Painting plastic figures
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>From: Tony De Lyall <tony.a.j...@msmail.bhp.com.au>
>Newsgroups: rec.games.miniatures
>Subject: Painting plastic figures
>Date: 18 Apr 1995 07:50:07 GMT
>Organization: BHP Research - Melbourne Laboratories
>Lines: 46
>Message-ID: <3mvqvg$4...@merlin.resmel.bhp.com.au>
>NNTP-Posting-Host: 134.18.68.122
>I have several armies made up of 20mm Airfix or Revel plastic figures
>(stimulated by DBA).
>As owners of plastic armies would realize one of the major problems is
>retention of paint. The soft plastic used tends to shed paint whenever
>the plastic is flexed - which often happens when moving figues across
>the table.
>I take the following precautions when painting my figures to minimize
>the problem:
>(1) I replace most of the weapons (which tend to be very thin,
>flexible and at an extremity) with metal - usually pins or piano wire
>held in place with super glue.
>(2) I clean the figures in detergent. Everything I have read says to
>do this. I haven't really noticed any difference in the cases where
>I haven't. Is it an urban myth?
>(3) I only use well anchored figures. Usually this means only using
>horse with 3 or 4 feet on the base or a human figure with both feet on
>the base. To supplement this I often ground the wire used for weapons
>into the base especially when they are spears or standards, or I build
>up the base (with plastic wood) until an errant limb can be secured.
>I then paint this build up part as a rock.
>(4) I paint with acrylic paint.
>It is only my impression but plastic based paint seems to adhere
>better to plastic.
>(5) Figures are varnished. The best success I have had is with
>household polyuthane varnish. This gave a near rock hard finish but it
>was both thick and yellowed over time.
>Hobby varnish works but is not so resilient.
>(6) Finally I position figures on their base to minimize overhang.
>The idea being to stop accidental contact when you pick the base up.
>Even so I haven't solved the paint shedding problem yet and I often
>have to touch up one or two figures after a game.
>Has any one come up with a better approach?
>Tony
I see nothing about priming your figs. Priming them first should make the
paint stay on better. I have never had a problem with paint coming off of my
metal or plastic figs.
Mike
Nitsche
> As owners of plastic armies would realize one of the major problems is
> retention of paint. The soft plastic used tends to shed paint whenever
> the plastic is flexed - which often happens when moving figues across
> the table.
>
> (4) I paint with acrylic paint.
> It is only my impression but plastic based paint seems to adhere
> better to plastic.
> Has any one come up with a better approach?
Tony, you may want to think about changing the brand of acrylic you use.
Certain brands dry to a more rubbery texture than others which will flex
when bent. Ceramcoat by Delta does this, and I've heard that the bottled
form of Golden acrylics also does (but I haven't tried it so don't quote
me). Ceramcoat is available at most craft stores, is pretty cheap and
has a selection of over 120 colors. It does take some getting used to if
you've only used hobby paints, though.
Another possibility is using an extender. Extender increases the drying
time of acrylics substatially, but also gives it a more rubbery texture
when dry. There are other acrylic mediums which changes the consistency
of the finished product so you may want to go to an art store and explain
your problem.
Also, are you priming your figs? Painting directly onto plastic will
often lead to the paint flaking off (as well as metal). Priming gives
the paint something to adhere to essentially bonding the paint to the figure.
Hope that helps,
Bill Nitsche
bnit...@u.washington.edu
Tony De Lyall
I have several armies made up of 20mm Airfix or Revel plastic figures
(stimulated by DBA).
As owners of plastic armies would realize one of the major problems is
retention of paint. The soft plastic used tends to shed paint whenever
the plastic is flexed - which often happens when moving figues across
the table.
I take the following precautions when painting my figures to minimize
the problem:
(1) I replace most of the weapons (which tend to be very thin,
flexible and at an extremity) with metal - usually pins or piano wire
held in place with super glue.
(2) I clean the figures in detergent. Everything I have read says to
do this. I haven't really noticed any difference in the cases where
I haven't. Is it an urban myth?
(3) I only use well anchored figures. Usually this means only using
horse with 3 or 4 feet on the base or a human figure with both feet on
the base. To supplement this I often ground the wire used for weapons
into the base especially when they are spears or standards, or I build
up the base (with plastic wood) until an errant limb can be secured.
I then paint this build up part as a rock.
(4) I paint with acrylic paint.
It is only my impression but plastic based paint seems to adhere
better to plastic.
(5) Figures are varnished. The best success I have had is with
household polyuthane varnish. This gave a near rock hard finish but it
was both thick and yellowed over time.
Hobby varnish works but is not so resilient.
(6) Finally I position figures on their base to minimize overhang.
The idea being to stop accidental contact when you pick the base up.
