Arsenal Figures

 This past month I've been working on some Arsenal figures that someone requested.

Sol Campbell in the 2005-06 away kit. A simple enough repaint, but easy to ruin with the finer details! Campbell memorably wore this kit in the Champions League final against Barcelona where he scored the opening goal, before things started to go wrong!

Dennis Bergkamp in the 1996-97 away kit. Another simple one!

Tony Adams in the 1988-91 away kit. Perhaps the most famous of Arsenal away kits due to it being worn during the League decider away at Anfield in 1989. I'm really happy with how the Adidas stripes and collar have come out here with the red trim either side of the yellow. The JVC sponsor is slightly too large though, as are Adam's almost Disney like puppy dog eyes!

Another Adams, this time in the 1995-96 away kit. I'm really pleased with this one - particularly the crispness of the zigzags. It was also quite difficult finding the correct shade of the lighter blue but it's come out really nicely.

Next up is Thierry Henry in the 2011-12 home kit he wore upon his brief return to Arsenal after the January window of that season. He wore this one when he scored the winner at home to Leeds in the FA Cup. The most simple of repaints this time, although I did add the beard and boots.

From the simplest to by far the toughest. This is Ian Wright in the famous bruised banana away kit of 1991-93. I doubted whether I'd be able to pull this one off, and whilst it's not perfect, I'm really happy with the end product.

Here's David Seaman in the 1992-93 goalkeeper kit he wore for the FA Cup Final against Sheffield Wednesday. I believe the normal keeper's kit that season was actually a blue variant of this kit, but Seaman could also be seen in red and grey that year! If you are interested in kit history the best place is probably Museum of Jerseys which provide excellent articles.

The final kit is one you could say I've cheated on slightly as I've replicated the repeated star pattern on the shirt using decals rather than my painting ability! This is the kit Seaman wore during the 1994-95 season, particularly famous for his penalty heroics in the semi final of the Cup Winner's Cup, followed by his blunder in the final! I'm pleased with how this has turned out although when looking closely you can see the "seams" of the decals which were very awkward to put on. This is probably only going to get worse over time as they shrink and expose the white edges further.

Multiple Repaints!

 Well it's been almost a month since I've last posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy painting! In fact it is only because of the extremely hot weather that I'm not painting now.

These are some of the non-Chelsea repaints I've been up to during the past few weeks:

Gazza in the England Euro 96 kit

Bruce Grobbelaar in the Liverpool 1985-86 goalkeeper kit

Zinedine Zidane in the France Euro 2000 away kit

Peter Beardsley in the Liverpool 1987-88 home kit

Mark Hughes in the Man Utd 1992-94 home kit

Andy Cole in the Man Utd 1994-96 third kit

Wayne Rooney in the Man Utd 2016-17 away kit

Flo 99-01 (h)

This is another repaint to fill in the gaps of Corinthians back catalogue. For some reason Tore Andre Flo was omitted from the team pack of 1999 and so here he is. Unfortunately the camera work is not the best!

This is of course a kit I've repainted before with the main issue encountered being the collar on the sculpt. The fine blue line was quite tricky to get right on an uneven surface.

Flo had his best year during the 1999-2000 scoring 19 goals including some important ones during the memorable Champions League campaign with braces away at "Hell" in a 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray; at home to Feyenoord; and during the special 3-1 victory over Barcelona in the quarter final.

Anelka 08-09 (a)

This was a good season for Nicolas Anelka. It was the year after he had joined and having missed the decisive penalty he was brought on for in the Champions League Final that season it was fair to say he wasn't a fan favourite in August of 2008.

However, the supporters quickly realised his worth as he scored several goals and ended up winning the golden boot. It wasn't the greatest season in Chelsea's recent history as we finished outside the top two for the first time in six seasons, but did end up with an enjoyable FA Cup victory over Everton.

The season had started so well under Big Phil Scolari as we won a number of early games in style and topped the table throughout the autumn. At the half way point we were only a point of top of the league Liverpool, but a disappointing start to 2009 saw Scolari sacked and Guus Hiddink brought in as a temporary replacement. Form picked up straight away with Anelka coolly slotting in the only goal away at a strong Aston Villa, where we wore this black away kit.

As for the kit, it was simple enough to paint and looks almost as good as the excellent Corinthian model of Anelka.

Duff 03-04 (a)

This is another repaint I actually finished a couple of years back (I did this and the Veron one in the same kit at the same time), but am finally getting round to uploading now!

