Custom Hawkman, Red Tornado, and John Stewart

[AI_O'Malley]

Hey guys...Figured some of you here might find these kind of cool. I finished them over the weekend and yesterday:

I wanted to finish off my Meltzer JLA. I purposely used parts that were from toys sculpted by Ray Vilafone, the guy who sculpts the Dc direct JLA line.

Red Tornado
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/tornado5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/tornado4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/tornado3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/tornado2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/tornado1.jpg

John Stewart
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/johnstewart2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/johnstewart1.jpg


Modern Age Hawkman
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/Hawkman1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/Hawkman2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/Hawkman3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/Hawkman4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/batched/Hawkman5.jpg

[Trunks3540]

Those are really nice. Good work.

[Masked Moron]

I was expecting John Stewart from the Daily show. :(

That aside, nice work. http://board.spawn.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

[nightmare alien]

Sweet customs.

[D2eux]

I was expecting John Stewart from the Daily show. :(

That aside, nice work. http://board.spawn.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif
yea i was confused

[M-A-D-D-O-G]

Very, very nice work!

[WhO Iz THiZ Iz]

wow.

[BLACKPLAGUE]

Nice use of the WOR Spawn wings on Hawkman.:)

[Dreamcatcher]

Great customs, really smooth paint, the details are flawless better than factory production.

[AsterisX18]

Paint looks great! Any tips for a noob customizer like me on that paint job? Primed? how many layers? Paint used etc? Thanks!

[yzerman_federov]

Wow, those are great!!! Really lovin' the Hawkman.

[payton34smith22]

those are some of the BEST customs I've ever seen!

:eek: :cool:

[Dark Leonhart]

Damn!

[cjclifford]

I was expecting John Stewart from the Daily show. :(

That aside, nice work. http://board.spawn.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif
It's the Daily Show with Green Lantern. :D

[Muramasa]

They look great. I like how you custom painted body hair on Hawkman.

[bigdaddymcqueen]

the Hawkman is HOT:eek:

[OCELOT]

I'm not normally a fan of glossy figures, but your red torpedo is brilliantly done.

[AI_O'Malley]

Paint looks great! Any tips for a noob customizer like me on that paint job? Primed? how many layers? Paint used etc? Thanks!

Sure thing!

The paint I try to always use is testors brand acrylic. Model Masters is the name, I believe. I try to keep away from all enamels. you can't predict how they'll dry on toy plastics, or if they'll dry at all.

I use a gray spray primer for the parts and a brush-on flat gray for small areas. If you're using a lighter color, like yellow or red, you always need a light primer layer.

One key to my paint jobs is to ALWAYS use water. Never apply the paint straight on. Always keep that brush a little bit wet. Thin multiple layers are always better than one big thick one. Always let one dry before you start another.

Always try to work with flat paints. If you need a glossy area, just use a brush-on sealer. Try to avoid spray sealers. The only one I trust is Krylon's Satin finish.

If you need to do gloss over a large area, always try spraypainting first. Never put spraypaint directly onto plastic. Always paint onto a gray layer of spray primer so it will dry evenly. Better safe than sorry.

Always try to work from flat to gloss. Any paint detail can be made glossy with a simple brush on sealer or superglue coat. Turning gloss paint to flat is much harder and most flat sealers just wont dry properly.

NEVER use spraypaint on soft plastic, like the material used for capes. It will not cure. There are techniques you can do achieve this, but its usually not worth the trouble. Ive found that using several layers of primer before spraypaint on rubber and then sealing it with satin finish works at least half of the time. Its hard to predict.

[AI_O'Malley]

I'm not normally a fan of glossy figures, but your red torpedo is brilliantly done.

Same here. I only like gloss paint on costume areas that depict leather, like Batman's boots, etc. I prefer to work flat to gloss. The only reason I made Tornado completely glossy is because he is usually depicted as wearing a rubbery body suit(he's a robot under it). I wanted him to look unusual and not quite fit in with the other human members of the JLA. The paint I used on him was automotive spraypaint and its some pretty amazing stuff.

THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS GUYS!

[AI_O'Malley]

Here are a couple more John pictures

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/johnstewart3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/Markydarko/johnstewart4.jpg

[zim-5000]

Wow. Those are some nice,clean, well-finished figures right there..I tell ya what. :cool:

[AsterisX18]

Sure thing!

The paint I try to always use is testors brand acrylic. Model Masters is the name, I believe. I try to keep away from all enamels. you can't predict how they'll dry on toy plastics, or if they'll dry at all.

I use a gray spray primer for the parts and a brush-on flat gray for small areas. If you're using a lighter color, like yellow or red, you always need a light primer layer.

One key to my paint jobs is to ALWAYS use water. Never apply the paint straight on. Always keep that brush a little bit wet. Thin multiple layers are always better than one big thick one. Always let one dry before you start another.

Always try to work with flat paints. If you need a glossy area, just use a brush-on sealer. Try to avoid spray sealers. The only one I trust is Krylon's Satin finish.

If you need to do gloss over a large area, always try spraypainting first. Never put spraypaint directly onto plastic. Always paint onto a gray layer of spray primer so it will dry evenly. Better safe than sorry.

Always try to work from flat to gloss. Any paint detail can be made glossy with a simple brush on sealer or superglue coat. Turning gloss paint to flat is much harder and most flat sealers just wont dry properly.

NEVER use spraypaint on soft plastic, like the material used for capes. It will not cure. There are techniques you can do achieve this, but its usually not worth the trouble. Ive found that using several layers of primer before spraypaint on rubber and then sealing it with satin finish works at least half of the time. Its hard to predict.

Thanks very much!! :)

[Deeken]

wow great work! They look like factory produced figures I like the hawkman custom but red tornado is painted really clean!

[Soil]

Great work

One question though, how do you not get brush strokes in the paint when applying it to the figure?
Is that why you use water?

[homunculus]

Fantastic work, Al. Really impressive.

Great work

One question though, how do you not get brush strokes in the paint when applying it to the figure?
Is that why you use water?
Yeah, a whole mess of thin coats is best.

[astros86]

Whoa, those are sweet!! Great job. Thanks for posting the tips also. Very cool of you to do.