Category Archives: Custom

THE WORKSHOP – Custom Brit Squad Dropcloth by KidAkira

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Twenty Seven. That’s how many high quality photo’s the mad custom ninja KidAkira sent me to go along step by step with this intensely in-depth  Dropcloth customizing Workshop. On top of that, he chose my favorite bot as his subject matter. I’m absolutely blown away by how many tasty nuggets he packed into this thing. Thanks so much brutha! I hope all you good people learn a ton from it and enjoy!

– Knives

Firstly, Thanks to Knives for inviting me to do a custom tutorial for Rad Toy review. Today I’m going to go through the process of turning a 1/6 DIY Dropcloth figure into a Brit Squad Dropcloth…
The first stage for this custom was to dismantle the Dropcloth (DC) into parts. This makes it much easier to work on each part and doesn’t leave you with any hard to reach areas. DC’s are fairly easy to pull apart, remembering to always be gentle, and the use of a hairdryer to soften the vinyl parts will make it easier still…
The next stage is to mask off each piece for laying down the basic colours. Once ready each section was sprayed with 2 to 3 light coats of paint…
Once these parts are thoroughly dry, the masking tape is removed and a very light layer of clear gloss lacquer is applied. I find the gloss finish helps the decals adhere better to the surface… I won’t go into Decal making and application in this tutorial)… Once the decals are in place and dry all the pieces are given a light coat of clear satin lacquer…
Now to begin the weathering process. For this DC i decided to go for slightly less rust than i have gone for on my previous Brit Squad bots. To achieve this affect is very simple. I use a synthetic sponge torn into small pieces to give a nice uneven texture. By dabbing the sponge into the paint and wiping the excess off, use tissue, hand or jeans; then stipple the sponge onto the areas you want weathered. Apply more or less depending on your desired effect. I used 3 different paints to achieve this finish. Citadel paints Adeptus Battlegrey, for the first layer followed by Tin Bitz and finally Mithril Silver…
The next stage of weathering is using washes. This is probably the easiest part of any custom that requires weathering and is hard to get wrong. The 2 washes I used were again from Citadel paints; Devlan Mud and Ogryn Flesh. Using a soft medium sized brush, apply the first layer of wash liberal over the areas your weathering. In this case, everywhere. Once applied, let sit for a little under a minute, then using a tissue or soft cloth, dab the excess was off. Repeat until the desired effect is achieved then repeat with second colour wash…
Once the washes have dried completely, another layer of clear satin lacquer is applied and your DC should now look like this…
Now it’s time for reassembly. Again, the DC’s are fairly easy to dismantle and put back together but the hairdryer will help if your having trouble. And again remember to be gentle and take your time…
Time now to move onto the soft parts…
Firstly I drew the Bullseye onto each side of the skirt using a compass. I then hand painted each section…
Then I applied a very watered down mix of the Citadel Adeptus Battlegrey paint to the pouches and skirt to give the base weathering layer…
Once dry, I then used the same stippling method as before building up layers of Citadel paints Adeptus Battlegrey, Scorched Brown and Skull White…
Once dry the skirt and pouches were put back on the DC…
And with weapon in hand (in this case Vanilla TQ’s Shotgun), this Brit Squad DC is ready for battle…
Cheers
KidAkira
We hope you enjoyed this episode of The Workshop. Huge thanks again to Kid Akira for putting this fantastic piece together.  Now get out there and customize something!

We’d love to hear from you and check out what kind of customs you’re working on! Send us a shot of your latest custom work with a brief discription to radtoyreview@gmail.com. 

Hit us up on Facebook or Twitter pages to stay updated whenever we post new Workshops and epic toy reviews!

Until next time!


THE WORKSHOP – Le’ skateboard – by Goatbot/Simon

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Once again, Simon/Goatbot/Goatballs/Goaty is back with another not-for-the-weak-knee’d tutorial. This time he’s going to walk us through his process of making his own custom skateboards for 1\6 figs. 

Enjoy!

