The Energon Pub

So I got the Shanghai Showdown today. I mainly bought it because Skids & Mudflap were slightly more true to movie-form (I totally don't care about the Demolisher). But, they're just not as trashy as I'd like. I've never done modification or repainting before. How might I go about starting? I DO have the Reprolabels on the way. Other than that, I'm at a loss.

I look forward to y'alls help!

Welcome! Be forewarned, customizing is like the Dark Side of the Force: "Once you start down the path, forever will it dominate your destiny!"

The easiest way to improve the Twins will be a dry-brush of gray, silver and rust. You'll need are a couple soft brushes, gray, silver and rust hobby paint, and a clear coat to seal everything. I prefer Testors for the paint and clear, but go with whatever you can get. If you have a Michael's, Pat Catan's or a model/hobby store in the area they'll have everything you need.

Here's a pic from the movie for reference:


Apply the stickers first, that way they'll blend in better.

We'll start with the rust, it's the most prevalent color on the truck. Use a larger brush for this one. Basically you dip the brush into the paint, then use a paper towel to almost dry the brush. Start from the top, and lightly move the brush down. You should get a overall rusty effect, with the corners picking up a little more paint than the flats. As you can see in the picture, there's more rust in the running boards and fenders, so dab the tip of the brush to get more color here. If you get the paint on too heavy, use a q-tip with some thinner to clean it up. Once you're happy with the effect, let the rust color dry for a day, then go back with the gray paint, then the silver. Once you're done, let everything dry for one more day, then spray the clear coat and let it dry.

If you get stuck, or need anything, we're always here.
Don't forget to post pictures when you're done!

Wow, that's great info! One question, though: what if I think I totally screwed part of it up? My policy on almost all things creative is once it's "done" put it up somewhere prominant & look at it a lot for serveral days to see if you don't like something (I do all kinds of other artsy fartsy stuff). THEN if after several days of not finding anything wrong putting the finishing touches (clear coat in this instance, I guess). So, say I should find part of it unsatisfactory to me, how would I go about changing it?

Q-tip and thinner will remove the paint, if it's fully dried it'll just take more effort. Be careful around the stickers though, you can smear the ink, or worst case the thinner will soften the glue and they'll fall off.

You may want to try acrylic paint for your first time out; it cleans up with water, so it's more forgiving if you need to change something.