Well, there was only one way to find out.
There are four options, an Ultramarine, Blood Angel, Dark Angel, and a Space Wolf. After a quick look at Pinterest, I saw a few examples of repainted Pop figures. Most of the faces looked a bit off to me, so I decided against the Dark Angel and Space Wolf (at least, until a later date). That narrowed the choice to the Blood Angel Assault Marine, and the Ultramarine Intercessor Primaris Marine.
I decided on the Primaris Marine. It had a nice agressive look to it, and something about it really invited some special attention.
Well, having never owned a Funko Pop figure before (I always joked that they had the proportions of a fetus), I was curious to see what an unboxing looked like.
Pics of all four 40K options on the back. Looking at the pic of the Dark Angel in particular, I'm glad I didn't pick that one... I can't see how I'd repaint that without making it look like someone put a Dark Angels Halloween costume on a baby. It would be a fine display figure on its own, especially to existing Funko Pop fans, but it's not my first choice for a repaint.
Inside the box, a vacuum-formed piece of clear plastic suspended it in place, and protected it from shipping damage.
Freed from the packaging, I was surprised at how top-heavy the figure was. The body feels hollow, while the head does not. That being said, the model was not tippy at all. The weight was very well centered, and it stands very steadily on its tiny feet.
While it was a relatively clean cast, you could definitely notice the mold lines and injection points when viewed from the sides and underneath. Funko did an excellent job of situating them so that you couldn't really tell from viewed face-on though.
Standing next to a newer Chaos Space Marine, and an older era Loyalist Marine, you can really get a sense of the size of this figure. No one is going to be using Funko Pop figures as proxy gaming miniatures any time soon.
Close up, the mold line is obvious from the side and top. Let's hope the vinyl material is nice and easy to file smooth...
There's another mold line along the side of the hip armour plates. In addition to that, there's a nasty mold injection point under the forearm, which looks like the piece was torn from a sprue instead of cleanly cut. But kudos to Funko, as both these points are carefully placed out of sight of any viewer who is looking at the front of the model.
The feet are recessed to some degree. Perhaps it's to accommodate the raised lettering?
Again, there are some injection points and mold lines, which are only visible when viewed from unusual angles.
The bottom of the head is a separate flat piece, and the join has some burrs that need cleaning. Perhaps the head was not solid after all?
I finally got to work filing the figure, starting with that mold line on the top and side of the head. To my immense relief, the material seemed to file fairly well. I've had issues trying to file Reaper Bones figures, and some of the plastic Warmachine figs as well. The problem with those models was that the plastic was more of a toy rubber, with a distinct skin that was a completely different consistency than the rest of the mini. The result was that it tended to tear when I tried to file away mold lines, rather than abrade away predictably like GW or model kit plastic.
The body seemed to be made of a slightly softer vinyl than the head, which meant that the filing wasn't going too smoothly. After using a needle file to get the rough work done, I went back in with a fine grit sandpaper (the sanding sticks used for fingernails seemed to work, and were available for cheap at the local dollar store).
I know... it seemed a bit much, considering that these lines and points were located in areas that would not be visible from most angles. However, I couldn't help it. I would know they were there, even if other people might not. And considering the amount of time I would be putting into painting this project, it would really bother me in the end if I could turn the figure and see big imperfections sticking out from underneath the paint. However, despite all my best efforts, I knew ultimately I was going to miss a few spots, especially given how unfamiliar I was with this model, and how it was put together (that's one advantage of a traditional model kit you build from a sprue... you know where all the mold and injection points are).
There was a faint mold line at the lower corner of this shoulder plate, as well as one along the accordion fold inside the elbow. Filing the body sections reveals that, while the head is made of a light grey resin with paint overtop, the body parts are actually made from blue injection molded rubbery plastic.
The fingers need a bit of tidying up, and there's a large injection point along the bottom of the bolter magazine.
The bolter itself has a faint mold line running along the top and sides.
And the backpack has a mold line running all around it as well.
Well, it's now time to consider basing. Not only will this elevate the figure in the display case, but it will give me something to hold on to while painting it. Bases also minimize the chances that someone will handle the model itself when the pick it up, which could damage the paintjob through wear and tear. Lastly, if you think of a painted model in the same terms as a painting, a nice base acts like the frame... it sets everything off nicely, and just makes the whole thing a little bit classier.
I grabbed a nearby paint can lid, checked the sizing against the Funko Pop figure, and decided it would suffice. Not the fanciest podium in the world, but it was free, and I like recycling things into modelling supplies whenever I can.
With how heavy the Funko Pop figure is, and considering how flexy the spray cap was, I knew superglue was not going to cut it in terms of securing the model to the base. I grabbed some tools and household screws, and figured that would work best.
I wanted to make some pilot holes where the screws would go. This would minimize the chances of damaging or warping the model and base as the screws went in. In order to determine what size drill bit would work best, I lined up a few against the screws I intended on using, and found one that was approximately the same diameter as the body of the screw, not including the threads. This would allow the screw to go in easily, but still allow for the threads to bite down and grip.
Figuring out where to place the holes was going to be a challenge. You could try and simply eyeball the placement, but I decided to play it safe and try using paint to line up the holes. When mating two parts up to each other for pinning parts, you dab a bit of paint on one end, then press it against the other part while the paint is still wet. That leaves a residue on both ends, and lets you know where to put the holes.
In this case, the recessed flat areas of the feet would not allow for that. I would have to create some sort of bridge. I made two tiny balls of bluetac, and painted those. That seemed to do the trick.
With all the holes lined up, it was quick and easy to screw the model to the drop of the cap. Just as predicted, it turned out VERY secure. During the process of drilling the pilot holes into the feet, I noticed that the legs were indeed hollow. Despite that, there seemed to be just enough material there for the screws to do their job.
Well, the Funko Pop Primaris Intercessor Space Marine was now prepped and ready for paint. It was time to see how well a coat of primer would stick to it, and what challenges lay ahead of me during the painting process.
To be continued in part 2, priming and painting!
