>>10333732Some figures look worse in the white background pics because they are taken in harsh lighting which can bring out flaws that aren't noticeable in normal indoor lighting. Example: Black Adam Rock looks better in hand to me than in their white bg pics.
On the other hand, figures taken with the diorama backgrounds have photoshopping and favorable lighting and tend to look better than in hand in a lot of cases.
So if I cant see in-hand pics before buying (like when something sells out fast like Keaton) I go off the white background so I can see the worst case scenario and see if that is still acceptable, potentially assuming it may look at bit better in normal indoor lighting.
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As far as painting, the only McFarlanes I've customized I've used DecoArt acryllic paint. If anything, it seemed to adhere so fast I had to wash off any mistakes very quickly or it'd be difficult to get off.
That said I don't know about long term cracking as they have not had the paint on them long term, and I don't tend to handle my figures a ton, mostly just a few pose changes, nothing drastic. So your use-case may be different, especially if you're painting a part like the diaper of the figure that will get a lot of flexing. I'd be concerned about possible cracking there and would seek out custom vids specifically for McFarlanes to see what kind of paint would be best for the flexible diapers.
Also may be obvious, but I've read with acryllic it still should be set aside for a day or 2 after you're done to dry even if it seems dry.
And needless to say don't use oil paint for beginner customizing on figures. That's the only case I can think of where the stuff would rub right off without a lot of handling.
As far as anything drying into an 'almost hard plastic' I doubt it or I have not heard of anything doing that. The plastic will still feel like the consistency of hard or soft they selected when they made it at the factory, it will just have a layer of paint over it.
