Mike, that is great. What figure is he from???

Thank you Dodgy. I did enjoy myself for a couple of hours just kinda experimenting with where colors would lead me and I'm happy with the results. 

The figure itself is from the new Masters of the Universe: Revelation animated mini series on Netflix. The series is based on the premise of, "What if Skeletor actually won?" and took the power of Greyskull. In the first five episodes they deal with Skeletor finally winning his long sought after prize, destroying He-Man and himself in the calamity. Then dealing with a world left behind as magic and the mighty hero have gone missing. 

Mark Hamill voices Skeletor most excellently and the legendary Allan Oppenheimer reprises his role (one of so many he voiced in the 1983 cartoon) as Moss Man. The art style is more in continuity with the 2002 MotU series, but is supposedly to take place after the 1983 series we knew from childhood. 

Anyways, the character I repainted is that of Skeletor as "Skelegod" after he raises the sword of power in victory and says the infamous words, "By the power of Greyskull!"

Quite entertaining. The next five episodes should be airing soon. 

Oh, and that's all acrylic paint, mostly Vallejo done in thin layers to build up the highlights. I did use some wet blending for the purple, but otherwise just layered, and layered, and layered lol.

I know I could've had some better blending with oils but they would've taken a lot longer to dry between layers and I haven't tried mixing them with my current acrylic processes yet. 

Thank you again for the question. I enjoyed answering it.

 I feel vindicated, somehow.

I saw that first photo, and thought, "That looks like Skeletor...."

(Always good to know the old 'bulbs' are still capable of lighting up....)

Great work, BTW!

It was the lack of a face that gave it away, huh? Lol

I am always amazed by what I can sometimes recall, and what I've forgotten from ages past. Memory is a fickle thing.

I'm glad I managed to get the likeness accurate, honestly. As stated, I usually start with a green base for that classic look of his radio active appearance, but his skull was always more yellow in the show so I thought I'd head in that direction with this repaint.

Thanks, Greg!

In case anyone was curious, there is a growing sub culture of customizing action figures and other toys these days. Now, they are not our traditional form of medium being that they are already assembled and usually painted, made of odd meterials that most paints don't stick to at all.

I've tested my toe in these waters and I find it has its own kind of satisfaction, when you improve something. 

The "Ice Armor" He-Man pictured above had his left arm broken off by one of my kids, a few months ago. I saw this as an opportunity to do more than spice it up a bit and went to town with some washes and effects. It didn't take much but some JB weld to reattach his arm, but it no longer moves effectively making this old toy into more of a statue. Game on!

One of these days I'm going to some gap filling and sculpting with a full figure repaint. I've yet to gain my confidence however.

Mark, I've enoyed modifying badly detailed toys for years.

Nicely done.

Bill

No kidding, Bill?

I've always been afraid of ruining their collectable value, but I've come to terms with having them for MY enjoyment, and since they're MY things I can improve them as much as I want to.

So this is new territory for me. I'd love to learn how to sculpt my own figures, but until I start that I may as well get used to modifying the ones I have, right?

I'm learning how to adapt my skills to new types of meterials and it's not all universal. 

I'm happy to know I'm not the only guy here who does this.

-Mike

Oh those look cool Mike! Always figured a few washes and some highlighting would bring out the detail on pre-built and painted figures.

Love how Skeletor's face looks. The highlights look fantastic!

Hey, Gam! 

Thanks for the compliments!

Unlike model building, which is a clean slate in a sense, taking a figure such as these means breaking them apart... and there seems to be an art to that in itself lol. I don't like breaking my things lol!

That face did turn out really good and I'm quite chuffed with it, obviously lol. I'm glad I didn't go with my usual radio active green tones like the last two. I literally just sat down with base, mid, and highlight colors, a couple of wash colors, black and white and let my pallet get filthy lol. I mixed two drops of blue to one red for the purple and got an almost exact match in the first try (when does that happen?!). 

I need to pull out my oils, and probably need new ones anyways to get back into practice with them. I've got some ideas for the future.

Great stuff Mike. I've never heard of Skeletor, or any of the others you mentioned, but it doesn't matter. This is great work and has given me much food for thought. Thanks for an interesting and informative post.

How did I miss this?!  Really nice work.  I have a few friends who rework figures.  They say it’s a blast. Thanks for posting.  

Really NICE!

Dodgy

Great stuff Mike. I've never heard of Skeletor, or any of the others you mentioned, but it doesn't matter. This is great work and has given me much food for thought. Thanks for an interesting and informative post.

 

Thank you, Dodgy. 

I used to work primarily with Testors and Model Master enamels and I could paint fairly well with those. Oils worked well with them, but s you well know they take some extra time to dry.

My skills started improving when I switched to simple craft acrylics and I've found Vallejo to be reliable for me. Acrylics in thin, light layers dry fast though and I basically go in for a few rounds of effects, sealers, more layers and round and round. What used to take me hours now only takes a fraction of the time. I'm not bragging, that's just how much easier with practice my methods have become for me. I don't always hit the mark where I want to, but I'm getting closer and closer with each figure I paint.

If I've got the time, I will get lost in it lol.

It doesn't matter if you don't recognize the characters. It's not required lol. I picked up some really good tips from Dr Faust's painting tutorials on YouTube and developed my own methods from there. Lots to be learned out there from some seriously talented people.

