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Post by Wolftiger on Apr 9, 2011 23:19:36 GMT -5
 This custom is the reason I have been busy lately. You can view the entry and back story at ZoidPoison. He already acquired the nickname "Tron Kitty" at ZP XD. Tomcat and his back-story have a lot in common. He was a Zaber Fang that came incomplete with other zoids. He was missing most of his weapons, including the body clip that holds the main weapon. I discovered that Cp-04 with clip instead of peg–hole would work nicely. How did I achieve the Tron look for Tomcat? I admittedly haven’t been thinking about Tron at all, at first when I was thinking about color. What I wanted was navy blue tiger with blue markings and blue highlights, that appears and disappears depending on the lighting.  First I painted pieces with silver paint (I always use can of spray paint), then I masked the pieces I wanted to be blue.  I go over those same pieces with flat black. Once the pieces are dry enough to handle, I took my dulled hobby knife, very lightly scraped the black paint off. Of course, I sometimes scraped too much paint off. In that case, I take smallest brush with small amount of silver paint and dabbed it on. I also use the brush to add silver details, for example the vents. Wait a minute, silver paint? Tomcat has blue coloring not silver! Right, he does, the next step was to paint the same piece that was already been painted silver and black, with transparent blue paint. The transparent blue will make silver pieces blue and make black pieces very dark navy. This process requires patience, it took me a week to have every thing ready for the final paint with transparent blue. The transparent blue paint dries to gloss finish, which means it takes longer to dry than other paints.   Upon finish finishing Tomcat, I was taken by surprise how well the blue gleamed when the light hits it. In shadows it faded away to almost nothing, only the larger areas of blue remain visible. He is the most difficult zoid to photograph. Since Tomcat is nearly black and glossy makes it hard to get details. The camera seems to be attracted to the shiny blue paint and makes it brighter than it is. By the way there is no motor in Tomcat, the only part of the motor I use is the battery cover.  Overall, I am very pleased how well he turned out, the color works out close to what I have mind. Tomcat's joints are still tight after all that posing I put him through. He is not comparable to the HMM, but he can do a headstand! |
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Post by vigbrastle on Apr 10, 2011 6:03:59 GMT -5
That is just beautiful!
Oh how I would love to see him in the actual movie glowing blue
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Post by GhostLiger on Apr 10, 2011 11:53:38 GMT -5
I saw this over on ZP. Looks gorgeous ^^ I've heard of using transparent colour paint over silver before. It does look patience challenging You're in category B right? I think I may be in way over my head here  |
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Post by La Volpe on Apr 10, 2011 12:38:27 GMT -5
I'm doing two Cat A entries and hotdamn your kitty looks niiiiice. I should try this silver + clear colour paint trick sometimes, that really does look pretty sweet.
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Post by Daft Punksworth on Apr 10, 2011 14:03:17 GMT -5
Tron Kitty. XD Niice.
I do something similar when I want shiney parts. Since I do sharpies mostly, I typically do Silver sharpies as a sort of "primer" and colour over it on a regular basis, and that does give it a nice glowing effect.
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Post by TheCharlax on Apr 13, 2011 17:17:45 GMT -5
I agree. The blue practically glows on that thing. Great job.
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Post by Wolftiger on Apr 14, 2011 15:11:52 GMT -5
Awww! Thanks for your comments! I saw this over on ZP. Looks gorgeous ^^ I've heard of using transparent colour paint over silver before. It does look patience challenging You're in category B right? I think I may be in way over my head here Thanks for praise, but I afraid Tomcat will be left in the dust once the more serious zoids darthers starts entering their customs. I'll be surprise if my custom even placed. At least you'll get some feedback for your customs. |
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Post by GhostLiger on Apr 14, 2011 16:39:43 GMT -5
Awww! Thanks for your comments! I saw this over on ZP. Looks gorgeous ^^ I've heard of using transparent colour paint over silver before. It does look patience challenging You're in category B right? I think I may be in way over my head here Thanks for praise, but I afraid Tomcat will be left in the dust once the more serious zoids darthers starts entering their customs. I'll be surprise if my custom even placed. At least you'll get some feedback for your customs. I fear the same. Really my whole reason for entering is to force me to finish the custom, but I've had to hand paint him. There's not really anywhere on the property that's airbrush friendly. So the paint quality is pretty crap, made worse by the fact that I've had to use enamels to get the right colour ^^; |
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Post by Wolftiger on Apr 17, 2011 14:59:15 GMT -5
I fear the same. Really my whole reason for entering is to force me to finish the custom, but I've had to hand paint him. There's not really anywhere on the property that's airbrush friendly. So the paint quality is pretty crap, made worse by the fact that I've had to use enamels to get the right colour ^^; I usually work with enamels, both spray can and brush. I suggest that you add a little thinner on the brush to make the paint go on smoother (much like water and acrylic paint). This technique will might require more than one coat of paint but the paint will be smoother. The downside is the glossy paint might get little dull. I look forward see your custom.  |
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Post by GhostLiger on Apr 17, 2011 18:42:38 GMT -5
I fear the same. Really my whole reason for entering is to force me to finish the custom, but I've had to hand paint him. There's not really anywhere on the property that's airbrush friendly. So the paint quality is pretty crap, made worse by the fact that I've had to use enamels to get the right colour ^^; I usually work with enamels, both spray can and brush. I suggest that you add a little thinner on the brush to make the paint go on smoother (much like water and acrylic paint). This technique will might require more than one coat of paint but the paint will be smoother. The downside is the glossy paint might get little dull. I look forward see your custom. So that's what people meant when talking about using thinner with enamels. Thank you ^^ I shall remember that for future. He's so close to being finished I can't stand it XD |
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Post by Daft Punksworth on Apr 17, 2011 20:50:18 GMT -5
I never mentioned I like the clawmarks on the nose, did I?
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Post by Blaze on Apr 20, 2011 15:07:31 GMT -5
Absolutely love that blue color! ;D
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