Painting Journal: Hikari Jungle Groot

I really like Funko's Hikari Groot toy.  It's big and hefty, nearly 12" tall, has good proportions, and very nice detail work throughout.  If you've considered getting a Funko Hikari figure, this is a great place to start.  It's not "proper" Japanese Sofubi, despite what the box may say, but the quality is top notch.

I had to paint it, and went all getting three of the standard figure (which, again, looks really nice).  I wanted something more colorful.  Inspiration comes from Kenner's wild 1980's Swamp Thing toys.  While I never had any as a kid (too scary!) they fascinated me then, and their bizzaro schemes are still a great place to start.

Using Monster Kolor, I sprayed both solid colors and metallics at different angles to highlight the details.  Unusually for me, I skipped the pearl effects and high-gloss clearcoat.  That leaves the constrast between the satiny solid greens and teals, and the glossy metallic red and green highlights.  His eyes stand out with metallic yellow.

I had a great time getting into all the little details of the figure, and I hope you all enjoy it too!

Painting Journal: Fun with Funko Hikari

I bought a couple of the cheaper Funko Hikari figures to paint.  They're not bad in and of themselves! At the $20ish I paid for Glitter Optimus and Silver Glitter Batman they're decent, medium-sized Chinese vinyl with joints at the head and arms.  I specifically bought two that didn't seem to be sought after, and that I wouldn't feel bad stripping and painting.  I'm not really fond of clear vinyl with glitter.  I think it looks chintzy, but that's just me (Of course the really packed lame' vinyls are another story!)

The paint did not want to come off these two, which says good things for their durability.  The shiny blue on Batman was clear paint over silver, which I was kinda surprised to see, it's the same thing I do, and takes time (but looks shinier), than just doing metallic paint.  Cool beans!

  

I did Optimus in an 'energon' purple and gold scheme.  Honestly surprised Funko didn't do a purple Optimus already, seems like it would be a perfect color in clear vinyl.

Batman I was going to do in a candy-stripe scheme, but it looked to busy, so I settled with "Rescue Batman" here.  I'm happy with both overall, though Batman's off-center symbol is going to bother me forever.

Painted with Monster Kolor , of course!  Lots of C-Thru and pearls on these two.

Why Blindboxes? JewelTone Tencans

Why blindboxes?  Blame a misspent youth collecting trading cards.  I think it boils down to the excitement of discovery.  I want to be able to share that.  I also wouldn't be doing this unless I thought each piece was equally interesting.  Airbrushed silver Monster Kolor base (the shiniest silver paint I've ever worked with), covered with Monster Kolor C-thru, purple pearl for sheen, and high-gloss clear coat.  I even did a chase figure: C-thru Smoke instead of color, and a generous helping of MK Holographic flakes.  It's spendy paint, so I traditionally use it sparingly.  Not on that one!

These nine little guys are still on track for sale at 6:00 Pacific tonight.  I didn't realize there is a Glyos drop a half hour later.  I'll be there for that one too.

Huge thanks again to Nik Sardos for being a willing collaborator, and the Gaspars for making OMFG a reality.

Painting Journal: Max Toy Kaiju Dualos

That picture above? I should have stopped there.  Just painted the eyes, and called it good. But no. Increasingly poor decisions follow:

This was a 2011 Mega Glitter Kaiju Dualos from Max Toy Co.  It started life looking like this one: http://jme7315.blogspot.com/2011/11/maxtoyco-mega-glitter-kaiju-dualos.html

Nifty, but I really wanted the detail on this awesome sculpt to stand out, and glitter plastic isn't known for doing that.  A rub seemed ideal to bring out the sculpt, while still showing some nifty glitter.

Deciding I wanted him to look like a well-loved vintage toy, I set to work.

Instead of my usual Monster Kolor base coat, I went with a rattle-can of black Krylon.  The spray-paint doesn't come off as easily, and would add another layer to the rub that I would have to work through to get to the glitter.

After covering with the spray paint, I set to work with the Monster Kolor.  Standard Red blended with Brown and Green from the then-just-released military set got the colors I wanted.