– Knives

Le’ Skateboard tutorial:
Alright then… first off, I just have to say that I’m doing this because those slack bastards at threeA have refused to heed my repeated demands for some street transport for their figs. I couldn’t be arsed to wait for the Adventure Kartel Zomb zimmer frame and decided to make a skateboard or three in the meantime. Also, big props to much missed threeA forum boardie Dante for the OG suggestion.
Down to business…
The materials you’ll need..
  • super glue (or crazy glue to the colonials )
  • stock card (old cereal packets, birthday cards are ideal )
  • exacto knife and sharp scissors
  • steel rule 
  • cutting mat
Skateboards are a very personal affair and first ye’ ve got to decide what style ride ye want… old school, street or a long board.
Once ye’ve picked yer poison ye’ll have to create a template. I do all mine by eye alone… ye computer whizzes should be able to knock something out in no time though!
Ideally it should be a rectangle roughly 14 cm x 3cms. Once you’ve that measured out, take a pencil and draw a line bisecting the rectangle. Then draw or trace yer shape out. Once yer happy cut it out, rounding out any imperfections. Then simply use the template you’ve just created to draw out 4 – 6 more “boards” depending on how thick the card is and how thick ye want yer deck.
 
I find 4 layers of average greeting card stock will do the job nicely .
O.K… taking care not to glue yourself together, carefully glue the layers of card together one at a time. Ye can add kicks at this stage by simply bending the card where ye want em..
I find drawing around the edge of the board then a few lines in the middle will do. After each layer take care to trim any excess off and round out any imperfections. Rinse and repeat until ye are satisfied with the shape and thickness.
 
Apply more glue (ye may need to open a window unless ye dig cheap highs..) around the edge of the board to make sure the layers are firmly in place. This will also create a hardened edge that ye can lightly sand to add shaping.
After that its time for the grip tape. I use any old sheets of sandpaper or aluminium oxide cloth paper about 80 – 120 grit. Take what you have,  glue it to the board and trim to fit !
Apply glue once more around the edge of the board… once again, sand and clean up any last irregularities.
Now its simply a matter of adding any designs ye want. You can print off graphics and decals from yer computer or just doodle with a brush or pen. This is for me the most fun part of it all… I’ve gone for a homage or two  to the first board I ever rode.. my big bro’s dog town board. No doubt a few of ye will have similar nostalgia in mind .
Once yer happy with the graphics its time for some wheels. Silly enough, there’s not many decently sized trucks and wheels about. I find Tech Deck (TM) ones too small but you can lengthend them a bit with appropriately sized plastic tubing and the wheels glued in place on the end.
The trucks I have are old ones from a Dragon “In Dreams” skate fig, which are ideal at 3cm wide.. ye can either glue them straight on or mark  the bolt holes and drill them out with a pin drill or dremel to retain the spin.
Hopefully this will inspire a few of ye out there. I’d love to see some pics of a few finished decks at some point.
If any one out there happens upon a company thats producing some decent  1/6 sized trucks hit us up, my zombs would appreciate it!
Many thanks!

We hope you enjoyed the Workshop. Big thanks to Simon for taking time away from making amazing customs to write/photograph this up for us!

We’d love to hear from you and check out what kind of customs your working on! Hit us up on Facebook or Twitter pages to stay updated and please let us know what kind of workshops you’d like to see.

Until next time!


THE WORKSHOP – Wee Zombie Bashing Bat – by Goatbot/Simon

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Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! If you’re lonely and sad today.. take heart! A new Workshop awaits!

What a treat today is… A little back history first. When I first got into collecting 3A, I remember seeing all these pictures of Tommy Mission figures holding these awesome little baseball bats. They all had different decals, witty scribe.. some had blood splatters, nicks/scratches etc. I ordered my first Tommy fully expecting to have some variant packed in with him. To my surprise, no bat.. just a dumb glowing hand (kidding?). After a smidge of digging I came to learn that these amazing little things were handmade by a fellah who, going completely off his various forum names, seems to have an intense, yet healthy fascination with goats.

Huge thank you to Simon/Goatbot/Goatballs/Goaty for this fantastic workshop! He was kind enough to create not just one, but TWO different tutorials for us! The second we plan to post later in the week. This one is the most complex yet and you get play to play with power tools. Please be safe and don’t poke your eye out kid!

