I only recently realized that the CW Hot Shot/PotP Inferno mould shared an alternate mode with DotM Sentinel Prime, specifically a Rosenbauer Panther 8x8 firetruck. This, and the general excitement behind my favourite problematic boy with the ML repaint and his role in TF One, pushed me to try my hand at a custom using the Inferno body and a repainted Hot Spot head.
This was tricky for me. While I've customized figures before, I've never had the best luck with paint. I wanted this to work though, so I did a deep dive into how to properly paint and customize plastic, and this is easily the best "major" paint customization I've ever done. It's not perfect, but it's far better than anything I've ever done with this much paint work before.
First I soaked the Hot Spot head in rubbing alcohol for around twelve hours. Then I removed as much paint as I could before soaking it again. After that I scuffed it up a bit using a Scotch brite pad, applied some plastic primer, and then went to work with paint intended for tabletop miniatures. Once that had dried I went over it with a varnish finish.
The last step, once that was dry, was to pop it on the Inferno body, give him Skullgrin's swords to replicate his double sided blade, and boom.
As I said it's not perfect. The line work was as neat as I could manage with limited painting experience, but I think it came out alright. The shade is a bit off... red on blue was always going to leave it with more of a purple tint then the cherry red body, but I still think it works well enough.
Technically this isn't "finished" as I still have to apply some ToyHax labels, but it was done enough to show off.
This was tricky for me. While I've customized figures before, I've never had the best luck with paint. I wanted this to work though, so I did a deep dive into how to properly paint and customize plastic, and this is easily the best "major" paint customization I've ever done. It's not perfect, but it's far better than anything I've ever done with this much paint work before.
First I soaked the Hot Spot head in rubbing alcohol for around twelve hours. Then I removed as much paint as I could before soaking it again. After that I scuffed it up a bit using a Scotch brite pad, applied some plastic primer, and then went to work with paint intended for tabletop miniatures. Once that had dried I went over it with a varnish finish.
The last step, once that was dry, was to pop it on the Inferno body, give him Skullgrin's swords to replicate his double sided blade, and boom.
As I said it's not perfect. The line work was as neat as I could manage with limited painting experience, but I think it came out alright. The shade is a bit off... red on blue was always going to leave it with more of a purple tint then the cherry red body, but I still think it works well enough.
Technically this isn't "finished" as I still have to apply some ToyHax labels, but it was done enough to show off.
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