Conte Plastic Vikings/Normans etal - How Best to Paint them? (1 Viewer)

[airwiggy]

I have a numbe rof these figures, and I wish to paint them - maybe in a gloss style. But I have found, using Humbrol, that the paint remains sticky for what seems like a long time...days!
Am I doing something wrong, or can someone offer some advice?
I think it may be to do with the plastic used for the Conte figures, as I have not had the same issue from other plastic figures.
Thanks
:smile2:

 

[Ragnar]

Hi there,
I have painted a heap of these myself i use Vallejo Acrylics which dry's very fast on the Conte Rubbery figs.
I did use Humbrol a few years ago on these same figs and they were still sticky after 4 weeks .

 

[Obee]

I have a numbe rof these figures, and I wish to paint them - maybe in a gloss style. But I have found, using Humbrol, that the paint remains sticky for what seems like a long time...days!
Am I doing something wrong, or can someone offer some advice?
I think it may be to do with the plastic used for the Conte figures, as I have not had the same issue from other plastic figures.
Thanks
:smile2:

I always use HUMBROL for my painting, both plastics and metal, but renctly I have noticed that some of the paint does take a long time to dry.

Make sure that you have well mixed the tin, as I think it really need a good even consitency of material to dry. The new maker, Hornby, may also be not using the same maker, so the formula may have changed.

Even in this dry desert, (Western Australia) when its 35c in the waterbag, some gloss paint takes time, but matt is usually fine.

John

 

[Hazebrouck]

I have been painting the Conte SS troops (not vikings unfortunately) over the last few weeks and have used Humbrol with no problems. I gave them a good wash and undercoated with Tamiya Acrylic (I mainly paint with Tamiya and Vallejo), but have used Humbrol matt for a few pieces of equipment without any problems.

I know you probably should not mix acrylics with oil based, but I seem to have got away with it.

I have sprayed the figures with two coats of gloss finish from the hardware and they have finished up looking pretty good and durable.

I agree that the plastic they are made of is very rubbery. I found trimming flash and mould lines difficult with the material. Any hints?

Scott

 

[Wraith]

I found trimming flash and mould lines difficult with the material. Any hints?
Scott

Scott,
The only thing I've found is to buy large packs of scalpel blades off ebay cheaply, and change the blade every couple of figures. The plastic is soft, but after as little as 2 figures, I find it's taken sufficient 'edge' off the blade to start making trimming more difficult.
Simon

 

[thebritfarmer]

Some plastics react with oil based paints. Seems this is the case here. I would use acrylics and then coat with an acrylic gloss if you want them shiny.

 

[Wraith]

Some plastics react with oil based paints. Seems this is the case here. I would use acrylics and then coat with an acrylic gloss if you want them shiny.

I'd have thought just an acrylic primer would seal the figure and prevent any reaction, then enamels could be used (if that's the preferred paint choice)? Should work in seperating the solvent based paint from the plastic.

 

[thebritfarmer]

I had oil paint react with primer too Simon, sometimes it is trial and error.

 

[Wraith]

I had oil paint react with primer too Simon, sometimes it is trial and error.

Ouch! Wouldn't have forseen that.
I took some lead castings to France on holiday last year. Spent each evening painting them up in humbrol gloss. Finished them and packed all the materials paint etc up for returning to the UK.
On unpacking, found the turps had leaked out of it's leak proof bottle - ruined everything. So, trial and error, live and learn.:rolleyes2:

 

[Hazebrouck]

Scott,
The only thing I've found is to buy large packs of scalpel blades off ebay cheaply, and change the blade every couple of figures. The plastic is soft, but after as little as 2 figures, I find it's taken sufficient 'edge' off the blade to start making trimming more difficult.
Simon

Thanks Simon.

They do seem to take the edge off the blades quickly.

Airwiggy,

I agree with Britfarmer. Sometimes painting plastics can be frustrating till you work out what works.

Scott

 

[Wolfie65]

I've only used enamels once in the past 30-some years and that was basically just a reminder as to why I gave up on them.....
They do take longer to dry than acrylics and tend to have a little 'tack' to them for a while, but this really shouldn't be an issue on 54's.
Did you make sure the primer is completely dry and mix the enamels really well?