Customizing Indy Figures

Lambonius · Oct 18, 2008

Mike D said:
O.K...

Thanks to the speedy advice of Arab swordsman I have uploaded some photos to photobucket which I would like to share with all of you via the link below. I hope you like the work- it's simply some head customs and repaints that I did to try and improve the most intricately and accurately detailed 1:18 scale line ever. I'd love to know what you all think.

http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?mediafilter=images

Really nice, intricate work there! What do you use to apply such fine lines and points like eyebrows and pupils? Looks fantastic!

Also, just FYI, you should be able to copy and paste the actual HTML Image code from photobucket into your posts here and actually show the images themselves. Unless for some reason, that's the thing that you are restricted from doing...

For example:

PS: Where did you get the head you've used here??

The Golden Idol · Oct 18, 2008

Mike D said:
O.K...

Thanks to the speedy advice of Arab swordsman I have uploaded some photos to photobucket which I would like to share with all of you via the link below. I hope you like the work- it's simply some head customs and repaints that I did to try and improve the most intricately and accurately detailed 1:18 scale line ever. I'd love to know what you all think.

http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?mediafilter=images

That's AMAZING! Even Marion's headsculpt looks good!

Mike D · Oct 18, 2008

Lambonius said:
Really nice, intricate work there! What do you use to apply such fine lines and points like eyebrows and pupils? Looks fantastic!

Also, just FYI, you should be able to copy and paste the actual HTML Image code from photobucket into your posts here and actually show the images themselves. Unless for some reason, that's the thing that you are restricted from doing...

PS: Where did you get the head you've used here??

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try that below! I'm glad you like the heads and I thank you for saying so. I use a good quality detail brush that you can purchase at any art store or hobby shop for the fine line work and the eyes. I started out many years ago painting miniatures, so this scale is a lot broader- although the eyes on this line are really tough to get right. The head for the Ugha warrior was from an Elite Force figure that I bought some time ago to canabilize his accessories for a Gi Joe custom. I had the head lying around and thought it would make a good Ugha warrior. He sorta' looks like Mola Ram though, which kinda' bugs me. What do you all think?

<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010023.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010023.jpg" border="0" alt="Indy Tanis"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010019.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010019.jpg" border="0" alt="Indy No Jacket"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010016.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010016.jpg" border="0" alt="Cairo Thug"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010011.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010011.jpg" border="0" alt="Cairo swordsman"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010007.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010007.jpg" border="0" alt="Monkey Man"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010006.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010006.jpg" border="0" alt="Marion Ravnwood"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010003.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010003.jpg" border="0" alt="Indy"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010002.jpg" border="0" alt="Beloq"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010001.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010001.jpg" border="0" alt="Ugha Warrior"></a>

The Golden Idol · Oct 18, 2008

Mike D said:
He sorta' looks like Mola Ram though, which kinda' bugs me. What do you all think?

<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010023.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010023.jpg" border="0" alt="Indy Tanis"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010019.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010019.jpg" border="0" alt="Indy No Jacket"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010016.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010016.jpg" border="0" alt="Cairo Thug"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010011.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010011.jpg" border="0" alt="Cairo swordsman"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010007.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010007.jpg" border="0" alt="Monkey Man"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010006.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010006.jpg" border="0" alt="Marion Ravnwood"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010003.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010003.jpg" border="0" alt="Indy"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010002.jpg" border="0" alt="Beloq"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010001.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010001.jpg" border="0" alt="Ugha Warrior"></a>

No, he looks great. After seeing your amazing paintjobs, I REALLY want to repaint some of my Indy figures, but I don't have any experience and I'm afraid of messing up. Any tips?

Mike D · Oct 18, 2008

The Golden Idol said:
No, he looks great. After seeing your amazing paintjobs, I REALLY want to repaint some of my Indy figures, but I don't have any experience and I'm afraid of messing up. Any tips?

Spend some money and get some quality brushes and paint. You can get a good detail brush and medium sized watercolor type brush for painting larger areas at your local art or hobby shop. Both should cost you under $8.00, though you could spend a lot more if you like. It's not necassary to spend a fortune on brushes to get the quality your after. Keep good care of your brushes (wash them well after use and point them with your tounge before storing carefully) and they'll last for a long time.
I use Testors Model Master Acryl paints for the Indy figs. They have the kind of realistic colors I'm after and the finish is high quality. I use flat finish colors (as opposed to gloss or semi gloss). I use pastel dust for shading and for the unshaven look on Indy's face and then I seal the whole thing with Testors Dullcoat.
The best advice I can give on painting is to paint using many, very thin coats (your paint should be thinned with water to the consitancy of milk) until desired coverage is achieved. Never use your paint at the consistancy it comes out of the jar. It'll be clumpy and rank with brushstrokes when it dries. Just be patient and have good reference for what your trying to achieve nearby and you'll do just fine!

Mike D · Oct 18, 2008

The Golden Idol said:
That's AMAZING! Even Marion's headsculpt looks good!

