SilentSurfer's Laboratory: Come up to the Lab & See What's on the Slab.

[GDZILLA95]

I received the Wolverine head and bone claws today. Pics just don't do Nathan's work justice. It is VERY nice & looks GREAT.
Thanks again SS.
I took some pics of the head and claws on the body. When I sent the head to Nathan, I bought an extra head because the figure is just too damn cool not to display IMO. I have pics of the heads beside each other, the original head on the body with the bone claws, and the customized head with the metal claws.
Oh, and I'm NOT a great photographer.

 

[GDZILLA95]

Here are the pics of the custom head on body with metal claws.
The last two pics are of my team of Avengers.
The quality of the last two pics suck, so sorry
bout that.

 

[SilentSurfer]

Thanks for posting those, Gray. He looks great. Too bad the hair and bone claws don't belong on the same figure. Guess you'll have to buy a second one.

That Wolverine is KILLER!

Thanks. And it looks great on the figure again.

Absolutely love your work/talent!

What do you use for your primer coat?
Testors Gray Primer of Testors Dull Coat (if I don't want to cover the original paint entirely.

Do you strip the paint off the figure, or do you just spray(?) paint your base/primer coat?
I usually just paint right over the top of the original paint unless the paint is chunky and textured.

What kinds of brushes do you use?
All kinds of small brushes, but mainly an Iwata HP-CS Airbrush.

Do you use a special sealer after your done painting?
Testors Dull Coat, Coast Airbrush Save Tee, or folk Art Gloss depending on what finish I want.

Do you disassemble the figure?
Really depends on the project. It's easiest to separate parts to simplify painting so I don't have to do as much masking. If it requires breaking the figure to get it apart, I just try to make do without disassembly.

Again, fantastic painting and sculpting/customizing!

Thanks.

 

[samueljd]

Where would he get a black outfit to fit Wolvie though? The Medi outfit would probably barely fit on a Slim TT.

 

[Spewer]

Thanks.

No, thank you for posting, and the sharing of answers.

 

[Morbach]

Here are the pics of the custom head on body with metal claws.
The last two pics are of my team of Avengers.
The quality of the last two pics suck, so sorry
bout that.

That looks fantastic.

 

[SilentSurfer]

I'll be working with Sideshow at their SDCC booth all week. Hope to see some of you there. I'll also be at the Freaks party Friday night.

 

[MarfMaster]

The head looks fantastic on the body!

I bet the resculpted head would look cool rocking a HT Marcus Wright black leather jacket, that thing gives off an X-Men Wolvie vibe

 

[Spewer]

Acrylic paint, enamel? What brands do you use. Custom colors of your own special recipe?

 

[CyberVillain]

Hi Nathan, do you think you could tell me where I am in your project queue? Thanks mate.

 

[nikoniko]

Hi Nathan - just discovered this custom thread. Just wanted to say that in the two years that I've been back into the hobby, your works have always really stood out shoulders above the rest. And the Pred customs are amazing.

I dabble a bit in painting/customizing, mostly just headsculpt and gear, and am always curious as to what materials others use. What are your prefered paints, tools etc? What clear coat do you use to get that nice semi-gloss/moist sheen to your Preds? (Testors Semi-gloss clear?) Myself, I use a combination of Mr. Color laquer (sprays on great, drys fast and very durable, but sadly hard to get (though Brookhurst Hobbies in Fountain Valley is a good source)), Testors MM enamels (can't beat their chrome silver and other metallics) and acrylics (combination of Tamiya, Vallejo and Citadel (highly recommended - they are great for handbrushing and level out really well when drying)). I use an assortment of brushes, as well as my Iwata Eclipse and HP-C.

Btw, I dated a girl from the Rowland Heights/Diamond Bar area and am intimately familiar with your 'hood.

 

[Spewer]

? Bumpo.

 

[SilentSurfer]

Acrylic paint, enamel? What brands do you use. Custom colors of your own special recipe?

