Minor/Repaint: Titans Return Stranglehold

Discussion in 'Radicons Customs' started by SmokedToast, Aug 28, 2016.

  1. SmokedToast

    SmokedToast Well-Known Member

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    Idea I had after picking up an extra Wolfwire the other night and examining it for a while. The nose has enough of a pointed tip I could see it as a rhino horn, probably going to need another coat after this one dries but really wanted to show the idea.
    Repainted a Skytread for the head as well. :) 
     

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  2. bumblebeej8

    bumblebeej8 Well-Known Member

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    Can't wait to see what's done with this
     
  3. SmokedToast

    SmokedToast Well-Known Member

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    Thanks! I've added a picture of how I did the horn as well for the alt mode, I think a LOT of mileage could be gotten out of this figure. I almost made it horribull but I don't have his head...
    But I can easilly see a number of characters out of it. Same with some of the others from Wave 2 (I kind of expect a Dogfight down the line from Highbrow).
     

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  4. Furnace

    Furnace Antroid at a picnic

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    Not a bad idea!
     
  5. shiftypenguin

    shiftypenguin Fancy-Pantsless Dancer

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    Cool. I like where this is going.
     
  6. Biotoakid

    Biotoakid Whew what an old username

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    Use painters tape to mask out parts, and use spray paint. Or thin your paints. Or watch any of the countless tutorials on what to do. There are parts of this where it legitimately doesn't look like you tried. The paints thick, okay you didn't know to thin paints, but there are patches along the head where you didn't even paint
    [​IMG]
    It looks like you had an idea and half assed parts of it. Lack of experience doesn't excuse unpainted spots. That's completely from lack of effort.
     
  7. SmokedToast

    SmokedToast Well-Known Member

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    I have watched the tuttorials and a) poor enough and paints are old enough thinning the paints even a little causes it to run off completely and b) did you not read the original post about these pictures being from the first coat (IE jin saotames tutorial) to demonstrate proof of concept?
    Proof of concept is proof of -concept- and first coat is exactly that so I dont have smudge marks or fingerprints while painting those missed sections.
     
  8. mechajol

    mechajol Well-Known Member

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    No need to be defensive.
    Biotoakid is giving constructive advice.
    You do need to thin your paints even if it's the first coat.
     
  9. Rumble02

    Rumble02 Radicon of Obliticons

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    looking good but dont get defensive
     
  10. ironscythe

    ironscythe The Critic

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    Be honest. It isn't drying. It will never dry. The application is completely indiscriminate and far too thick to ever dry.

    You got really defensive when someone offered real tips for fixing this. You have to take a step back and remember that you chose to show this to the people on this forum. Whatever feedback or criticism you receive is a direct result of your decision to post. Once it's out there, you have zero control over what people say or think about it, and if you react defensively, it only works against you.
     
  11. blastpak

    blastpak Well-Known Member

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    There a better ways of saying it, using the term, "half assed" isn't constructive or positive. You guys need to remember that criticism is skill to be learned just like customisation.
     
  12. blastpak

    blastpak Well-Known Member

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    Hey smoked toast, is this the 1st time you've repainted a transformer?

    I see that you're using the jin satome tutorials, I had the same problem 1st bot I painted, paint went on too thick, took ages to dry. Just don't forget you can strip the paint back and start again. I know jin's tutorial says you don't need to prime but it's something you can consider for your next custom.

    You may want also look at painting tutorials on YouTube, particularly ones on minatures.

    Look forward to seeing Stranglehold finished :) 
     
  13. mechajol

    mechajol Well-Known Member

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    Wow.
    The other guy gave decent criticism.
    He's not even trolling or posting crap.
    So what if he used that term?
    I'd rather read honest criticism over sugar-coated platitudes.
    Jeez.
     
  14. blastpak

    blastpak Well-Known Member

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    Recognising effort, giving advice and being polite while giving criticism isn't, "sugar-coating"

    Could've just said, "sorry, I don't like it and here's why..."

    Saying, "half assed" is a gut reaction, there's nothing behind it just raw disgust, even when he does say, "mask areas off" the attitude is that smoked toast should know this, they may not because, they say they've been looking at tutorials which indicates that this is something new for them.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2016
  15. DJ kevintron

    DJ kevintron Well-Known Member

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    Ebay:
    Constructive criticism is the process of offering valid and well-reasoned opinions about the work of others, usually involving both positive and negative comments, in a friendly manner rather than an oppositional one.

    There was no setup or introduction or offer of help just a list of criticisms. Last time I checked thats not how we roll at TFW.

    *update* Clearly this was already addressed as I was typing this. A lot of time creative forums can become clubs that are hard for new comers to break into. Thats not us lets remember we are all here for the love of the same thing....we could spread a little more of that love between each other and i think we'd have a stronger fandom.
     
  16. Cal

    Cal Well-Known Member

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    I support criticism on any creative work, but unfortunately the staff take a very dim view on the subject. I've even seen the mods ban users for offering criticism on customs; that's how bad they are. :sly2: 

    TBH, I support Biotoakid's view on this custom. The paint scheme and applications are simply not impressive. Without extensive remolding, you can't really pass off Weirdwolf's for Strangehold's rhinoceros mode to begin with. That aside, even the colours don't match Stranglehold's orange and green layout. Why bother trying to homage a character when it doesn't even look like him? Even the paints come off as pasty and smudged. If this really is a proof of concept, you need better proof. [​IMG]
     
  17. blastpak

    blastpak Well-Known Member

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    I'm thinking, "why aren't they getting this?"