Thanks! I was a little disapointed with her portait after she was done (most of the others wound up looking so much like their real life counterparts after being repainted that I was astounded), but she still looks a bit better than she did. Sallah was also a big disapointment- so much so that I didn't even photograph him.
I would like to point out that the Indy heads (the two with the hats on) are more than repaints. They use the KOTCS Indy with bazooka head (which is the best portrait of Ford imho) with the tops of their heads lopped off and hats cut from other heads glued on. The Indy heads with hats sculpted on just don't have very good portraits.

Lambonius · Oct 18, 2008

Finally got around to putting the paintjob on my motorcycle w/sidecar custom. I know we've seen a number of these using this recipe (Marauder sidecar/German bike) but I thought I'd show off mine anyway.

I haven't yet put the absolute finishing touch on it (the decals) because I still haven't yet decided if I'm going to take a crack at painting them or just use Billy Ray's great template, but this is the near-final product. I may have gone a bit overboard with dirtying up the bike and sidecar, but I really like it nonetheless--plus it would look better that way if I wanted to use it for a ROTLA truck chase dio. I used a red and brown mixture to rust the whole thing up a bit, including the bike, just to try to get both parts looking consistently weathered. As most others have done, I removed the blanket roll over the headlight, but I also took off the blanket roll on the rear of the bike as well, since it isn't there in the film. In the movie, there's actually a second seat there, but I just left it off, since I don't have any styrene lying around and the marauder bike seat is too big, not to mention the wrong shape. Also, I haven't attached the marauder sidecar machine gun turret, even though there is one in the film, because I just don't think it looks right--too bulky, in my opinion. Anyway, there she is. Enjoy! :gun:

Mike D · Oct 18, 2008

Lambonius said:
Finally got around to putting the paintjob on my motorcycle w/sidecar custom. I know we've seen a number of these using this recipe (Marauder sidecar/German bike) but I thought I'd show off mine anyway. I haven't yet put the absolute finishing touch on it (the decals) because I still haven't yet decided if I'm going to take a crack at painting them or just use Billy Ray's great template, but this is the near-final product. I may have gone a bit overboard with dirtying up the bike and sidecar, but I really like it nonetheless--plus it would look better that way if I wanted to use it for a ROTLA truck chase dio. I used a red and brown mixture to rust the whole thing up a bit, including the bike, just to try to get both parts looking consistently weathered. As most others have done, I removed the blanket roll over the headlight, but I also took off the blanket roll on the rear of the bike as well, since it isn't there in the film. In the movie, there's actually a second seat there, but I just left it off, since I don't have any styrene lying around and the marauder bike seat is too big, not to mention the wrong shape. Also, I haven't attached the marauder sidecar machine gun turret, even though there is one in the film, because I just don't think it looks right--too bulky, in my opinion. Anyway, there she is. Enjoy!

Wow! That is sweet! You did go crazy with the weathering, but I think it looks cool. Very neat!

Lambonius · Oct 18, 2008

Mike D said:
Wow! That is sweet! You did go crazy with the weathering, but I think it looks cool. Very neat!

Haha, well it was my first time doing weathering on a vehicle so I wasn't quite sure how far to go, plus it was a new set of paints, so I wanted to really flex my muscles a bit with them.

Billy Ray · Oct 18, 2008

Great work Lambonius! Weathering looks pretty nice IMO. I also like that you used the Marauder wheel on the back of the sidecar...I didn't even think about that until I was done with mine...it looks better than the Hasbro wheel.

Mike D....awesome repaints! I have dabbled in miniatures myself, as well as 1/6 scale heads, but never attempted 3 3/4" for osme reason. A couple of questions...

Do you strip the existing paint from the heads or paint over it?

Do you use any kind of primer or base coat?

The only 3 3/4" figure I ever painted was the hands on a custom Mace Windu I did. I used the paint straight from the bottle and the results were horrible, just like you said. Once I started doing 1/6 scale heads, I discovered the techinque of watering down the paint and using many coats...like you said, it works beautifully. I think once IJ figures go on clearance, I might pick up several for repainting.

Mike D · Oct 18, 2008

Billy Ray said:
Mike D....awesome repaints! I have dabbled in miniatures myself, as well as 1/6 scale heads, but never attempted 3 3/4" for osme reason. A couple of questions...

Do you strip the existing paint from the heads or paint over it?

Do you use any kind of primer or base coat?

The only 3 3/4" figure I ever painted was the hands on a custom Mace Windu I did. I used the paint straight from the bottle and the results were horrible, just like you said. Once I started doing 1/6 scale heads, I discovered the techinque of watering down the paint and using many coats...like you said, it works beautifully. I think once IJ figures go on clearance, I might pick up several for repainting.

Thanks, Billy Ray! On these particular heads I did not strip the offending paint, though I have done that in the past. I did indeed paint the entire head a flat flesh tone and then went in with the facial detail. I do not prime- it just doesn't seem needed- I do hit it with a spray of Dullcoat when I'm done, though. Thanks again for the interest!

