Customizing questions

The more I look at my poor Safari goldfish with his new Japanese companions, the sadder he looks in comparison. He's the guy on the far left in this photo.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Sigh and I was so happy last year to find any goldy.

So I am thinking of repainting him and giving him a stand. If only I was confident enough to reshape his malformed tail and anal fins! But, those can be masked somewhat by a base.

First question- what paints are good? I do have some cheap and some very high quality acrylic paints.

Second question- what is recommended for sculpting the stand? I have lots of white Sculpey and a little light grey Apoxie Sculpt. I'm more familiar with the Sculpey, but since it requires baking and the Apoxie Sculpt is air dry, I wonder if it may work better.

As a finishing varnish, I have Krylon clear spray on lacquers in gloss and satin, and a little brush on varnish.

Thanks!

Arrhw ! Poor little goldfish

LeeAnn wrote this a while ago [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] .

But there are sevral tutorials here : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Or perhaps your questions are more specific, - I don't know much about making customs

Acrylics will probably work better in this case (over pastels, which is what I use), because of the texture.

You'll want to get a good primer before you start painting - I would recommend Tamiya but I've only found it at Hobby Lobby - do you have one of those near you? Krylon just gets sticky on these types of models, unless you can't find Tamiya then use Krylon and seal it with matte sealer. I use Testors Dullcote but again that's expensive (but fortunately widely available - I've gotten that from Michaels, ACMoore, and Hobby Lobby. Train and other hobby stores should have it too). Treehouse Studios from Hobby Lobby is a good one as is Krylon matte sealer - be careful you don't get Krylon Matte Fixatif, that's not the right one! If you want to go the most cost effective route you'll want Treehouse Studios sealer (or Krylon matte if you don't have a Hobby Lobby near you) and Krylon primer. Hate the 2x coverage Krylon primer though. Don't get that one unless you have to.

If you already have acrylics that's great. Doesn't even have to be a fancy brand, cheapo $1 a bottle works just as well. Squirt a little into a small dixie cup and water it down with a few drops of water. That can be painted over the model on top of the primer. Decide on your base color first and paint that all over the model. It will take several coats to do this, but be patient. It will look "strokey" at first, but the more layers you add the better it gets. I just basecoated two OFP Breyer Classics with this method and it probably took 50-60 coats. Now the horse is much bigger so it takes more coats but you get the idea.

Watering down the paint takes forever to coat the model, but it helps prevent brush strokes, so it's worth it IMHO. If your layers get a little bumpy you can sand it down with sandpaper and paint over it.

Once your base coat is done, add a coat of sealer. This way if you mess up on the next layer you can just wipe it right off and not ruin the base coat.

Always work from a reference. Print out a few photos of the species so you know what colors go where, how the light shines on the animal, what do the eyes look like, et cetera. Apply paint (still watered down) to the model as the reference photos show.

As for a base, whatever you feel like using. Do you want a rocky sculpted base like the other ones? You could also purchase an acrylic rod and glue that an acrylic disc or into the sculpted base so the fish isn't actually touching the base.

Susanne purchased a type of moldable plastic for a base one time, but I can't find the topic


Hope all that blabbering was of some help to you

LeeAnn wrote:

......

As for a base, whatever you feel like using. Do you want a rocky sculpted base like the other ones? You could also purchase an acrylic rod and glue that an acrylic disc or into the sculpted base so the fish isn't actually touching the base.  

Susanne purchased a type of moldable plastic for a base one time, but I can't find the topic
........

It is called Polymorph, the topic is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks for the helpful ideas! I wondered if I'd need enamels for the plastic, I'm happy to hear I can use the acrylics I already have for painting blanks of the dragons I collect. I like the idea of finding a clear acrylic rod like the Yujin fish are balanced on, I can drill a little hole in his abdomen for it. (I had to do that for one of the Yujins I got today, paint had filled it in) Do you know where they can be found? I'll try and hit Michael's and JoAnn's, will be visiting family in a couple days that have a Hobby Lobby nearby.
I think I'll wait on the base until I decide about the rod.
Here's one of the dragons.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

wow..very beautiful dragon :)

Did you pay that dragon

It is awesome

Gorgeous dragon! Is that done in all acrylics?

I order my acrylic rods from a seller on MH$P, that's the only place I know to get them Perhaps eBay?

