First Custom Action Figure Complete

New Year is a time for many things.  Resolutions.  Hangovers.  Actually getting some snow in Minnesota for the first time this winter.  And new beginnings.  Which means its time to be done with the First Custom Action Figure Project.

Applying the clear coat.

As I write this paragraph, I am waiting for the sealant to dry on the figure so I can reassemble it.  While I wait, I'll reflect on what I did well and what I didn't do so well in this project.

What I did well.

1. Got a clue.  I wanted to do some custom painting, but I didn't know jack about how to actually paint.  I read some forums, watched some youtube videos, and found several great tutorials, but the problem with that was that most of them assumed the reader/viewer had at least some background with painting.  I didn't, so I bought some books aimed at beginners.  This was a good move.

2. Fully disassembled the figure before I began painting it.  Yes, it took time and was irritating, but it made painting everything much, much, easier.

3. Rotary Tool down the rub zones.  Again, this took time, but I think it was the right way to go, if all of the folks on the internet who know what they are doing are to be trusted.

4. Priming the figure.  Some people do not prime their work pieces before they paint.  Those people are taking the quick and easy way.  That is the path to the Dark Side.  If want are taking the time to actually customize a toy, take the time to do it right.  Primer makes the paint adhere to the object being painted.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I expect my customs to be family heirlooms that David Draper XXXVCII  hands down to his children.  That means I want them to last.  That means I prime my damn figures.

5. Come up with a color scheme before hand.  This was a very good idea.  I knew what I wanted.  That made it possible for me to not second guess myself when I was painting, which was good, because at my beginner level of painting I need to be able to concentrate completely on the actual painting, not on doubts I have about the choice of paint.

What I didn't do well.

1. I didn't know my paints.  Just because something looks one way in the bottle does not mean its going that way when it is applied to a surface.  That's a grade school mistake.  I ended up making swatches of all my paints, but I should have done this before I started.  It won't happen again.

2. I painted myself into a corner.  By painting details like eyes and ammo onto my figure, I made it impossible to paint a wash onto the figure without screwing that stuff up.  Washes are watered down mixtures of dark paint that fall into the recesses of a model and give the illusion of shadows and depth.  I could repaint, but eh.  Now I know the correct order to paint a model (once it is primed) is:

1. Apply the base coats.
2. Apply wash.
3. Apply details. 

I won't screw that one up next time.

3. I didn't layer my paint.  When I started the project, I incorrectly thought the idea was to paint dark colors onto the object first, then lighter colors because the darker colors would show throw the lighter ones.  Yeah.  Not so much.  Lighter colors are painted on top of darker ones so the lower, more recessed areas of a model look darker, which, like the washes, helps give a sense of depth and and shadow.  I get that now.  I didn't when I started this project.

Ok- I think the clear coat should be dry now.  I'm going to go get everything from the porch and try to reassemble the figure.  Through the magic of blogging, you won't even notice the gap of time between when you read this paragraph and the next, even though the next will will be written minutes to half an hour after this one!

...

PEG!  GET INTO THAT SOCKET!!!!

Ok.  This is the project that will not die.

All I had to do was reassemble the figure, right?  How hard could that be?

Ha ha ha!  Funny!  Ha ha ha!

These are the joys of doing something for the first time.  Surprisingly long and rather frustrating story short: the little pegs that go in the joints did not want to go back into the joints.  At all.  No matter how hard I pushed, they only went in about half way.  So I had to come up with a plan.  Here is what I did.

Fire it up! Fire it up! Fire it up!

1. Use a hair dryer to heat up the joints and make the plastic nice and flexible.
2. Insert peg.
3. Use my little desk vice with rubber grabbers to CRUSH THE *&^% JOINTS back together.

And this worked great, except for one thing.

THE *&^%^$^%#$ &$^%$#%^_)(*(*$&# vice rubbed the paint right off the pegs!!!!!

So some touch up work was needed.

I THOUGHT I WAS DONE WITH THE PAINTING PHASE!

Talhk, you Svine!  Vee haav your friends in Astreeah!!

Yeah. 

Not so much.

In any case, things are back on track now.  As I type this, the second coat of paint is drying on the ends of the pegs viable from within each joint.  I am very happy that I had my little desk vice here- without it, I would have never been able to get those pegs back into their sockets. If and when this phase of the project is complete, my little desk vice is getting the MVP for this inning of play.

