Repainting McFarlaine?

[ghamilt1]

I was wandering through a local supermarket, and came across a rack of McFarlain (spelling?) "hockey hero" figures. He's the guy who made a fortune doing Spiderman comics, created "Spawn" and branched out into collectable figures. I recently saw that his company has put out some OIF American Marine figures. I was wondering if anyone has ever tried repainting one of these? They look very good, the faces of the hockey players look very realistic (ie. Gretzky looks like Gretzky) and I thought they might lend themselves well to the full painting treatment. Well, if anyone has tried it, could you let me know how it turned out, and what kind of special challenges you faced? Thanks guys.

 

[garyjd]

Glenn, Though I have no interest in sports what so ever, I did however repaint some of the football players for a couple of co-workers. I repainted 2 of them to represent a local highschoool team and Penn State's quarterback. I only concerned myself with painting them in the same manner that McFarlane paints them. I believe the figures are vinyl so fine sandpaper and steelwool work if you want to remove any mold lines. I used acrylic paint bought from a craftstore. I'm sure these figures would look great with a "real" paintjob as the sculpting on them is quite nice for what they are.~Gary

 

[mike23]

I found a bunch of his 75mm baseball personality 2-packs for $1.99 CDN at the local Wal-Mart. Their uniforms are tight enough to clothe in a thin layer of Apoxie and not look too bulky. A new #11 blade goes through the plastic cleanly, giving me a pile of 1/24 mannequin components. And Glenn, isn't MacFarlane from Alberta?

 

[ghamilt1]

Thanks for the reply guys. I went out earlier this evening and picked up the "Frank Mahovolich" and "Yvon Cournoyer" figures (somebody had already made off with the Gretzky I wanted). The only problem I faced was the articulated joints, which I shot full of CA glue once I had the arms in position. I've filled in the joints with Magic Sculp, and given the face a coat of Humbrol flesh for an undercoat. You're right Gary, a little sanding removed the most obvious mold seams. So far so good.

I plan to give him the full treatment, while hoping to leave the crest alone, as it is rather complicated, and the one already there is perfect! What can I say..Where else can you find a great 12 inch figure to paint, with great surface detail, for only $14 CDN? If you're into sports that is, but like I said, McFarlane has put out some modern American soldiers which looked pretty good.

Yes Mike, I do Believe McFarlane is a "local" boy. He is actually part of the Edmonton Oilers ownership group, and desigened the team's third jersey. I leave it up to you to decide of that was a good thing or not.

 

[Manfred]

Glenn let us know how it works out.

I am painting with oils over humbrol usually and want to repaint a McFarlane Elvis figure that I ordered as a present for my sister.

I hope that the vinyl wont cause problems with either humbrols or oils (I painted a vinyl garage kit years ago and the enamel flat coat went tacky some time later, it still is).

 

[Lancer]

Hey Glenn
Hope you enjoyed the summer, we still need to get together regarding the figure portion of the Alberta Open Contest! Will give you a shout! Having done a few vinyl figures you might want to try priming it first. Color Creations does a surface primer in grey that I use on vinyl figures and have never had a problem with enamels or oils drying improperly. I got my primer at Wal-Mart!
Cheers
Mark

 

[ghamilt1]

Thanks again guys. Mark, good to hear from you! I was just about to go and see how that undercoat had dried. If it hasn't dried out properly, I'll head to Wal-mart. I look forward to hearing from you. Cheers.
Glenn

 

[Rob Brown]

hi Glenn
THere are a lot of people repainting McFarlane sport figures. There are several sites dedicated to that pursuit. I have done several football and have the task of doing 25 more in the next few months. In case you didn't know, the figures do come apart for easier painting. If you soak the figure in hot water you can usually take off the head, arms, toros from legs, etc. if you want to make painting easier. I have found that you can primer the figure with automobile primer and then I use arcylic paints. Good luck with your project.
Rob

 

[Gordon Shumnoae]

Originally posted by ghamilt1@Aug 23 2005, 02:14 PM
Thanks again guys. Mark, good to hear from you! I was just about to go and see how that undercoat had dried. If it hasn't dried out properly, I'll head to Wal-mart. I look forward to hearing from you. Cheers.
Glenn

Hi Glenn

I have customized a few of these Mc-farlane figures and i can give you a short list of things to do and not to do if you like .
if you PM me i will get back to you with all the pit falls .and beleive me there are a few.
here is one of my Mc-Farlane custom figure with all the joints renoved regards

regards
Gordo