I think this has to be one of my favourite Chelsea kits of all time. Stylistically I really love the stripes down the middle fading into the sponsor, but I think more than that, when you see an old kit again it evokes the memories and feelings of that time as a supporter. 2003 was when Roman Abramovich first took over as owner of Chelsea and the excitement around the club at that time was huge. I remember going to the old Harlington training ground to watch training and collecting the autographs of players like Duff, Veron and Crespo each week was really enjoyable. Unfortunately, not long into the season the training ground was closed to supporters which was probably due to the rumours of the likes of Beckham, Rivaldo, Nesta, Henry etc... joining.

Kharine 92-93 (GK)

Back to one from my own collection now with Dmitri Kharine who was Chelsea's goalkeeper during the early to mid nineties. Kharine is one of the few goalkeepers from that era, and indeed any era, that used to wear trousers rather than the club shorts! This makes things quite simple for a repainter such as myself, but needless to say the goalkeeper shirts of that era more than make up for it in the difficulty department!

This is in fact one of the easier kits to repaint from Kharine's repertoire and also happens to be the one he wore on his debut away at QPR. This pinstripe kit was worn in both yellow and purple that season, and I hope to replicate the purple version some time in the future.

You may be able to tell that I attempted to remodel the legs such that the shorts continue down to the socks to look like trousers. I'm not 100% happy with the end product, but hopefully I can improve next time.

Teddy Sheringham Manchester United 00-01 (a)

This one was initially a bit frustrating. I had originally lined up this Sheringham figure to be repainted into the gold kit I painted Gary Neville in last week but quickly realised that Sheringham had been sold during the summer the kit was first released. At least I realised before I'd started painting it!

Next, I planned to paint it in the home kit that Manchester United wore for Sheringham's last season at the club only to then find that Corinthians actually released a Sheringham figure in that kit! So in the end I settled on this away kit from the 2000-01 season.

This is a simple repaint with the only painting difficulty occurring when trying to replicate the stripes over the shoulders. I think I overcame this well enough and am really pleased with how the repaint ended up.

This one is also available on my Ebay.

Matt Le Tissier Southampton 93-95 (h)

Le Tissier was another figure I had spare and so I decided to repaint it. When it comes to deciding which kit to paint the figure in you normally have to weigh up the more popular clubs or iconic kits that are more likely to sell on Ebay, but that is obviously tricky with Le Tissier who spent his whole career at the Saints.

In the end I opted for the most distinctive and interesting kit to paint as shown below.

The trickiest part was the collar which on the actual shirt has four red, and three white stripes both of which have black trim. This was pretty much impossible for me to recreate on a 7cm figure but I'm satisfied with the outcome, particularly on the back of the collar. I'm also really pleased with how the rest of the kit turned out.

This repaint is available on Ebay here.

Bridge 06-07 (3rd)

Wayne Bridge scored the opener against Wycombe Wanderers in the 2007 League Cup semi final wearing this kit which was his first goal for Chelsea since his famous winner against Arsenal in 2004. The game ultimately finished 1-1, but Chelsea cruised the second leg to set up the final against Arsenal.

This one was painted a few years back but I'm very happy with how it turned out. I recall it being very awkward painting a figure in this crouched position, especially around the hands and arms!

Peter Schmeichel Manchester United 95-96 (GK)

Another Man Utd repaint, this time of Schmeichel in the 95-96 goalkeeper kit. I'm not 100% sure this was the main kit he used for the season as a quick Google search throws up several variations he wore during the 90s.

I'm pleased how this one has come out, particularly the details on the gloves. This repaint is also available of Ebay here.

Gary Neville Manchester United 01-02 (3rd)

I can't say I particularly remember this kit, but apparently it was one produced for Man Utd's centenary season in 2001-02. This was of course back at the start of the decade when reversible shirts were all the rage! The gold shirt depicted was for the third kit and on the reverse was a similarly designed white shirt which was used as an away shirt.

This repaint is available on my Ebay here.

Rooney Derby County 19-20 (h)

I think this particular figure has had three incarnations: the original kit it was in; the England away kit from Euro 2016 and now this Derby County kit!

I have posted the England away kit on this blog before. Unfortunately it didn't sell on Ebay, which is not surprising considering England's performance in the competition! Now it has been updated into the Derby kit for this season along with Rooney's magnificent beard which I think I've replicated here reasonably well. The only downside is that the figure was created way back in the early-mid noughties and so doesn't account for Rooney's change in appearance since then - these days he's a little less fresh faced and slightly more well built! Oh, and he's also gone bald and had a hair transplant using his backside hair since too!

If you like this figure you can purchase it on Ebay along with some other Corinthians I am selling, as well as some other unsold repaints from my early repertoire! Click on the link here to see the figures for sale.

Andy Cole in the 2003-05 Fulham home kit.

Adnan Januzaj in the 2016-17 Sunderland home kit.