I really was not ready for the pegs to not pretty much slide right back into the joints. Sure, I figured I would need to heat the joints up again, but I thought that they would be soft enough for the peg to fit back in, but it became pretty clear pretty fast that this method was not going to work.  Thank goodness for the vice.  Too bad the paint came off.

Enough stalling... I think the paint should be dry at this point (my paint dries in about 20 minutes, and I only needed a bit, so it should be good now.)  Be right back.

...

Ladies and gentlemen.  It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you, the NEW and IMPROVED Kinji "Rain" Shinto, of The Corps.  First a quick run back down memory lane- here is what he looked like fresh out of the package:

From the front.

From the back.

And here is what he looks like now!

Woo hoo!

Yee ha!!

Alright!!!

WE DONE!

I'm really happy with how this turned out.  I learned a lot of stuff from this project that I will be able to apply to future work.  And it ended up looking pretty good.  I'm pretty stoked right now.

Yeah baby!

This is a good time to mention I could have never finished this project without the support of many people, including most of all my wife, who was nothing but supportive of me spending so much of my free time here in my workshop putting this together.  I would also like to thank Mystic, Numbers, and all the rest of the folks who had supportive comments and advice here on the blog and in the threads on HissTank.com.

I had a great time with this project, but I am also glad to move on to the next one.  It is going to be a vehicle.  Alpha class.  I think you know what project I am talking about.  If not, tune in next week at the latest to see.

Until next time,

David D.

Custom Figure Color Schemes

<rant>Ok, I gotta say, the "free" wireless HP printer/scanner/potato peeler my wife received when she bought her Apple laptop a few months ago from the Apple Store is NOTHING but a pain in the ass.  You want to set it up to talk to your computers?  BOW DOWN AND BEG, MORTAL!  BOW DOWN AND BEG HP SAYS!  And what is that?  You want it to actually scan and send the images to your computer???  SILLY FOOL!  SACRIFICE UNTO ME YOUR PRECIOUS TIME!  SACRIFICE UNTO ME YOUR BELOVED FREE AFTERNOON! BWAAHAHAHAHAHA! 

I have wasted more time at the HP website reading forums, downloading updated drivers, restarting computers and printers, etc. than I want to admit.  I think I could have redawn the images I wanted to post today in MS PAINT in less time than it has taken to get this stupid scanner to operate correctly.  "Cannot connect to the scanner check to make sure the scanner is on and the network is functioning correctly" my ass.  SCREW YOU, Hewlett-Packard!!</rant>

The colors the colors the colors!

Ok then!  We're back. Thanks for coming by. I've got some cool stuff to cover today.  I made some drawing of potential color schemes for the action figure to try to get an idea of what I like and what I don't before I actually start putting the paint on.  The idea is to have a plan I like before going to the trouble of painting the figure and working through my issues with brushes and ink, only to find out that an idea that I thought would look cool in my head actually would turn out looking like crap in reality.

I used a page of graph paper to come up with the images you see here.  If you are a real art person, (which is not me, as you can tell with the quality of my chick scratches!) you will notice that the characters are not dawn to proportion- a correctly sized adult human male should be 9 heads high, not 8, as seen here.  This is true.  But know what?  It turns out that 1/18th scale action figures don't seem to be correct in the human proportions department. I did a proportion drawing on another piece of paper using an art book image as a guide to where the proportions should be, and then traced an action figure and found out that the figure was only 8 heads high, not 9.  I traced a different figure to see if I got the same effect, and yup, that figure was only 8 heads high too.  Where was the missing head height?

Interesting- in both cases, it was in the shins.  It turns out our action figures seem to be missing some height in the shins, between where their feet should be and their knees.  Everything down to the knees is pretty proportional, both in GI Joe modern era action figures and in The Corps action figures.  Check it out.  You never know what you'll learn by surprise, huh?  Real adult males tend to be taller than the action figures made to represent them.  I'm sure there is a reason for this.  I don't really care to get into it here, because I've already off topic.

Images 1, 2 and 3.

Lets dig in.  The first image (I started on the top left, worked my way right, and then did the bottom row second, again, working left to right) is actually what the action figure looked like out of the package.  We had peach colored skin, black armor, black crotch, white legs, black boots, black gloves and the details (holster, armband) were black.  I think we can do better than that.

