The Concept

There are loads of fanfics and comics which explore or touch upon the idea of an expanded Spectrum roster. I zoomed things on a few years, with Colonel White having accepted the need for more colour-coded agents. The new recruits are from diverse military backgrounds with their own specialities. I plan to expand on the story at a later date (maybe when I run out of colours!)

How it all Began

I was lettering a graphic novel for my brother (with NCS playing almost constantly in the background) and while I was waiting for artwork to be finished or approved I started messing around with some of the NCS action figures (it also helped that Toys ‘R’ Us was on the way from mine to my brothers so I could pick up more figures on the way..!)

I made Ivory and Crimson as experiments and then BD Captain Scarlet, Yellow and Teal followed soon after. I had a basic idea of the characters and tried give some obvious visual clues to their ethnicity/age/personality etc. Though primarily I just tried to make them look different from the existing figures!

Eventually I got slightly more adventurous, altering hair styles and making the looks a bit more distinct. I accept they all look very similar though - it wasn’t until the Angels that I was forced to get into resculpting and the joys of milliput…

By the later versions I had a clearer idea of the kind of character I was creating The factfile pics were done after the figures though, not as references.

These are all done with enamels. Generally I prefer the matt finishes to the gloss ones, but I couldn’t always get the colours I wanted in matt. The metallics generally came out well too.

Below are some individual shots of the figures with notations (in case you’re interested) and a few pictures, which I previously posted on the forum.

Captain Crimson

The first or second one I did. His head is just a blond Captain Black, but hey, he’s one of my favourites.

Captain Ivory

Did this one at my brother’s behest. I was up for keeping up the Agents’ ethnic diversity, though with Ivory I didn’t figure out where he was from ‘til the factfile.

Captain Yellow

He’s meant to be a sort of John-Steed-from-the-Avengers type fellow, and the oldest Captain. I imagined he was a friend of White from yesteryear.

Captain Amber

He’s been through the most alterations. He started out very orange, and has gone thorough a good three or four head changes. Due to my limited skill looks rather like a Japanese villain from a 1940s war comic. Oh, well…

Captain Teal

Another obvious choice – gave him red hair so figured he could be Irish! Love the colour, didn’t have to do too much mixing to get it right.

Captain Stone

My favourite alongside Roan I think. I loved the various-shades-of-brown characters from the original... I had a character planned out for him too – like a prettier, by-the-book Dirty Harry.

Captain Bronze

Another brownish one!

I knew he was going to be an Australian sportsman, so I made him very blond and tanned. This was my first go at metallic paint, which continued with later figs.

Captain Steel

One of the great things about getting loads of Angel was that they all came with Spectrum-issue pistols, so Steel and various other customs got to upgrade from Captain Black’s machine pistol to the real thing.

Lieutenant Copper

My Brains homage – found some specs from a DC Direct Golden Age Sandman figure. I gave him big wide eyes so it looked like the lenses were big.

Lieutenant Cobalt

As I couldn’t make a Lt Green, I figured it would be nice to introduce new Lt’s. Plus Captain Cobalt sounds like a superhero, so..! This was also the first haircut I gave a figure.

Captain Veridian

I like how the colour turned out on Veridian – he’s probably the best of the metallic paint jobs.

Captain Fawn

I gave a nod to the original by giving him a medical background. The colour was just as I’d imagined here – by now I was running out of Browns…!

Captain Ash

Not sure why but somehow it was harder to get the Capt Blue heads to look as different as the Scarlet heads. I ended up shaving his head very close so he’d look more distinct. I imagined him as an East End Londoner, a bit geeze and street-smart.

Captain Topaz

I wanted a training/drill instructor type character who had obviously been around and in the wars. The colour coded patch was a last-minute addition!

Captain Rose

Poor Rose. I did him as a joke, but I kind of like how he turned out. I’m pleased with the hair, anyway!

Doctor Roan

My favourite custom figure - Spectrum’s field medic (hence the armour) – he’s the guy that fixes you up on the side of a mountain or in the middle of a gunfight. He’s the only one with a Col White head, the lucky blighter.

Captain Violet

Shade-wise, he’s basically a lighter version of Indigo. Had an idea for the character here, a rough-around-the edges maverick type.

Ash, Topaz and Rose. I liked how Rose’s side parting came out. Bless him, he even gets stuck with a lame haircut…

I love this - my brother did it for me as a sort of Christmas card. We were insane fans of 80s cartoons, and this blew me away.