When I finished my Black Panther build, I realized that there was a relatively non-invasive modification I could do that just had to be done. I had to “beat him up” so that his suit could store up some energy. So I ordered some glow-in-the-dark purple paint, and carefully, precisely, and delicately reminded myself of why I appreciate not having to paint Metal Earth models. I’m just not good at it. It didn’t turn out that bad. But I definitely would not describe it as a great success. Though I do like the glowing effect.

Now, I have to admit something about the photos. They are somewhat faked. I say that because it’s near impossible to take a “natural” photo of something glow-in-the-dark with a phone’s camera. I learned that quickly. Not only does it have trouble focusing, but the only thing you see is a blurry mess based on the lines of glow. And it doesn’t get the color right… it somehow sees blue when it’s glowing purple. So I had to get creative.

Which is how I ended up using a recompiled-for-my-phone version of the Camera app for Pixel phones. It does the “magic” Night Sight mode in code, and was able to get me a better focus, and include some of the details on the model. A lot of the details on the model. Enough to make it seem like the glow is almost radioactive. And so, I must tell you, it doesn’t actually glow that much. But it does glow.

Then I had to use a few filters and some hue-correction to get it to the appropriate purple color. I hope I got an appropriate purple color. Anyways, this was a fun mod, and I like the results. It does leave a little bit of a Purple overtone to the trace lines on the suit, even when not glowing in the dark, but I don’t really mind it, it’s like the suit has a subtle charge in it.

P.S. Don’t forget about the Metal Earth Newsletter! Turns out this months challenge is to make a Metal Earth Mod! I’d already completed this bad boy when I got the newsletter, but you can jump in with your own creative modification entry! The deadline is November 14th. Find the full details in the Newsletter, or visit the web-version of it here.