The second image doesn't fully represent what I was thinking of.  Basically, I waned to do black/clothing with red on the edges of the armor, to give it a kind of a black with red highlights look.  I decided in the end I didn't actually want to go that way, because I don't think my skills with a brush are there yet to make this work.

The third image starts the trend that I end up going with, which is basically flat colors on different sections of the figure.  When I actually paint, I plan on doing some layering, so the colors won't actually be the sold in each section, but I wanted to get an idea of what it would look like.  Here I have black top armor, red under armor, no sleeves, red legs, silver belt, red arm band, red gloves, black boots and red pockets/holster.  I thought this looked a little too much "Alucard the Ninja"-ish, so I didn't stop looking here.

Images 4 and 5

Images 4 and 5 were inspired by specific ideas.  Image 4 is clearly a batman rip off.  We have black over armor, gray under armor, gray limbs and black accents.  I even threw in the yellow utility belt and yellow for the medal on the guy's left pectoralis.  It isn't a bad look, and I could go with it.  But there is space left on the page, so I continued to experiment.

Image 5 is a rip off of some alternate art for this action figure found on the box art.  The box art was very cartoon-y, and I wanted to see what it would look like here.  We've got the medium blue on the focus areas, gray limbs, black accents.  Also not bad.  As this guy is a warrior in a Solid Snake-esq sneaking suit, I really like the idea of him in darker colors; I think he should look like he could blend in to the shadows, but I also want to do something that is interesting to look at. A full on black figure just seems boring to me.  I know that with enough skill, someone could make mostly black pop, but again, I don't think my skill level is there yet and I think there are more interesting things I could try.

Images 6-8

Images 6-8 is me messing around with gray, plus me seeing what this guy would look like in a Marvel Comic's Sentinel color scheme.  In image 6 we've got light blue focus areas with light/dark purple limbs, and black accents.  The medal looks out of place; maybe it would have looked better in purple.  This guy looks like he could sneak around, but he doesn't look as cool as I thought he might in this color scheme.  I'm really glad I tried it out on paper first.

Next, I tried something similar to image 5, but with the light blue marker instead of the medium blue marker. Its ok.  Not horrible.  It has possibilities. If I was making a few of this guy, I could definitely see trying one in this color scheme.

Trial 8 was a lot of fun.  How about different shades of gray?  THAT'S HARDCORE.  Well, it is in my head. It isn't horrible when I see it on paper, and yeah, what I have on paper isn't exactly what it will look like painted on the figure. I think this one has possibilities, but it isn't the kid in the classroom throwing his hand up in the air saying 'me me me! pick me! pick ME!!!'. 

Images 9 + extra image

Image 9 was the last one I did, and I think it is the one I am going to go with. Gray focus with black limbs. I think I can do this figure.  He looks like he would sneak around well, and I the gray makes him more interesting that plain black does.  I just realized as I was typing this that number 9 is actually just reversing the color scheme from image 4, and I think that shows the benefit of me going through this little exercise; things can be close to what you want, but sometimes they need to be tweaked a little before they speak out to you.

I really like this look. It says Solid Snake to me, it says not too crazy day-glo flashy, and it seems like something I would like in the real world.  When I look at this color scheme, I think "I can do this".  So I think I'm going to use this.  If everything goes to hell and it turns out like crap, I still have another one of these figures to mess around with.  I can try a different color scheme from the ones I made up here or can come up with different ones then.

Ok- I've got a plan.  I am actually going to be out of town for much of next week.  I'll be at a conference in DC, which means I'm not going to have much time for actual work on the project, but I do have a mini update unrelated to this project planned.  In two weeks, you will (hopefully) see some actual pictures of me applying paint.  Jeez I hope I don't screw that up.

Alright folks.  Thanks for checking in.  If you think I'm making a huge mistake on the color scheme, feel free to comment or email me or post in the thread over at hisstank.com.

