Here's a very simple repaint of CW Mirage as G1 Barricade, leader of the Decepticon Race Track Patrol. He's pictured with his old Micromaster figure, I couldn't quite nail the fluorescent magenta color of the vintage toy. EDIT: Added some updated pictures, I took some advice from some of the comments in the thread, some matte clear coat on the magenta parts, painted over the white portions of the figure to better resemble the G1 Barricade and added some reprolabels: These pictures are from my original post before updating the custom: Vehicle modes, pretty much unchanged besides some paint on the spoiler and the faction logo - now I'm glad they used the number "62" - it feels appropriate reversed as Mirage's racing nemesis. With Classics Mirage and CW Dragstrip:
I think the perfect finishing touch for this awesome piece is taking some nail polish remover and a Q-tip, and rubbing Mirage's decals off.
Thanks guys! Darkshift, I considered removing the tampos on my custom or painting over them - but then I thought the "62" and "Circuit Racing" made for a nice counter to Mirage's "26" and "FP Racing". I also left the white color on the vehicle mode to break up the blue even though it's not G1 accurate.
Personally, the decals and white paint just make it look like "Mirage with some different paint". I can't really see it as a different figure until they are either removed, or painted a different colour. Maybe a BLACK line with that "glowing magneta" for the writing?
Appreciate the encouragement! Thank you very much! I can see what you mean, maybe I'll try swapping the white for some metallic blue or black as you suggest - thanks for the critique!
You are most welcome. One thing could be to get some (reprolabels?) and scan them on a PC, then change the pallette/hues for the desired effect and then print them on decal paper? Bit pricy that way, though...
I never even knew what the G1 Barricade looked like. Neato, and nice job. I agree with others about needing to remove the decals, and also I find that when paint comes out looking a bit thick or streaky up close you can fix a lot of that by adding a flat coat to it. That pink may need to be applied in several thin layers or thinned out before applying next time ya use it, but either way flat clear coat can make the chunky up-close look unnoticeable. Gloss paints always make any imperfections literally glaring. Brush on Vallejo acrylic clear coats are cheap and easy to use for things like that.
Yes, when I did a search for "Barricade" under the Radicons section it was all the movie 2007 guy, so the old G1 version certainly needed some representation! Thanks! I just wanted to make use of that Mirage, since I satisfied with the Classics version. Reprolabels made custom labels for me in the past, a little pricey but more professional than anything I can come up with or paint - thanks for the tip. Coming from a pro like yourself I appreciate your comments Unicron 9! I'll try that technique, I was admittedly having a difficult time with that acrylic paint (testors Pink Pearl on top of Gunze Sangyo Pink ). I will look into the Vallejo flat clear coat.
My local Hobby Lobby has them, but last i checked ebay had them too. I keep a little bottle of flat, satin, and gloss on hand, though I rarely use the gloss since it just makes more streaks.
Thanks Robowang! Maybe I can do Roller Force from the CW Hound/Swindle mold, but I had so much trouble with that neon magenta color and he's all that
No worries, appreciate the critique! Yeah that magenta paint was a nightmare! Will try Unicron9's tip of using a flat coat. And I see what you did there - "on the right track"