Acrylic and I usually custom mix stuff to get that right shade. For broad coverage, I like to use Folk Art Latex Acrylic from craft stores like Michaels. They are inexpensive and come in large bottles so wasting some isn't a problem. And they have tons of colors and mix well with each other. Their metallics are surprisingly good. For fine finessing of paint, I like to use ComArt. They have great translucent paints, and you can't keep up with Sideshow and Hot Toys without knowing how to do translucent effects anymore.

 

[SilentSurfer]

Hi Nathan - just discovered this custom thread. Just wanted to say that in the two years that I've been back into the hobby, your works have always really stood out shoulders above the rest. And the Pred customs are amazing.

Thanks for that compliment. Hearing things like that is what keeps me going in this hobby.

I dabble a bit in painting/customizing, mostly just headsculpt and gear, and am always curious as to what materials others use. What are your prefered paints, tools etc?

The only sculpting I've done so far is to modify a sculpt or add/change details. I use Quick Wood putty from Home Depot with Vaseline to create a non-stick contact with my sculpting tools, which are just some basic things I picked up at Aaron Bros years ago. If you back up in this thread to the T-600 thumb mod, you'll see a pic of what I'm talking about.

What clear coat do you use to get that nice semi-gloss/moist sheen to your Preds? (Testors Semi-gloss clear?)

Folk Art semi-gloss and gloss.

Testors MM enamels (can't beat their chrome silver and other metallics)

Their chrome is great, but it tends to stay a little sticky. You should try Alclad II Chrome. It's an airbrush only paint which is designed to go over a gloss black undercoat. Amazing effect.

though Brookhurst Hobbies in Fountain Valley is a good source

That store is where my painting and customizing career began back in '92 when I discovered all the Halcyon Aliens model kits. I went kit crazy with all the Horizon, Billiken, and other kits out there. Then Sideshow went and killed model kits (thankfully), and I discovered that all my skills were very useful for perfecting great figures, and here I am working with Sideshow now, and at least one of the guys who used to paint for Horizon's box art is now the creative director at Sideshow.

I thought Brookhurst Hobbies was in Garden Grove on Brookhurst St. and Chapman Ave. Did it move?

I use an assortment of brushes, as well as my Iwata Eclipse and HP-C.

I use an Iwata HP-CS. I chose that one because Steve Wang told me he used that one all the time. Can't argue with the master, now can I?

Btw, I dated a girl from the Rowland Heights/Diamond Bar area and am intimately familiar with your 'hood.

I'm sorry. I hate this neighborhood. I moved here when I got a job in Whittier just up the freeway, but I never would have chosen to live here. Traffic sucks, the city is ugly, there has not been an end to roadwork and construction mess and noise since I moved here, and everybody speaks a different language, so it's impossible to feel like I'm home here ever.

You probably didn't expect that reply, did you? Sideshow HQ is in Thousand Oaks, and that is a beautiful area. I hope to move out there sometime next year.

 

[SilentSurfer]

From the Star Wars video of the Sideshow SDCC panel. I can't give you any info on them, but it was my honor to paint these for Sideshow. I can't wait til they reveal the full presentation of them.

 

[Reinhardt]

Nice job Nathan!!

 

[SilentSurfer]

Thanks. Wait til you see the full, clear pics.

 

[small_studios]

I had a feeling about this one. Keep Nathan.

 

[P.]

and here I am working with Sideshow now, and at least one of the guys who used to paint for Horizon's box art is now the creative director at Sideshow.

first 24 hours after reading this i thought that you meant yourself.
got frightened of who i talked to so simply and tried to hurry
anyway - would you be happy to put your talents into a mass production?
i mean - when i see how tankman shows his perfect promotional projects and what weak final product it turns into, i think that it can really disappoint.

 

[Dark Passenger]

Awesome job on everything Nathan! Thanks for giving us all tips on what you use and stuff. I was thinking about getting an airbrush...