"Just painting details on pre-colored plastic tanks?" Topic

Picked up a copy of TANKS last month and put together the models. I'm thinking about painting them, but I'm not wanting to spend a lot of time on it. The plastic is already the correct base color for the tanks, so I figure all I really need to to is paint on elements like US Army stars, etc., and hit a few details that really shouldn't be "army green" (or "panzer tan").
I assume acrylics will be okay for this, but then it'll be on bare, unprimed plastic, so I have no experience with that.
Any tips, etc.?
Not looking for showcase, just "get it on the table" appearance for light gaming.

Give the tanks a good wash in warm soapy water before painting as there may be traces of mould release agent as well as fingertip grease.

It might be an idea to spray the entire tank in acrylic varnish as a primer before painting then spray it again when finished.

There will be some who say paint the tank with a plastic primer first of all.

spray the entire tank in acrylic varnish as a primer before painting then spray it again when finished.

I had that thought. Anybody done this?

(Note: I don't care all that much about durability of the paint job. Maybe good enough for a few dozen plays? After that, I'll probably set it aside for yet another fit of "Ooo, shiny!")

If you're going to spray anyway, why not just spray with an appropriate colored basecoat?

I did this approach with green and tan, plastic Army Men figures and Tanks. I painted the bits, as you said, then I painted the whole with Minwax Polyshades Urethane Stain -- Royal Walnut (aka, The Dip Technique). You can use other colors, as well, but the Royal Walnut gives them a dirty-in-the-field look, which I like.

Remember that Army Men figures are made out of a type of plastic which won't allow much to stick to it… The Urethane Stain lasted around 4+ years, before it rubbed off, in places.

I've done this with other mini's, made of harder plastic, as well: worked superbly! Painted some 28mm Spearmen figures, bronze colored plastic. I painted the non-bronze bits, then applied The Dip. They've been in use, with plenty of handling, for 5+ years, without issue. They are painted up as Hobgoblins, and the bronze plastic is a perfect stand-in for Bronze Platemail armor, per 1e AD&D rules.

Go ahead. It should work perfectly for you. Cheers!

To expand on the good Sgt Slag's comments you need to remember also that plastic army men are very flexible, most paint, when dry, is not.

They're not soft plastic. They're hard plastic models sold by GF9, the same tanks as Flames of War, from what I gather. So they're not gonna flex much.

Parzival, I painted acrylic craft paints, directly on my bronze plastic spearmen figures, no primer. If you seal them with something like polyurethane (clear, or tinted), the paint will be heavily sealed, and able to withstand years of normal handling within games. Go ahead, and experiment with a couple, as proof of concept. I think you will find it works quite well. Cheers!