Attn: Custom Artists!! Newbs, ask Questions here!

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DarkArtist81

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Ok, well with all of the questions we get... I thought it would be cool to start a thread where people can post questions for the customizers on the board. Where to get supplies? What techniques to use? Brushes? Paints? Anything. We can post tutorials or helpful tips here and there... whatever we can to help.

I think that this board has a very healthy amount of custom artists, from those who do only minor repaints to those who create entire figures from the ground up... we have everything on the Freaks board. So if you have a question, or just want to shoot the :dump...... You've come to the right place.

:rock:rock:rock:rock:rock2:rock:rock:rock:rock
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

Ok, I'll start by telling you my story....

I got my start here by accident really, as I never intended to ever start painting figures or anything... I posted here and there, mostly in the Star Wars thread where I felt at home... And I just poked around the boards randomly from time to time. I was in no way an active poster or a very outspoken member.... But then I came across some of Customikey's work and was astounded by the improvement upon the original SSC product.

I looked at his stuff and back at my shelf... which at the time only housed a few Jason figures and a couple of James Bonds. I started to think... "Hey, maybe I can do something similiar with my stuff??"

I've always been an artist, hence the name. Working in many mediums and having mediocre talent in each different one... I could draw, paint, film, whatever... But I hadn't done much in a while at that point.

So I bugged Mikey to death until he shared a few trade secrets with me and I was able to do my first repaint... Evil Ash from Army of Darkness. It was a nice first attempt and got a good bit of praise at the time. No one was more surprised than me, as I was just starting and knew that this would not be my best work or anything. And to make it more interesting... I was taking pictures with my phone's camera at the time and it was killing all my friends to even take a look at them... But it was a start!

I've progressed a lot since then (only about a year ago) and I seriously owe it to all of the other artists here as well as the people who have looked and offered constructive criticism. Thanks to all of you for that, you have no idea how much it's helped my growth.

So that's my story for those who do not know and may have not known me before I amassed over 3,000 posts...:lol

Now ask some questions, dammit! :D
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

This is a great idea DA! OK, I also do repaints and body switches starting around 2005 after being so frustrated with Hasbro's stuff . The only thing I cannot get a grasp of is PAINTING EYES! Sideshow's paint apps on eyes are very clean if anything. How thin or thick should the paint be? What colors to use for the white part of the eye? How do you avoid brush strokes and that messy look? A tutorial or step by step by you or Mikey or LES would be much appreciated!
 
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Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

mastervader said:
This is a great idea DA! OK, I also do repaints and body switches starting around 2005 after being so frustrated with Hasbro's stuff . The only thing I cannot get a grasp of is PAINTING EYES! A tutorial or step by step by you or Mikey or LES would be much appreciated!

Will DO!! I had the worst time when I first started... Eyes are still hard for me.. I can't tell you how many times I have just messed them up beyond fixing... And the multiple times I have gotten a characters eye color wrong...

I'll post a few pics this weekend for you!
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

This is a great idea.

The camaraderie is why i'm attracted to the freaks board.

OH and the dancing chewie.:chew

You guys seem to have a good time talking and sharing ideas.

I really enjoy the customs i've seen here and hope you will enjoy mine as well.

DA..... thanks for the introduction for us newbies.

......michael
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

I'll chime in with a lot more soon, but to DA, GREAT IDEA!
Kudos bro!
I'll post some stuff in progress, and do my best to explain some of what I do.

Keep it going! :D
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

Thanks guys! I just remember how I felt when I got here... I was lost and when I started painting I seriously needed some help and we didn't have the amount of skilled painters we have now. Mikey was alone... Les and Hurricane weren't here yet and I had to pick for information the best I could without being annoying... :monkey3

And thanks again Oribiting X... This board has an amazing group, and I like to think of you all as my friends. I really will have to find a way to go to SDCC next year so that we can all meet and I can see some more of you guys face to face.


And I'm glad to see that you are onboard Les... If we were Jedi I would say that I am but a Knight... and we need a Master like you around! :lightsabe
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

This is a great idea!! I have a few questions myself..........here goes. Exactly what paints do you guys use for skin tones(brand and names) and in what order do you apply them? Also what are your methods for eye work and which paints do you use? I think it would be awesome if Les could give a full blown step by step tutorial on how he did the repaint for Anakin with all of the paints,and brushes he uses and likewise for DA and his Obi Wan repaint.One last question........what is drybrushing exactly?? I am a little confused on this technique.Thanks guys........:D
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

Les,
Could you explain your technique for simulated heated metal?
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

I got a question. I am applying Super Sculpey to an Art S. Buck figure head and want to know what is the best way to harden it. I know it says bake it, but wouldn't that melt the plastic head? Any tips or tricks would be very welcome.
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

Ok....First... Miles... I will explain fully how I do my thing... complete with pics tomorrow...

