Batcave Makeover: A Customizing Project

I actually got into customizing a couple of years back, although I haven't had much time to do some more since then. This set was my very first attempt at repainting an existing playlet. My first attempt at customizing, in fact.

For this particular project, I turned an old, 1990s Kenner/Hasbro Batcave (from the Batman Forever movie) that looked like this:

Into something like this:

More details after the jump.

Step 1: Finding the Project

Acting on a tip from some fellow collectors on the local message boards, 

I went over to Cartimar in Pasay City and tracked down this rather ancient toy for a steal.

Took some test shots of the thing before going to work on it.

Here's how it looked like with some of my JLU action figures.

I found the bright  late 80s/early 90s neon colors too garish for my tastes and

I wanted to give it a more realistic, worn look.

Step 2: Repainting

This was actually my first foray into this sort of thing. 

I got some hobby paint, primer, borrowed sandpaper from my brother and went at it.

Step 2.5: Detailing

I decided to add some detail to give the set a more weathered, and used look.

Here are some test shots I took of the work in progress set:

Step 3: Decals

Finally, I designed, downloaded and printed out some decals for the windows, gauges and whatnot.

This set was even used as the background for a couple of posters of a local t-shirt line: