delta chameleon

I'll be going. If I can pick up an Anniversary booklet or two, I'll be sure to let you guys know so that I can pass it along.

Not even Vorin's Dad?

I would LOVE to see Vorin's Dad, and the rest of the beasts with him on that last page.

I voted!

@ Delta: your perspective as a non-Minimate (until recently) customizer is really interesting. I think most of us here are almost exclusively Minimate customizers, right? I know I am. Anyway, your methods and your goals are almost completely the opposite of mine, but I think that's pretty cool. BTW, I hope you've discovered the parts trade thread by now. Best place to find those parts you need, and you should definitely PM some of us longtime collectors.

I actually did not know about the parts trade thread. That is something to consider in the near future when I start working on some more customs. Thanks for the tip!

Here's a quick Battle Beast custom that I did. I had been wanting to
make a minimate battle beast using the marvel rhino head for a while,
and I had an extra gruntos after getting a third snake. So i put them
together, and felt that it was actually working rather well, despite the
colors. I wanted this figure to look more like a production BB
minimate, so I didn't do any highlighting or other weathering details to
the paint job, and instead kept it to a simple color scheme with solid
colors. He actually displays really nicely now next to the rest of the
BB minimates.

Here's a quick Battle Beast custom that I did. I had been wanting to make a minimate battle beast using the marvel rhino head for a while, and I had an extra gruntos after getting a third snake. So i put them together, and felt that it was actually working rather well, despite the colors. I wanted this figure to look more like a production BB minimate, so I didn't do any highlighting or other weathering details to the paint job, and instead kept it to a simple color scheme with solid colors. He actually displays really nicely now next to the rest of the BB minimates.

I am going to answer this twice, once for my customizing in general, and one more specific to minimates customs. I really love customizing. It's one of my favorite parts of the toy collecting hobby. And really, I love the entire process. It's relaxing to me yet at the same time a lot of work if I am doing commissions. I don't really have anything that I dislike, but I certainly have my favorite parts of the process, and my least favorite.

What I love the most about customizing is creating a character that has not existed before, that I can tell a new story through. Especially since the main toyline I collect (Battle Beasts) didn't see anything new for 25 years. We had the original 112 figures, and that was it. So it was exciting to make a figure of an animal that hadn't been used yet. Initially I started making different animals, like spotted eagle rays, gila monsters, and some dinosaur battle beasts. Then, as I expanded my story more, I decided that I wanted more different characters that were still similar animals. I created a story and world filled with clans of similar minded animal warriors. For instance, one of the clans that serves as some of the main characters in my storyline are a clan of northmen like warriors comprised of different bears for the most part. The original line had two bears and a polar bear, but over the past couple years, I started making black bears, other grizzly bears, kodiaks, etc... I even made Bjorn, the bear king of the clan. It has been a ton of fun to create a story and begin making my own figures for that story.

I also love painting once I have gotten past the base coats and i can start doing shading, highlighting, details, etc... I love adding more depth and detail to the figures. Especially if the figure has a really nice, detailed sculpt, than through these techniques I can really pick out and highlight those details and make the sculpt pop even more.

In general customizing, the part that I probably dislike the most is the initial base coats. It can be a bit tedious, and depending on what color I am going for, it can take several thin coats that take a while to get through. (White and Yellow are always going to be a headache if a large part of the figure is going to be that color) I am most interested in the detailed painting, so the initial base coats for the skin, armor, clothes just feels like it takes a long time to get through.

Since I enjoy using customizing and painting to create new characters, I don't really like to make a custom over again if I don't have to. If I am making a figure that's an exact copy of a figure I have already done, there isn't as much of a sense of discovery for me through the process. If I make a custom, and then someone comes to me and wants me to make one for them, often I will either just give them the original and make a new one for myself, or I'll work with them to figure out how to make their custom similar but unique and one of kind. I started modeling and painting in the world of Warhammer, but having to paint the same troop a hundred times got to me, and that's a big reason why I switched over to toys. Every figure can be unique.

