Paint falling off!

[Gern]

I hope somebody can help!

I have some 1/72 figures made of the usual softish plastic. I've cleaned the mould seams, washed them with warm soapy water, allowed them to dry overnight, primed with Halfords Grey Primer and left overnight and then brush painted with Vallejo Model Colour - with the figures held in a crocodile clip so the only thing that touches them is the brush when I add paint.

I varnished them with Humbrol Matt Spray today and noticed a couple of them had chips of paint missing.

What am I doing wrong?

It would be really nice to get a paint finish which doesn't fall off every time I look at it cross-eyed!

Gern

[Alan 45]

Two possibilities soap residue would stop the paint from sealing to the figure or humidity

If the place your working in is too warm or too cold moistur could form on the figure and weeken the bond

[Guest]

Those soft plastic figures are a nightmare, the only solution that I have found works (and that includes trying all the primers that say they'll do the job) is to half fill a coffee jar with your bird grit and give the figures a good old shake (what Laurie calls the ''grit-colin'' method)

You then have a surface that's ''keyed'' enough to take any paint with out primer. .... I do all my figures and small parts like this and have not used primer for years.

[dave]

I used to use the Airfix ones years ago for Napoleonic Wargaming, the paint flaking off was a real problem particularly on thinner bits which flex easily. I found a coat of brush on gloss varnish followed by a coat of matt varnish helped. Although I'd do a test, to check how that affected the final look of the figure (it was rather more years ago than I care to remember and I cannot remember the final look).

[Gern]

Thanks guys. A couple of useful tips I can try.

I mean, it can't be that hard surely ...

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+to+paint+1%2F72+scale+figures+part1&g o=&qs=ds&form=QBVR#view=detail&mid=D4308A09FCED61B 20825D4308A09FCED61B20825

Gern

[Gern]

Ooops! Missed this one:

Gern