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Toy Customizing
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Toy Customizing Toy Customizing is the simple act of changing a toy, in some way, to make it different from its original. The most common form of customizing is done by repainting the toy. Other times this could be done by changing the toy's pieces (such as GI Joe figures, whose pieces are basically interchangeable). The more advanced customs involve actually sculpting new pieces onto the toy or drastically altering the mold by use of a dremel (high-speed rotary tool). If the skill is there, customizing can be brought to another level. Some of the most amazing pieces of art are hidden in the "customizing community". A serious customizer needs to have the intuition of an engineer. The knowledge that is needed to take something apart and be able to put it back together is essential to excel in this art form. Customizing Methods Painting -Customization is most commonly achieved by repainting a toy in new colors. Either the original paint job chipped and faded over time and you want to give the toy new life, or the original paint job was of "mass manufactured quality" and you want to improve it. Painting is fun and easy, takes little skill, and in some cases can be undone in case of a mistake. -Make sure to choose the right paints. Waterpaints, poster paints, and oil-based paints will not work. They aren't intended for use on non-porous substances such as plastic, and trying to paint toys with them will produce a poor quality custom. Poster paints will flake right off once they've dried, and oil-based paints take forever to dry and will look like sloppy. -Acrylic paints are the way to go. Several companies make good acrylic paints for toy painting, such as Testor's acrylics/acryl, Vallejo acrylics, and Citadel paints. Some are more expensive than others, so pick whatever works for you. Tamiya acrylics also work, but are much more challenging to a brush-painter: they have to be thinned always, they dry very fast on the brush and take several hours to harden properly. -Gaming shops sell Citadel paints by Games Workshop. They have a wide variety of colors, they mix easily, and best of all they dry very fast. And once dry, the paint is fairly sturdy won't chip off if you handle the toy carefully. They are slightly more expensive though, at a few dollars a bottle. -Before painting a toy, it is important to wash it properly with warm water and dish soap, rubbing all the parts properly with a toothbrush or a comparable brush. This is done to clean off the oily substance that is used to release the parts from the mold, and the oil from your hands. Unless it is washed away, it will prevent paint from sticking to the plastic. After washing the toy must be allowed to dry completely. -A step that people often skip and may end up regretting is priming the figure (debated amongst customizers, depends on paints being used). This will ensure that your paints stick to the plastic properly. There are several companies that sell plastic primers in spray cans, usually available as black, grey and white. Reportedly even acrylic sprays meant for painting the plastic parts of cars work just as fine on most toys. -However, both washing the parts and priming the figure are not entirely necessary for a beginner. Professional customizers and more hardcore hobbyists do it, but a newcomer can probably skip those steps. If the toys you're painting are older and have been played with, then the mold-release oil probably has been wiped off already (although if the figure is dirty, it will be hard to paint as well.) -If you plan on playing with your toys once you've repainted them (as opposed to just displaying them), using a protective clear coat is a very good idea to keep the paint from chipping too easily. Many clear coats come in a spray can. To protect parts that will have to endure heavy wear, such as joints, you can also coat the area carefully with Super Glue, which will create a transparent protective surface. However, keep in mind that the more layers of paint or clear coat to add to tight-fitting joints, the harder it will be to move the joints afterward, and sometimes the paint will scrape off no matter what you do. Spray Paint Basics Tutorial by TTT Rearranging -Some of the more popular Toy lines used are: G.I Joe, Star Wars, Kid Robot, NECA, SOTA, DC universe, Masters of the Universe Classics, Marvel Legends, Gundams, Revoltechs, Xevoz. Some of these toys (G.I. Joe, Kid Robot, Revoltechs & Xevoz) are built with easily detachable parts so they are ripe for rearranging right out of the box. In other cases (MOTUC, SOTA, NECA, Marvel Legends) the plastic of the joints usually has to be warmed up using boiling water or a hair dryer, making the plastic rubbery, so that they can be safely popped off. In most cases it is necessary to open up the torso of the figure to remove and re-attach arms, legs, chests or hips. This may also require the use of a dremel tool to ensure that the joints are the right size for the new torso. Joint Disassembly tutorial by Dr. Nightmare Kit-bashing -Customizers dis-assemble toys, and if the joints fit together, use them to create their own toy by cutting and glueing the pieces together before painting them (a more expirienced customizer can make just about any joints fit together). This is known as kitbashing. Sculpting -Hardcore customizers use various kinds of modeling clay to sculpt new accessories onto their figures, and even sculpting all new body parts for rearranging. There are many kinds of clay out there (check your local hobby shops), but a lot of "semi-pro" customizers prefer self-curing epoxy clays made by Aves, such as Apoxie and Fixit. Super Sculpey, a stiff modeling clay, is also very useful, although it requires a high temperature to harden. -Some clays may require baking in an oven (not recommended) to completely dry, and some of them do not adhere well to plastics, so make sure that the clay you're using is designed for this purpose. If you have to bake it in an oven, make sure the temperature is not high enough to melt the toy. Some customizers prefer to boil their toys instead--it still serves the purpose of hardening the clay, but with less risk of melting the figure itself. Casting -There is even a process by which customizers can mold and cast their own unique pieces. Obviously, this is something only very experienced customizers would even try. It is a long, arduous, messy process but can have some cool results if you're patient enough. Guide for casting pieces by Asphalt Customizing Websites For more information on the hobby, such as tutorials, other customs, or products specifically made for customizing, please visit one of the following: Customizing Communities 1. Custom Coalition 2. CustomFigureWars 3. Figure Realm 4. Pro Customizers 5. Toy Cutter Customizing Accessory Merchants 1. Slayer Design Studio 2. Broken Arrow Toys 3. Hunter Art Works 4. Marauder Gun-Runners Customizing Tools 1. Aves Studio 2. Dremel Tools 
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