For minimates customizing, I love to look through and findi parts that will work to make a new custom, but at the same time it's also the thing that I like the least as well. While I have made some combinations that I think look really nice, I also get frustrated by the lack of parts that I have. I am still very new to minimates collecting, and so my extra parts are limited to two small ziplock bags. I'll have an animal head that I really think will work nicely for a BB minimate, but I just don't have the parts to complete the armor portion of the body. And around me, my comic book stores are very limited in what they get for Minimates, so I have to rely on comic conventions in spring and summer, or looking through the database and ordering off ebay. The problem with that is that I may look a pictures of a figure with a certain part that I like, but I don't know exactly how it will work until I get it in hand.

Here's a quick beast I made from mixing up parts from an extra minimate I had. After I got Kuma from the Street Fighter vs Tekken line, I was bound and determined to make him a minimate. I realize that there's a bit of wear on the armor that needs to be touched up. I was just excited to get him together and working.

Polar Bear (Custom made resin MOTU figure. I did the paint job for it.)

Bob,

I use a combination of different brands of paints, but I always use water based acrylics. I use Citadel, Apple Barrel, Folk Art, Delta Ceramcoat, and a few others that I am forgetting off the top of my head. I really like the range of colors available with Folk Art and Apple Barrel, however sometimes their pigment count is a little thin. If I know that I am going to really be thinning down the paint quite a bit with water or extender, than I'll stick to citadel or delta ceramcoat, as they are a bit thick and dense to start with anyways.

Dj87,

Thanks for the compliments. I originally cut my teeth on painting warhammer and other gaming minis about 15 years ago. I made the transition to painting toys with Battle Beasts about 6 years ago or so. I have also painted minimates (obviously), kinnikuman/MUSCLE, OMFG. I typically stick to smaller figures. The largest figure I have ever done was a 6" resin MOTU figure of Polar. I'll post pictures of him next.

Delta, that's great work.

I thought the snake was tan in the comic, but the comic-based specialty toy ended up being a light green. Not sure why!

Yeah, I thought both being green was an odd choice, but it just inspired me to paint an extra one up anyways. Something this line really has in spades is detail in the sculpt. It has really gotten me excited to pick up more and paint some up.

Hello all,

Somehow I missed the forum towards the bottom for customs and artwork. I do a decent amount of customs and repaints. I primarily started just doing Battle Beasts (the classic line), but have begun to branch out to several different lines of toys, including minimates. I'll begin posting pictures of some of the figures that I have done. Please let me know what you think.

The first couple figures that I am going to post are some minimates Battle Beasts customs and repaints that I have done in the past several months.

Death Leaper (made for the Create a Battle Beasts contest)
Name: Mystaceus “Death Leaper” Aranea
Species: Jumping Spider
Homeworld: Unknown

Bio: Most beasts don’t know of his existence, but to those who do, he is simply known as the Death Leaper. He is an assassin, a hunter of extreme skill and patience. According to rumors that spread as whispers, those who have been marked by him know they have but eight days to live. Methodical as his nature is, he stalks his prey, learns their movements, and always strikes on the fateful eighth day. If his prey knows of their own mark, fear and paranoia drives them towards their own demise.

The Death Leaper’s location is constantly shifting. No one has seen any base of operation. No one knows where he might be next. He has a small, but capable ship, the Baltic Amber. This ship, crystalline in form, contains a multitude of sensors and arrays, constantly scanning the void all around him. Deep with in the command center of the Baltic Amber lays the Death Leaper. Advanced monitors spread about him from all directions. From a source unknown to him, he receives his next target. Unquestioning and unyielding, he will set forth on his mission, relentless until he has captured or killed his mark. Until this time, he waits patiently aboard his ship, traveling from system to system.