And BM...You can definetely bake the Art Buck, I did so with my currently unfinished Zombie sculpt. Just keep the oven on the lowest temp and let it bake for 30 minutes at least. Just keep an eye on it and keep checking periodically. I laid mine on a bed of tinfoil with his legs and arms tucked in... :lol

It worked like a charm in the end, and no warping!!!:D
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

DarkArtist81 said:
Ok....First... Miles... I will explain fully how I do my thing... complete with pics tomorrow...

And BM...You can definetely bake the Art Buck, I did so with my currently unfinished Zombie sculpt. Just keep the oven on the lowest temp and let it bake for 30 minutes at least. Just keep an eye on it and keep checking periodically. I laid mine on a bed of tinfoil with his legs and arms tucked in... :lol

It worked like a charm in the end, and no warping!!!:D

Thanks DA. Would be better to just put the head in by itself (since it is removed at the moment) or put it back on the body again? Thanks again.
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

Buttmunch said:
Thanks DA. Would be better to just put the head in by itself (since it is removed at the moment) or put it back on the body again? Thanks again.

No problem! And yeah, I don't see why not... just keep it off the body for now if you want... I don't think it will matter.
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

I've been skimming this thread for a day or so, figured I'd go ahead and post!

I got I've been a big fan of the 1/6 scale stuff for a while, but only started collecting as recently as August/September. Mostly Star Wars with a few others here and there. I've repainted the majority of the heads on my SW figures and did a little custom work too. I'm currently working on an ESB Luke, and want to do AOTC Anakin now that Ventress is coming out.

So this seems like a fun place to be. Everyone contributing and sharing ideas/tips/tricks.

As a sidenote to curing sculpty, you can boil it instead of baking it. This can also help prevent warping or even melting of the plastics.
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

Great idea, DA! I've been particularly curious as to Les' skin techniques, as they always seem to come out so uncommonly smooth. Mine come out a little rougher. As to paints, i've read a few people picking up cheap-o paints from Wal-Mart and the like, and i can tell you that you should, at the very least, be speding the few extra dollars to use liquitex. It's a good middle of the road brand. The lesser brands don't mix well, or stick well enough to the projects. They're not durable, and they are, on the whole, unworthy to touch your toys. Ditto on the brushes. A craftsman chooses his tools with care.

Like DA, I prefer Model Master. Polly Scale is also very good. Some painters use oils, but oils are not really meant for plastic or vinyl and they sometimes take days to dry, although they blend very well I am told. Stick with acrylics if you want to finish your work this century.

Also, and this is a hard-learned lesson for me, keep your brushes clean. I know it's not as sexy as the actual painting, but your work will be better for not using brushes that are not already loaded down with dried paint.

As to painting eyes, I've been lookingat a lot of live reference, as well as the work of the Asian painters who seem to be getting serious depth in their eyes. Must use thin paint to preserve the smooth quality of the eye. I tend to use several shades of everything, even the white. I've had good experience with using progressively darker shades the further up the eye you get.
DA has a paint pen for his pupils, but I do mine the old-fashioned way. It takes a supremely steady hand and a well-groomed (and tiny) brush for this work.
Drybrushing is one of those techniques that can go suddenly and hideously astray if you aren't careful. You dip the tip of the brush into the paint, then wipe off as much of the paint from the brush as possible, without using water. Then, using smooth even strokes, you glide the brush across the surface that you wish to paint. What very little paint there is that is still on the brush will show up on the raised surfaces of the figure, but not in the cracks and crevices. It's a handy technique I use for skin tones. But it's hell on the brushes.

I'll try to remember to take pics when I get a chance.

I had forgotten that I used to be the only customizer on these boards. There are just so many of us now!!:chew
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

miles said:
.One last question........what is drybrushing exactly?? I am a little confused on this technique.Thanks guys........:D

I can handle that one!

With dry brushing you remove most of the paint from the brush with a rag or similar - meaning that there is only a very small amount of paint on the brush and it allows you to highlight detail without paint running into the recesses of whatever you are painting. I use this technique on 25mm miniatures particularly armour - using a darker base paint and then drying brushing over the top to lighten the raised portions.

be warned that dry brushing does ruin brushes so you probably want to reserve a specific brush for this technique as it will be no good for detail work afterwards. :emperor

EDIT: Didn't notice Mikey had answered this at the end of his post - oh well - at least we didn't contradict each other ;p
 
Re: ATTENTION all Custom Artists!!

Great thread, guys!

I'm a kit basher/customizer who wants to start painting as well. My question is how would I go about yellowing/ageing some of my Jason masks to make them look like the Jason goes to hell mask?


Thanks.
 
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