The turpentine rub worked nicely, with the Monster Kolor coming off easily on the raised areas, and more effort needed to get the Krylon gone.  The result is a nice contrast to the layers, with the glitter as the chewy-nougat center.

But then I wrecked it, apply waaaaay too much Monster Kolor dullcoat.  Which turned the dullcoat into a glosscoat.

I tried several different clear matte finishes to try and take away the sheen, but I'vew never gotten back to the finish in the picture at the top.  It remains on my shelf, mocking me with it's almost-but-not-quite-ness.  (I'm tempted to strip it completely and start over, but I really do like the paint job, I just didn't stick the landing.)

Painting Journal: Max Toy Monster Boogie Poodra

Poodra is one of five new micro kaiju figures Mark Nagata launched last year, under the new Monster Boogie banner.  Large for micros they're around 3" tall.  Poodra is a hefty little chunk of vinyl.

I took me a long time to warm to the sculpt.  Just something about it wasn't clicking.  It took me a couple test schemes before I settled on 'Happy Fun' Poodra here.  My paintjob still lacked personality until I started on the pupils in his eyes.  That finally sold the crazy mutant puppy for me.

Unusual too is that I avoided metallic and special effects paints.  He's just covered in bright, bold monster color, and given a basic satin acrylic varnish.

The scheme is based on vague recollections of McDonald-Land commercials, and other 70's vestiges that slouched into my childhood, and seared themselves on my brain.

Take Poodra home, won't you? Thank you!

How can you resist a face like this?*

*(Stray cat hairs, and weird artifacting on his left eye, not included)

Update: SOLD!

Painting Journal: Lord Bozyk

Lord Bozyk, and Jeweltone Crayboth sidekick

Behold!  Dictator of Space: Lord Bozyk (named after a secret sandwich at my favorite place to eat.) You saw the WIP picture in this post.  But here's the finished item!

This guy was a commission in trade for some hard-to-get Glyos figures.  The head is from a pewter miniature, the hands were stolen from an action figure.  I did some sculpting to make the pieces fit the body, and painted it with my favorite Monster Kolor Metallic - Green Tea.  He also features a bunch of special MK pearls, Vividtone. and Color Change flakes to top it off.  After the ultragloss clear set, I highlighted the details with some flat acrylic wash.

Unfortunately for the recipient, I came down with the flu in between the start and end of this project, but fortunately for me, he was incredibly patient.  I added the Jeweltone crayboth (from an earlier custom project) as a bonus.  The recipient is a prolific Glyos customizer as well, check out his shop here: http://ersico.storenvy.com/ Thanks to Eric as well for the pictures!

Painting Journal: Glyos Main Brain

I haven't written nearly enough about Glyos. The brainchild of Matt Doughty and family, a man who created his own toy company from scratch, in his attic, and then shared it with the world.  Matt developed Lego-like joints that can be popped apart and reassembled, and each figure can be dismantled, and combined with a growing number of toys that use the Glyos Joint System.  Customization is highly encouraged.

One frequent Glyos collaborator is Marty Hansen, owner and mastermind of TGB Toys, and resin casting guru.  Seen above is a Glyos figure, with a head sculpted by Matt, and cast by Marty.  There's just a bit of pearl and glosscoat on the head, then a wash to bring up the contrast. It's incredibly beautiful translucent resin, with almost no mold lines.  Also the sculpt reminds me of The Brain from Planet Arous.  Another terror from childhood.

The figure itself is built-up from a variety of Glyos parts, in the Bulker-Suit configuration.  The paint is, as always, Monster Kolor, Sublimed Green metallic over an olive green base.  The arm was clear plastic, painted with MK C-thru colors.  It's all finished with MK ultragloss clearcoat, and a bit of gold pearl.  Then I darkened the panel lines with olive green acrylic, and did a bit of wash on the head to bring up the contrast.

One of the niftier things about a Glyos and Monster Kolor combination, is that even after customization, they  can still be posed and fussed with.

Painting Journal: Max Toy Co Mini Alien Xam

I'm still fighting off the flu, apologies in advance if this post is less-than-lucid.

