who knows him knows that Mufizal takes to art like ducks take to the water. However, when proposed the idea to his mother, she said no.

“My late mother was a batik designer. She was one of the very first few who invented the batik dye that can be put on silk. I follow in her footsteps. I like her art. I used to sit beside her drafting table and watch her draw, while I draw.

“Throughout school, I excelled in art. But when it was time for me to get a higher education, I told my mom that I want to go and learn art. I want to go to a design school.

“Back then, everybody wanted to get into advertising and design, everybody wanted to get into multimedia. But there was no specific goal of what you want to become. So, I just wanted to study art,” began Mufizal.

It all made sense to him at the time. When he was young, he would be the one that drew on walls and took plasticine from other kids who were making small animals and sculpt whole characters. He was good at art and going to art school looked to be like the logical conclusion. But his mother told him something that changed the course of his life. Something that made him who he is today.

“My mum told me: Why would you want to go to an art school when you have been studying art ever since you were born. Why don’t you go learn something you don’t know? You can continue to study art by yourself because you have been doing it forever. 

So why don’t you spend the little money that we have to go learn something that you will never learn by yourself? But, learn something in a related field. Don’t go take accounting, you are not good in maths,” continued Mufizal. 

It was this piece of advice that led Mufizal down the path of becoming a man of many hats, many interests, and a passion for sharing his knowledge. He became a qualified sound engineer. However professionally, he did something else. 

As any fans of comics and superheroes would, Mufizal looked in awe at the giant-sized statues that adorn collectable stores. Characters from modern mythology made real. But, the prices of these crafted pieces are prohibitively expensive for him. 

“So, I thought to myself, I can make my own,” said Mufizal. From there he bought his own supplies and equipment and made his first sculpture, Badang.

 While in Singapore, Mufizal visited XM Studio (known as Xenomorph Studio at the time). His curiosity about sculpting made him seem suspicious to the owners of the establishment, but his ability to sculpt led them to offer him a commission the very same day.

Every new commission came with its own challenges and its own opportunity to learn. For his first commission, he had to learn how to make moulds.

And then another opportunity came. XM Studios was commissioned to make an official Captain America and the task was handed to Mufizal. However, because the client is overseas, the work has to be done in ZBrush, a digital sculpting tool. It was another thing that he has never done before. 

“That is when things started to roll,” added Mufizal.

He started his own company, Hand Made Object (HMO) premium collectable statues. There he began to mentor those who are interested in art and sculpting. Some of his students are BBoyBlackz, the Malaysian who makes figures of hip hop artists and Kenneth Tan, who started Kollectiv in Singapore.

He also innovated with every new project. 

For Capcom’s Megaman X and Capcom’s Megaman X Zero figures, he and his team developed an internal structure for the two robotic Maverick Hunters. Capcom loved the idea and the design so much that it became canon. 

For Capcom’s Morrigan, Mufizal and his team developed a resin finish that mimics the optical properties of the human skin and 3D sculpted eyes that made it look lifelike.  

More recently, you could see Mufizal’s work in the Royal Selangor’s superhero licenced collectables that are made based on art by Alan Quah.

“One company in Malaysia that I really admired was Royal Selangor. They are a local company that did a lot of artwork and did it all traditionally, and I am super impressed with them.

“So, I approached them via email. I told them I am a sculptor and I do this and if you have any projects we can work together. My attitude was ‘jalan first’. I don’t care about rejection. 

“I didn’t receive a reply for a long time. But once I did, it said ‘thank you, we are not for anybody right now. 

“After a couple of years, Alan Quah contacted me and said ‘hey, Royal Selangor wanted to do this project and do some pewter pieces’ and before he could finish, I said I’m in. Let’s go,” recalled Mufizal.

While working with Royal Selangor, Mufizal brought in new technologies such as 3D resin printing, that resulted in highly intricate details.

In addition to being a fan of comics and superheroes, Mufizal is also a fan of video games. That is why HMO worked with Capcom to release some of their characters in statue form.

 His creative skills and his interest in video games also led him to be credited as the art director of several mainline Assassin’s Creed games in his decade at Ubisoft Singapore. 

Currently, Mufizal is the General Manager for Virtuos Games, a games company that specialises in co-development projects. It is a multinational company with 9 studios with 16 offices around the world with 2,000 talents. Although they started in Shanghai their headquarters is now in Singapore. 

As the GM, Mufizal is investigating the viability of creating a full-blown triple-A games studio in Malaysia.

Mufizal Mokhtar: Website

HMO: Website