This, quite simply, is making up for my dead Ironhide I made this time last year. (LINKY!) I knew that the blue-jeans look was going to go, but after having done Leader Optimus Prime back in '09, I honestly wasn't looking all too forward to it (dear lord, the pins!). But once I got started, the whole thing just went easy. I know we've seen quite a few already, but here's one more: Paints used were Rustoleum Metallic Charcoal (the primary dull steel color for the legs), Krylon Fusion Hammered Steel (weapons, upper arms), and various uses of enamel and acrylic silver, aluminum, steel, gunmetal, copper and gold. Gloss blacks were used to make new 'truck' parts on his legs. The face and head were done using Tamiya Silver Leaf spray paint (sprayed into a cup and applied by brush), steel and gunmetal. The blue for the eyes was regular bottled Tamiya sky blue. I LOVE how his head and face came out. There's just so much detail there. Painting his one good optic came out absolutely fantastic with minimal effort. I think what makes it work best is the framing around his eyes is done in a dark gunmetal. Anything too bright (silver, aluminum) and it looks like he's wearing goggles. He just looks so alive when I take close-ups! Also couldn't help painting his eyes with neon blue underneath. Just for fun. And details... And, of course, FWI-02 weapons shots: (yes, kinda funny his mini-cannon is peeking out under his BIG cannon ) Plus, truck pics just to show how everything looks transformed. No mods to the truck mode (as in, I even forgot to paint his smokestacks...will definitely get that done) And, as an added bonus, in the attachments is the mini-comic I made featuring Ironhide in action. I'd say that definitely makes up for my last Ironhide "custom." edit: and they're too small, so here's part one, part two and part three.
Really excellent job! I had decided to sell my leader Ironhide, but your custom just convinced me to hold on to it, buy the FWI guns, and repaint him. In other words, your custom just cost me another $30-40 and gave me more work... and I'm looking forward to it
Hahahah! But glad you're looking forward to it. I'm sure he'll turn out great. Thanks again guys for the comments.
Can you give details on how to paint this? I have never customized before, and want to try it out. Can someone give me a walkthrough?
Man--posted this one a ways back! Still have him displayed--solid figure with the add-on kit. It's a bit of work, and really depends on how well you can take the figure apart. Ironhide was pretty easy considering. It's also good to do some 'research' in seeing which parts rub tight against each other. You can sand those bits down with files or mini sand blocks just enough so when you paint, they won't scratch it away in those areas when you move those parts for posing or transformation. I use spray paints like Tamiya or Krylon where possible. Tape off the sections you want to keep clean and take your time spraying. You can use modeling tape that's like thing masking tape you can find at hobby stores. You can even use scotch tape--which I like to combine with printing paper that I use if I need to for wrapping whole parts (and leaving only the small sections I want to paint bare). I usually do very light passes, like one or two at a time, then come back in 20 minutes or so to spray again. This way, you don't get it too thick. (Lots of people here use spray guns for that kind of control, but this works too). Test parts by putting them back together--just enough so you can see if you've sprayed everything evenly. Once the sprayed parts are done, I go in by hand on the details. You just have to decide what shades of metal you want to use. Once that's done, spray or brush on a clear coating (Pledge Future/floor polish, standard lacquer etc.) to keep it contained. Reassemble, touch up more areas with details if you feel the need. Practice is the best thing. Get some old figures that aren't worth much/you don't care about and play around with spraying, hand painting--see what results you get.
Sorry--keeping this one. And I don't get into the customs business myself. I'm sure there are some people on Radicons that do, though. There have been quite a few custom Ironhides over the years.
