Painting deetail figures? (1 Viewer)

[surflessinchicago]

Any tips on repainting plastic deetail figures? I have some FFL with red pants and wanted to paint them white. I wasn't sure what I needed to do to prep the pants and what type of paint to use. I use model master acryl on 1/72 plastics. Would that work?

Thanks.

 

[theBaron]

Welcome to the forum!

I think your Model Master acrylics will work on Deetail figures, though I haven't tried them that way, myself (I have Deetail horses for some 54mm metal riders), I've used them on metal, and on styrene.

The key will be in surface prep, whatever paints you use. I would wash the pieces in warm water, with a drop or two of dishwashing liquid added. I scrub pieces with an old, soft toothbrush. That will remove any mold release compounds that might still remain, skin oil, other dirt, that can interfere with adhesion.

Then prime the figures. There are as many opinions on priming and primers as there are painters. My own preference is to use autmotive primers, and I buy Walmart's store brand. It costs much less than primers like Tamiya's, and I've found that it provides good "tooth" for the finish. I've also used Rustoleum's primer, which works just as well, but it costs about twice as much as the Walmart brand.

Let the primer dry and cure, according to any instructions on the label. Then you should be ready for your finish colors.

Regarding the brand, I'll say that I've got Model Master, Tamiya, Testor's and even the 99-cent bottles of acrylics sold at Michael's and AC Moore. I use oils, too, for some applications. If you don't already have a favorite line or lines of paints, try different ones and you'll come to decide which ones you like best, ie, are easiest to use and produce a good result, to your eye.

Hope that helps, prosit!
Brad

 

[Wendy]

If you plan to only repaint the pants, do what Brad suggests above, except use a paint on primer and paint over that. Or you could mask off everything but the pants and use spray primer. After priming, any brand of paint will do.

 

[surflessinchicago]

Thanks guys!

 

[thebritfarmer]

Although I haven't painted any of the Dee-tail soldiers I have painted many of the Britains farm animals. I use plain old white glue as a primer then go over the top with my dollar store acrylics. I then seal with another layer of white glue.

Cheap and cheerful as I used what I already had on hand.

 

[Fubar]

All of the above. I have found that Vallejo colors, in particular red and white, cover in ONE coat. No more painting white crossbelts or white trousers twice.Same for the red, Piping, facing colors ect, in one coat.
Very nice.
Fub

 

[theBaron]

Thanks for the secondses, guys!

I'll add my newest tip, too, if you have to or want to strip any old paint. I recently tried an automotive de-greaser called Super Clean, which works really well. It removed the chrome from a sprue of chromed parts in about 2 minutes. It takes a little longer for it to soften and remove old paint, but I've switched from my old method of using oven cleaner, to Super Clean. It has no fumes, which is a really big advantage over oven cleaner, and you can put it in a jar and re-use the same batch of liquid for a couple of passes. You do need to use gloves, but I already had a pair of household cleaning gloves dedicated for this process, so it was no problem. You can get Super Clean at Walmart, too, but it might also be available at auto supply stores.

Prost!
Brad