| Daredevil v2 |
| Friday, 21 September 2007 | |
 Around this time last year, I had just finished up working on some modifications on the Face Off Daredevil from Toy Biz. At the time, I was really happy how they turned out. Fast forward to a few days ago, when I had in my hands a Captain Marvel figure. I had seen an online sale for him (long since gone), and since he's based on the Bullseye body, I knew he was good fodder. I thought briefly about Captain Britain (the old school version before he got buff), like Ibentmymanthing had done a while ago, but when Robokillah told me he had his hands full with paint work, I gave up on that idea pretty quickly. Then I remembered I had just bought a can of red vinyl dye. Daredevil, version 2, was born! (Anyone have some cheap Captain Marvels available?) Recipe Almost done - just needs some Dullcote Before I got to that, I spent time testing how durable that blue paint on Captain Marvel is. Unfortunately, I ignored the story that Doubledealer once told me about how he melted a figure by leaving it in acetone overnight. That blue paint sure was durable, so I decided to soak the torso in acetone - but only for a few minutes! The blue paint started peeling off, so I left it in the acetone some more, and then some more again. I didn't realize until some damage had been done that I had started to rub off actual plastic. At least the blue paint was gone. After sanding off that mess of warped plastic (lesson, kids: be careful with acetone! - sponsored by Doubledealer), I started spraying with my red vinyl dye. And wouldn't you know it - after a few light, thin coats, it covered up the blue on the crotch just fine. A lot of work could have just been avoided. I sanded down the shoulder balls for good measure before reattaching and spraying a few more coats. The double Ds are sculpted. I thought about other ways that might save me time and work, but nothing, even decouppage, sounded like it would be any easier. The hair was sanded down, and then I did some touchups and added ears and horns in Apoxie Sculpt. The leg straps are painted rubber bands and the belt buckle is blistercard plastic, both from Hasbro Marvel Legends packaging. The belt is from craft store plastic laces - there was a small gap where the two ends met that resulted in weird shadows when lit from above, so I just filled that gap with Super Sculpey. The gloves, boots, and holster came from a spare FO Daredevil. The gloves fit with no modifications, and the boots fit after using my dremel to remove the ring they inserted in the peg holes. The holster is just glued on - I've already knocked it off once, so I tried some Weld-It. Other than the fragility of the holster, the figure is completely playable. |
