Kabukiman's Chronicles of Failure

[Kabukiman]

Come one! Come all! Witness this grotesque creature's (that's me) first foray into the completely over-his-head world of customizing! Watch as he looks at the works of talented artists and boldly states "I can do that!" Point and laugh as this mutated degenerate fails every step of the way! Cry as this joke on humanity destroys your favorite figure!

In other words, I'm finally ready to start customizing and plan to use this thread as an online diary of my exploits. If I come out on top, then this thread can be used as a how-to guide for an untalented shmuck like myself can make custom figures they can be proud of. If I fail, (the more likely of the two) then this thread can be used as a "what not to do" guide or a general point and laugh thread.

My story begins last December when I acquired an incredibly cheap loose Sideshow Michael Myers from a fellow Freak. Everybody knows the likeness is pretty crappy, but I didn't care, it was cheap. While waiting for the figure to arrive I remembered DarkArtist's custom mikey (pun totally intended). I proceeded to hound DA with PM's about the creation of his Myers. DA graciously replied to my PM's and gave me some hope that I could do this.

Once Myers came, my time and confidence faded away until I discovered a 1/6 specialty shop only 15 minutes away from me! I started buying different clothing and whatnot for some figures that needed it (like a trench coat for my Doctor Who). I eventually decided I needed to make a Captain Jack Harkness. After searching for the right clothes (an ongoing search) and a decent sculpt I came to the realization that my Captain Jack figure simply could not be made without some sort of repaint.

Well, without boring you guys further, these are my intentions:

Turn this guy:

into this guy:

and also turn this guy:

into this guy:

With these El-cheap-o tools:

The colors I'm starting with are Apple Barrel brand: White, Black, Flesh, Bright Red, Caramel Candy, Bright Blue, and Tiger Lily. I figure these should be good to start with.

If you've read this far, thanks! I'm open to any suggestions or criticisms! Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, I will have painted some test heads and started either the Jack or the Myers. Any suggestions which I should start first? I'm more excited to do the Jack, but I think the Myers might be easier...

 

[Les Walker]

Rock on man!
Just do it! No worries. No fear. Just make them what you want.
YOU CAN DO IT!

 

[Mooncat]

trial and error . . .

and some success

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

I suggest being careful with that Apple Barrel paint. That's what I use, and it can scrape off pretty easy. It also has a chalky look to it. When I'm done painting I use a matte acrylic sealer to give it some durability and it also helps to give that chalky appearance a more natural skin look.

 

[Kabukiman]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys! I just finished step one of DA's tutorial from the "Attention" thread. I'm just painting a test head similar to the one I'm going to use for Jack to start.

Even though I am nowhere close to figuring all this out, I feel like I just overcame some huge obstacle that has been preventing me from trying this for months. I don't know how to explain it, but just getting started makes me feel like I've accomplished something pretty spectacular. It's stupid, because I've only put down the first coat of skin tone on a head that I have no intention to use for anything

The only thing I'm a little concerned about is that the sculpt I intend to use for Jack (and my test head) is pretty smooth. I think these were originally GI Joe heads. So I may have to either carve out some detail (is that possible?) or fake the detail with paint.

re: Apple Barrel paint - I'll keep that tip in mind, TheObsoleteMan. I was kind of wondering if I'd need to give a little extra treatment considering how cheap the paints were ($0.59!!).

 

[Kabukiman]

I just "finished" my practice head, and I must say I am totally happy with the results! :chew I can't believe how little of effort can be put in to making even the cheapest of heads presentable

A couple of notes:

- Layers are key. I had no idea wtf you guys were talking about when you would start with a dark coat and then layer it with a lighter coat. Well now I know, and knowing is half the battle. It's amazing. I don't even have to think about it, the skin tone I want just eventually happens with the right layering and color mixing.

- I screwed up the hair in a major way by going too light on the second layer. This was easily fixed by just ultra-dry brushing the darker color over the lighter.

- touching up the skin after applying lip and eye paint is key

- I may have to buy some different brushes for the eyes, mine turned out a bit sloppy, but you can't really tell unless you're critically examining the head.