While on the hunt his skills become most evident. His agility and jumping strength, moving freely within almost any environment, has earned him his nickname. His intelligence and patience when tracking his prey has given him invaluable insight to the mind of his target, anticipating their every movement. But perhaps his greatest asset is his vision. His forward predatory vision is the equal of any hunter, allowing precise tracking across multiple light sources, including ultraviolet, allowing him to see in environments that would leave most next to blind. Additionally, he has sets of lateral eyes stretching his peripheral vision to a 360 degree field all around him, allowing him to track movement and environmental changes all around, while keeping his sight on his prey.

When a job is done, he quietly returns back to his ship, to await a new order. But even to the Death Leaper, the source of these missions is unknown. He does not question. He simply hunts his next victim, whomever they may be. But to those few that know of him, they wonder what larger plot he may unknowingly be a part of. Perhaps he is one piece of a larger machine, yet to show itself until it’s ready.







Hiding


Strike!


Catching Cheetania


Lunch!

Vorin (repainted for 10th Anniversary of Minimates Contest)

I love the original Triple Threat Snake Battle Beast. He was always the evil ninja trooper in my storyline as a kid. Sort of like the foot clan for the turtles. Anyways, I loved the idea of a whole clan of ninja snakes, that I built an entire army of them, at about 150 snakes total. Now, with the new line of Battle Beasts minimates, I have started to collect the snake from series 1. However, being that the sculpt is of a rattlesnake, but the original figures are green, I decided to do a quick repaint of the snake to make him an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. His name is Crotalus.

And here's a group shot of the minimate snakes that are proudly joining my Snake army.

Now that I have had these in my hand for over a week, and I have been able to mess around with them a bunch, I have been enjoying them more and more. I was especially excited to pick up the snake so that I could add him my Battle Beast Snake Army. The only thin I was puzzled by is the fact that the snake is a diamondback rattlesnake (fitting the desert theme of all the bad guys) but both versions of him are green. I am sure this was done to give the bad guys some variety, as you wouldn't want them all to be very sandy colored. But, I decided that I wanted to have one done up as a diamondback rattlesnake. So I picked up an extra snake and did a quick paintjob of him as an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. I named him Crotalus. Let me know what you guys think.

And the full group, my newest additions to the Snake Army.

I purchased the Gruntos Scalpus pack at the TRU in Aurora, IL, and it had the SIlver TRU Exclusive sticker on it. However, they were already sold out of the Moose and Bat pack. However, toysrus.com has the moose/bat pack in stock on line. I just put my order through for one.

So I finally opened all my packs yesterday. I am pretty pleased with these. I like the paint apps a LOT more in this TRU wave that in the LCS wave. Those colors were a little too dull and didn't seem to have as much detail to them. These TRU beasts have some colors that really pop nicely. And the paint details on them are much nicer too.

It also seems that the quality control problems that I encountered with the LCS wave (loose joints, parts falling off, etc...) are not as present with the TRU beasts. All the leg joings on my spider are nice and stiff. And the pieces all fit together rather well. The only problem that I had with the sets is that my TRU Gruntos came with two right feet. Normally, on a minimate, I would be able to fiddle with two of the same feet to get them to work. But his are so thick and slanted towards one side that I can't get the feet to work together. This is the first problem I have had with a minimate with either a missing or wrong piece. You guys ahve a lot more experience than I do. Is it possible to contact DST customer service to try and get a replacement foot?

I'll have to keep searching for the Moose and Bat pack. I was most excited to find this pack, especially a viking-esque moose. But, I'll keep the hunt out for them.

My local Toys R Us got them in. I was able to get everyone except the moose and bat pack, which had already sold out. But, glad to finally find these, although they weren't in the normal spot for most minimate stuff. I almost missed it.

I put in my nominations. Thanks again for hosting competitions like is. Its always exciting to see everyone's entries.

I will be definately going on Saturday.

Got some of these from Luke the other day, and I'm pretty happy with them. I think there's some really clever design elements that really push the basic Minimate form. I remain hopeful that these are going to do well when they FINALLY turn up at Toys R Us. I think that success there is really the only way we'll get to see more Battle Beasts, as they seem to be a complete non-starter on the specialty market. I mean, has ANYONE seen these at a comic book store? Has anyone bought them from anyone besides Luke?

