Priming and Painting Plastic Figures
David Peacher
What seems to be the best method to prime and paint plastic toy soldiers?
Thanks
David Peacher
Quid Veritas
enamel or acrylic -- Take a look at Vallejo paints -- these work quite
well with the airbrush.
After painting VARATHANE (satin or dull coat if you can find it) -- I'd
almost tell you to dip the figs in a can of it and then brush off the
excess -- however, if you want to do it right, apply several coats --
either way you want it pretty thick.
Undoubtedly Marty will weigh in on this and tell you he has figs that
have been totally abused and are about 30 years old and still just as
good as when they were painted. I will vouch for this claim. If done
right, your paint job will likely last until your figs are dug up by an
archeologist in the way distant future.
mjc
J. Ehlers
David
I don't claim to know the best method but I will explain the way I
ahve been doing this.
1. Degrease, Rinse, Dry (takes a couple days for these steps) if you
don't degrease them properly they say the paint will not stick. SOme
brands like Italeri have some really greasy oil on them that's
stubborn. I have tried using dishsoap (Dawn) to degrease them, but now
I use some kind of non-toxic green stuff my wife keeps under the sink
- on the back it says dilute ten to one for paint prep. I dilute five
to one :)
2. I Temporary glue figures at least an inch or inch and a half apart
on two foot long cardboard strips. They say the human fingers have
grease on them so use a paper towel or something when handling them at
this point. I like to paint a couple boxes of figs at a time. When all
the figures are sorted and glued to the strips. I lay all the strips
on a square of plywood
3. Spraypaint the strips outside or on the porch with the plywood
inside a bigger "painting box. I also make sure not to breathe it in
of course. I use cheap spraypaint I find at Home Depot. I use that is
not the color of the plastic of the figures. I spray each strip a
couple seconds, using a steady sweeping motion, then turn the plywood
they are on 90 degress, repeat, until I am all the way around the
figure. I let it dry for ten min or so, then repreat the
spraypainting, 360 degrees around the figure.
The whole thing is to make sure to get plenty of spray paint - leave
no bare plastic - but don't let it get globbed up and spoil the detail
of your figures. Otherwise they will look goofy and distorted and
people are liable to think you have metal figures. :)
4. After a day or two of letting the spraypaint dry, they are ready to
paint as you would use the same techniques as for metal figures. I
personally use the super cheap "just-add-water-if it dries out"
acrylic craft paint available at Wal-Mart (I think it is Folk-Arts
brand). I leave the figures glued on the strips until they are done
drying, then just bend the cardboard and they come off.
5. The last thing I will mention is using plastic figs take a couple
things into consideration. When I base the figures, I try to keep all
the pointy bayonets, rifles, swords, etc, that are thin on the inside
of the stands when I am basing. Nobody can tell, but it keeps people
from touching this part of the figure when they pick it up and move it
on the battlefield. Also, I base the figures on thick bases, so they
are easy to move using the bases. People like doing this anyway. Also,
your figs will look slightly taller when they are on a battleboard
with metal "25's"
Good luck
what period of figures are you using by the way?
Here is a good message board:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DBLCHM/
Jason Ehlers
Martin J Blow
"Quid Veritas" <quidv...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:3CAE8ACF...@netscape.net...
> After painting VARATHANE (satin or dull coat if you can find it) --
I'd
> almost tell you to dip the figs in a can of it and then brush off
the
> excess -- however, if you want to do it right, apply several
coats --
> either way you want it pretty thick.
>
> Undoubtedly Marty will weigh in on this and tell you he has figs
that
> have been totally abused and are about 30 years old and still just
as
> good as when they were painted. I will vouch for this claim. If
done
> right, your paint job will likely last until your figs are dug up by
an
> archeologist in the way distant future.
Yup - and I now have the PICTURES to prove it. The very first airfix
plastic french nappies I painted in 1979 got used in a game last
January. And the only problem I had was with the figures popping off
the bases, not the paint flaking off.
Varathane - it works absolute wonders on plastic figures.
<grin>
And I've only been in the hobby 22 years - not like you, old-timer.
:-)~
MJB
Mr. Tin's Miniature Painting Workshop:
http://members.blueskyweb.net/mrt...@blueskyweb.net/
Stephen Finlay
>> After painting VARATHANE (satin or dull coat if you can find it) --
>
>Varathane - it works absolute wonders on plastic figures.
What is "Varathane"?