- It's amazing how much texture can be added with just paint. This sculpt was as smooth as a baby's bottom when I started, now it's screaming with texture! :chew

- overall, my paint apps are a bit sloppy, but even with the sloppy apps, the repaint is 100% more aesthetically pleasing than the original

without furthur ado, I present my first repaint; a GI Joe (or something) head repainted using the colors I intend to use for the Jack custom (left is original right is repaint):
*note - for some reason the flash brings out blotches that aren't really there*

*no flash version*

 

[Kabukiman]

I went through another practice head and it didn't look *quite* as terrible as the first, so I started painting up my cheap GI Joe head Jack Harkness convert. I took some pictures, but I must say, the pictures look nothing like the real thing. I'm no photographer, but whenever I try to shoot a 1/6 head, it ends up looking all blurry and orange. Oh well, I probably need to get a different camera if I plan on taking more pictures.

I laid down the skin tone which looks presentable, and started on the hair until I noticed I didn't buy any yellow paint So his blond-ish highlights are going to have to wait.

I think I will just buy up a ton of these heads (they're only like $0.75 a piece) and just keep painting until I nail it. Hopefully, by that time, I'll have found a "real" Jack Harkness sculpt to paint.

 

[icruise]

I'm glad to see another customer starting out! A few quick pointers. First of all, you might want to try working on some heads with a little more detail, since this one has very little, and you'll want to learn how to handle things like wrinkles, or even facial hair.

For the eyes, I paint the sockets reddish brown, then go over that with white (maybe with a bit of gray in it, so it's not too bright) so that just the outline of reddish brown is left. Then I put in a circle of reddish brown over the white where the retina should be. Then I go over that again with the eye color so that just the outline of reddish brown is left around the retina. Then I put in the pupil with black. Finally, I give it a shot of gloss coat to make it look wet. It sounds complicated, but it's not that bad.

Lips can be very tricky. I recommend doing some experimenting to see what works best, but in general you don't want them to stand out too much -- the figure will look like it's wearing lipstick. Just make them very slightly darker and/or redder than the skin tone you're using. Adding a little gloss coat on the lips also looks good in many cases.

As for taking pictures of figures, it's best to use a tripod (or at least to put the camera on something stable) and never use a flash. Just make sure you have plenty of ambient light. You might want to try using your camera's macro function. Also see if it has white balance settings. Mine has a setting for incandescent light that will correct for the reddish or yellowish tone that you tend to get. Taking good pictures of figures is almost as hard as painting them, I've found. Good luck.

 

[Kabukiman]

Thanks so much for the tips, lcruise, especially for the eyes!

I figured a lot of the problems I was experiencing was due to the smooth sculpt, I thought I could just paint some detail on. Turns out it doesn't quite work that way.

Again, awesome tips, thanks a ton!

 

[Darren Carnall]

good to see someone else starting

trial and error..... trial and error

I do the eyes a different way, i spray the head white with primer... then paint the edges of the eyes a mixed pinky purpley flesh colour (look at your own eyes) then I paint the dark circles ( I start with a thin dark grey, then build up to a darker grey) then add the colours... then dot the centre.

Then I add things like a dark blackey brown line on the upper lid for the eyelashes, and a much thinner line on the lower lids, and usually shade the skin between the eyebrows and eye with a darker flesh tone to create a fake shadow... something that helps sell the scale, even when there's no direct shadows on the face

If the sculpt has lines and folds around the eyes, I also mix a colour.. maybe a dark flesh, or a dark pink/purple, or a browney mix of everything (depends on character) and thinly blush that into the folds... this helps them stand out a little

If you need any pics to show what I'm talking about (in case i explained that a bit rubbish, lol) just ask

There's lots of good help here.

Darren

ps. i think you said it yourself... best way to do it is to just keep painting and painting heads until you get it. I consider myself to be quite good, but I'm still getting better myself.... the more you do the better you get

 

[Batty]

Darren, I'd love to see tutorial pics if you have them. Ones for sculpting too.

Kabukiman, keep up the good work!

 

[Kabukiman]

Awesome tips, thanks Darren! If you wouldn't mind posting some pics, I'd like to see that. A picture speaks a thousand words and all that

Thanks for the encouragement, Batty

 

[DarkAngelDTB]

Hey there Kabukiman. I see your after a Captain Jack. He is a great character to have a go at. oads of scope. I will PM you with details.

