On his Facebook page, Troy McDevitt describes his business, The McDevitt Studio, as “a magical place. For the past several years, I’ve laid a lump of clay out on my workbench before going to bed at night and in the morning, someone has used it to sculpt a brand new statue! This is where all my cake toppers and other sculpts have come from.

“Once, my wife and I hid in the closet and we saw that it was, in fact, two adorable little elves that sneak in and create these wonderful little sculpts for us as we sleep. She suggested that, as a way of repaying them, we should make them some little pants and shirts and shoes, since they were barefoot and the clothes they wore were all dirty and tattered. It was getting very, very cold outside and she felt this was the least we could do for all that they’ve done for us.

“I told her to keep her stupid suggestions to herself and that the cold air would help keep them awake. Call for pricing!”

Plainly, Troy approaches his work with a sense of humor and his work reflects it. Just look at one of his latest pieces, “Charge!”, a licensed 1/6 scale reproduction of a painting from British artist Aly Fell. Commissioned by Marc Havican of Space City Resin, “Charge!” is a perfect translation of the artwork into three dimensions, a wonderful sculpture that’s both sexy and funny.

Troy, 38, lives in Concord, N.C., with his wife, Stephanie; daughter, Lexi, 8; and son Tanner, 5. Running The McDevitt Studio is his full-time job. “This is all I’ve got,” he says, “and if I can’t make it work, I’m screwed because I have no other skills.”

Most of his work until recently has been garage kits and one-of-a-kind pieces, but he has gradually been doing more prepaint statues for different companies. “I look at it as a sign that my work has improved and I’m finally able to produce the kind of work that some of the larger companies require.”

So far, Troy has worked with Bowen Designs, ARH Studios, Reel Art Studios, Resin Pimps, Dark Carnival, and several independent kit producers and private collectors.

“My primary focus is, of course, the sculpting, but I think you have to be able to do it all to survive and even prosper in this hobby,” he says. “You need to be able to mold and cast your own work and at least be a little more than proficient at painting, for one-of-a-kind pieces and paint masters for prepaint statues. Honestly though, I enjoy the end results of painting, but I wish I was able to spend 100 percent of my time sculpting.… Read the rest