    Yes biotoakid's opinion is valid, it's the way it was said and I'm not talking about going easy about it or sugar dusting it. "Half assed" isn't constructive feedback, and it basically provoked smoked toast's defensive response.

    Biotoakid could've just said, "why is the paint work messy? It's not working for me, have you tried making areas off?"

    Smoked toast's response could've been, "I'm trying something out, this is new to me, do you have any tips? Also my paint is old do you know how to thin it out? " This isn't a cheap hobby.

    Couple of other things: this is smoked toast's custom, it's his to do whatever he wants to it, we're the audience we can interpret the work, however we want to but we have no ownership of smoked toast's work. So if he wants to paint it in predacon colours to see if it works he can, mind you no one suggested doing a digi bash for proof of concept! Considerably cheaper.

    Criticism is a two way street, the feedback needs to be thought out, direct but not rude and the response from the artist needs to be thought out, if there's a reason why you've done something, spell it out but don't use an excuse like, "my paint is old" or, "I don't have the finances."

    A first time custom is never going to be perfect but it should be finished and then when the next custom is done it will be better and so on.
     
  18. SmokedToast

    SmokedToast Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, its not the advice I got defensive about... Its everything that came after. Hence why I brought up that I had tried before, this is my first attempt at something more off beat. The paint dried, Im looking into cheaper alternatives to painter tape before continuing.
    Im using testors model masters acryllics, I think part of my problems on thinning it is how little paint it is in the mixing containers, even a drop of water causes the problems of running off.
    Part of the differences is due to lack of colors and being able to buy shades seperately. Plus strangleholds kind of plain inner bot mode wise. Im basing it largely on this fanart here. Mechanized Burrito Squish, weremole: Stranglehold from Generations Rhinox....
    Any advice on thinning would be appreciated, its not that I dont want to, I just cant get the paint to function when I try.
     
  19. blastpak

    blastpak Well-Known Member

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    1. You don't have to use painters tape, you can use ordinary masking tape which is cheaper and if you want to reduce the stickiness put the tape on your clothing first and peel it off.

    2. I haven't used testors before, I've used Tamiya paints and thinned them out with their brand of thinners. With new paint it's easier to thin it out to a runny consistency, older paint will need more thinner and it's not guaranteed that it'll work, paint can crap out. Talk to your local hobby shop they maybe able to help.

    So your paint should be watery and when you put it on the figure the brush strokes should be in the same direction (with the first few coats you'll still be able to see the original toy's color, this is OK) let it dry and then paint it again with all the brush strokes going in another direction. Repeat, you'll want to do it until you get a uniform coating on the toy.

    You may want to also look into buying a can of spray paint (like plastikote) from a hardware store and doing a base coat of yellow or orange on the toy, depending on what you're after.
     
  20. primalxconvoy

    primalxconvoy Banned

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    I agree that the paints were sloppy and there were finger prints and other mistakes in evidence.

    However, the OP who gave advice did so with the inclusion of abusive or abrasive language, such as:

    From this paraphrase of the OP's "advice", it would seem that there is a fair amount of emotive or subjective language used to discuss the intentions of the uploader, rather than the end result. It seems that they were stating that the uploader "didn't bother" to create appealing content that could have easily been solved due to "countless" guides being available.

    If this analysis is true, then was the "advice" given purely just that, and if it wasn't, then if the aim was advice, was the emotive language appropriate for the use of advice-giving?

    I personally feel it's akin to using abusive language, due to frustration, while asking/demanding that the person being scolded rectify a mistake" (e.g., "Hey, Moron, get your car outta da way!"). It's not uncommon for the listener to NOT comply with the wishes of the speaker.

    Anyway, for the original thread poster and uploader; what is your aim here? Did you want to paint something nicely or just quickly show an idea (and to hell with the painting)? If it was the former, then here is some advice:

    - Try painting with acrylics rather than oil/enamel based paints, as they are thinner and can be thinned down with water or coloured inks, etc.

    - Use flatter, squared-off tips for brushes when painting larger/flatter areas, as this will evenly distribute the paint more.

    - Paint in many, thinner coats, rather than one or two thick coats.

    - Try to disassemble or unassemble (by keeping parts on sprues, etc) before painting, if possible. You can pop arms off of ball-joints, etc and then paint them.

    - Wait for each part to dry before holding the part to paint other areas, it the other side of the part being painted. Wash your hands or fingers between paint applications to lessen coloured fingerprints getting onto other areas of the toy.

    - Have a damp cloth or equivalent handy to quickly clean areas that get excess paint on them.

    - Be aware that yellow, white, orange and sometimes red paint (amongst others) can be quite "thin" colours, requiring more, thinned-down layers than other colours. Even Hasbro can't always apply these colours 100% effectively without the original plastic colours showing through.

    - If possible, sand down slightly some areas of the toy to allow the paint to "grip" the surface. Applying a light grey, white or black (depending on the desired result) undercoat using thinned-down paint will also help the main coat/s of paint "grip" to the toy (just remember to sand down enough so that the new painted layers don't go "higher" than the original paint/plastic layer).

    - Check out this guide to modelling paints here: - Paint Types | Scale Model Guide

    Hope this helps.

    (Please excuse the swypos. It's difficult to see what I'm typing on my smartphone)

    Disclaimer: - I want to add that I myself have been accused of slandering posters' work in these sub-forums, but I believe that my criticism, although outspoken, has been bereft of commenting on the intentions of the uploader. I DO believe that all work, posts or opinions submitted to a forum have the right to be submitted to critique, but effectiveuse of language should be employed to remove confusion between rival parties, so that discussion "on the same page" can occur.