"Starting in "Armies in Plastic" - prep and paint pointers?" Topic

I'd say your step look good. In regard to the mold lines, try scraping them off with an X-Acto knife held perpendicular to the seam

Looks good to me, except that I wouldn't use gloss, but rather matte varnish, and probably just one or two light coats.

I agree with Rich Bliss on X-Acto knife technique for seams.

I wouldn't bother with drybrushing them, they are a bit big for that.

Do undercoat them with undiluted PVA , the paint sticks much better.

I usually only do one coat of varnish, satin works well for a toy soldier look as it is a bit gloss without being silly. I use floor varnish.

If you undercoat black then block paint leaving shade lines, that really is all the shading you need.

Eyes and moustaches are a must. Rosy cheeks optional.

Rustoleum makes a primer for plastic. Had good luck with that to give a base to the paint.

I have a large number of these figures and second Martin's suggestion of a pva undercoat – it stops the paint coming off the bendy rifles and swords

Mike

Here is some of my 54mm stuff:

as I said, just block painted over a black undercoat over PVA, then satin floor varnish.

I have not had good luck with the plastic primers, so I have recently started using PVA under a black spray primer, and that sems to be working better. Gesso is another option, but it costs substantially more than white glue.

I agree with the PVA being the best undercoat. I dilute mine with about 30% volume of water though. Also, agree about the scraping the Xacto blade along the mold lines in a perpindicular fashion. It's not great, but it does improve some of the worst ones.

@ Martin Rapier
Very nice figures. Great job. I especially like the semaphore flags.

Thanks to all for the helpful tips.

If you want them to look somewhat dirty, as if they've been through clouds of smoke, flying dirt clods from artillery, etc., then I would suggest using Minwax Polyshades Urethane Stain -- Royal Walnut -- Satin color. This is The Dip, and it works quite well on soft plastic figures.

I use The Dip on good 'ol green and tan, plastic Army Men (TM), from the dime stores. I only apply acrylic paint to the parts which need to be different from the plastic's color, using simple, block painting technique. Once I get that part done, I apply The Dip.

I've gamed with these figures for years, without flaking issues anywhere on the figures. I base them, so they don't get man-handled, which helps. I use the same techniques on 1/72 plastic figures, with the same results: no flaking, paint stays in place, figures are perfect, for years of gaming use.

If you prefer a less dirty appearance, visit your local hardware stores, and see if they have Minwax Polyshades Urethane Stain in Tudor color -- pure black. This is the color which most folks prefer, as it is less dirty/muddy looking, and more of a traditional shading color.

A small tin of the Minwax will cost less than $10 USD to try. I use Wal-Mart's School Paint Brushes (30 for a $1 USD), and throw them out when done. The nice thing is that I apply The Dip en masse, so a 30-pack of brushes lasts a while. I recommend giving it a try to see if you like it. Use a child's Army Man (TM) figure as a test figure, so you won't lose anything. Cheers!

I am not sure what circles you are talking about. You brush the PVA on before you prime the figure.

Mould ejector pin marks. Best to fill them with miliput/green stuff otherwise the dip will show them up

I wouldn't use spray paint directly on the plastic. Rust-Oleum primer for plastic is the exception. There are loads of plastic spray paints, but only the white primer for plastics product 209460 seems to work well.

That said, I use gesso or Vallejo surface primer brushed on. Floor varnish is great as it strong and stays slightly flexible. No chipping or paint loss on soft plastics for me going on 20 years now (my earliest figures are PVA prime, acrylic paint, floor varnish, light spray of Testors dull coat).

For the mould lines, heat a hat pin and run it along them, works a treat.

The best primer for plastic figures is called "Grip and Guard" or "Plasti-Dip". It's the same product made under 2 different names.
Plasti-Dip is liquid rubber in a spray can. It's used to spray on tools to rubberize handles. It comes in Red, White, Gray and one or two other colors. It's very easy to use and a light coat will not obscure detail. It leaves a smooth painting surface and will not crack, chip, of flake off.
Both ACE and Home Dumpo carry it.

Ken Cliffe of All The Kings Men did a tutorial on priming plastic figures using PlastiDip. It may still be on his website.

Paint your figure with acrylic paint, then use an acrylic sealer and you figures will never lose their paint. Krylon makes a good sealer in a spray can. You may wish to Dulcote over it.

AIP are the worst plastics to convert. Lucky for you Michigan Toy Soldier Company carries a product named Tricky Stick that you can apply to the surface of the figure parts and it will allow Super Glue to work.
Details at their site.

TMP link

Here are some plastic conversions I did.
Search my name for other plastics on TMP.

QC
I think you may have just come up with the 4th rules of wargaming – '"cheap", it either works way better than expensive, or is a flop, but usually worth trying out!'

Just be careful what you try it out on…