Sheringham XL, x2!

I've got into the habit of not posting Spurs repaints on here... and the reason is, I've done so many, I'm not sure which ones I've put on here before! I have a similar problem with my Leeds figures.

Anyway, I've decided that if I do duplicate, it doesn't matter that much, so expect to see more Spurs pics coming up!

(I have around 60 pictures of spurs figures that I have not marked as 'blogged'!)

But after saying all that, I'm pretty sure I haven't posted either of these here until now!

The home kit is one I've done several times before, so wasn't a particular challenge, painting wise. Hopefully, on inspecting it, you didn't notice that I had to repair the legs! It arrived with me with a fair chunk missing on the back, so I used clay to fix, and then painted over it. 

The second kit was much more of a challenge! I was glad it was on an XL figure, lets put it like that!! I was happy with how it turned out though!

Gattuso Fanatico figure, Milan

One of the things that has changed over the years (I've been repainting for 5 years now- crazy!!) is that now I often get people asking me: "Have you ever painted one of these?" and put forward a different variety of figure.

If I haven't painted one before, my usual answer is: "No, but I don't think it will be a problem!"

To be honest, the differences between FT Champs figures and Fanatico figures are pretty small. Nonetheless, unless I'm mistaken, here's my first fanatico!

I enjoyed this one, and was delighted with how it turned out... even if putting the red details on top of black paint was a bit of a pain!!

This was also my first AC Milan figure (of any variety) which surprised me a bit!

Leeds 96-98 Tonkas

Here are the next three Tonkas in the project where one fan wants to recreate every kit Leeds have worn since he started following them (that fan isn't me, by the way!)

Here we have kits worn by Leeds from 96-98

It may seem almost unbelievable now, but home kits used to last for more than a season! This one was definitely a grower for me; I wasn't keen on it at first, but soon really liked it. The figure was unique to this repaint collection, as it did actually start life as an Ian Rush figure, so has retained it's original identity!

I chose Gunnar Halle for the 96/97 away kit. The buyer was happy for me to go with players that were not necessarily the best, but represented the season in some way. Halle was fairly popular, and his no-nonsense, 'make the best of the ability you've got' attitude seemed quite fitting for the George Graham era. This kit became the 3rd kit in 1997/98

Loved this kit; Loved Alfie Haaland! You'll notice too that the number font is different. 1997/98 was the season where it was introduced- the first time there was a uniform font used in the Premier League era. That meant it was also used on the white kit above, but Ian Rush was gone by the start of this season. The vacant number 9 shirt was taken by a certain Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Gudjohnsen, Iceland

It's easy to forget how good Eidur Gudjohnsen was, in his day. He was cherry picked by Barcelona, for goodness sake!

I think this level of talent, and the fact that he was never particularly offensive(!) was why people were generally pretty happy for him to make it to a major international tournament in 2016, even if his best days were behind him by then.

Here he is in Iceland's Euro 2016 kit:

Among the requests for this one were his white boots, and the captain's armband, which I think he was given on coming on as substitute in cameo role in the tournament.

He's also wearing his customary number 22 (in the correct font of course!)

I forget how Euro 2016 went for Iceland...

Seaman, Arsenal

I find it quite surprising that I haven't done many Arsenal kits, when you consider the size of the fanbase they have.

Here's my most recent one, and it's one of the most intricate!

I remember this kit vividly, as Seaman wore it around about the time I really got into football... and moved to North London!

I was pleased with this repaint; it's a level of detail I wouldn't have even attempted maybe as little as a year ago. Notheless, I had this little frustrating feeling that maybe I could do it even better.

Always striving to improve!

Newcastle 95-96 away

Absolutely loved this kit as a child, and was happy with the chance to paint it!

Observations: 

Hoops are harder to paint than stripes!

Painting around a circular sponsor is a pain in the backside!

As ever, I was glad to find the correct shirt number font!

Clemence, FT Champs figure

Here's another FT Champs figure, and the first 'lookalike' one that I've done.

As far as I know, they have only done 'modern' players, so this customer chose a goalkeeper who he felt looked enough like Ray Clemence!

A lot of detail went into this one!

As well as the kit, of course, I had to repaint the ball, the gloves (to 1980s style ones) and Adidas boots. I even did the trademark white tape around the wrists.

I was pleased with this one!

Oh, and I almost forgot; I remodelled the arms into long sleeves, as England 1980s goalkeeper shirts would never have had short sleeves!