Until next time,

David Draper

Primer Applied

 Ok- here is what everything looks like after I applied the black spray-on primer.  I used the ultra expensive Games Workshop Chaos Black, which sells for $15.00 a can at the game shop, as opposed to the stuff I can get at Walmart or the hardware store for about $3.00 a can.  I want to see if there is any difference.  (I'm guessing there isn't, but I want to know for sure.)*

I mentioned in my last post that the book I am using as a guide for this project, How to Paint Citadel Miniatures, suggests putting anything you are spray painting on a card and moving the card instead of handling the pieces when you use spray primer.  I used that suggestion, and it made spray painting the parts super easy.  Yes, some things moved around somewhat when the spray hit them, especially the joint pins, but it was much easier to rotate the card than it would have been to rotate each individual piece.  I still had to flip everything so I could get the back and front covered, but the card made painting much easier than it otherwise would have been.

I know the picture makes things look like there is white on the parts, but this is just the reflection of the light and the camera itself. These pieces are actually as black as charcoal.  Thanks to the layer of primer, their surface is about the same consistency to the touch as charcoal as well.  Next step: the first layer of paint.

However, before I paint I'm going to post a few color plan drawings I whipped up when I was trying to figure out a color scheme for my figure.  That will be my next blog entry.

Until next time,

David D.

* Update- I got more information about this.  It turns out that the solvents in the primer purchased in hardware stores is pretty intense on plastic, including styrene.  Styrene is used to make many kinds of action figures.  Depending on how much primer is used and the state of the plastic, the work piece can melt down after an application of regular hardware grade spray on primer.  I'll keep looking around for info on plastic safe primer for less than $15 a can and post again if I find anything.  On the other hand, metal products (such as the metal minutes made by Games Workshop) shouldn't be negatively impacted by regular primer.

Papercraft Computer Console

My computer space is not as cool as this little set up.

One of the aspects of my job as a child life skills worker is that I am on the phone plenty.  I probably spend almost as much time talking to parents, social workers, group home staff, case workers, case managers, and teachers as I do with my actual clients.

I often take calls in my car as I drive from appointment to appointment (I do inhome work) on my little bluetooth hookup. When I am lucky, I have phone meetings in my home office, aka, David's Workshop.  During these meetings, I can have my computer on, check appointments on Google calendar, pull up client notes and reports, take notes during the conversation, etc.  Its much more convenient for me to chat on the phone from the office.  My schedule doesn't always permit the privileged, but its nice when it does.

In my office, my back is to the door so anytime my wife
walks in, she can see exactly what I have up on my screen.
It keeps me honest.

A few weeks ago, I found a new activity to do while at home and on the phone when my hands were free.  I could slowly construct paper furniture for a future diorama.  Most of the time while I am on the phone, I need to be writing things down or using the computer, but sometimes I get a moment here and there.

I got the idea after visiting www.joedios.com and saw all the amazing ready-to-assmble, all-you-need-is-a-color-printer-a-scissors-and-some-glue, templates in the file section there. I pulled up some PDF files hosted at thesite that were made by JoeDios member Tracker. Tracker has made a bunch of really outstanding stuff. If you are looking for some ideas or items for action figure dioramas of your own, check out the pictures and files sections of JoeDios.  Its a treasure trove of cool.  I printed some images out on regular printer paper, and when I had time, cut them out, carefully folded the parts, and glued them together with regular school glue. The pictures in this update show the little chair and computer set up in their completed form. 

Cobra Vipers like to update their Facebook pages
and check their twitter feeds between missions to
hack into US satellite control systems.   

I am not entirely sure what I am going to do with this yet, but I have some ideas. I think someone would probably be able to construct the entire thing in 15-20 minutes.  Most of that time is just holding sections of paper together while the glue dries. But because putting this thing together was by far my last priority when on the phone, I did it a few seconds here and a few seconds there. I started this the week before Thanksgiving and finished it last night. 

Today I do not have any client meetings, but I needed a break from my school work so I thought I'd do a quick update on the blog of this little mini project.  I finished a 17 page paper yesterday and today I am working on a power point presentation.  I need to make a 10-15 minute  proposal for my graduate project, and my brain were starting to go a little fried.  Time for a break.

I hope you like this little update.  Tracker did an amazing job with his design.  It takes very little skill to make something that looks pretty slick and could be used in a lot of different ways. Tracker and other artists have created several different versions of this chair and computer design with different skins, in different colors so if you are not into the dark green/gray I have here, there are other choices.  Or you could run the thing though Photoshop or GIMP (the free, open source Photoshop!) and come up with your own ideas.

Ok- this break has gone on long enough. Time to get back to work. Take care.

Until next time,

David D.