One more Max Toy Co Mini figure, this time in clear vinyl!  Xam is the alien baddie in Mark Nagata's Max Toy universe.  Like Captain Max, his figure is on the small side, almost micro-scale.  A nifty sculpt, and a cool design, somewhere between the Metaluna Mutant and Doctor Zoidberg.  I like it.

Monster Kolor C-thru on the job again, to preserve the transparency.  Obviously, I like playing with opacity, and first I sprayed the eye, feet, and claws with Monster Kolor silver, my go-to primer and base coat.  I put it on thick, and faded into the transparency.

I masked off the eye with silly-putty, and went to work with the C-thru paints.  First Seashore stripes for a blue ringed octopus look, and contrasting yellow to fill the gaps.  Then the silly putty mask came off, and I highlighted the unblemished silver with Moon Dust.  It's a very fine silver pearl coat with a subtle shimmer.  It makes the silver really pop.

For your own Alien Xam, check the Max Toy Co Store.

Painting Journal: Max Toy Co Mini Captain Max

One last Max Toy glow-in-the-dark figure.  Captain Max is the superhero mascot of Max Toy co, presented in mini form, he's tiny and cute.  Almost micro size at under 3" (the boundaries of the definition are vague and flexible) with plenty of detailing on his costume.

I decided to use some masking to create negative space on his eyes and ears.  I often completely fail at masking, either not masking enough, and overspraying, or peeling the paint below when I pull the mask off, or letting the mask slip while I paint.  I managed to avoid all those here, probably because the masks were simple, and the piece is very small.

Monster Kolor C-thru at bat once again, and not disappointing.  Violet, Bad-apple red, orange, and yellow for the fade from the center out.  No pearls or special effects paints, just gloss coat to finish.  I figured the glow and colors were vibrant enough.  He glows like a little champ, and I'm happy with the finished product.  No mini captain max minis available at the moment, but full-size figures are in Mark's store!

Painting Journal: Max Toy Co Mini Dragigus

Here's Drazorus glow-in-the-dark twin, Dragigus.  Baragon with a lobster tail?  That'll do!  Another fine Max Toy Co design, from Mark Nagata.  I went in intending to do a swampy green and purple scheme.  It didn't really come out that way; I'm especially disappointed with how the green stripe on his back just stops at his neck.  It's not one of my better efforts, that.  I think I didn't want the green overspraying the purple and darkening too much.

I probably should have left off the pink, and definitely the yellow.  Swap the pink for a different shade of purple, and he's back to being a swamp creature.  Dump the yellow, and he no longer looks like holiday candy.  A bright lime green would have worked better, but I don't have one of those in a clear paint.  There's a rant on public perceptions of certain color combinations in there somewhere, but I'll spare you.

Monster Kolor C-Thru does the heavy lifting again, and a coat of white pearl metallic gives him a fantastic glazed pottery look.  The sheen is nice an visible in the group shot below, hanging with more of the Max Toy Mini family.  If you want on of your own, there's a brilliantly painted Mt. Kubo variant available in the Max Toy Co store.

Painting Journal: Max Toy Co Mini Drazorus

Max Toy Co Mini Kaiju Drazorus

Max Toy Co, brainchild of Mark Nagata, was my first introduction into the world of real Japanese Kaiju figures, his mini figures will always have a special place in my heart, and they're always a joy to paint.

Above is one of my favorites, Drazorus, part of an unpainted glow-in-the-dark pair (with his buddy Dragius) offered a year or two ago. They don't show up nearly often enough for liking, I want more!

Drazorus is another fascinating sculpt, with lots of spikes and armor plates.  I am incapable of completely painting over a glow in the dark figure, which meant deploying the Monster Kolor C-thru!

A little C-thru paints go a long way, and it can be very easy to overdo it, which is my way.  I think I was able to pull back enough to give him a nice amount of color, without going overboard.

The spikes, claws, and armor made me think 'lobster monster' and I ran with that, with some magma colors for a fiery effect.  He's finished with Monster Kolor White Pearl for a little of sparkle, and ultragloss coat.  The result is one of my favorite schemes, and he lives in my permanent Max Toy Co collection.

If you want your own Drazorus, there's a really cool painted variant in the Max Toy store right now!