How to retouch pre painted models/figures?

[Guest]

Hi.

I have quite a few pre painted plastic figures that I have purchased, and since the things are massed produced they are never going to be painted at such a great standard.

What I' like to do is retouch them myself and fix any painting mistakes or sloppiness.

I assume they are painted with some kind of enamel paints, but I'm not sure what kind of paints to use to retouch them. I have never used enamel paints before and am new to model painting.

Here are some questions if anyone would mind helping:

What is the difference between cheap acrylic paint and acrylic paint made for models?

Can you paint over enamel paints with acrylics?

Do acrylic paints always scratch off, or is that only the cheap kind?

Can I retouch such figures without acrylic or enamel paints coming off (without sanding or cleaning the areas.)

Is enamel paint more permanent than acrylic?

Any other advice on how to do this?

Thanks.

[aaron]

I think the difference between the acrylics is the pigment count

You can paint over enamels with acrylics no problem and vice versa as long as the first coat is cured

No idea about scratching off, my models are static but i dont have a problem handelling them while painting them as long as theyre dry

Honestly enemals are more durable but they are smelly and take forever to dry

Hope that helps some...

[Guest]

Thanks for the info.

What I mean by the paint scratching off is.... I actually tried some cheap acrylic paint I have on a piece of smooth plastic.

Even though it was touch dry pretty soon, even after 3 days it would easily scratch off as a rubbery piece. I found that I could even kneed it into a tiny ball and that it was slightly sticky. Maybe if I painted a sanded or rough surface it would have been stronger to stick, but since I'm retouching already painted models (some with smooth like surfaces) and not wanting to sand anything down as that would just ruin them, it looks like the paint I have wouldn't be any good.

Since I also have no experience using more expensive acrylic, I don't want to buy any just to find out that it would be no better than what I have.

Also, because I have never used enamels I don't know what to expect.

[eddiesolo]

It also depends on the type of plastic that the paint is going on. The soft plastic figures tend to be more prone to cracking, crazing and paint peel than hard plastics. This is down to two things, as far as I can tell, the chemicals in the plastic and the fact that they are pliable. I think that enamels should be the better for re-touching, once dry they should be okay. Also, try giving the figures a good wash down and dry before you start to re-touch, any dirt, finger grease, even old can and does interfere with paint adhesion.

Si

[Gern]

There's a couple of guys here who use budgie grit to 'key' smooth surfaces for painting. Put your figures in a large container, half fill it with budgie grit, put the lid on and shake well. The grit will put tiny scratches all over the figure to give your new paint something to grip on. (You'll need to wash them to get rid of any dust before painting).

I've not tried it myself but the guys who have done it have got good results. If I've got the details wrong, someone will be along to put me right!

Gern

[Guest]

Details are correct Dave,

I never use anything else for prepping model parts and figures, done this for years with modeling and improvised it from a method I used before for cleaning fossils

I will say that if you only need a fine buffing then sieve all the oyster shell out the grit before use as it is very abrasive.

There used to be a thread in the "tips and tricks" forum but that has now disappeared (actually I found it in John and Ians admin trash can so the forum may make an appearance again)

[Ian M]

Colin. The tips and trick are all in the same place together with How to ...so it has no need to come back.

ian m

[Guest]

Ah right... couldn't find the thread in the "how to" so searched whole site and it came up in your trash can.. .. No worries though, probably my tired eyes after working on this strange thing called 1/76th scale :-) :-) :-)

[flyjoe180]

On the positive side Colin, it means you're not too old if you can still work on 1/76 or 1/72 :P