Chakaman's customs, mods and repaints

[Chakaman]

It’s great to be able to share tips and tricks with each other.

So Steven, do you dip the sponge into paint and dab it onto the sculpt or do you flick the paint from the sponge onto the sculpt?

Which method works best to apply texture/depth to the sculpts? I know you posted a tutorial a while back, but cannot locate it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[The_Darkness_Predator]

No problem. Here is what seems to work for me. I put some paint In a plastic sauce dipping cup. Depending on the look I’m trying to achieve, many times I use thinned paint or paint wash. This allows me to put the whole sponge end in the paint just enough to pick up the high points. Then I touch it on paper to take most of the paint off and to test the pattern. When the pattern looks right, I start putting it on the head. I make smaller sponges for hard-to-reach areas. I try to remember to rotate the sponge around so it does not look too uniform.

After the primer coat and the basecoat, I try to use transparent paints for the skin until finished.

And thank you so much for the compliments. I really struggle with painting and don’t feel that I’m that great, it takes me so incredibly long to paint a character. My ideas don’t always work, but I keep trying.

As always, please forgive me if I tell you stuff you already know. Perhaps it could help someone else too.

 

[Chakaman]

Thanks Steven. I have been trying lots of new techniques trying to "up my game" so to speak. I am revisiting pretty much all of my customs so any additional information is welcome and appreciated.



Oh by the way, you are indeed pretty damn good at painting.

 

[The_Darkness_Predator]

^
Thanks. Cheers.

 

[dls712]

Chris / Steven - you guys are both "pretty damn good at painting."

Feel free to continue passing along your tips & techniques!

Good stuff as always.

 

[The_Darkness_Predator]

 

[Chakaman]

My Barada sculpt arrived today. At first glance, it appears to be scaled properly. It is very nicely detailed.



I will sculpt the neck area with milliput before painting. Should be fun.

 

[Stryker2011]

Looks to be the right size. Looking forward to seeing him painted up.

 

[D.R.37]

Looks good. Can’t wait to see you bring this new sculpt to life. Is this one of Mati’s creations?

 

[TaliBane]

Yeah, the Barada head always seems slightly undersized because the head is a narrower design than say the Klaatus or Niktos and he doesn't have a helmet. That looks fine on that body.

 

[Chakaman]

Thanks guys!

A few updates today. My Klaatu Skiff guard sculpt arrived from Shapeways today. One "chin spike" was broken off and missing, but size looks good.



I picked up some sponges and finished Tessek. I promise I am finished with him this time.





I also started to work on the neck of Barada. I don't sculpt, so this is going to be a work in progress..

 

[Chakaman]

Looks good. Can’t wait to see you bring this new sculpt to life. Is this one of Mati’s creations?

Yes. Barada and Klaatu are from Mati.

 

[Cagoda]

Absolutely love your work!! The neck on that Barada looks great so far! Really brings even more life out of the sculpt like the movie.

 

[The_Darkness_Predator]

Wow. All looks so awesome. Your characters look like small movie props.

 

[Chakaman]

Absolutely love your work!! The neck on that Barada looks great so far! Really brings even more life out of the sculpt like the movie.

Wow. All looks so awesome. Your characters look like small movie props.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

I need to do a few touch ups once this layer of milliput sets, but I wanted to see what Barada looked like with the shirt on.

 

[D.R.37]

Nice! Tessek’s paint work looks fantastic and Barada’s sculpted neck is coming along well. May I suggest checking out anatomy books/images? Even though he is alien you could go off of the human muscle placement. Exaggerate and tweak from there

 

[ajp4mgs]

I love how the Tessek paint work turned out; outstanding job with the sponges! That looks terrific! And the Barada and Klaatu will be more enhancement to what is already the greatest collection of custom SW figures I'll probably ever see. Great stuff as always, Chakaman!

 

[Chakaman]

Nice! Tessek’s paint work looks fantastic and Barada’s sculpted neck is coming along well. May I suggest checking out anatomy books/images? Even though he is alien you could go off of the human muscle placement. Exaggerate and tweak from there

Thanks. I appreciate it. I forsee a lot of "tweaks".

I love how the Tessek paint work turned out; outstanding job with the sponges! That looks terrific! And the Barada and Klaatu will be more enhancement to what is already the greatest collection of custom SW figures I'll probably ever see. Great stuff as always, Chakaman!

Thanks man.

Last update for the night. I did a few more "tweaks". I will do some sanding tomorrow after the lilliput sets.

 

[Stryker2011]

Really fantastic work. Tessek looks amazing, and Barada is coming along nicely.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Crazy impressive work in here as always.

I also really like that speckling you did on Tessek's head a few pages back. Looks very lifelike, accurate or not. Barada's neck is looking good too.


I know you have collection photos (I have most of them saved) but some day you really need to line up all your figures and take a massive group shot, like a high school photo.