Unforunately not. I went to 6 different comic book stores all around my area, and couldn't find the LCS wave anywhere, and ended up ordering them from Luke. I am happy to support Luke's shop, but I was hoping to find them in a local comic shop so that I could show my support there, encouraging the shop to order more/the next waves.

Does anyone else find it odd that B00sted hasn't chimed in about Series 1 at all?

Zach, are there at least character designs ready for Series 2 yet? Maybe if some of those were shown, it could help potentially "b00st" sales of series 1? I know I am more likely to commit to an unproven (in this case Battle Beasts, not Minimates) product if I know ahead of time there was more product already in the pipeline....just something to consider.

I think b00sted has gotten out of Battle Beasts minimates. Seems a shame since he was so ferverant about the line for a time there.

I haven't seen any at TRU yet, and I keep checking atleast once a week. Hopefully they'll show up soon. Having the comic series in hand has made me more excited to get some additional beasts and the new moose and bat, to really start playing around with the different pieces.

YB, I agree with you. There's something about the brighter colors that appeal to me for a line like this. The only one that I feel differently about is Vorin. I know that the colors are based off the comic book for the LCS wave, but just looking at the toys themselves, it looks like the yellow and red Vorin belongs in the TRU wave, and the muted gold and crimson Vorin belongs in the LCS wave. As they are now, they both seem to clash a bit with the paint schemes of their respective wave-mates.

I couldn't find any locally either, so I ordered a complete set from Luke. I am really excited to get them in hand. And I was just able to find a Kuma this past weekend, so I'll have fun putting him together with the other beasts.

I guess it has a lot to do with what we're naturally geared to as individuals. Like you had said earlier, delta, you find less articulation more appealing for the most part. I tend to be the opposite in that respect, and I suppose it influences what I find inspiring. My point was more to encourage Zach and the guys at DST than to imply that the original BB line was subpar. But I suspect you may have already picked up on that

(P.S. I wouldn't mind seeing the artwork you've acquired)

Oh yeah, and I agree with you. I am fully encouraging Zach and DST with their BB minimate line. There are a lot of great things about this new line. I love all the different designs with the new figures, the moose being my current favorite in series 1. And the comic was very well written in my opinion, and gave a great jumping off point for continuing the stories of these great little figures. And I'm not against articulation, I have just typically gravitated towards figures with less articulation. But minimates are beginning to convert me, if just a little bit.

My only point was that even if the sculpts/articulation were a bit limited in the original BBs, they are the toyline that drove me to be a more serious collector/customizer, so it will always have a place in my heart over all other lines. It's like that first car or first love. It just has a different feeling than anything else I have collected.

I'll post some pics of the different artwork that I have gotten. There are several that have turned out really nice, and give a great, dynamic look to the older character designs.

Donny, that drawing is really nice! You did a great job of capturing the feel of the snake minimate.

For me, the original Battle Beasts are what inspired me to start painting/sculpting toy figures. When I was really young, and didn't understand why battle beasts weren't in stores anymore, I decided to try and make my own new characters. There several poor attempts at it when I was 8 or 9 years old, trying to make new figures out of wood and putty or other similar small figure lines. When I was older, and had gained some experience modeling and painting warhmammer minis, I went back to trying to make some new figures, but started to have a lot more success with it. Since then, I have made a couple dozen new figures, I even had one (a stegosaurus) molded and cast up to send out copies to some friends on the board. In the past ten years, I have made custom figures for myself, custom figures and repaints for other people, and done some other side custom artwork. And while I can't draw, I'm terrible at it, I have taken original battle beasts to comic conventions and art conventions, and have gotten a lot of different artist's take on Battle Beasts. In my spare room, one entire wall is decorated with framed artwork that I have had done of the beasts. Now that battle beasts got me involved in the custom toy world, I have begun to branch out to several other lines, but it all started with my desire to make more BBs when I was young.