The Energon Pub

Finally finished up my newest custom this past week... I've been working on him off and on for the last two weeks. I got him, and couldn't decide what direction to take it, what color scheme to do, how to camo it, whether or not to add battle damage, etc.

After prepping him up and filling in the gaps, etc. (and REMOVING the friggin' batteries after getting so dang annoyed of his battle sounds every time I touched it - don't worry, I put them back in when I was done, and left those two screw holes open), I got my dremel hot knife and started whacking away at him, literally like a hot knife on butter! I really wanted him to look like he's in the middle of battle.

I then layed down the base coat. Then I remembered the airbrush I have owned for roughly five years that I have never used (don't ask me why.) I finally decided to give it a go, so I blended in some darker green, dark grey and light grey camo. I wanted it to be subtle and natural, nothing too dramatic. I went in and added the detail and weathering, and he turned out a bit better than I originally had hoped. I was going to do a "clean" repaint... a "factory" tank with no weathering and no damage... but what fun is that for me in painting it? I'm pleased with the end result, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it as well... did I pull it off? Overdo it?

I do know this... this will be the last Leader Class Brawl I do. He was a bit of a pain... although I did enjoy doing another military-based figure (I love the colors and fun with battle damage/weathering!!) I'll probably do a Deluxe Class Brawl soon, and do something totally different with that one... but this was a fun experiment!

Thanks for looking!!






















More pictures and higher res photos available on my Flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pairadocs/sets/72157594541503260/

P.S. He's up on eBay - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320162913318 - my seller name is pairadocs-design.

Very VERY nice work. Absolutely beautiful. Thumbs up ,dude. Very nice and detailed with a..... Intimidating nature about it. One sort of contadiction in it's design is that, although it has taken damage and has rust. it just looks so pretty, clean and shiny in other areas. It's still a very gorgeous piece. Perhaps if you just took the shine out? I'm not even sure how you'd do that. I too am working on a leader class brawl. I'm going with a more traditional camo paint job. I like the battle damage idea, but I'm struggling with that one myself. My camera stinks so the pics won't be nearly as nice as yours. I've got the vehicle mode about done. I may post pics before I finish it because I take forever to customise as I am new at it.

WOW. that is truly beautiful work. GREAT JOB!!

Bravo man! Bravo!

Excellent job on brawl! This the way Leader Brawl, and other leader class figures should have been done. No need for childish electronics. Just excellent paint application and outrageous detail

Mighty impressive work pairadocs! such realistic color schemes and amazing amount details and pretty backgrounds, it looks real...I love it!

Pairadocs, is there some place I can go online to see your other works. Based on this peice, I think I would love to see what else you've done. I really love the way you've blended the colors.

Thanks everyone!!

Asepticon - I see what you mean on the damage... there is actually more "dirt" on the "clean" parts that don't really show up well in the shots... but you make a very good point.

Also, if you go to my Flickr gallery (there's a link below all the photos in my first post, you can see shots of all my customs. I am still working on my own website.

Thank you again for all the nice words... I appreciate any and all feedback (good/bad) - so please keep letting me know what you think!!

wow, it must of took alot of courage to just slash at it with a knife. But overall, I love the battle damage you've applied.

Awesome!!!

Boy, fans love their Leader Brawl customs, they pop up all the time and they always look great! The mold lends itself very well to custom paint jobs and battle damage!

How do you do those backgrounds?

Sonray wrote:How do you do those backgrounds?

Come on dude, he travels to the locations, sets his toy down and takes out the camera.

Some people..

Very Very Nice!!

Briggs wrote:

Sonray wrote:How do you do those backgrounds?

Come on dude, he travels to the locations, sets his toy down and takes out the camera.

Some people..

Gee i would never have guessed!

Wow, that's really slick. The bullet holes and gashes look way better than the original. Nice paint too, looks like a ank would. Nice, all around sweet.

Skowl wrote:Awesome!!!

Boy, fans love their Leader Brawl customs, they pop up all the time and they always look great! The mold lends itself very well to custom paint jobs and battle damage!

I tell ya, you could paint the thing just plain green and it would be better than the origional. With the CLEAR GREANADE LAUNCHERS, sheesh, the things begg'n to get customized.

Skowl wrote:Awesome!!!

Boy, fans love their Leader Brawl customs, they pop up all the time and they always look great! The mold lends itself very well to custom paint jobs and battle damage!

I tell ya, you could paint the thing just plain green and it would be better than the origional. With the CLEAR GREANADE LAUNCHERS, sheesh, the things begg'n to get customized.

So thats the 200th Leader Brawl Custom that looks far better than the original.

But this one is one of the best custom Brawls I have seen. Great Work!

Funny, this is the first leader Brawl I've seen so far, but it would be hard to beat. I can't wait to see what Jin Saotome comes up with.

One word Pairadocs.... BREATHTAKING!!! This is exactly how I would imagine Brawl in real life!!! What type of airbrush machine do you use??? If you dont mind me asking so I can go get one and give it a whirl!!

Many thanks everyone! You're all too kind. I have heard some feedback not digging the eye slash, and I have to admit, I sort of regretted it once I did it (since he has a cool head.) I got a bit melt-happy with the hot knife... but it did grow on me over time, and at least it's something different, right?

To answer some questions now:

- backdrops: I just print off cool images on big paper (I have a wide-format printer) and hang them behind the figure in my lightbox. Nothing fancy at all. Sometimes, with other figures, I will go outside in various locations and take them that way (I did that with my Rogue Clonetrooper seen in my Flickr gallery.)

- airbrush: I have a Testors Aztek airbrush I bought for real cheap on eBay about 5 years ago. I got it brand new, but I think it's a bit obsolete by this point. I'm going to use it and get comfortable with it, then ditch it for a nicer one, like a Paache (sp?) or a Badger one. I have a little rinky-dink compressor (also by Testors) that is blue.. which I got on clearance at Meijer a few years ago as well. Ideally, when I get a nicer airbrush, I'll get a nice oil-less one with a diaphragm and regulator.

Yeah, I've seen a lot of these Brawl customs pop up in the last two weeks... when I first bought him, I was psyched to get it done as there had only been one or two out there at the time... apparently, I wasn't the only one with that mindset. But I took my time at him, as I wanted him done just the way I envisioned.

Thank you again for all the kind words and feedback!

P.S. He's listed on eBay now - the link is in the first post of this thread!

So...How much would I have to pay you just to get half as quality of a paint job?

When I saw the first few pictures I thought they were pictures of an actual tank. The painting and battle damage on this figure are perfect.

Devastator - thank you very much for your comments! I really appreciate that! The fact that you thought it was a real tank when you saw the pictures makes me pleased (as much with the photography as the actual custom!)

TheMuffin... I don't know, man. Things are only worth as much as someone will pay, you know? But I don't know if I can "half" any quality standards I set for myself. I'm too much of a perfectionist for that!!

pairadocs wrote:Devastator - thank you very much for your comments! I really appreciate that! The fact that you thought it was a real tank when you saw the pictures makes me pleased (as much with the photography as the actual custom!)

TheMuffin... I don't know, man. Things are only worth as much as someone will pay, you know? But I don't know if I can "half" any quality standards I set for myself. I'm too much of a perfectionist for that!!

Well I don't technically mean "half" your standards. I meant instead of doing all of the scratching and gouges and such, maybe just a straight up painting to make the details stand out a bit more like on his legs, and possibly some dry brushing. I am completely inept at anything when paint is involved so I figured I would ask. And as an example I mean, the grey parts being dry brushed to make the details pop and maybe some extra yellow thrown on where it's needed. Nothing major like what you did here.