Painting 101 & custom figure questions

[Vince148]

1. What do you use for a basecoat or primer before painting figures?

2. After you paint, do you put a sealer on before you put on waterslide decals? If so what do you use for that?

3. Then after decaling, do you put on another coat of sealer?

4. I feel dumb asking this, but with all the different types of glue I'm seeing, which is the best glue for customizing figures?

5. How easily do arms come off figures? Can I just pull them off? Do they have to be heated first? Can I just cut them off with an exacto knife?

Thanks.

[Steel Town Tough]

Hello,what I do(others do it different and better I'm sure) is you may want to soak your figs in a dishsoap solution for a bit then rinse and dry.this gets any oils off them and helps the paint go on better.Some guys prime,some don't.I just start to paint.Some guys paint white if it applies and some do not.This is where a prime of white would be good.then just paint your other colors over it and leave white as needed.Try and paint your lighter colors first,then dark because dark covers any mistakes.Some guys do flesh first.One thing to do is paint the whole head area like the figure is a bald man.Then paint circles for the ear flap of helmet and connect across to join them.this gives you that neat neck line.When fig is painted you can hit it with a clear coat gloss/flat whatever you prefer.Some say it makes the decals easy to apply.after you apply decal areas,brush on your clear coat gloss or flat.Coat after you do an area.Eventually the whole fig will get coated.Delta makes a varnish for this.Get int/ext outdoor.Regular super glue can be used for facemasks.You do not need alot.Put some on a toothpick and dot it on there.Apply chinstrap before mask though.I hope I answered some of your questions.I also do 6 and 12 in custom mcfarlanes sport figs.You may want a flat player/uniform and gloss helmet look or gloss the whole figure.Take care and good luck----STT

[Electric Coach]

I use primer from Testors on figures that have been refurbished because the finish is washed off during the time it spends soaking. Paint alone won’t adhere to the figure after it has been refurbished a couple of times. I prime all of my figures from Footballfigure.net regardless if they are new or have been refurbished. Some brands of paint don’t dry entirely on these types of figures if they haven't been primed first; Liquitex being one of them.

If I decaled my teams, I would use a clear sealer after painting and decaling them. I use Elmers glue stick and multi-purpose glue because it allows time to set the figure in the pose that I want.

Sometimes arms from Buzzball figures come off by simply pulling or using a pair of pliers. If a Buzzball arm does not move on the first pull, soak the figure in very hot water. I use a hobby knife to cut limbs off of figures from Footballfigure.net. I use a Dremmel tool to cut Haiti figures because it is a solid figure that has no separation points.

Maurice

The Electric Coach

[Coach K-LO]

thanks coach.....good stuff I can use

[Vince148]

ok, so the basic painting steps would be...

1. priming w/Testors
2. paint
3. decals (paint won't come off with waterslide decals?)
4. clear sealant (varnish? gloss? flat?)

[Electric Coach]

The decals are applied by first dipping them in water. Most model paints such as Testors, Apple Barrel, Model Masters, etc. will not come off in water alone because the paints are oil based. This is especially true if the figure has been primed.

Once the figure has everything it needs regarding the uniform, apply the clear coat for protection.

Maurice

The Electric Coach

[Vince148]

great. thanks.