Earlier this month toy custom artist Kat Brunnegraff had her Black Hole custom featured on our blog here at Custom Toy Lab. This time she’s back with a tutorial for us showing exactly how she makes her customs from start to finish. If you’re curious about just how she achieves her night-style looking customs that she’s known for, salve you’ll definitely wanted to read this tutorial.

The Story:

Sometimes on their journeys Night Walkers get lost in unfamiliar skies. Similar to a chameleon a Night Walker will change it’s colors to match it’s surroundings. This particular Night Walker got lost somewhere near the Horse Head Nebula and turned red!

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Materials:

– A MadL toy (a blank or already purchased one)
– Hair dryer (for removing the head from the body)
– Nail polish remover (only required if using an already painted MadL)
– Cotton balls (to be used alongside the nail polish remover)
– Krylon Spray paint (you can use a color of your choice)
– Acrylic paints (Galleria and Liquitex are used in this tutorial)
– Paint brushes (well duh!)

Please note: All pictures are provided on the bottom of each description. There are many pictures included in this tutorial to assist you with every step. Allow some time for the images to fully load!

Instructions:

1) Toy time! Generally I start by making sure my art table is reasonably clean/clear of dust so as to not have nasty paint later on in the process.

I then think about what I want to paint, and what toy I feel like working on that day. Today I picked a 5″ MadL.

First off if the toy has any accessories/jewelry like mine did, I start by cutting it off, unless I want to save it for later, in that case I skip the cutting step and go straight to step 2.

2) Heat Time! The Hairdryer is your friend, just watch your fingers, kids get your parents to help you with this. MadL’s only have one joint which makes this easy, you’ll want to apply the heat until the bottom of the head is pliable but not TOO soft or you’re likely to ruin the toy. Repeat this step after step 4.

Pull the MadL’s head til it is removed. Sometimes you’ll need to use the hair dryer a few times over, depends on the toy.

3) Strip time! Get your supplies, I use extra strength nail polish remover and cotton balls to remove the initial paint. I never completely remove the paint if I am going to use spray paint, just rub it off until any raised paint is no longer raised. It will have a very smeary ruined look about now.

4) Spray time! I use Krylon spray paint for Plastics. It sticks better and dries faster than other paints. Go outside for this, I take an old cardboard box and set the toy on top. You’ll just want to dust the toy with the paint, it doesn’t need to be solid but everything needs to have some paint on it. Let it dry fully, since it’s only a dusting, it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to dry.

5) Time to paint! Take your toy inside and get your paint and palette ready. I use Galleria or Liquitex acrylic paints, they both work very well. Apply black paint to the whole toy, and allow it to dry.

6) Dry Brush Time! Take a medium sized brush make sure it’s dry, and mix up 1-3 colors of your choice, I picked hot pink and red for this toy, and dip your brush in the paint, and then wipe it off on a paper towel til there is just a hint of color left when you wipe it on the towel. Then you’ll just lightly brush all over the toy, push harder if you want a brighter spot of color or lighter for just a hint of color. Allow each separate color to dry before applying the next color.

7) Detail Time! I usually just have it when I paint the face and the stars on, but you can use a pencil to rough in where you want your face. I use a really really tiny brush for the stars. After that it’s done! Don’t worry about brush marks, that’s the whole point of dry brushing, messy is fun!

8) Spray with clear coat to protect the paint job. Voila, you’re done!

End Notes:

Liked this tutorial? Comment below or share it on Twitter.

Artist name: Optikmass
Artist website: optikmass.com
Artist location: New York City, viagra
United States
Toy Name: Vega
Toy Type: Kidrobot 8″ Munny
Toy Story: None, Just love….:)
Artist available for commission? Artist may be contacted via website, or at info [at] optikmass.com