Some random rebasing

 One of the most frequent comission work I've been getting, a lot of folks want to bring one of the figures from the chess collection into the classic collection, so they ask me to switch the base. I'll go on record as saying that I think the resin figures of the later collections are of superior quality. Collectors don't like them because they're too light, and the lead ones are perceived as being more valuable because they're heavier. But the resin figures generally have more detail and a slightly better finish.

Case in point, the Captain America of the chess collection is leaps and bounds over the one from the original set. It was really cool to bring it to the classic collection, it looks amazing with the rest of the figures and it'll leave connoisseurs of the collection scratching their heads as to how you got that figure.

This one was done on comission by someone who wanted to bring the Batman from the chess set into the classic collection. The original one is stepping on a gargoyle's head, so I had to give him something to step on with a regular base. It's a little cube of foam that I used as a prop, it came with the packaging of some gizmo I bought probably.

She-Hulk looks amazing in the classic collection base, she's a little bit taller than the rest of the figurines which is very consistent with the character and it makes her stand out.

RED HULK SMASH!!

 I'll always remember this figure because I was in the middle of doing it when the Coronavirus lockdown started in March 2020, and I couldn't finish it until the lockdown ended because I couldn't make it to my workshop. At least it had plenty of time to dry!

I modified one of the Hulk figures from the chess set. It was relatively easy to do, just prime it and repaint it. I'm getting better at the re-basing, before I was putting too much trust on the final stage of sanding, which ideally should leave the base nice and smooth, but that's usually easier said than done. It's better to make smaller holes for the feet of the figure to fit into the base, that way you have to make less sanding later on and the base will look more perfect.

When choosing the varnish I didn't go for my usual matte finish, opting instead for a more shiny look to make hiw look sweaty.

Batman - 1989 costume

 This was a comission by a client who wanted a Batman with the uniform from the 1989 movie. I used one of the figures from the chess collection, so I also had to change the base to make it into one more figure from the Classic DC Comics Super Hero Collection. The image below is of the original figure before I got to work on it.

Repainting a resin figure comes with its own challenges. Like I mentioned in a previous post, when you do a full repaint you will probably want to try and dismantle some parts of the figure so you can get to those hard to reach places. But since resin figures are monolithic you don't have that option, so it's best not to try to change to a very different color (going from black to white for example). This one had the basic hue of the final result I wanted, plus I really like the pose.

It's trickier than it looks, getting a resin figure out of its base without breaking it is hard and messy work (sponsored by dremel). Also the cape was made to cling and hang from the original base (which is taller) so I had to do some remodelling on the bottom part of the cape to make it conform to a base from the regular collection.

The chest area where the logo goes had to be sanded and epoxied to remove the logo that this figure comes with, which is engraved on. Once I made it flat I affixed one of the laser printed batman logos I had made for the 1970s Batman figure. It has several layers of varnish so it should be very resistant.

Once the sanding and prepping is done, everyone's favorite part begins and you get to spray it with black paint goodness to your heart's content. The belt should be covered in masking tape so later you can prime it in white, before the final layer of yellow paint (making it white first is the trick to really make the final color pop).

US Agent

 This is another repaint comission that wasn't just about repainting. Removing the chest logo star on the original Captain America figurine took some patience and the fine work of my trusty dremel.

I really like how the black star on the chest looked. I bought it online, I think it was part of a kit for nail decorating or something like that.

The original model let me down a little bit, his face looks a little goofy, like the mask doesn't fit right.

If I ever do this one again I think I'll also add a bit more shadowing, the red looks a bit plain.

Batman 70s costume

 This one was basically a repaint, but I did have to dremel and epoxy the logo out of his chest to make the new one. 

This is my favorite Batman costume of all time. It's the one that was in comics when I was a kid, big surprise lol.

The logo was laser printed on paper, and then affixed to the chest with superglue. It's a pretty easy way to do it and since I put a few layers of varnish over it it should be water-proof and last for as long as the figurine.

The cape was kinda tricky, when you're doing a full repaint you need to get to those impossible to reach places at the back of the cape. I had to dismantle it as it was the only way to do this. The cowl + head comes off in one piece, so you can work on that and the decapitated body separately and then once you're done put them back together with epoxy and it should look great.

Havok - 2nd edition!

 My first Havok figurine got a lot of love from some fans, and one of them requested another one be made. It's a very challenging figurine to make, the concentric circles in the chest are very laborious to make, and the headgear is quite difficult to get right.

The biggest difference with the previous one is the head-piece, this time I used narrower bands, the ones before were 0,3mm and for these ones I went to 0,2mm. 

The concentric circles were soooo time consuming. I did the first circles using a compass with a paint brush attached, which was an adventure. But to finish it I had to go over the lines time and time again, it took a few hours. Another success story for the "refuse-to-lose" school of drawing lol.

Archangel - Reloaded!

 Archangel has been by far my favorite character to work on, I really love the look of the costume and the metallic wings, I had a lot of fun making his custom figurine and I wanted to try again.

This was comission work from someone who saw the first Archangel figurine I did and wanted one of his own. I'm really happy with how it came out, the experience of making the first Archangel custom really helped, and the second time around I avoided many pitfalls that I fell into with the first one.

Painting the costume was a lot of fun, I don't have a steady pulse but I compensate with this "refuse to lose" attitude lol. I just keep painting over the lines time and time again until they look nice and straight. It can take hours, but the result is well worth it.