400th post!

Well, who'd have thought this little hobby that I took up about 3 years ago would get to this stage?!

Tens of brushes worn out, loads of empty paint cans, hundreds of figures repainted, thousands of blog views and now a 400th post on here!

I'd just like to take this chance to thank everyone for the support, be that buying a figure, liking a post on facebook or even just following me on twitter- all the support and encouragement really does mean a lot!

What better way to mark my 400th post than with some top quality photos, taken by my friends at Eighth Avenue Photography!

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Obviously these are some of my favourites, but they were taken over a year ago, so I have formed some new favourites and, if I say so myself, completed some even better paint jobs since!

Thanks everyone!

2014 Costa Rica squad... the last bit!

Well, you made it! Here are the final 2 Costa Ricans from the full 2014 World Cup Squad that I painted!

I give you:

Marco Urena:

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and

Jose Miguel Cubero:

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And that's it! I have painted more Costa Rica players than any other International team!

Oh, and Cubero felt that his figure was worth a fave and a RT:

Wanchope, Vivid Imaginations figure

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A bit different this one, but one I was excited to paint, and am excited to share with you!

It's obviously different from the figures I normally paint- it's a different brand first off; a 'Vivid Imaginations' figure. It is also huge compared to what I normally paint.

See?!

So, yeah, it started life as Ian Wright, but at the request of a loyal, and highly valued customer, it joined the long list of Costa Rica figures I've done, becoming another iteration of Paulo Wanchope!

The chosen kit was World Cup 2002, where Wanchope bagged a goal against Brazil!

Other than the size, the major difference with this figure was the finish; it's original shininess meaning that it needed extra coats of paint.

Another point of interest was that I had to paint it bald!!

Here's a closer look at some of the details.

I enjoyed this one, and would definitely do more int he future, given the opportunity!

3 More Costa Ricans!

Cristian Gamboa:

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Yeltsin Tejeda:

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Roy Miller:

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Home kit and away kit on display in these pics! I've nearly finished posting the Costa Rica pics now... but I do have a fairly big surprise incoming! Keep a lookout for it!

I got messages back from two of these 3 on Twitter! Gamboa had this to say...

... while this was Tejeda's response:

Anyone any good at Spanish?!

Costa Rica... the next 3!

Michael Barrantes:

Randall Brenes:

Junior Diaz:

I'm running out of things to say about these Costa Rica figures, to a degree! 

So, just in case you haven't read my previous posts about them, I'll say again, that I think they are some of my best work! 

I suppose it may be because I got plenty of practice, but I think the red 'swoosh' on the front is pretty slick, and I liked doing all the different boot designs.

Completing a whole squad was really satisfying. It may have been that that inspired me to do a whole Leeds 1992 team for myself.

Regarding these figures, by only Twitter reply was from Junior Diaz. He thought it was Niceee. 

See?!

Costa Rica, Numbers 8, 9 and 10, World Cup 2014

The latest in the Costa Rica series of pictures! I give you:

Dave Myrie:

Joel Campbell:

And Captain, Bryan Ruiz:

I painted both Ruiz and Campbell in the first series of Costa Rica repaints I did for this customer (I've also done a few Campbells in Olympiakos kit) but I would say these two far exceed the originals. 

I think I have already mentioned in this blog that I think these Costa Rica repaints are some of my finest work!

Joel Campbell, who I've had a bit of reaction from before on social media responded like this:

while I also got a favourite from Dave Myrie. You can check it out, by having a look at the Tweets album on my Facebook page!

I should also mention that the Photo of the Ruiz Figure (which is clearly far better than my usual standard!!) was taken by my good friends at Eighth Avenue Photography!

Costa Rica, World Cup 2014, Numbers 5, 6 and 7!

Here are the next 3 Costa Rica World cup figures... I've decided to just do them 3 at a time in number order! So, here are:

Celso Borges:

Oscar Duarte:

And Christian Bolanos:

And not to forget, a couple of twitter responses:

Ah, I must have screen grabbed Duarte's favourite on my phone! Have a look in my Tweets album on Facebook if you want to see!

My Facebook page is incidentally really close to 350 likes. You know what to do!

Costa Rica, 2014, No.2, 3 and 4!

For those of you that have been waiting with baited breath for the next installment of the 2014 Costa Rica squad repaints: Here they are!

Johnny Acosta:

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Giancarlo Gonzalez:

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Michael Umana:

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The repaints have gone down well with the Costa Rica players on the whole! From these 3, I only have one response so far though; a retweet and favourite from Gonzalez.

More Costa Rica repaint pics soon!

Costa Rica Coaching staff, 2014 World Cup

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As I mentioned in a previous post, my most recent Costa Rica order was such a thorough reproduction of their World Cup Squad that coaching staff were included!

Here we have manager Pinto, and coaches Wanchope and Marin. 

Pinto required a different hair colour and change of tie to the original figure! 

Training kits and black boots were chosen for the coaches!

Costa Rica Keepers, World Cup 2014

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If you follow my blog regularly, you may remember me featuring several Costa Rica repaints a year or so ago.

Well, buoyed by Los Ticos' superb World Cup, the same customer came back to me with the ambitious project of repainting the entire squad, including coaching staff, and even a couple of injured players who didn't end up going.

I'm gonna post them a few at a time, like I did with the last big batch, and where better to start than with the keepers?!

Above is Keylor Navas, one of the stars of the tournament.

The picture below features all 3 keepers together. Initially I was skeptical of the idea of painting bibs onto the unused subs, but think it ended up looking great, perhaps more so on the outfield players. 

Anyway, here are the 3 keepers together:

Costa Rica... the last bit!

Well, who'd have thought, as I painted these, that Costa Rica would be cruising through World Cup group D, leaving Italy to fight it out with Uruguay for second, and England languishing bottom with 0 points?!

Not me... I'd forgotten that England were even playing Costa Rica when I painted them!

Anyway, here are the final 3 'Los Ticos' that I painted:

Jose Salvatierra:

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 Michael Umana:

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Rodney Wallace:

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Favourited Wallace, Retweeted by Salvatierra!

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If you want to see the other Costa Rica figures, click here!... or here for Facebook.

Costa Rica part... whatever I'm up to.

Bryan Oviedo:

Bryan Ruiz:

Alvaro Saborio:

Saborio and Salvatierra favourited tweets I sent to them containing these pictures.

Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rica.

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This figure was part of the large Costa Rica order that I received a while back, but I felt that Paulo deserved an individual blog post!

This is in part due to the fact that the kit is different from the other Costa Rica repaints, but more due to the fact that he is legitimately a Costa Rica legend.

The chosen kit is that of the 2002 World Cup, in which Wanchope scored against Brazil

I like this one!

Costa Rica Keepers

Keylor Navas:

Patrick Pemberton:

The only reason behind the slight difference in kits is that google image searches returned more of Pemberton in black shorts and socks, and Navas in grey.

If you want to check out the rest of my Costa Rica repaints, click here.

Costa Rica, part 3!

Cristian Gamboa:

Cristopher Meneses:

Roy Miller:

I got a retweet and favourite from Gamboa when I sent him his picture, and got proper responses from Meneses.  He said it was "Really good, fantastic!"

And then this happened:

First time a player I've painted has followed me as a result!

(In case you missed them: Costa Rica part 1 and part 2)