Nice work, amazing what a proper paintjob can do for already great mould. Really brings it to life. Hoping Takara have shelled out for some paint apps for their release of this, even tho Hasbro haven't.
Was really bummed... You know, when I heard that the First Editions were canceled here in the U.S. I got really depressed thinking about the differences between the FE and this one. Once I took this one apart and painted it, I realized it definitely has it's qualities and I like it MUCH MUCH more than I did! I still want an FE for the flip out cannons and the forearm design, as well as the fact that the roof of the car actually becomes CJ's chest, but I am really glad I picked this one up after all!!! Thanks for the compliments folks and I hope you all get one and it grows on you too!
Mostly, I like the Testors Model Master Acrylics the most. Really fast drying and really durable once they cure.
I didn't paint the body shell except for the thin black wash in the panel lines. The red on the shoulders I airbrushed after I hand brushed a layer of primer. When I started, I hadn't gotten my airbrush out of storage so I started the primer by hand...should have waited till I got the airbrush out as the finish isn't as smooth as I would have liked. It's interesting how all the additional black on the armature makes the red plastic on the body panels appear to be a different tone, somehow it tricks the eye into deepening the red. I am working on a second version and going to do a metallic candy apple on the body panels...I think...I already broke a leg on one trying to get a pin out out of the knee, so we'll see how motivated I am to try again tomorrow.
Wow, and the main thing you really did was just change the bland grey to black. I wish Hasbro did that.
Well, it's a little more than black paint. All the underlying armature, hands, feet and gun were painted flat black then dry brushed with aluminum then dry brushed again with a clear blue. The shoulders were hand brushed with a primer then airbrushed Model Master Acrylic Guards Red then the horns on the front of the shoulders painted black and the insets on top of the shoulders painted gray. Then the shoulders have a thin black wash in the recessed areas as well as all the body panels and head. I added aluminum to the door handles and blinkers on the quarter panels as well as an orange on top of the blinkers. Additionally, clear reds and blues and silvers are dry brushed onto the gun as well. Also ran a wash in the face crevices and dry brushed aluminum on the features for a little extra clarity. But thanks!
Is it possible to mix FE Cliff with RID Cliff? Since the RID version is more show accurate would you be able to swap the cannon arms (lower part elbow down) and the head from the FE to RID?
I was sure you'd added a gloss coat to the red at the very least. Wow. Very nice work! That helps so much.
You bet, just wait...I got re-energized and I'm working on one that's going to be a nice deep metallic red on the body panels. Just finished airbrushing the majority of the panels metallic red after taking out every single pin and screw on this thing! Gonna come back on each part and ghost in a touch of metallic black on all the panel edges so it's just barely darkens them and adds a little depth to the paint job. Here's a couple photos of the exploded cliff, prepping for paint.
I'll answer that since I have both, and it doesn't look like he does yet. Any changes will give you a non transforming figure. But that's not necessarily a big deal. You'd probably have better luck swapping out at the shoulders (as both are ball joints)- but FE's ball joints look to be a bit smaller. So you might have to shave down the ball or enlarge the socket. I'm sure the change could be made anywhere you wanted with some cutting and glueing (but at this point you've really committed to the change). So it certainly is doable, but it's not a thirty second pop off and pop on type thing. Plus there's probably no going back...
Thanks again guys! The second CJ custom is on it's way...got all the Metallic Red done today, working on armature parts and details tomorrow...should have him finished by Thursday barring any complications or interuptions
I have both FE and RID Cliffjumpers and I'm probably going to keep the RID one.. Custom its way more show accurate.. FE shoulders bug me.. Just gotta learn how to paint..