Thank you for the complements! You've brightened my day!

It is all acrylic- white primer and colors mixed, thinned with retarder and layered on. Some details get dry brushed, and I think they look better antiqued. The company produces a lot of one-offs and strongly discourages repainting of their figures, so they produce a line of blanks for people to express themselves on instead. You should see some of the artists! Some do use pastels, but I haven't dared. The company recommends acrylics.

This is the first one I did, actually the first figure I ever painted. I can see things I would do different now lol. This was a portrait so done from photos, the dragons are done as I go.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

They're incredible! I would have thought they were done in Pearlex, never would have crossed my mind they were done in acrylics. I would love to see more!

Oh wow! The dragon and winged husky are awesome! Beautiful done!
I also would love to see more

NightLioness wrote:

Oh wow! The dragon and winged husky are awesome! Beautiful done!
I also would love to see more

Did you actually paint the dragon and that husky ?
They are fabulous
Realy great job ...I looooove that husky..wowww
You have very big talent.

Thank you for the complements! It is making me want to try my hand at some animal figures. Maybe get a bunch of dogs and do portraits, or something (I used to paint pet portrait Christmas ornaments). Or some dinos and just go wild.

These are the other Windstones I've painted, except for 2 which I didn't photograph. I love painting them, but they're expensive so not something I can do on a whim. There are several available which I haven't tried yet.

The husky was the first one I painted, this griffin was the second. I liked the raptor part well enough, but didn't like the cat part. I need to practice spots.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This foo puppy was a gift- they also make male and mother (much more regal and leonine) foos, but the pup is the only one I did.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This little dragon was also a gift.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I'm thinking of getting a small griffin they have and painting it like a chickadee and tabby. Only thing is, its raptor beak!

I love your job with all of them.
You have very nice sence of colors and good technique for painting them. :)

costicuba wrote:

......
You have very nice sence of colors and good technique for painting them. :)

pipsxlch wrote:

........ Or some dinos and just go wild.

Yes ! Yes !
Many dino models BEG for wonderful racecar-colours

Look at the many colours of birds, - why should dinos have been brown or dark green ?

As soon as I can get the photos off my camera, I've made a base to hold 2 of the little Safari goldies. It would work for the Yujin fish also I think, since some of them look kind of unbalanced on theirs. I've repainted the two Safari goldies also.

I brought 4 dinos that are extras from the old play lot of my daughter's with me- I'll see what I can do with them.

pipsxlch wrote:

As soon as I can get the photos off my camera, I've made a base to hold 2 of the little Safari goldies. It would work for the Yujin fish also I think, since some of them look kind of unbalanced on theirs. I've repainted the two Safari goldies also.

I brought 4 dinos that are extras from the old play lot of my daughter's with me- I'll see what I can do with them.

That sound enormously exiting ! You have certainly been industrious

I look very much forward to see it all

Here's the first pictures of the base, before it was finished. I twisted a piece of wire, and put Sculpey over it. I poked the bottom with a pencil; figured that with darker paint and shadows in the hole it might be like sand. The driftwood is smoothed with a few shallow grooves to hold shadows. There is a small plastic peg at the top to hold one of the goldies- I drilled a hole in it to fit the peg. There are add ons to the base- some pieces of plastic aquarium plant, a tiny seashell turned into a snail, and a couple pebbles. I imprinted them into the base, then left off the plants until it was baked. They were removed then for painting.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It seems that it would work for at least a few of the Yujin fish.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Here it is with the additions.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The Yujin fish still fits.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Here it is with the Safari goldies it was made for. I repainted them (and touched them up after these photos, they didn't come out so well).
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

With a Yujin fish/base for comparison.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And with both the Yujin fish and the new Wing Mau ones.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And finally with a Yujin fish in a group shot.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oh it looks awesome! I really like it with the aquarium plants on it.

This is awesome! I haven't seen a setup with fish' like this before! Great !

After all this time, I finally did another repaint. An online friend just lost her cat Toki, so i repainted this Safari toob Abyssinian to match photos she's posted of her cat. A stockier cat would have worked better, but this model was all I could find. Maybe it can be Toki as a teenager? Mailed it today, hope she likes it.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Great job Kelly! You did a great job. Stunning eyes especially.