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Sadly,
Blue Beetle will never appear on Justice League Unlimited, or
appear as a figure in the current line by Mattel due to rights
issues. He can, however, appear in the JLU comic book. Go figure.
Since that
became public knowledge, a lot of excellent Blue Beetle customs
have popped up. My favorite belongs to my pal Tyke,
who in turn based his on the art of Carlos B., which is
about as close to an "official" animated Blue Beetle look as
we're likely to see.
Like Tyke's,
mine is based on a Starman figure, both for the build of the
body and the head (especially the ears). Starman's crazy hair
was removed. The belt is vinyl with a Kneadatite buckle.
I tried something
a little different with the goggles, as I wanted to see the eyes
beneath. Using a leather puncher, I cut two tiny
circles from yellow acetate. The problem was how to adhere them
to the face. Normally I completely finish a figure before it
gets a few layers of Dullcote. However, that would fog up the
goggles. So I painted the body, and only painted the skin, eyes
and blue of the head. After the Dullcote was applied, I superglued
the yellow circles in place, then went back and added the black
lines.
Aside from
the fact the yellow acetate looks orange over the flesh tones,
I am very pleased with the final result.
UPDATE: I've
been receiving many compliments and questions as to how I painted
Beetle and Booster's lines so straight. Sadly, there is no secret.
That's simply the result of patience, practice and a steady hand.
Casimir
Summer 2005
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