The Energon Pub

[Raymond101]

Tomorrow I want to buy some paint to rebrush some of the 'gold' parts of Vector Prime and fix some of the smudging. Here's the problem - Vector Prime's colour isn't actually gold. I'm not sure what to call it - what the heck is it?? It's a 'cheap' gold - one that makes Vector Prime look gold but as low-cost as possible. Anyone who owns this redeco of Vector please help me. I need to know the colour that is his 'gold'.

Also, the paint is acrylic, right? It is a children's toy after all. I need to know the type of paint it is too.

[Craven Knight]

If I can offer a suggestion, The gold will be hard to match perfectly so why not try a blackwash on him instead?

Just Hasbro Matt Black & Mineral Turpintine

I did that to mine and it turned out amazingly, Vector Prime has an awesome amount of mold detail just waitng to be highlighted.

[Raymond101]

UUum. I've never done that before. I'm a complete n00b. By Blackwash you mean redeco him in black?

[Raymond101]

Or does anyone disagree: that it is possible to fix the smudge via 'gold'?

[zodconvoy]

Blackwash means to fill the cracks with a little black paint and its easy. Just take a paint brush and dip it in the paint than dip it in water. Dab it on a paper towel until its like watercoloring. Next apply to the desired detailed area and it will go into the grooves and lines. Now take a Q-Tip or the corner of a paper towel and go over the area, absorbing the excess. If your not sure about it practice on something else with less detail first. I recommend WWE wrestling or Incredible Hulk figures for n00bs. Easy to find, nice deep muscle lines and the results are always better than the fugre without it.
Trust me, I may have only a few Transformer customs under my belt but I've been doing actiopn figures for over a decade with well over a hundred to show for it.

Oh, and I have the gold VP and try burndished gold.

[Craven Knight]

Here's a pic of my Vector Prime, he's not quite finished but looks great all the same.

It's night here, so the flash makes it looks abit odd but you get the idea - all the detail on the gauntlets, crotch, boots and shoulder pads was invisible before and now it's clear as day.



Tell me what you think

[Raymond101]

OK then, then that leaves me with 3 questions:

The type of black/gold paint I should use is acryllic?

do I choose the thinnest possible brush when I go buy one?

And any techniques for this blackbrushing thing? Or does it simply require patience?

Thanks a lot for da advice.

[Raymond101]

Craven, I see your point. It does look brillaint. What a great idea. Vector Prime really shines out like this. I will definitely do this.

BTW, do you think we can do the same thing to the grey parts on Leader Prime (2007 line)?

[Craven Knight]

I used Hasbro Matt Black and mineral turpintine(it won't melt the plastic, don't worry) and mixed it about half and half... maybe a fraction more paint then turps but it's not rocket science.

Using any ol'paint brush(smallish) just paint over the detail lines(don't put too much on the brush).

Do one area at a time, then let it dry for about four minutes then get a paper towel, fold it 'round you finger and dip it in turps, then just wipe over the area you just painted, all the paint on raised areas will disolve and come off but the paint down in the lines will remain and highlight the mold detail.

Simple.

Just two cautions though; one, any turps or turps/paint mixture that gets on existing paint apps(like the dark orange and the silver) will cause that paint to come off if it's left on there for acouple of minutes so be carefull, you can still black wash painted areas just paint it on and the wipe it off gentley almost strait away.

And two, keep changing the paper towel your wipeing the blackwash off with or else the whole toy ends up looking abit dull, grubby and messy(and not in the good way).

Be sure to post your results

[Craven Knight]

Vector Prime really shines out like this. I will definitely do this.

Yeah well, I figure - VP is ment to be like an ancient robot right? well then he needs to look his age and that means being abit weathered and worn looking.

BTW, do you think we can do the same thing to the grey parts on Leader Prime (2007 line)?

You can do it to anything I guess... Leader prime has alot of great mold detail on him that's lost abit in a sea of unpainted grey plastic but I personally won't be black washing my Leader Prime, I like him looking all shiny and clean

[Air Commander Starscream]

Hey Craven Knight awesome job on the VP, I really like the ancient look you gave the figure.

[Craven Knight]

Hey Craven Knight awesome job on the VP, I really like the ancient look you gave the figure.

Thank you very much, he's still got away to go yet - I myself was surprized by how much more I liked the figure with that new paint effect.

I'm toying with the idea of getting some glossy red and yellow paint(like the yellow stripe on G1 Ironhide's van mode) and doing a double stripe(boarded in thin white) along the sides on Movie Voyager Ironhide - y'know, to add something to the mass of black that he is in truck mode and tie him to his G1 roots alittle more.

I've never done racing stripes before so I may have to dig out an old Tamyia Hyper Dash car and practice abit

[Raymond101]

BTW you can get terpentine and the blakc paint at Toyworld right?

[i_amtrunks]

Tell me what you think

Very nice! It really improves Mustard Vector Prime, not sure how it would look on the ol' plain white one though...

BTW you can get turpentine and the black paint at Toyworld right?

You can get turps from any hardware store, Big W, or even some petrol stations. Black paint can also be bought at Hobby stores, most hardware stores, and Big W (though some dont carry the tiny little tins you need).
Not sure if Toyworld and TRU etc carry paint anymore, probably depends on the store.