(Note: I couldn't decide whether to post this in General Customizing, or Critiques.)
Howdy.
In having employment, I've decided to work on a few of my "planned, but not implemented" ideas. In this case, the first Joe recipe I'm going to work on is a birthday present for a friend of mine (who's a much bigger Joe fan). Last year, I used techniques I learned here to repaint Transformers' Decepticon Micromaster Blackjack into a color scheme matching my best friend's "Rio Red" '92 Ford Probe. (The windows even matched his dk. gray interior.) Since I bought the spare Decepticon later than I'd planned, it turned into a late birthday present.
In this case, my other friend drove me nuts (after learning I'd taken a robotics class in college) requesting an "army of android troopers". Then he'd quote Cobra Commander's from the SpyTroops movie (there in reference to the stolen Night Attack Chopper/Crimson Command Copter), "Mindbender! Make it RED!"

So now he's going to get his android army. And they will be red. I hope.

What I've cooked up is outlined in detail here, and is based on Doc Rob's Crimson BAT Mark II. As with Doc Rob's the initial figure used will be the APC's B.A.T. v7 operators.
In order to get the surplus parts I wanted, I bought 2 BAT (Mark III) v7s and 1 BAT (Mark IV) v11 for its right hand and laser gun (the bigger weapon) attachment. Ironically, the red hands included with this BAT look like Hasbro repainted some purple ones to match the body (seriously, purple can be seen on the outsides of the red). When complete, all 3 robots will look like they belong to the same unit (the minimal detailing I will do to the Mark IV didn't really deserve a recipe), and be able to interchange weapons (and hand) w/o any noticeable color differences. The configuration in my head has BAT Mk. III #1 wearing BAT Mk. IV's laser gun (and its default weapons stowed on its backpack), BAT Mk. III #2 wearing BAT Mk. IV's right hand (possibly wielding a rifle), and BAT Mk. IV wearing its left hand and machine/gatling gun. I didn't care for the BAT Mk. IV's "torch" backpack, so I'm replacing it with 1 of the 6 Cobra Infantry/SAW-Viper backpacks I can't stand. It looks and fits better on the BATs.

The part where I need help is I need opinions on my recipe -- How do you think it will turn out? Do you have any better recommendations on how I should paint the BAT Mk. IV hands? I have about 3 weeks to work on this one.
I hope to get a cheap digital camera so that I can upload the finished product on my page or JoeCustoms.
-- Cybertronian.
P.S.: In my recipe, my "sky blue" is Apple Barrel's Pool Blue.

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Just a report on the 1st day's work.

After some paint testng (and discovering that a very strong but rotten-smelling red glow-in-the-dark paint didn't mix very well with Apple Barrel's Cardinal Crimson -- moreso since my bottle needed 1-2 tsps. of water added), I decided to begin work on the BAT Mk. III #1's torso and waist. So far the 1st coat seems to be holding, though I'm a touch skeptical. I can't wait to get the Crimson base coat down so that I can finally do the detail work.
The GitD paint was bought to blend in with robot (Transformer) eyes, or in this case the Y-shaped visor on my friend's BATs. Hopefully I'll have more luck with the BAT Mark IV.
-- Cybertronian.
P.S.: I also forgot that of the glow-in-the-dark paints I bought (online; couldn't find Apple Barrel's GitD Pink), the Red is the weakest at holding a charge. (This company's green can hold a visible charge for up to 12 hrs. under a super strong light source. Blue is about 6-9 hrs.)

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After a LOT of procrastinating, I think I finally have the first Mk. III done. Currently, it is disassembled, waiting for the Future Floor Finish I coated its joints with to dry. With any luck, this stuff will provide some level of resistance against common play wear. (posing the arms, legs, and neck, trying to get him to ride inside of a vehicle, etc.) Now to work on the second... AFTER USING A (makeshift) PRIMER!!! (Red doesn't go on easily over black... without about 4 coats.)

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After a particularly long hiatus, I should mention the that 1st of my Mk. III Crimson BATs is complete and assembled. While this should have been inspiration enough to work on the others (the 2nd Mk. III and the Mk. IV/command unit), I'd been tied up with other Transformers-related projects. One of them involved painting a pair of Dirge wings to match a G2 Ramjet body.

I hope to get back to work on this one soon.
-- Cybertronian.

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I recently bought a new backdrop, so that I can take pics just about anywhere. Here's the work I've done so far.

-- Cybertronian.

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After some time, I've painted the BAT Mk. IV hands (below the wrist) to match the left hands of the BAT Mk IIIs (semi-dull gold fingers, black handguards).
I also finished painting BAT Mk. IV's visor to match the bright red used on the Mk. IIIs as well.

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