"The Thing About ACW 1/72 Plastics is...." Topic

…I don't see too many public fans of them, a bunch of 'em sell, and almost NOBODY wants to sell any of theirs. :-)

I've been looking hard for 2 months and have managed to purchase less than 100 painted cav figs….and less than 600 total….

Good for Italeri and Imex, etc, etc, etc….bad for me, as I still have a metric s-ton left to paint up for a game in June.

For some reason the second hand price for plastics is relatively low, so once they are painted why sell them unless you have to.

I've never sold any of mine, just watch the pile grow higher and higher….

I've gotten PMs like that, and appreciate it. I'd be willing to go $0.80 USD to $1.25 USD per painted cav figure, $0.50 USD to $0.80 USD for infantry/dismounts and it typically doesn't grab anyone.

Sigh.

The problem is they take as long to paint as metals, but you can't get the same return on them if you sell 'em. They're light so a bit easier to store, so why not just hang on to them ?

My recollection from ebay etc is that one usually only finds them for sale in numbers when someone has died and their family are doing a house clearance. :-(

20th has it right. I own a load of them and paint for a living. I enjoyed painting them and would run a sale on ACW plastics every so often. 50 figs would run $55.00 USD to 60.00 a set. Now that is dirt cheap for me to sell as a painter and I haven't run that sale in 4-5 years. Bottom line is if you cannot find what you need at the prices you listed then what you want to pay is simply too low. $1.50 USD-2.00 is probably closer to the mark. Oh, I'm not trying to solicit sales. Just trying to give a heads up from the other side.

Thanks,

John

Ok, sounds reasonable: professional painter expects to get paid.

Me, I'm amassing unpainted at .15-.20 cents/fig and only looking for a $1 USD paint job on 'em.

Which leaves out pro painters, as much as I'd like to be able to afford 'em.

The good thing with ACW is it's mostly a simple uniform – could you maybe get someone to just do the blocking in for you?

Blue trousers, blue jackets, grey troueser, grey jackets – then you do the detail work.

Son/daughter/wife/friend ?

The Mrs is painting the horses….the rest is on me.

I would not sell my plastics at those low prices as they take as much effort as metals.

But, I have learnt to love the Army Painter coloured primers – blue and grey worked for my ACW (I have just finshed another 200 of them) – and I even made my life harder by going for light blue trousers on both sides (I know, I know…)

The AP website shows them, and they stuck with dark blue for the Union (cannot remember if they went grey with the Confederates).

So for a quick job, one could spray, then boots and equipment, flesh, guns and pretty much done. I then "dip" (or rather "splodge") and matt spray. Very happy with mine.

The Mrs is painting the horses….the rest is on me.

You're doing Brandy Station , of course

The AP primers peel off the plastics. Plastics that have been heavily prepped. They work fine on my metals, though.

Ya, Brandy Station. And Trevilian Station next year, too.

Best primer for soft plastic is artist's acrylic straight out of the tube. Forms a nice flexible layer.
I'm told PVA glue and latext primer also work.

John – I have found the AP work "ok" on my plastics, but if in doubt I can also use the various plastic primers out there. But generally, I find it is the sealing coat that makes the most difference. Pre dip, I was a big fan of Liquitex acrylic matte medium (a form of PVA glue I guess), tried Klear, but now find the AP dip and matt spray work well enough for my needs. I have found my ACW figures more than robust enough for group games.

Oh, and I have also used Gesso. But when the weather is nice (in the UK, not too often sadly) then I find the spary options the best (ie quickest).

Plasti-dip will solve any peeling issues you have with any spray paint. The stuff is incredible!

Thanks,

John

I've found that Krylon primers stick the best….but try finding a flat blue…..sheesh….

I use flat dark brown primer – that way any difficult undercuts you miss just look naturally shadowed, and it also takes care of that awkward bit of hairline under the hat brim. Also if any of the top coat gets chipped, it just looks like a mud stain.

An excellent suggestion.