My first customs (Clones)

[Aucassin]

First of all, I need to acknowledge the work of everyone here and at RS that inspired me to paint my figures for the first time ever (I don't count the time I took one of those silver markers from the '80's, the kind that left an outline of a different color around whatever you wrote, and added some detail to [ruined] the Baroness and Torch  ). Your excellent clones showed me how just a little bit of color could make these great figures even better!

The color in the first two pictures is bright because of the flash, the last picture's color is more accurate.

[Jesse James]

That's good work man...  Very smooth painting, and from what I can see there's minimal brush strokes left (if any), very straight/smooth lines...  You did a goodjob.

Clone repaints are kind of the Astromech of the new generation of customizers I've noticed.  At one time, repainting an R2 was how people really got into the hobby.  It's that leaping board people needed to see that they can make their collection that much more diverse than what Hasbro will do for them...

Clones have taken that role now it would seem, and it's nice to see new faces giving things a try.  Hopefully you start getting into the more advanced stuff then like head/part swaps, and the like. 

What was it Obi Wan said?   "You've taken your first step into a much larger galaxy...."    Customizing consumes you!  You wanna check out the more "advanced" stuff, just stop by www.FFURG.com or check other people's work out and get inspired.

[Darth Delicious]

"Larger WORLD," Jesse James. "Larger WORLD." Don't make me make you roll a die to make your "Geek Cred" check. 

Aucassin: Amazing job on the 501st. I am greatly impressed by the way you cipped and wore their paint. My only suggestion would be to add a little grime to the armor here and there, to emphasize that the armor rubbing up against rough edges and such was what helped grind off some of that paint.

Welcome to our sickness.   

-DD

[CHEWIE]

Welcome to the madness around here, and really great a great job on painting these.  Very well done.  If this is really the first time you've painted/customized your figures, we are all in for a treat with your future projects.

I haven't gotten into the Clone custom craziness yet, but people like you are more than making up for my lacking in this area.   

Can't wait to see more of your stuff.   

[Famine]

NICE! 

I really love these clones. Welcome to the sick sick world we live in.

Kevin

[Dressel Rebel]

Very good!  I can't wait to see the movie, I'm curious if Commander Appo really looks this way, I hope he does.

[Angry Ewok]

Very nice work, and good pictures, too.

[Ryan]

Yeah! Auccassin has come to the dark side!

Great looking clones man! The paint app is qiute smooth and the lines are nice and striaght! Keep it up! I can't wait to see more of your stuff! What theater are you seeing Sith at BTW?

[Aucassin]

Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate the words of encouragement!

Hopefully you start getting into the more advanced stuff then like head/part swaps, and the like.

I'm planning to get into that soon (I want to make a super-articulated commander, but I want to use #33's more detailed right arm instead), so I've been reading up on removing parts at the link you posted.

My only suggestion would be to add a little grime to the armor here and there, to emphasize that the armor rubbing up against rough edges and such was what helped grind off some of that paint.

I've been holding off on doing this until I do some experiments with it (I have an R4-G9 with a flaw in the paint on his dome that I'm going to work with). I really like how the chipping turned out on these, so I want to get the scuff marks to look as good.

Unfortunately, Alpha (the commander, inspired by Darth Delicious' version) has suffered from some discoloration. I was trying to deepen one of his peg holes, and when I set him down I noticed that where I had been holding him had become stained reddish. Looking further, I found more places on him like this! I noticed this a couple of months ago when I was modifying the R4 mentioned earlier to fit into Obi-Wan's starfighter, but I didn't think much of it because most of the problem was hidden when the droid is in the slot. Has this happened to anyone else? I try to make it a habit to wash my hands before handling my figures, but now I'm afraid to go anywhere near them!

I'm not going to let this deter me; I'll paint over the whole figure if that's what it takes to save him, but I hope this doesn't happen again!

Again, thanks for the kind words, everyone!

And SLC, I'm going to see it at the new theater in Greeley for the midnight showing. I was thinking of going to the digital theater in Denver, but I decided to just go to Greeley. I'm kind of regretting that, but I already have my ticket. I'll see it digitally eventually.

[Jesse James]

Glad to hear it!  You're gonna be sculpting your own figures in no time!  You're hooked, haha!   

Astromech painting is a GOOD place to start on trying out damage  effects and "washes", or "drybrushing".  The Clones are a little tougher, as there's a look in the film that's really specific.  DarthDelicious has done the battlescarring fantastic justice though, so if you do decide to try that his figures are a good example to look at...

Astromechs are a great way to start out though, as their series of panel lines and things can get you into the basic gist of blackwashes and things, to see how they add a little depth and "worn" look to figures.  The smooth lines of the Clone armor is slightly more difficult, but still something worth attempting.

Perhaps some #6 Clones can donate themselves to the experiment when you want to try it out then... 

[Aucassin]

Glad to hear it!  You're gonna be sculpting your own figures in no time!  You're hooked, haha!   

Well, I would like to make Commander Cody's helmet.    But I'm far from being ready to try sculpting. I'm probably going to stick with clones for now, since I'm army-building them (first time doing that as well).  I'm going to make Bly and his squad (I have the commander figures, I just need to get the right colors), and maybe do a couple of shock troopers. I'm thinking of experimenting with decals to get the small details right. But eventually I'm going to try other customs. Right now I'm thinking of trying to make a Khaleen (I think that's her name) custom. But again, I'm not ready for that yet.

I messed around with washes and dry-brushing on the R4 I mentioned. I still want to work on it a bit more, but here's a picture of what I've done so far:



And this is what my clones looked like after dirtying them up; I was trying to get a more subtle look, but I'm starting to like how they turned out:

[hemble]

Great looking unit very well painted and weathered well done

Ron

[crazy about Clones]

nice weather on your Clones! Some people do to much I think, but you added just enough to make them look awesome!