Dean

 

[Kabukiman]

Haven't made an update in a while. I should be getting some better practice heads soon. As it is now, I'm painting away on the smooth cheap-o's I got.

Painting figures has become a family event here lately. I'm trying different flesh tones in preparation for making a Jack, my wife is turning GI-Joe's into zombies, and my 5 year old son is painting little ceramic figures from the hobby store as well as turning cheap GI-Joe heads into "Jokers."

But customizing isn't all painting. I gave my 10th Doctor with trench coat the "water treatment." It's the first time I've given a figure the water treatment, but I've been wanting to give it a try ever since I read about this on Rebelscum. If you don't know about it, check it out here: https://www.rebelscum.com/laundryday.asp It's really a great tutorial complete with little arrows to let you know where to look for your faucet controls (thanks Dave Myatt!) I'm very pleased with the result, but stupid me didn't take any "before" pictures, but believe me, the coat was very poofy.

I also learned I need a better camera...

The coat I bought for Jack is poofy as well so I'm hoping for similar results when I put Jack together.

 

[Kabukiman]

I *finally* started on Michael Myers. It took me about 4 months and 6 rum & cokes to work up the courage, but I have begun.

When I look at the Sideshow Michael, I notice that there are several things wrong:

1) Michael wore a white mask, not grey.
2) Michael had the blackest eyes. (This might be a little controversial but, imo, Michael's eyes should *never* be seen)
3) The hair on Michael's mask was brown, not black. And, most importantly, it was not a 'fro!!!

Here is Sideshow's Michael:

After talking to some people who have customized a Sideshow Michael, I thought some resculpting would be involved. This might be why I've been so afraid to take this project on; resculpting is simply beyond my abilities. Well, tonight I have enough Captain Morgan (well, Admiral Nelson, actually ) in me to give it a go.

The first thing I changed was that 'fro. wtf is that? Seriously, what the hell were they thinking? Well, I shouldn't say I changed it, I removed it without so much as a plan as to how to assemble a mop that works. I'll figure that out later.

The second thing that was bugging the hell out of me was his eyes. I don't want to see his eyes. Maybe you do, and that's great. I don't. I hit that ^^^^ with some black so there was a whole lot of nothing where his eyes should be.

Just doing that made me feel like I might be able to make this work. So I then proceeded to take care of the grey paint job. I globbed on some heavy white to try to give it a plaster-like look. I then watered down my paint a ton and gave it a second coat / drybrush job so that it didn't look so action-figure-paint-brushy. I'm very excited by the results:

I don't know if the pictures really convey what I'm seeing here, but I'm *finally* seeing Michael Myers in this figure. I think I might be able to pull this off without any rescultping.

I'll post more pictures once I figure out what I'm going to do for hair.

 

[DarkArtist81]

Great work so far bro, you are doing it!! I'm excited to see what happens with Michael, that one is a tough fix. I'm doing a second attempt at it now and it's rough. I like what you have done so far, has promise.

I can't wait to see the end results.

 

[Kabukiman]

Thanks for the encouragement , man I need it!

I did a bit more painting and now think I have the mask where I want it (Classic, clean, plaster look).

Now I just need to tackle the hair. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but I'll post pics as soon as I have it figured out.

 

[DarkArtist81]

Good luck man, it's a fun but challenging custom.

One good bit of advice. Remove the elastic in the jumpsuit. You will be much happier with the fit of the suit if you do.

 

[Buttmunch]

Funny how much better Michael already looks without the original Sideshow hair

I've tried the "real" hair approach on some things, and it is much more difficult that in looks. My advice is to add small amounts of hair at a time, and make it look right from the get go. Also, start bottom up since the top-most layers of hair will rest on the lower ones. Good luck! I'm looking forward to your improvements.

 

[Kabukiman]

After much heel dragging and excuses, I'm getting this ^^^^^ done this weekend.

I hit Michael with some more paint (I think I'm done painting now) and he's awaiting some new hair.

So while I wait for the nearest Ben Franklin to open, I'm unstitching the elastic waistband on the Sideshow coveralls and listening to the Carpenter theme on repeat.

I will not be denied a decent Myers! :maul