"Touching up figures" Topic

So I find myself with sometime on my hands and was thinking about touching up some older figures I have. They were from my days before I knew how to layer and do shading etc. and was a bit heavy on the paint.

So have others found it easier to just strip them and start over ( which I'm leaning towards ) , or just adding layering or shading etc. ?

I'm doing the same thing with some Essex 15mm ancients circa 1990. I'm still not a great painter, but have improved some.

I'm improving what I have, not restarting

It is amazing what a good coating of Minwax Polyshades can do. Then just spray a flat coat on them and dry brush highlights back. I love buying used figures and taking this approach. Really allows you to upgrade your forces and give new life to figures.

+1, BTC Terrainman! Painted mini's just need a pick-me-up. I have too many unpainted mini's to strip and re-paint. The Dip is super-fast, super-efficient, and super-easy.

Take one figure, of each Unit/Group. Apply The Dip (Minwax Polyurethange Stain is far less expensive than Army Painter products…), and try it. See what you think. I recommend either Tudor (look for in hardware stores, in the US), which is pure Black, or, try Royal Walnut, which is a dirty brown.

Also, use a throw-away "School Paint Brush", to paint it onto the figures. Dunking them requires a lot of additional effort to remove the excess. After standing them up for 10 minutes, go back and use the edge of a paper towel, to wick away the pooled stain-varnish. If you have a heat gun, apply heat, carefully, to speed up the drying process.

If you like it, apply it to the remainder. If you do not like it, you can still strip the figures in the usual manner. Be sure to look at them as they will be deployed, on the table, from sever feet away. When you hold them inches from your eyeball, they will not look great, but on the table, they will look quite good. Please do not write the technique off without first trying it Only then can you make a realistic, honest decision on the technique. Cheers!

Back in the day, when I was in your boat, I let them sit in paint remover for weeks. Then stripped them with a metal brush.

Today, I would probably wash them with black paint mixed with thinner. Then highlight the colors.

Good luck.

I've done both in the past. I therefore say it depends how bad they are, how thick the paint is and how much you think you can improve them by additional painting opposed to starting over.

Depends a bit on just how bad/worn the original paint is, but I have to agree with Terrainman and Sgt Slag that usually a little touch up and shading does wonders

Sgt. Slag, I am with you. I used Tudor as well in either satin or gloss (which ever I can get). I actually apply it then go back in a few minutes and "wick" the excess off with my brush (blotted on a paper towel). I also have a can of mineral spirits around which I used to clean up the brush. Allows for a long length of brush usage (but I use a larger lower quality brush to apply it). Works awesomely for white uniforms (especially if bright white). Does all of the blacklining for you. Just a little dry brushing of white to provide an offset color. I really like the look.

Just started an old Ral Partha ShadowRun(?) med team made up of 9 figures.

Since I wanted to give them yellow environmental suits I needed to do a total strip. Not sure why I decided to do them now….

Some years ago I went over an old Celtic army with a sepia wash. Possibly the best invested hobby time ever in terms of aesthetic result per time spent.

(Sepia because they were painted in bright light colours. If your figures are darker, use a darker wash.)

For these purposes I tend to use brown wash or dark brown wash instead of black. Usually Liquitex Raw Umber or Burnt Umber mixed with thinned Future to make a magic wash. Can be airbrushed.

Then as stated above highlight where needed and kill the shine with matte varnish.

The one exception is if the paint is chipped; that should be touched up before the magic wash.

Sometimes it can also depend of the type of paints you used in the first place. I have been repainting a load of figures that were painted using enamels with thinned washes aeons ago, and over time they have dulled quite badly. I have just painted highlights directly onto them using acrylics and they come up rather nicely – kind of gives them a layered effect.