Custom DEVCON and the paints I'm switching to...

I am finally getting around to this: I purchased the custom Devcon head from Shapeways along with that little chainsaw guy, but had a problem with the paints I was using at the time.

Before you start posting about my options or ask why I don't do this or that, please keep this in mind: I'm not just of limited talent when it comes to customizing, I'm also bound by a few rules within living in an apartment and by the sensitivity of my wife to certain smells and fumes the solid looking enamels produce. "You just get one of those sprayers-" No, no I don't.

This is, of course, for fun. I am not looking to impress anyone; I'd rather provide a few laughs with things like my Joker Bot and Paul Stanley Prime. I'm proud of my custom Downshift and Road Rage. Some bots look better than others. I have sold ONE custom, my Dark Of The Moon Sideswipe I painted into a G1 theme.

It's not that I've NOT gotten good advice from the customizin' pros, I just don't have the available space and resources to do the appropriate work. I bought a set of Testor's enamel and though the results were a lot smoother, I got a few complaints about the smells produced, and spent a lot of time airing out the apartment afterward, just to turn G1 Bumblebee into Herbie The Love Bug. The wife lives here too.

Using acrylic paints found at a Michael's or Joanne's Fabrics...I got results I liked, especially after putting on a solidifying gloss. But it was a LOT more painting work than when I used the Testor's. And though the other benefit was that I had more color choices when painting (different shades of red and blue) and it was way cheaper, some of the paints needed, like silver, wouldn't stick. My bottle of "silver" acrylic wouldn't even make my effort look remotely gray. Like there was a minor bit of silver rust in the water forming on the figure that I was hopelessly trying to add some chrome to.

Whatever was I to do? We were sensitive to the vapors of Testors, and yet I was spoiled by their results. WELL, hooray hooray. Golden Fluid Acrylics. Lots of options, great results. Drawback? Over $4 a bottle at Blick's.

That sums it up. Devcon here is a mixture of Testor's enamel and Golden Acrylics. The silver acrylic was what I was shooting for, and I like the results.

I was a bit lazy with Devcon (Generations Scourge body, custom head), but I wanted to try it out. I didn't want to paint the whole thing white, which is what I'd normally do. I painted a few parts white, like those shoulder/jet intake parts and his feet. The Shapeways Devcon head was just his face, and the gun on the top. REALLY, if I just removed Scourge's goatee somehow, that would've made the face. Even though the part was of a white material, I should have still painted it. My hands were a little shaky and so there's bleed on the helmet and the eyes. Sorry about that. I didn't paint his chest white with enamel and, still using enamel, you can see the Decepticon logo bleed through.

He's not crying. I just have shaky hands.

You can do a better paint job than me. Please. Devcon is an obscure character who made one G1 appearance (from an episode I still find bizarre: Smokescreen gambling away his friends?). I think you paint his legs completely blue and just leave his feet red, you've got an improved Devcon.

It was just a test and I really like the results. I have some major life changes coming up (moving from my place of 6 years) so I won't have time to do another dopey Paul custom for a month or so, but these will be the paints I'll be using from now on.

OTHER NEWS

It's the silver acrylic that did it for me. I will probably
revisit previous customs for any chrome bits.

Expect a two-parter ROBOTS IN CAHOOTS podcast from me & Eric of Til All Are Mine, where we talk about his trip to Botcon. I should stress that it's HIS trip, so whatever full report on Botcon as far as his haul, contests, costumes, and his detailed interactions and purchases will be on his blog. We found other stuff to talk about his trip hopefully without taking away from what were his scoop on the Transformers Robot World. I'll have the first part up in a couple days.

My friend Rick found the Wave 2 Kreons I was looking for: Hoist, Scourge, Arcee, Powerglide, Lugnut, Acid Storm, Perceptor, and Vehicon. More later on the Kreos.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye continues to be my favorite comic book. Not just a comic book based on my favorite action figure property, but just a wild comic book that was once free of devotion to the current toy line, to the point where, as seen in my last post, the upcoming figures owe a lot to these books. Maybe the marketing has fooled me into believing that, but I still say "good show."

OTHER STUFF

I have been watching Bored To Death, a show that ran for three seasons on HBO. It's about a writer who has a bit of writer's block and decides to pretend to be a private detective. I was hoping there'd be more mystery and less day to day Seinfeld-like neurosis, but I'm halfway through the series and am still very much enjoying it.

I'm moving next month. Sigh. I am going to miss this apartment.