Playing Dress up With Steve McQueen

[Apjac Corny]

The title of this post has to be the un-coolest thing ever said about the coolest guy in Hollywood, Steve McQueen. This custom started out as a follow up to Kojak in my "World's Greatest Super Detectives" series. Bullitt, the 1968 thriller starting Steve McQueen as Frank Bullitt, a sullen San Francisco police detective with real cool car. The movie is best known for it's iconic car chase, still one of the best in Hollywood history after nearly 50 years. I saw the head on eBay and thought it would make an interesting custom(s).

Lt. Frank Bullitt



Head is from eBay with paints by me on a Zica Type S body
CTVT provided most of the clothes & gun
Holster & walkie talkie is from A.J.
Shoes are from the 8" Super Store
The box is from the Toyroom



Originally I planned to use a Mego Starsky turtleneck sweater but it was too bulky to fit underneath the jacket with the gun and holster. I actually ripped the arm of a jacket trying to get it on. I had to settle for a CTVT t-shirt dyed a darker blue. This allowed me to accommodate the accessories underneath a new jacket without doing any damage. But that didn't keep me from using the Starsky sweater for part of the photo shoot. The pants were originally grey, I dyed them black.



The shoes are from the 8" Super Store painted brown & black like the ones McQueen wore in the film. They are a hard plastic and take paint really well. They just snap in place at the ankle replacing the feet.



While the head was a nice enough likeness of McQueen, the casting was a bit rough and took a lot of clean up. I even had to rebuild part of his ear.



This head sculpt is one of the most versatile you will find. It can be used for many customs such as Josh Randall from Wanted Dead or Alive, Vin Tanner from The Magnificent Seven, Steve Andrews from The Blob, Henri 'Papillon' Charriere and Hilts, "The Cooler King" from The Great Escape to name a few. How many customs can you get out of a Potsie or Ralph Malph head?

The Cooler King







The clothes all came from CTVT. It was nice to be able to find a use for that baseball glove they offer. I wish I could weather the jacket a bit. The brown one McQueen wore in the film was nearly black. The black CTVT jacket I had fell apart in my hands, I'm not messing with this one.

I might paint up another head for The Great Escape version but for now he's Frank Bullitt.



Another cool box from The Toyroom. Thanks Anthony!

Thanks for looking!

[The Toyroom]

Awesome! Love the Cooler King variant

[boss]

Looks great. If you ever need a Clouseau head to complete the great detectives, I'll see if I can track down my mold.

[JediJaida]

HOT DOG!!! That likeness is right on the money!!!

[Blue Meanie]

Never seen Bullitt, although I do have the movie, but that looks amazing. In my opinion the head used for Bullitt may be perfect for that "age" Steve McQueen but it might be just a little old for The Great Escape. Great Escape is my FAVORITE movie of all-time. Good looking figure...but the head is just a little too "older" version of Steve. Still an AMAZING custom.

[daz71]

great custom great film.fantastic paints again.i meant to ask last time when you say the head needs a bit of a clean up what do you mean is it smoothing out any lumps and bits of resin.

[Marvelmania]

That is just bad to the bone cool!!!!!

[dr_cyclops]

i meant to ask last time when you say the head needs a bit of a clean up what do you mean is it smoothing out any lumps and bits of resin.

I'd guess that, filling bubble holes, and rebuilding an ear at least.
As much as I like this head, I can tell it's 75% the paint job. Still, I have always wanted a Josh Randall. Beautiful work on Bullitt. Love 'The Cooler King'.

[Apjac Corny]

i meant to ask last time when you say the head needs a bit of a clean up what do you mean is it smoothing out any lumps and bits of resin.

I try really hard to eliminate any imperfections from the sculpting and casting processes before I take the head to final paint. I like to give myself the best surface to paint on possible. This means cleaning the head with soap and water and a toothbrush to remove any mold release that might prevent the paint from adhering. Then a quick dunk in lacquer thinner on resin heads just in case the soap & water didn't get everything. I then sand away any parting lines and fill any voids that might be present in the casting. I do this with putty or baking soda & crazy glue. Then I sand away the imperfections with some 320 grit sandpaper. Now the head is ready for primer.

