fix a sun-damaged figure

i'm a big fan of buying used, and figures are no exception! however sometimes...they may not be as advertised. the blue space police super sonico on the left came to me with horrible sun damage! she was completely green, and her hair had faded to near white. (｡•́︿•̀｡)

I did a little experiment on my zombie gal, and i really liked the results! so if you have a sun damaged figure, or even would like to add some custom shading to a figure, give this a shot. i didn't take too many pictures so its going to be pretty text heavy, but bear with me.

i suspect much like sun bleached window advertisements you'd see at a dated salon storefront, the sun strips the red tones first. this left the blue and yellow tones in the skin pour and mostly white in the hair. this gave her that sickly green look. I'll ramble about how prize figures are produced another time; but just know we've identified the red pigment as being missing here. the rest of the paint looks ok so we don't need to touch it.
i actually got the pink sonico at the same time as the blue. you can really see just how off her skintone is! you dont need another figure as reference; it does help to look up how the figure originally looked. we'll just be using her as a comparison for the results.

supplies

Mister Super Clear
Chalk Pastels
pallete surface for mixing
painter's tape/scrap napkins
Xacto blade
Small fluffy paintbrushes, or spare eyeshadow brushes
Box for spraying MSC

Begin by taping off areas you do not want to get pastel on. This is especially important if you want to protect any shiny paint surfaces. MSC works by giving the plastic some "tooth" like a watercolor paper. The grip lets your mediums stick but it has a mattifying effect as a result. you can use the tape and napkin to create a little apron around larger areas, like you'd get at the hairdressers. poke holes in another napkin for the feet pegs to cover the figure base. taping off is crucial for white or pastel colors next to your target areas, they will pick up the dust and take on the color. not the clean and professional look we want really (ㆁ△ㆁ)

once your figure is taped off and ready to go you can start spraying your figure with the MSC. Make sure you're in a VERY well ventilated area, outside is best. if you have a Respirator mask now is the time to put it to use. This stuff is potent. I put her on her stand in a box to collect the residue from spray that missed. Let it dry for a bit before bringing inside or it will reek of not good for you-chemicals. Once your figure is dry you can remove any pegged pieces. I was lucky her arms came out! it let me get at them 360 as well as her midsection.

I used some cheap student grade chalk pastels I had in storage; you can use any set you want! I scraped the top of a red, white, and peachy color onto my mixing surface with the blade. I'd recommend something that wont trap your pastel dust. This mixture gave me a nice berry-ish blushy color. Using my fluffy brushes I tapped into the pigment shavings very gently. With the brush loaded I applied an even base all over her skin. Use your eyeshadow skills here if you have them!

_{right: one coat with extra shading, left: original arm}

After your even base you can add additional shading. This gives the skin extra dimension. My pink sonico had some on her inner hips and cleavage. I also decided to put some extra shading into the elbows. What a difference! If you mess up and you're not happy with your work you can gently remove your pastel work with mild soap and water. Scrub using a scrap toothbrush. The Mister Super Clear preserves the underneath, so no worries! Just respray and try again.

When you are happy with your work its time for another coat. Respray in the same way you did at the beginning. This extra coat will seal your work. Look at her now! She is peachy and cute again after breathing some new life into her. its not exactly the same as the pink but i'm still happy with it, especially compared to when i recieved her. I also tinted her hair Pinker all over; just personal preference. the pink and blue look super cute together.

I'm going to be trying this on a non-sun damaged figure I have I've been eyeing. I think she would really pop with some deeper color in some spots. so stay tuned!