– Knives

Howdy folks, must be a slow news week as Knives has very kindly asked me to provide him with a tutorial or two… you lucky people .. its a big honor to have been asked  so thanks mush.
To the bat tutorial then..
For those of you who feel the need for some blunt force trauma in your lives, nothing says emo better than 3 foot of hickory planted firmly in the jacobs…  hopefully this tutorial will make enough sense so ye can make your very own baseball bat…
This is a wee bit more demanding and requires you have a few tools laying about but if you can do it, anything goes.
Materials :
  • power drill, cordless preferred unless ye have a bench vice or indeed a wood lathe (I use an 18v hitachi cordless impact driver drill)
  • fine toothed saw ( gents,  mitre etc )
  • wood rasp
  • small hobby files or a dremel
  • sandpaper or better still aluminium oxide cloth 80 , 120, 240 grit should do it
  •  12 mm HARDWOOD doweling , available in most hardware stores and model hobby shops. Ye can use lengths of twig, sticks etc but this will make th job way harder..
  • electrical tape, medical tape etc ( for the grip )
  • paint, pens, decals
  • bees wax or spray varnish
  • COMMON SENSE
  • dust mask
  • Well ventilated work space
Okay this my method only ! Those of ye with better tools and workspaces will no doubt adapt accordingly, I apologize for the picture quality as it was cold and no one was willing to take pics of me making toy bats… bastards..
Also a shout out to dedguy for inspiration and for making bats look so frick’n cool
To start off with I find it best to sit on a wee box or something low to the floor with materials and tools close to hand. Then I measure and cut how many bats I want to make..the bat should be around 13.5 – 14 cms but the over all length ye want to work with should be about 17 cm.. The  remainder should be enough to fit snugly into the chuck  of the drill . Bats come in all shapes and sizes so decide on the look ye want before hand. I make bats of differing styles and also of differing handle widths to accommodate various hand sculpts. Note its better to go too thin as ye can always  bulk out the handle with “grip tape”.  After inserting the wood into the chuck, engage the power to see how well the woods been seated… if its off it will wobble alarmingly.. just re-house it until it spins  ” true” .
I then put the drill on the floor and brace it with a well planted foot across the battery housing ( as per the picture above) when its stable, select th speed ye require ( higher speeds work best) and away ye go .
With one hand operating th drill trigger I use the wood rasp to waste away the rough shape of the bat. I work on the opposite side of the wood to where I’m positioned taking care not to impose too much pressure on the wood..
Working your way from the chuck to the end of teh bat will have the best results but be wary of lingering too long in one spot lest ye thin it out too much.
I work my way up from the chuck end along th  barrel of the  bat a couple of times then stop to see how I’m doing… if I’m satisfied I’ll take a sheet of abrasive paper 80 – 120 grit, fire up the drill again and use th paper to smooth and shape teh bat to the required shape and finish.
BE CAREFUL HERE .. you can grip th bat with the paper but be aware that it can snap if your grips too tight, also the transferred heat  can cause nasty friction burns to you if yer not careful… try explaining that to your girl friend or nearest medical professional.
I usually leave the grip end until last as this reduces th likelihood of it snapping at the weakest point. I use a wee elliptical metal file to flare out the bottom of the handle and to create the hand stop at the end taking care to thin out the wood below the knob so as to make cutting off the wood sprue neater and easier.
 
Once yer satisfied ye can take the bat out, cut it off at the base and sand the base and top of the bat by hand .. If I’ve done this properly ye should now  be teh proud owner of a 1/6 scale  baseball bat !
or have a fine  toothpick…
or maybe  a burnt hand full of splinters.
Once yer done with this part its then up to you on finishing touches. I usually polish the wood with beeswax, paint it if required, then add weathering and teh odd nick or scratch before a final coat of varnish .
Your AK crew is now tooled up and ready to roam the streets..or your shelves, doling out righteous woody justice !
Thats it …done and dusted.
Many thanks for your time and patience and a huge props to Rad Toy Review.
cheers !

We hope you enjoyed this Workshop. Check back later in the week as we bring you another from the mighty Goat!

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