I give a light coat of grey primer to make any imperfections stand out. I then spot putty any holes, sand and prime again. The primer will hide some imperfections while giving you a good surface to paint on. It usually takes about three rounds of this before the head is ready for finish paints. When I sand at this point I'm using finer sandpaper in the 400-600 grit range. If the casting was in bad shape it may take more putty and primer to get it into shape. On some of the resin heads I've been working on I actually have been picking out chunks of rubber left from the mold. That's bad news because it means that some details might be missing and have to be restored, like Steve McQueen's ear on my Bullitt custom.

This head that I've been working on has been a bit of a nightmare,
http://megomuseum.com/community/show...34#post1291234

I think I did 5 rounds of primer on this thing at this point.

If you look closely at the eyes, you can see all these little pin holes that need to be filled. I didn't notice these until after I posted the picture. My eyes aren't what they used to be even with an Opti-Visor. I filled these this evening with some thick grey primer that comes in a jar and a fine paint brush. One more squirt of primer and this head should be ready to go.

I hope this helps!

If you ever need a Clouseau head to complete the great detectives, I'll see if I can track down my mold.

I would absolutely LOVE to do an inspector Clouseau!!!! He would be the Greatest of the Worlds Greatest Super Detectives!!!!

[Hector]

I love Bullitt...love McQueen.

But the stars of the show was the classic car chase scene between a 1968 390 V8 Ford Mustang GT fastbacks (325 hp) and a 1968 375 hp 440 Magnum V8-powered Dodge Charger. Mustang in its classic Dark Highland Green, the Charger in all sinister black...



Fantastic car chase, no tricks, no CGI, no special-effects...just two heavily modified muscle cars...as it should be.

BTW, awesome figure!

[Starroid Raiders Dagon]

WOW, that looks phenomenal.

[daz71]

I try really hard to eliminate any imperfections from the sculpting and casting processes before I take the head to final paint. I like to give myself the best surface to paint on possible. This means cleaning the head with soap and water and a toothbrush to remove any mold release that might prevent the paint from adhering. Then a quick dunk in lacquer thinner on resin heads just in case the soap & water didn't get everything. I then sand away any parting lines and fill any voids that might be present in the casting. I do this with putty or baking soda & crazy glue. Then I sand away the imperfections with some 320 grit sandpaper. Now the head is ready for primer.

I give a light coat of grey primer to make any imperfections stand out. I then spot putty any holes, sand and prime again. The primer will hide some imperfections while giving you a good surface to paint on. It usually takes about three rounds of this before the head is ready for finish paints. When I sand at this point I'm using finer sandpaper in the 400-600 grit range. If the casting was in bad shape it may take more putty and primer to get it into shape. On some of the resin heads I've been working on I actually have been picking out chunks of rubber left from the mold. That's bad news because it means that some details might be missing and have to be restored, like Steve McQueen's ear on my Bullitt custom.

This head that I've been working on has been a bit of a nightmare,
http://megomuseum.com/community/show...34#post1291234

I think I did 5 rounds of primer on this thing at this point.

If you look closely at the eyes, you can see all these little pin holes that need to be filled. I didn't notice these until after I posted the picture. My eyes aren't what they used to be even with and Opti-Visor. I filled these this evening with some thick grey primer that comes in a jar and a fine paint brush. One more squirt of primer and this head should be ready to go.

I hope this helps!



I would absolutely LOVE to do an inspector Clouseau!!!! He would be the Greatest of the Worlds Greatest Super Detectives!!!!

that is really interesting.i used to use grey primer but changed to white if the head i was painting was yellow as it seems to take forever to get it looking nice when the head is grey any other colour is ok just not yellow.

[TrekStar]

Beautiful job, McQueen would be proud, although I'm not sure how he would react to the thread,
Playing Dress up with Steve McQueen?

[Apjac Corny]

that is really interesting.i used to use grey primer but changed to white if the head i was painting was yellow as it seems to take forever to get it looking nice when the head is grey any other colour is ok just not yellow.

If I am using yellow or a bright color that is somewhat translucent, I will use a white primer before I go to final paint. I like to use grey primer for everything up to that point because it makes it much easier to see the imperfections in the casting when doing my clean up. Once I'm convinced the head is ready I spray it white.

[sprytel]

Another great custom. You really brought that sculpt to life.