Amazing figure work!  A few years ago I was building the old AMT Star Wars Snow Speeder and did not want to use the kit's figures so I got two Star Wars action figures from Walmart and "weathered "them.  They turned out okay but I never used them in the build.  The Bandai Star Wars figure kits are similar.  They come in the appropriate colors and go together so well but I've done weathering to them to get them to look less "toy-like".  For my next one I want to try to fill the joints with sculpting putty to make them even more realisticTJS

Looks good, I know Bandai did a line called Sprue Kits that were models that built into action figures like the Bale Batman, Arkham Batman, Man of Steel and I think Halo as well.

M. Brindos

 

 

Dodgy

Great stuff Mike. I've never heard of Skeletor, or any of the others you mentioned, but it doesn't matter. This is great work and has given me much food for thought. Thanks for an interesting and informative post.

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Dodgy. 

I used to work primarily with Testors and Model Master enamels and I could paint fairly well with those. Oils worked well with them, but s you well know they take some extra time to dry.

My skills started improving when I switched to simple craft acrylics and I've found Vallejo to be reliable for me. Acrylics in thin, light layers dry fast though and I basically go in for a few rounds of effects, sealers, more layers and round and round. What used to take me hours now only takes a fraction of the time. I'm not bragging, that's just how much easier with practice my methods have become for me. I don't always hit the mark where I want to, but I'm getting closer and closer with each figure I paint.

If I've got the time, I will get lost in it lol.

It doesn't matter if you don't recognize the characters. It's not required lol. I picked up some really good tips from Dr Faust's painting tutorials on YouTube and developed my own methods from there. Lots to be learned out there from some seriously talented people.

 

 

Actually Mike I've never tried acrylics. I have only just begun to use them on model kits, but I'm happy with the results. When I began doing figures, oils were the only option and I had built my skills up to a reasonable standard, but then I took a break for many years and now I'm starting over again. Having said that I might have to check out Dr. Faust's techniques

knox

How did I miss this?!  Really nice work.  I have a few friends who rework figures.  They say it’s a blast. Thanks for posting.  

 

It is a blast. I just modified a Fortnite figures hands the other day. That included some minor sculpting to close the left hand for a better grip on one of the weapons. 

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. I got distracted with a resurrected "Tony" build I started a long time ago... and life in general lol.

TigerII

Really NICE!

 

Thank You! 

MR TOM SCHRY

Amazing figure work!  A few years ago I was building the old AMT Star Wars Snow Speeder and did not want to use the kit's figures so I got two Star Wars action figures from Walmart and "weathered "them.  They turned out okay but I never used them in the build.  The Bandai Star Wars figure kits are similar.  They come in the appropriate colors and go together so well but I've done weathering to them to get them to look less "toy-like".  For my next one I want to try to fill the joints with sculpting putty to make them even more realisticTJS

 

I didn't realize the old AMT kit of the snow speeder was that large! I bet that would've been spectacular as those of AMT pilot figures were basic without a lot of extra detailing.

I also want to try more sculpting to fill in joints. The old 200X He-Man figures are perfect for that and I've been considering which one to use.

Rob Gronovius

Looks good, I know Bandai did a line called Sprue Kits that were models that built into action figures like the Bale Batman, Arkham Batman, Man of Steel and I think Halo as well.

 

There's a few new companies making action figure models these days. I'm going to try one eventually. Furai has some good subjects.

Dodgy

 

 

M. Brindos

 

 

Dodgy

Great stuff Mike. I've never heard of Skeletor, or any of the others you mentioned, but it doesn't matter. This is great work and has given me much food for thought. Thanks for an interesting and informative post.

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Dodgy. 

I used to work primarily with Testors and Model Master enamels and I could paint fairly well with those. Oils worked well with them, but s you well know they take some extra time to dry.

My skills started improving when I switched to simple craft acrylics and I've found Vallejo to be reliable for me. Acrylics in thin, light layers dry fast though and I basically go in for a few rounds of effects, sealers, more layers and round and round. What used to take me hours now only takes a fraction of the time. I'm not bragging, that's just how much easier with practice my methods have become for me. I don't always hit the mark where I want to, but I'm getting closer and closer with each figure I paint.

If I've got the time, I will get lost in it lol.

It doesn't matter if you don't recognize the characters. It's not required lol. I picked up some really good tips from Dr Faust's painting tutorials on YouTube and developed my own methods from there. Lots to be learned out there from some seriously talented people.

 

 

 

 

 

Actually Mike I've never tried acrylics. I have only just begun to use them on model kits, but I'm happy with the results. When I began doing figures, oils were the only option and I had built my skills up to a reasonable standard, but then I took a break for many years and now I'm starting over again. Having said that I might have to check out Dr. Faust's techniques

 

Definitely do a little research and try a few techniques. My methods are a mix of a lot of little things I took away from a lot of different ideas.

Asking people how they achieved a certain result can also lead you to new ideas and I've been sharing mine any time I think it's could help.

M. Brindos

I didn't realize the old AMT kit of the snow speeder was that large! I bet that would've been spectacular as those of AMT pilot figures were basic without a lot of extra detailing.

 

The "problem" with the MPC Snow Speeder kit was that the actual studio model wasn't big enough for full figures. There was only room for torso and above. So the kit had to include gorilla shaped figure with super long arms.

I think it is officially 1/35th scale, but I tried putting 1/35 scale pilots inside, but you literally have to cut the figure at the torso to get them to fit inside. The kit figures are close to 1/48th scale.