Mixed Leeds post!

Looking at which teams I have the biggest picture back log of, it would make sense to do a Leeds post like the recent Liverpool one. So, with no thoughts on theme, and just going on alphabetical order, here are a few!

I've done these first 2 quite a few times each now, as you'd expect for title winners! Some people ask for Cantona in 7, but he wore quite the variety of shirt numbers in that season, including 2 and 3, if I remember rightly!

In a small act of pettiness that I'm sure Leeds fans can get behind, I prefer to put him in 14; a subs number, to show he wasn't that important to the side...

I love this Charles repaint. I have 2 in my own collection- the 'old gold' and one in the all white of the 60s... but I think I might like this better than either of them!! Probably down to the socks, in truth!

It might surprise a few to find out that I've also done this one at least 3 times. Collectors are a funny sort!!

Finally: Deano. I've done this kit a few times, but more commonly on Yeboah and Gary Speed. A first outing for Brian Deane in this kit. Well, in terms of my repaints, anyway!

Gordon Banks

I know England are playing tomorrow, but the chances are I will forget to post this then!

So here, without further ado, are 2 England Gordon Banks figures.

 I'm gonna be honest and say I don't know a great deal about these. I don't know the brand, and couldn't even say for sure if they were mass produced.

They were a bit different for me, in that when they arrived, they were a sort of bronzey brassy colour all over, so as well as the kit, I had to do the skin, eyes and hair too.

I think they came out pretty well, and so did the guy I did them for.

A couple of Arsenal figures

Some Arsenal figures for your Monday. 2 players that, really, I don't know much about.

If I remember rightly, this Brian Kidd remodel was the by-product of making another coach figure. I was left with a spare player body, and Kidd head. Just seemed pointless to not do it!!

 Here's a more recent one. You know by now that I love simple kits. I've described them as being 'less is more' kits in the past.

I think it's slightly more nuanced than them just being easier; I think it's the fact that I can get them as close to perfect as I'm going to manage. If that makes sense.

Beardsley, Carlisle

Just a quick one today. Peter Beardsley in his Carlisle stuff:

Those thin red and blue lines round his collar and cuffs: yes please!

The buyer of this one also requested the Admiral logos, you may have noticed, and extra detail on the ball.

There are a few other possible Carlisle repaints; as a Leeds fan myself, Ian Harte and Michael Bridges spring to mind!

Peter Withe x2

Peter Withe is probably most famous for his time at Aston Villa. That's the kit Corinthian made him in, anyway!

A couple of my regulars asked me to repaint him, and the results were repaints of the kits he wore before and after Villa!

I always find this body pose on figures a bit of a pain!! It's hard to do the side of the body without getting paint on the arm that's tucked right in! Especially with stripes!

The Sheffield United one also had a tricky badge, as it is the crossed blades logo, and Sheffield United written out, but not enclosed in any kid of shield. It was one of those times where I had to get the decal size exactly right, to the millimetre!!

Two decent jobs though I'd say, overall!

Wales Subbuteo XLs

I haven't posted any Subbuteo XL figures here for a while! (Though I have put some WIP ones on my instagram; click here if you want to follow!)

I've also realised as I went to add the labels to this post that the previous posts I intended to tag "Wales" were tagged "Wales. Northern Ireland", so that's something to sort out... later!

Here are some Wales figures, that I think are in chronological order!

Gotta say, I was very pleased with these! That pattern on the bottom one is a particular highlight!
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I feel that I need to point out that her arrived with me with 2 left hands!!

More subbuteo XLs soon- I've got a few pics waiting to be posted here, including Man Utd and ... Newport County!

Francis, QPR

I've done a few remodels recently!

What I've found is that, however many remodels I plan on doing, I usually end up with twice as many! (This being a result of the fact that most managers/coaches were players once, and I don't like to waste things!)

After explaining all that, though, this one wasn't just the result of using the manager's body and being left with a spare head... as strange as that sounds. 

Anyway, a friend of mine said to me- "How come you've never made any of the great QPR players of the 70s?"

So I did!

Gerry Francis- using the head from a manager figure... and the body from Dennis Wise, if anyone cares!!

I had to darken the hair, of course, but I didn't mind that, especially as the kit didn't need much detail. My favourite part is definitely the sideburns!!

Bremner Keymen

Here are the last 2 Keymen... for the time being at least.

A couple of Leeds away kits for Billy Bremner:

If you're wondering, the side view of the first one is very much so you can see the sock tag!!

And as for the second, of all the hundreds of Leeds figures I've done; this is definitely the first red one!!

I wondered how well decals would work on diecast figures, so I used them for the badges only. The numbers (sock tabs included) are all handpainted.

I like the Keymen figures, though some are in pretty bad condition due to age. These were 2 of the ones in better nick!

Kidd, Arsenal

A while ago, I did a few remodels, and these left me with a spare Brian Kidd head, and a player body!

