Klinsmann, Germany 1990

International break: International repaint on the blog, and a pretty iconic kit at that!

Klinsmann, in Germany's Italia '90 effort.

It's enjoyable to do well known and fondly remembered kits! I especially like doing different designs for the first time.

The main potential problem I had to consider with this one was making sure there was enough room for the badge above the main design on the front. I don't usually put the badge on while there is still painting to do, but did on this one!

I also purposely made the numbers on the back quite large, as was the trend in Italia '90 for some teams.

Special Gareth Barry Figure

I had been waiting to post this one, because of the possibility of getting a photo of the actual player holding up the figure... but being as it hasn't arrived, I thought I'd just get on and post the pic!

A special figure to commemorate Gareth Barry breaking the Premier League appearance record for the man himself:

As I'm sure you'll have worked out, each quarter of the shirt is one of the teams he played for in breaking the record (Villa, City, Everton and West Brom)

Some other details of note:

1. The hooped socks, made up of the colours of all 4 teams.
2. The sleeve patches: One from his debut season at Villa, one the Champions patch from his time at City.
3. All 4 shirt sponsor (well, a quarter of each, anyway!)
4. The 3 different numbering styles worn across his years in the Premier League
5. Adidas boots.

Oh, and in case you were unsure, 633 was the number of games he had played when he broke the record... though by the end of the season he was at 653...

Pleased with this one! And, in the words of the guy who bought it as a present for Barry: "He loved it!"

Speed, Sheffield United

One Gary Speed Prostar, one Gary Speed Microstar:

And that's it for today. 

Some days the writing just doesn't flow, and today is one of those days.

Armstrong, Spurs

Chris Armstrong was a pretty big signing for Spurs in the summer of 1995.

He'd just scored 22 (if memory serves) for newly-promoted Crystal Palace; no mean feat in a side that went on to be relegated.

As a result, Spurs were convinced to shell out £4.5m (in a time when that was actually a lot of money to spend in the Premier League) to get their man. Ultimately, I'd say he flattered to deceive at WHL which is a statement backed up by the fact he only got double figures in 2 seasons.

Clearly I'm in quite an informative mood today!! Here are the pics:

Not in squad number order!! Or chronological! But just had to go home, then away! 

You'll notice the different squad numbers- he went from 11 to 16 as he fell down the pecking order.

They're in different fonts too- the one on the yellow kit being the preferred font of Spurs' kit manufacturer Pony, before the introduction of uniform numbers throughout the division.

Leeds 1992 Fullbacks, Vivid Imaginations

I haven't posted any of the Leeds Vivid Imaginations figures in a long while!

I had to make fairly liberal use of lookalikes when putting together the Leeds United title winning XI using this variety of figure, as many of the players, including these 2, were never manufactured.

On adding the figures, I've realised that the Sterland figure is actually wearing 1990-91 kit; it was the same shirt, just a different sponsor!

This is a kit I know so well, it's one of the few I don't need to look at pictures of to repaint! The hardest part is probably the design on the top of the socks!!