Even so I haven't solved the paint shedding problem yet and I often
have to touch up one or two figures after a game.
Has any one come up with a better approach?
Tony
Britt Klein
>I have several armies made up of 20mm Airfix or Revel plastic figures
>(stimulated by DBA).
>As owners of plastic armies would realize one of the major problems is
>retention of paint. The soft plastic used tends to shed paint whenever
>the plastic is flexed - which often happens when moving figues across
>the table.
>I take the following precautions when painting my figures to minimize
>the problem:
(Step 1 deleted - no comments needed)
>(2) I clean the figures in detergent. Everything I have read says to
>do this. I haven't really noticed any difference in the cases where
>I haven't. Is it an urban myth?
Nope. Powder is used to keep the figures from sticking to the molds. Even
if you can't see it, it's there. I saw a friend's miniature lose paint from
under the arm because he hadn't washed it. I suspected mold-release
compound. Better safe than sorry, hmm?
(Step 3 also deleted - again, no comment.)
>(4) I paint with acrylic paint.
>It is only my impression but plastic based paint seems to adhere
>better to plastic.
AHA! You don't prime? There might be a good part of your problem. Primer
is pretty much a necessity on plastic miniatures, as it gives the paint
something to hold on to. A good Krylon primer coat will shrink to the
figure and hold on tight, and give you a nice texture to paint over. You
might want to give it a try. (White primer for bright colours, black for
darker looks, gray i/ you want to be between and if you want a mixed look,
prime white then paint what you want dark black before putting on colour.
>(5) Figures are varnished. The best success I have had is with
>household polyuthane varnish. This gave a near rock hard finish but it
>was both thick and yellowed over time.
>Hobby varnish works but is not so resilient.
I'm sincerely hoping Australians call clear paint "varnish". Otherwise,
there's your problem.
I suspect you're putting the overcoat on too thickly. Too heavy an overcoat
will peel/chip/flake and take the colour off with it.
Switch to a lighter clear overcoat. Krylon gives a good matte, if you don't
want the overcoat to show at all use Testor's Dullcote or Model Master
Lusterless. (Am sure you can find similar products Down Under. Look in the
model car and railroad shops.)
Three coats is about as much as you need, and let each dry thoroughly before
adding the next. Remember, if you can see the overcoat in the recessed parts
of the miniature after it's dried, you've used too much. It's always possible
to re-overcoat after a year or so for added protection, but too heavy an
overcoating will peel/chip/flake and take the colour off with it. Three to
five _light_ coats is about as much as you need, and let each dry thoroughly
before adding the next.
- Britt
--
"I was sleeping nicely, then someone shut the lid on my pillow...
That hurt." - SJK 12-12-94 0500
CHOONG SHOON THAI
: (2) I clean the figures in detergent. Everything I have read says to
: do this. I haven't really noticed any difference in the cases where
: I haven't. Is it an urban myth?
The plastic figs have a thin layer of grease/wax on them which
was originally on the inside of the mold to prevent them from sticking to
the mold. You can feel the greasiness especially in ESCI figs I think.
Anyway, removing the grease is supposed to help the paint stick better. I
use black spray primer but I wash them anyway.
: (4) I paint with acrylic paint.
: It is only my impression but plastic based paint seems to adhere
: better to plastic.
Acrylic paint is supposed to be more flexible. My French army was
painted with Tamiya gloss paint and they haven't flaked yet. But if I
were to start all over again I would use Partha paint with varnish.
: (6) Finally I position figures on their base to minimize overhang.
: The idea being to stop accidental contact when you pick the base up.
Good idea. You might want to consider multiple basing. I use
scatter material (tiny pieces of stones) to flock my base to add extra
weight so as to prevent accidental upset.
ST Choong
Plastic French Napoleonic and Confederate Guy.
Tony De Lyall
figure flexing. One of the factors that affects flexibility is the hardness of the figure
itself. The harder the figure the less likely to shed paint.
In my experience, the best to the worst historical 20mm figures for paint retention
are:
1. MPC brand copies of Airfix. These figures are (were?) quite hard. However since
they were using old Airfix moulds they were poorly detailed and had a degree of
flash. As far as I can tell these figures have been out of production for a while.
2. Revel. Revel figures vary a bit but some sets are hard and solid, some less so.
The latest sets of Mounted figure eg. Austrian Dragoons, very sensibly have most of
the horse’s feet attached to the base.
3. Airfix figures (when production was in Britain). These are quite hard to find these
days.
4. Contemporary Airfix (produced in France) and ESCI. These figures are very soft
and very flexible.
For those interested in painting plastics may I direct your attention to:
http://biochem.dental.upenn.edu/Mosaic/bill/paint.html
which is part of "The Miniatures Page" WWW magazine.
Tony