Custom Ricochet/Stepper

[M-bot]

WIP.

As the price of a Stepper repaint of RTS Jazz is way beyond my willingness to pay, I decided to make my own.

I'll post up WIP picks along the way, as some (like me!) seem to enjoy the process as much as the finished piece.

Firstly, I took him apart as much as I could, without removing pins, which I find to be more effort that it's worth. Each piece is cleaned before painting.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8643/15643095363_7eccdaa97d_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/pQjXfK)DSC_0261 (https://flic.kr/p/pQjXfK) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

Next is masking and painting the pieces that will be gold with a gloss black base coat (using Alclad II lacquers).

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7558/16237081946_7aa64ac20d_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qJPhLJ)DSC_0270 (https://flic.kr/p/qJPhLJ) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8639/16076873399_90e51b2ba1_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/quEbmp)DSC_0271 (https://flic.kr/p/quEbmp) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

The pain about this model is that the black and whites on Jazz are reversed for Ricochet. No problems painting black over white, but white over black is a bit more difficult. Almost impossible to make it look really good without an airbrush in my opinion. I managed to get 3 ultra-thin coats of white in today, I estimate it will take about 8 coats to get the white looking perfect.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7535/16261182801_7685cc5d48_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qLWP7H)DSC_0275 (https://flic.kr/p/qLWP7H) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

More soon! Let me tell you, after doing a couple of titan-class toys, doing a deluxe is child's play.;):cool:

[MayzaPrime]

Love your work M-Bot, I can't wait to see how this turns out.

[UltraMarginal]

gloss black and Alclad II lacquers this is going to be one shiny Stepper! looking forward to the process as much as the finished result

[M-bot]

gloss black and Alclad II lacquers this is going to be one shiny Stepper! looking forward to the process as much as the finished result

Not too shiny - it's just that the Alclad II metallics need a high gloss black base coat to really shine nicely. I'll probably be painting the black pieces a more semi-gloss so it doesn't shine too much. I want him blending with my other classics.

The gold (Alclad II Pale Gold) has gone down over the gloss black today. The results:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7580/16082972260_d8829b2650_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qvcrkb)DSC_0278 (https://flic.kr/p/qvcrkb) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

The face:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7462/16268534621_8a959af61b_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qMAuye)DSC_0279 (https://flic.kr/p/qMAuye) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

The grill, still masked:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7513/16270341415_2cd38df6ba_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qMKKDR)DSC_0280 (https://flic.kr/p/qMKKDR) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

Unmasked:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7577/16269514922_f94debe92a_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qMFvXY)DSC_0281 (https://flic.kr/p/qMFvXY) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

I really love the Alclads, they took a bit of getting used to, and they are not cheap, but the results are impeccable, when done well.

[gamblor916]

Very nice. The gold looks really smooth.

[AJ_Prime]

Yeah that looks brilliant dude!

Your masking jobs are incredible! I don't know how you get the lines so clean!

[UltraMarginal]

Nice Grill!

[M-bot]

After masking, painted some white pieces black...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7575/16272036036_edcf6065f3_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qMUrps)DSC_0279 (https://flic.kr/p/qMUrps) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

And here's the head all finished - had to touch up some of the gold first...

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8607/16272036626_d97773518e_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qMUrzC)DSC_0281 (https://flic.kr/p/qMUrzC) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

[KalEl]

good stuff man!

[M-bot]

All done! It's not flawless, rub points are always an issue, but even those small flaws here and there are equal to that on any HasTak release, so I'm pretty happy with the results. I'm a bit nervous to transform him though! Maybe when I get a bit braver, I'll do so and post some alt mode pics.;):)

I used a Reprolabels set from a G1 Ricochet (which needed be trimmed down/adjusted to fit this mould). His Targetmaster partner Nightstick is from a RTS Cyclonus (my Cyclonus is in my '86 movie collection so he doesn't need the Targetmaster). I've also taken some pics with his mould-mate, Generations Jazz.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8596/16391826657_6bc0f5574b_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qYuoYZ)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/qYuoYZ) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7342/16391827607_1475506a7e_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qYupgn)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/qYupgn) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8580/16391828457_390eec3111_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qYupw2)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/qYupw2) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7318/16391830127_e0d22c5c70_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qYuq1P)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/qYuq1P) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7286/16390288760_e50f59afbf_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qYmvPw)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/qYmvPw) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8570/16551762606_6f086b797a_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rdC7nm)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/rdC7nm) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8644/16390087808_14473f06dc_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qYku5Q)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/qYku5Q) by M-bot2011 (https://www.flickr.com/people/65295103@N08/)

[spiderken17]

That looks awesome mate!, I was just checking this thread last night to see if you had made any progress.

[MayzaPrime]

Nice work as always... :D

[crankcase76]

Top notch work as always M-bot, would love to get you to do one of them for me. :) can't wait to see your next project.

[AJ_Prime]

Wow that looks spectacular! Very tidy lines. It turned out brilliant! Another custom to be proud of. Great work man.

[Bidoofdude]

Impressive. Most impressive.

[gamblor916]

That's another great custom. Nice work.

[lancalot]

i love alcad as well...great job man...love the gold rims :)

[Jetfire in the sky]

Stunning, love the gold rims too. The whole figure just pops in the pics. Great work.