Peter Beardsley in the Newcastle United 1993-95 home kit.

Panucci 99-01 (h)

You might not know that Christian Panucci spent half a season at Chelsea at the start of the millennium and, quite honestly, you could be forgiven for missing this! Panucci, who had represented both Milan clubs and Real Madrid, could only muster nine appearances for the Blues before leaving after just a few months at the club.

After another loan spell at Monaco, Panucci finally settled down at Roma where he even managed to score against Chelsea during a rare Champions League defeat for the Blues.

De Goey 97-98 (GK)

This is a repaint I started working on about four years ago; finally got round to finishing last year; and am now uploading here! Admittedly, this was quite a difficult one to do, although the time it has taken owes much more to my sporadic painting time over the past few years than the awkwardness of the repaint! I hope, in the end, it was worth the wait!

Chelsea supporters will perhaps remember this kit more from the season before 1997-98 when it was also worn, but with the Coors sponsor rather than the Autoglass one. By the season it is shown, this had become more of a change goalkeeper kit, with the yellow one I painted de Goey in, way back in 2015, the preferred option.

Wearing this kit de Goey made an outstanding save at the end of a Cup Winner's Cup semi final against Vicenza in 1998 which allowed us to go on and win the final against Stuttgart. The semi final was interesting as Chelsea wore their yellow away strip for the home game of the tie for reasons beyond me! Please post below if you know why!

Sidwell 07-08 (a)

Here's Steve Sidwell in the fluorescent yellow/green 2007-08 away kit. I remember it being a popular away kit with supporters at the time, and other kit manufacturers must have got wind of this as several would appear at different clubs in the years to come - normally in the yellow but some also red, orange and green.

The 07-08 season was Sidwell's only at the club having arrived on a free from Reading after impressing there during their first season after promotion. Sidwell was less impressive at Chelsea with playing time limited as he found himself competing with Lampard, Makelele, Essien, Ballack and Mikel! Unfortunately for Sidwell it was the only season between 2004-05 and 2009-10 that the club failed to win a trophy as we fell short in the League Cup and Champions League finals; FA Cup quarter finals when the trophy was there for the taking; and in the league on the final day of the season.

Drogba 11-12 (h)

The main man from that night 8 years ago though was Didier Drogba as he scored the equaliser, and then went on to net the winning penalty in this final act as a Chelsea player (well until he rejoined in 2014!).

Drogba had been a one man battering ram in attack for the semi final ties against Barcelona and performed miracles again in the final; often holding off several defenders at once in a bid to create a counter attack and buy some relief for our defence. However, it looked to all be in vein when Thomas Muller scored with just seven minutes left.

Fernando Torres seemed to be heading down a blind alley on the byline, but managed to earn our only corner of the match; Mata whipped it in and Drogba powered home past Neuer to spark wild celebrations in the Chelsea end.

In the extra time that followed Drogba contrived to trip Ribery in the box (just as he had Fabregas in the semi final at the Nou Camp, or was that one a dive?!). Luckily Cech managed to save the first of three penalties on the night and we were heading to penalties just like four years previously in 2008 against Manchester United. Drogba had missed that shootout after being sent off for petulantly slapping Vidic, and of course would have taken a penalty, possibly instead of the unfortunate John Terry.

On this occasion we again had a chance to win it with our fifth and final penalty. From my seat up in the gods of the Allianz Arena I can recall the anticipation in the crowd around me and also the age it seemed to take Drogba to walk up to the take the penalty. A couple of short steps back, and Drogba slotted home in the bottom left corner, and the rest is history! What a night!

Cech 11-12 (GK)

Today marks the 8th anniversary of the most famous night in Chelsea's history when we won the Champions League in Munich.

Amongst 11 heroes on the pitch was Petr Cech who was excellent in keeping such a strong Bayern team at bay on the occasions they bypassed our disciplined defence. The most important save came in extra time when he saved from the penalty spot from former Blue, Arjen Robben (although some credit must be given to both John Obi Mikel and a beach ball lobbing fan for their mind games!).

As we know it ended up going to penalties where remarkably Cech managed to guess right on all five Munich spotkicks, dramatically saving their 4th and 5th penalties from Olic and Schweinsteiger respectively. Didier Drogba then finished the job off by scoring the winning penalty.

This is one of my favourite repaints, and not just because of the reasons above! The figure was one from the 2005 league winners pack and so I had to add the head guard to it. This was achieved using blu tack before I created the indentations using the side of a paperclip. This was then coated in a thinned out PVA glue and painted. I also went to the trouble of painting Petr's gloves and boots, as well as the ball!