I decided to do this with them:

I think there was a Kidd player figure made as part of a Man United European Cup Winners set, but there was never an Arsenal one, hence my decision to make this one.

It is available, so if any Arsenal collectors see this and are interested, comment here, use the contact box at the bottom of the page, or use the social media links in the header.

Keymen, Admiral Tracksuits

More Keymen! The last Keymen figures post featured some Cup Final tracksuits, and we're staying with the tracksuit theme for this post:

Not Cup Final wear this time, but a popular design that Leeds used pre-match while Admiral were supplying their kits

As mentioned in previous posts, unfortunately, the paint doesn't cover the cracks in these old, die cast figures, and the buyer didn't make any mention of trying to restore them in any other way... so I didn't!

Worthington, Bolton

Haven't done a Bolton pic in a while so:

A Bolton fan had thought of this lookalike himself, and I'd say it's a pretty good one; I can't even remember who the original is! (Fairly sure it's an Austrian player, but I can't think who!)

The Umbro logos down the sleeve were the biggest challenge! 

This figure also underwent a minor remodel- it was short sleeved when it arrived with me, so I used some miliput to change them to long sleeves.

Sheffield United, 1970s

Through my repaints, I discovered that quite a few really big names erm... collected their pensions at Sheffield United!!

Here are Martin Peters and Jimmy Johnstone:

I nearly called this post: Sheffield United Golden Oldies... then I thought some people may refer to players from the 90s as that!

Bremner Keymen: Cup final tracksuits

It's been a while since I did put up some of the keymen, so here are the next couple:

If you missed the last post I made about this kind of figure, they are actually die-cast, and from the 60s, which explains the condition of them to some extent!

Unfortunately, the paint didn't cover the cracks, but i still think they look pretty good. (The customer didn't ask me to attempt to 'restore them' in any way other than painting)

The tracksuit tops are from the infamous 1970 final vs Chelsea, and Leeds' 1972 Cup final triumph against Arsenal.

Maradona

Well, my laptop is back from the repair shop!! In truth this only partly explains the huge gap between blog posts, but what better way to celebrate getting it back than with... a new blog post!

Here are some Diego Maradona repaints:

The two teams are Argentinos Juniors, and Boca Juniors.

Clearly the absence has not adversely affected my ability to write sharp and to the point blog posts...

Bremner Keymen, Admiral kits

A new variety of figure! My first experience of painting  die-cast Keymen figures.

I've done 4 Billy Bremners so far, all in various Leeds kits. Here are the first 2:

The figures weren't in the best condition, but the kits still looked pretty good when finished. I was hoping the paint would cover the cracks, but not quite!

Keep your eye out for 2 more Bremner Keymen in future!

Francis, Man City

Here's a Corinthian repaint of Trevor Francis in a Man City away kit.

I actually did this quite a while ago, and realised I haven't posted it yet! I'd definitely class it as one of those times where less is more, and a simple repaint ended up looking pretty classy!

Maybe this was further helped by the traditional nature of Man City's away colours.

Dynamo Kiev

Well, it's been a while, so I thought I'd make it up to you with 4 repaints in one blog post!

Here's my Dynamo Kiev back catalogue!

My first Kiev repaints, and also my first order from the USA! Cracking the tough American market!!

I was very pleased with these- the blue kit in particular was very intricate considering that it is quite plain, but I feel I'm getting neater all the time... I no longer fear adidas stripes!!

As ever, I was pleased to be able to use the correct number font for the back of the shirts!

If you look closely, you'll also see a Captain's band on Luzhny, which was a surprise to me! I would have guessed that Sheva was the captain of that team!

Subbuteo XL, Leeds tracksuits

Without further ado, here are the final 3 (for the time being at least!) XL Subbuteo Leeds United 1970s pre-match tracksuit figures.

Phew!

(Click to enlarge)

Pics added in sock tab number order, of course!

Celtic, away kits of the '60s and '70s!

One of my regulars, who is a big Celtic fan recently came by a Lisbon Lions box set at a price he couldn't refuse!

...

But he already had one!! The result? Plenty of Celtic away kits and Scotland National team repaints!

Here are the first few Celtic ones... I've grouped them together in that they are all predominantly green!

I've always found Celtic's tradition of numbering the shorts, rather than shirts interesting. Obviously they changed at some point, so I just trusted my customer's knowledge on these.

The highlight of this bunch has to be the hand-painted Umbro logos on Lennox!

Leeds United Tonka Figures 1976-81

I'm pretty excited about a project that one of my regulars has just started.

Not only is it Leeds related, but also appeals to my completest (if that's a word) side!

Basically, he's got a load of Tonka figures, and we're working through all the Leeds kits from the late 1970s to the 1990s (I think!)

And if it's not inappropriate for me to say this about my own work, they're looking great so far!

Here are the first 2:

You'll have to keep your eye out for the next few! I've already painted 8 for him and I can't wait to get started on the next batch!