Hot Toys, in my opinion, probably mixes their own colors for the Iron Man series. I can't seem to get close but hopefully close enough. Forums mentioned that Tamiya Acrylic Clear Red might work, I have yet to try. Simply using what I have (for painting my SD gundams), I tried to restore the Mark III Battle Damaged.
Since it is kind of a failure this time, I name it restoration part i. Hopefully with a little mix and match of colors, I might get lucky and close enough to the original color.
As many of Hot Toys collectors know, Iron Man series typical has this signature problem of pink underwear. Unfortunately for Mark III, the belly is also made of the rubber material which eventually turn pink as well.
Previous picture I posted which shows the pink belly pink underwear syndrome.
I first strip off the legs, they come off pretty easily. The head and neck goes too, makes handling the torso much easier. It is pretty tricky to put back the arms of the Mark III BD, thus I recommend to leave them since they can be used a stand for drying anyway.
Using Tamiya X-20A Thinner, I tried to clean/strip any remaining colors off the pink areas. This step is important as it allows the new color to stay on longer and also the solvent in the new paint does not dissolve any remaining colors and get mixed with the new coat. I tried with X-7 Red, doesn't really match well. Anyway, who you always win on first try. Just have to keep trying, that's the fun isn't it.
After cleaning and stripping of the remaining color off the pink area, it leaves a dull maroon color. Some collectors might just leave it this way though, I can say the color is pretty close to the original actually. Thus restore or not? The choice is yours.
After the red coat dries up, it's time to recreate the battle damage done to the Mark III armor. I used X-18 semi gloss black to mix with X-11 chrome silver, and the X-11 chrome silver itself to recreate the effect. Used a thin paint brush and the lines seems very harsh, nonetheless, I will be making a part ii which then I shall use a thin needle to create the lines. I'm guessing it might look closer to the real deal instead of this mess created this time. The gundam marker was used for outlining, it is a must and do not even think about doing away this step.
Well, accepting this for the time being, might have to get the Forum recommended Clear Red, and I will also be mixing the the X-7 with X-18 to see if darkening the red works, or not.
Last picture to close up the (butt) part i of my restoration of the Hot Toys Mark III Battle Damaged. Until next time, I'll mix and match and challenge accepted to get as close enough.
Continue to Part ii of the Mark III restoration.
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