Customized printed & painted statues - Darunia
Bringing Darunia to Life: Collaborating on a Custom Birthday Statue
When a client reached out with a unique request, we were excited to jump on board. He wanted to create a small desk statue of Darunia, the proud Goron leader from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, as a birthday gift for a co-worker. The reason? The guy reminded him so much of Darunia—a strong, steadfast character from one of his favorite games. It was the perfect personal and thoughtful gift idea, and we knew it was going to be a fun project to bring to life!
The client wanted the statue to be a true-to-game representation, complete with the same color scheme and design details. He envisioned it looking just like Darunia did in Ocarina of Time, right down to the tattoos. Once we got to work, we realized that while this statue would be awesome on its own, it needed a little something extra to make it even more special and personal.
After brainstorming a bit, we decided to add the recipient’s name to the figurine base. But we didn’t just want to add it in any old font—we wanted to give it a true Legend of Zelda feel. So we modeled the name in the exact same font from the game, raised in 3D on the base. We checked in with the client about the idea, and he loved the personalized touch!
With the design finalized, we resin-printed the figure and got to work on the painting. We used a combination of airbrushing for smooth color transitions and hand painting for the fine details, like Darunia’s tattoos and iconic Goron features. To really make the name pop, we highlighted the raised letters on the base with gold paint, adding a royal, heroic touch to the final look.
The end result was a one-of-a-kind statue that captured both the strength of Darunia and the personal connection between the character and the birthday recipient. It felt like a true collaborative process with the client, from the original concept to the custom touches that made the piece truly unique.
At Me Forge Designs, we love working with our clients to create meaningful, customized pieces that reflect both their vision and the spirit of the characters they love. This Darunia project was no exception, and we’re proud to have been a part of making this thoughtful birthday gift come to life.