CommanderDude · Oct 19, 2008

Mike D said:
Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try that below! I'm glad you like the heads and I thank you for saying so. I use a good quality detail brush that you can purchase at any art store or hobby shop for the fine line work and the eyes. I started out many years ago painting miniatures, so this scale is a lot broader- although the eyes on this line are really tough to get right. The head for the Ugha warrior was from an Elite Force figure that I bought some time ago to canabilize his accessories for a Gi Joe custom. I had the head lying around and thought it would make a good Ugha warrior. He sorta' looks like Mola Ram though, which kinda' bugs me. What do you all think?

<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010023.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010023.jpg" border="0" alt="Indy Tanis"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010019.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010019.jpg" border="0" alt="Indy No Jacket"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010016.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010016.jpg" border="0" alt="Cairo Thug"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010011.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010011.jpg" border="0" alt="Cairo swordsman"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010007.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010007.jpg" border="0" alt="Monkey Man"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010006.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010006.jpg" border="0" alt="Marion Ravnwood"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010003.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010003.jpg" border="0" alt="Indy"></a><a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010002.jpg" border="0" alt="Beloq"></a>
<a href="http://s483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/?action=view&current=P1010001.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/Miked_71/P1010001.jpg" border="0" alt="Ugha Warrior"></a>

insane Work ... i love how the Indy looks like ... awesome ... ever thought about making heads for the Forum and sell them?

inky_skin · Oct 19, 2008

Mike D - loving those repaints mate. Just shows the brilliance of the original Hasbro headsculpts even more. However - kudos to you - you must have on amazingly steady hand !

Mike D · Oct 19, 2008

CommanderDude said:
insane Work ... i love how the Indy looks like ... awesome ... ever thought about making heads for the Forum and sell them?

Thanks for the kind words! I would love to make custom heads and have them available for everyone on the boards! Unfortunately, I barely have time to make them for myself and I don't know the first thing about mold making and casting! But thank you for the interest- I'm very flattered!

Mike

Mike D · Oct 19, 2008

inky_skin said:
Mike D - loving those repaints mate. Just shows the brilliance of the original Hasbro headsculpts even more. However - kudos to you - you must have on amazingly steady hand !

Thanks! I'm a huge fan of your stuff! I've been admiring your work for some time now, I think it's just great! I wish there were more folks customizing these figures. I think they are without a doubt the most inticately detailed and accurately made 1:18 scale figures ever and the head sculpts (for the most part) are no exception. They just have cruddy paint apps.
By the way, you can definately put me down for one of those SADISTIC mine carts! That thing is just plain brilliant! I can't wait to get to work putting it together and painting it- your weathering job on the one you posted is just magnificent. Now if I can just get my hands on the Temple of Doom figures to put in it!

Mike

The Golden Idol · Oct 19, 2008

Mike, did you repaint the monkey or was it originally like that?

Also, what figures' hats did you use for your Indy heads?

Mike D · Oct 19, 2008

The Golden Idol said:
Mike, did you repaint the monkey or was it originally like that?

Also, what figures' hats did you use for your Indy heads?

I did repaint the monkey, but I wasn't very happy with the turnout- to be honest... there's not much there to work with. He's not very detailed. As far as the hats- I used whatever I had available. I really dislike the head sculpts for all of the hatted figures so I just cut them off and pop them onto an Indy bazooka head. I think I used the deluxe horse Indy hat for one and the Cairo indy hat for another (my original plan was to convert a Cairo Indy torso to fit onto the standard Indy legs, but I can't figure how to split the Bazooka Indy's torso... any tips out there?). Anyway, any hat works (accept that ridiculously big removable one that come with Crystal Skull Indy). Just be careful when you cut them away- you want it to be as perfect as possible.

Mike

nevsky41 · Oct 19, 2008

I'm trying to come up with a decent recipe for a Nepal Marion, but I'm stumped in some places. Any ideas are welcome...

The Golden Idol · Oct 19, 2008

nevsky41 said:
I'm trying to come up with a decent recipe for a Nepal Marion, but I'm stumped in some places. Any ideas are welcome...

What have you got so far?

Mike D · Oct 19, 2008

nevsky41 said:
I'm trying to come up with a decent recipe for a Nepal Marion, but I'm stumped in some places. Any ideas are welcome...

The Cairo Marion figure is a good base- the nepal version is not too far off. Some epoxy putty can easily account for the small changes in detail. Look for Queen Amidala figures from Star Wars for arm and leg options.The problem is going to arise with the head. How do you carve away her hair to make it look like it's pulled back rather than hanging down around her shoulders? Maybe slice offf marions face and transplant it onto Padme's head from Attack of the Clones? She has her hair pulled back for most of that one. I'm more interested in making Toht's thugs from that scene. I just can't get good reference for their outfits. Can anybody reccomend a good online reference site that offers full body pics of these guys (mean mongolian, giant serpa, and nepalese thug)?

Customizing Indy Figures

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