Custom Printed Classic Space Colour Variants

WetWired · July 19, 2015

I wasn't sure whether to post this in the minifig customization workshop or here, I figured you guys and gals would get a kick out of it more than them. I've wanted to do this for a while but finally got enough other people on board to make it cost effective. I ended up 20x of 6 main colours and I did about 7 extra one-offs for myself in various colours I had on hand. The result is a rainbow of classic space men!

Header by Brent Waller, on Flickr

The colours from left to right

White (official lego, recent re-release)

Light Bluish Grey (Old grey airtanks)

Pearl Silver (Painted airtanks, hands and hips)

Old Dark Grey (Painted Airtanks)

Dark Pearl Silver (Painted Airtanks)

Black (unaltered, official LEGO)

Dark Tan (Painted Airtanks)

Pearl Gold (Airtanks yet to be painted)

Yellow (Painted Airtanks)

Orange (Painted Airtanks)

Red (unaltered, official LEGO)

Dark Red (Painted Airtanks)

Dark Purple (Painted Airtanks)

Dark Blue (Painted Airtanks)

Blue (unaltered, official LEGO)

Medium Blue (Painted Airtanks, Hands)

Lime (Painted Airtanks)

Green (Unaltered Exosuit release)

Dark Green (Painted Airtanks)

Benny's cousin's are in town by Brent Waller, on Flickr

Pad printed Torsos by Brent Waller, on Flickr

Painted Aritanks by Brent Waller, on Flickr

The airtanks had to be custom painted to match the LEGO colours as best as possible, as you can see some colours aren't perfect but these photos do exaggerate the difference quite a bit for some reason. For those who might be asking, I opted to go for the new style helmet as I couldn't bring myself to paint old ones and the colour difference in painting on airtanks isn't quite as noticeable as it would be if I'd done the helmet as well where it's more up front and in your face.

In retrospect if I was to do it again (I've had requests from some people who'd love some) I'd get the classic colours reprinted, as the discrepancy in quality is noticeable, the older printers although in good condition are misaligned and not as crisp as the new ones (with the exception of the white and green which are from the recent re-releases)

Edited July 19, 2015 by WetWired

___ · July 19, 2015

Gee, superb! Question: how did you make that golden moon logo - is it also printed or is it a sticker? And if printed: WOW, what was the exact process...like printer, technique etc.?

WetWired · July 19, 2015

Gee, superb! Question: how did you make that golden moon logo - is it also printed or is it a sticker? And if printed: WOW, what was the exact process...like printer, technique etc.?

They're all pad printed like LEGO uses! I didn't do the printing myself, I got it done via brickinit.com.au. I just did the vector art of the classic space logo, and the painful process of removing the existing prints from all the torsos and painting the airtanks

___ · July 19, 2015

They're all pad printed like LEGO uses! I didn't do the printing myself, I got it done via brickinit.com.au. I just did the vector art of the classic space logo, and the painful process of removing the existing prints from all the torsos and painting the airtanks

Hmm, that sounds interesting, so if I understood you right: if I made up my own let's say custom color brick version then brickinit.com.au (Australia?) will actually paint it for me? What are their costs? Could one design any LEGO brick or are there some limitations, like when you had to paint those airtanks yourself (why actually, what was the reason they did not paint them as well?)

WetWired · July 19, 2015

Hmm, that sounds interesting, so if I understood you right: if I made up my own let's say custom color brick version then brickinit.com.au (Australia?) will actually paint it for me? What are their costs? Could one design any LEGO brick or are there some limitations, like when you had to paint those airtanks yourself (why actually, what was the reason they did not paint them as well?)

brickinit customs only does the pad printing, the colours for the bricks I've used are all standard lego parts with their existing prints. The airtanks were painted because those parts didn't existing the colours I needed.

Brickinit can print custom designs for you but they don't paint

SpacerSteve · July 20, 2015

Very cool!

PaddyBricksplitter · July 21, 2015

Wow they all look fantastic. Like official Lego products.

Iria · July 22, 2015

Wow! These look great and professionally done. I love the rainbow group shot. Thanks for sharing.

Magma · July 23, 2015

In retrospect if I was to do it again (I've had requests from some people who'd love some) I'd get the classic colours reprinted, as the discrepancy in quality is noticeable, the older printers although in good condition are misaligned and not as crisp as the new ones (with the exception of the white and green which are from the recent re-releases)

They look fantastic! I've thought about looking into doing something like this myself. If only I'd known... ;-) Look forward to seeing them in action.

I especially like the Dark Red, Dark Green, and Purple ones.

Did you have to send the printer the torsos or did they source them for you?

Edited July 23, 2015 by Magma

robuko · July 23, 2015

These look absolutely wonderful Brent.

1980-Something-Space-Guy · April 19, 2017

Sorry to bump this, but since it was probably posted at a time I wasn't as active in the forum, I missed it. These look beautiful! :wub: :wub: Honestly, one of my dreams is for Lego to make the torsos and tanks in orange, purple, and gray. We're getting gray in S17, but without a corresponding tank (the old tanks have a different tone). Of course, that can always be fixed with paint, as you did.