Carlton Cole 01-02 (a)

Here's Carlton Cole who came through the youth system at Chelsea at the start of the millenium.

A fairly simple repaint, but those often turn out the best! The kit is actually a combination of the 2001-02 away shirt and socks with the 2002-03 away shorts. This was worn against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup due to a clash with their home kit. Cole scored the second in a 4-0 victory.

Zola 95-97 (h)

I've been looking through all my figures and was surprised that Corinthians didn't produce a Zola figure for their first Headliners releases.

I had a few Zola figures spare so I used one to create this repaint in the 1997 FA Cup final kit.

Wise 90-91 (3rd)

Chelsea wearing a red kit, surely not?! No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, and there is no mistake, back in the 90-91 season Chelsea did wear this kit. For any Premier League era supporters it may seem unlikely, but it is in fact only in the last 30 years or so that the club haven't had a red away kit for any extended period of time.

This particular kit was only worn on two occasions as far as I'm aware, both of which ended in defeat!

Stepney 66-67 (GK)

It's pretty rare you can repaint figures from this far back in time (especially if you don't support Man Utd or Liverpool), but here is Alex Stepney who played just a solitary match for Chelsea back in 1966 against Southampton.

Stepney was originally signed to play in alternate weeks to Peter Bonetti, but that clearly didn't work out as Stepney was sold to Manchester United just a few weeks into the season. It's safe to say it wasn't a bad move for either parties as Stepney went on to win it all, whilst Bonetti cemented his place as a Chelsea legend.

Of course Corinthian collectors may not be too pleased that I have painted over a pretty rare figure taken from the 1968 European Cup winners pack but, on this occasion, I'm happy to report I'm not the guilty party! I actually purchased this figure in an already repainted state, albeit not very well, which perhaps that was why I managed to get it so cheap!

It's a very simple repaint, the kit was all green back then with just the badge and number on the back. Unfortunately the old Chelsea badge of the time does not come out too clearly on the decal with the "CFC" being in such a fine font style.

Makelele 06-08 (h)

This kit may look familiar to Corinthian collectors as a team pack was actually released in 2007 which contained most of Chelsea's first team squad. A notable omission was Claude Makelele who is depicted below.

Makelele was one of the most important, yet least heralded, players of the Chelsea team during the mid 2000s despite having a position named after him! As well as his breaking up of play; positioning; and quick and simple passing of the ball, I particularly remember Makelele for his extraordinary jumping ability for a fairly short player. In our numerous tussles with Liverpool during Makelele's time at Chelsea it wasn't uncommon for him to outleap Peter Crouch and win the ball in the air.

Zenden 01-03 (h)

Bolo Zenden is another player from the Middlesbrough League Cup winners pack that I've repainted, with Mark Schwarzer being the other. I misjudged the size of the name and number of the back of the shirt, but other than that I'm pleased with this one.

Zenden's time at Chelsea didn't really work out as he was often injured, but I recall he did manage to score a good goal at home to Man Utd at the start of his second season with us. He was loaned out to Middlesbrough the following season before joining permanently a year later.

By the middle of the 2000s Zenden was a squad member of the Liverpool side we were seemingly constantly battling in cup competitions. He obviously struck up a good relationship with his manager, Rafa Benitez, as by the 2012-13 season he ended up back at Chelsea as assistant to Benitez whilst the Spaniard took on a fractious few months as "interim" manager.

Ashley Cole 07-08 (3rd)

Ashley Cole here in the 2007-08 third kit. The most noteworthy game I can think of in this kit was a 4-0 thrashing of West Ham at Upton Park even though we played for half the game with 10 men after Lampard was harshly sent off.

Cole scored the fourth goal in that match.

Deschamps 99-01 (h) FACF

This figure may look familiar as Corinthians actually produced one in this kit for Didier Deschamps. As I had a spare one, I repainted it into the same kit and added the FA Cup Final text that was stitched onto the shirts for the 1999-2000 final against Aston Villa.

The original figure is shown below for comparison (from Bigheads).

Parker 96-97 (h)

It may come as a surprise to you to learn that Paul Parker used to play for Chelsea - admittedly not for very long! Parker joined as defensive cover at the back end of 1997 from Division 3 Fulham making the Blues his fourth club of the season.

A brief spell at Premiership Derby County preceded a couple of months at Division 1 Sheffield United before a move to Fulham in January.

Belletti 09-10 (3rd)

Well it may have taken a global pandemic, but I've finally found the time and inclination to start repainting figures and uploading to this blog again!

Juliano Belletti was something of a cult hero for his three seasons at the Bridge, mainly for his ability to score screamers from outside the box. Here he is in the rarely worn 2009-10 third kit, Belletti's final season for the club.