Very 1st custom ever

[i_amtrunks]

Thats a nice first up effort, your painting is quite good, when I started not all that long ago I'd end up with the wrong coloured paint in the wrong sections because of my unsteady hands.

While the idea of Nemesis prime might not be original, I quite like the look of the brighter blue with the black on the Animated mold, its visually striking.

When you are painting a darker shade of paint on a lighter coloured plastic, you don't need to undercoat. However if you are painting a lighter shade on dark plastic then I suggest getting a spray can of White Undercoat, it will make your job much easier.

[lcz128]

Some tips:
+ Wash the parts before you paint them.
+ Consider applying a white undercoat. I never do that, but I know others who do.

Totally agree with your tips except that undercoat colour depends on what colour you intend to have on top If it's a light colour, white all the way - else - black if you want black on top - black also if you're going to paint silver on top (matte)

Mr_K : Admirable effort As blackie mentioned - there are bits where the red is showing through - bits where it's the joints - if there's paint rub - the only way around is to sand the joints so that it's thinner BEFORE the paint so that by the time the paint is on, it's around the same 'thickness' as pre-paint. With regular areas, just make sure you coat him with a uniform coat of paint, and yes - more layers if required. You may want to dilute your paint for a smoother finish. Jin Saotome's tutorials helped me get started about a year ago, so I recommend that! (jinsaotomesdangeroustoys.com)
Anyhoo - all the best with more that you work on and remember to share!

[Mr_K]

Thanks for the pointers lcz128 and i_amtrunks (and those before hand) I didn't think to put an undercoat of a darker or lighter colour on first, that's a great idea and will use that next time.

lcz128, yeah I used a tutorial of his as a guide. I saw he mentioned sanding back parts of the TF but at the time I didn't understand what he meant, but now I do -> thanks That will be a great help for my next one.

[Hot Rodimus]

Nice job!

Just a couple of tips from me aswell, these I learnt from painting tonnes of 40K and Warmachine figures which I never actually played a game with just painted because I loved the mini's so much.

I used to (as well as the majority of miniture painters) undercoat in Black most of the time as if there are any gaps you can not get your spray or brush to it will generally not stand out as much as white, expecialy in crevices and corners and it will act like shading or shadows. Undercoat in white if you will be painting bright colours like yellow though as a black undercoat will give you a crappy finish for lighter shades of colour.

Depending on the finish you want you have a couple of choices as to what sealant you can use to protect your work. If you want a glossy coat something like Purity Seal that Goktimus Prime mentioned works great and it is cheap and can be bought from most hobby stores or places that sell Games Worksop paints.

If you want a matte finish (which is what most mini painters prefer but I don't know what the custom creaters here like) first seal your figure with Purtiy Seal then allow it to dry for 24 hours and then give it a coat of your matte sealant. Something like Wattyl Estapol works well and can be bought from places like Bunnings for arounrd 12 bucks. The reason for the double coat is that some matte sealant can be brittle so the purity seal provides superior protection while the additional coat of the matte takes away the glossy finish.

Wether you want to go this route or not is up to you but the other advice given here is realy good.

[Hot Rodimus]

Oh and here is a site that may help with some techniques.

http://www.brushthralls.com/tutorials/index.php

It has nothing to do with transformers, it is based on a wargame called Warmachine. The figures used in this game are metal and alot of them are 'robots' so there are some techniques for painting metal and prep before you paint etc that you might find helpfull.

I learnt alot from this site and after practicing some of the techniques on their can paint a 3cm tall figure to a better than average standard.

[Paulbot]

Nice job and very encouraging to my own plans to do my 1st ever custom. The tips from the others are great too.

[The_Damned]

looks good excellent choice of moulds.

[loophole]

That looks really good dude and yet so evil, i love the contrast of colours it works very well. Two thumbs up!!

[Mr_K]

Thanks guys!

The next one I'm doin' is of another TF that came with this OP in a twin pack at one stage, I'm gonna try and bring this transformer back to their roots with some paint