Some kind of varnish?
Maybe it's not available by that name outside of the USA?
Steve
--
Stephen Finlay email: sfin...@bigpond.net.au
web: users.bigpond.net.au/PiquetStockade
Martin J Blow
"Stephen Finlay" <sfin...@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:sfinlay1-B03BAE...@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
> >> After painting VARATHANE (satin or dull coat if you can find
it) --
>
> >
> >Varathane - it works absolute wonders on plastic figures.
>
> What is "Varathane"?
> Some kind of varnish?
>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Finlay" <sfin...@bigpond.net.au>
Newsgroups: rec.games.miniatures.historical
Sent: Saturday, April 06, 2002 2:03 PM
Subject: Re: Priming and Painting Plastic Figures
>
> >> After painting VARATHANE (satin or dull coat if you can find
it) --
>
> >
> >Varathane - it works absolute wonders on plastic figures.
>
> What is "Varathane"?
> Some kind of varnish?
>
Varathane is a clear, plastic coating which is designed to be used as
a wood finish. I've used both the brush-on and spray-on version in
the past. IMHO the brush-on is better - it's harder to work with, but
gives much better coverage and does not yellow over time as much as
the spray-on.
The US manufactuer's website is:
You might be able to find something similar and equally useful in Oz.
Hope that helps.
SBBTHOMAS
Stephen
Craig Penney
I'm just starting out in the hobby too ... do you have to 'varathane' the plastic
figs? What really happens if you don't?
-C-
Martin J Blow
"Craig Penney" <cpe...@rmc.ca> wrote in message
news:3CB44C78...@rmc.ca...
> Hi!
>
> I'm just starting out in the hobby too ... do you have to
'varathane' the plastic
> figs?
Only if you want them the paint jobs to last twenty years and still
counting.
> What really happens if you don't?
>
Bend a painted, soft plastic figure. The paint will often time flake
off in large chunks where the bend occurs, leaving sections of bare
plastic visible. While Varathane as a final finish on soft plastic
figures will NOT prevent damage from crushing or bending (just like
paint on metal figures will flake if the figure is twisted or bent) it
does seem to form enough of a hard, plastic shell over the paint to
prevent normal chipping most game play causes.
Andy O'Neill
writes
>I'm just starting out in the hobby too ... do you have to 'varathane' the
>plastic
>figs? What really happens if you don't?
If you don't use some sort of varnish, the paint will come off.
I wash in detergent, base on UK pennies, then daub with PVA (elmers?)
glue as an undercoat, paint with acrylics, varnish.
Any polyurethane varnish seems to work OK, but I don't have umpteen
years experience to prove it...
There are downsides to plastics:
1) Limited poses, some of which can be a bit odd. Take a close look at
them prior to buying.
2) Completely the wrong mix of figures. Every other jerry will have a
machine gun eg.
3) Any flash will be a bitch to clean off.
4) Some people don't see them as "proper" wargames figures so they'll
take the piss and maybe even mishandle them.
Andy O'Neill
www.l-25.demon.co.uk/index.htm
Todd Shryock
Ceramcoat paints. I've overcoated some of them with a flat sealer
(Krylon Krystal Clear or something like that) and others I've left
alone. I really haven't had a problem with chipping, though all my
figures are based and handled carefully.
Ironically, the one batch I actually washed in soap and water before
painting -- a tip that most plastics people swear by -- are the only
ones that I had problems with chipping paint on. Maybe I didn't get
all the soap off, who knows, but I no longer do anything before
priming.
Hat figures have supposedly changed the type of plastic they use so
the paint sticking problem no longer exists for that brand --
according to their Web site anyway.
I've never had a problem with funny poses or anything like that with
plastics for the most part -- no more than with the metals anyway. And
at $7 for 48 foot figures, if there's a few you don't like or have the
wrong equipment, you can afford to set them aside -- or just carve off
what you don't want with an exacto knife.
Damon Kelly
Agreed! The big advantage with plastic figures is that they are easy to
modify.
I once created a Scythian cavalry unit from 7th Cavalry Airfix figures
using not much more than a scalpel blade, plasticine and paint.
Actually, now that I remember, it was the horses and torsos from the "US
7th Cavalry", and the upper bodies from the "Ancient Britons" archers...
I've still got them somewhere, and the plasticine head-dresses seem to
harden with age...
--
Remove the x y z for reply, please.
Damon Kelly