Give Your Funko Pops Extra OOMPH: Easy Aging! (BioShock's Big Daddy & Songbird )

I picked up two big Funko Pops at ThinkGeek the other day: the Big Daddy and Songbird. They're already surprisingly well painted, but even so, I knew a little aging would really make them shine.

It's always fun to age existing vinyl figures and toys, since all you need is black or brown craft paint, a brush, and a wet rag. Paint on, wipe off, VOILÁ. Instant age & extra detailing!

Here's Songbird straight out of the box:

And after aging:

It's a subtle difference since he's already so dark, but see how the stitching on his head really stands out now?

I also painted the stitching on his body suit tan before aging, to give it a little highlight. Then I added metallic silver on his arm grommets & orange and yellow to his eyes. 

That's optional, though; as you can see, the aging does most of the work!

You can see my eye paint is pretty rough, and since I didn't prime it, it will come off the slick plastic if scratched or scrubbed. He's just for display, though, so this is fine for me.

I'm still debating adding a crack to the eye.

Now for the more dramatic transformation: Big Daddy.

 Here he is straight out of the box.

Now, I DID start by just aging him down with black paint, but then, well... I got a little carried away.

BUT LOOK HOW FUN:

WHEEEEE

Before and After:

I used three different color washes on Big Daddy: first black, then a rusty reddish-brown, and then bright teal on the copper sections.

Next I used silver liquid leaf to paint all the screw heads & pipe joints.

And finally, for the finishing touches, I added bright orange rust spots on his tanks and a darker red (either rust or blood, depending on your interpretation) to his drill arm and shoes. 

I'm especially happy with the tanks:

 

I used a combination of dry stippling & watered down drips of the orange paint to get that rusty finish. Cheap craft paint dries dead flat, which helps sell the look.

Both figures only took me a few hours to paint - with Big Daddy taking most of that time, of course.

Hope you guys enjoyed the eye candy! 

Now, who's ready to grunge up their Pop collection? :D