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Re: painting 1/72 polypropylene figures - i've tried, than cried :)

Paint that bonds to a surface sounds good. All those superb tank and aircraft modellers who go to great trouble to show chips and abrasions on the paint surface show that in real life paint doesn't bond to a surface.
Everybody has their favourite recipe but the key is to have lots of thin layers of stuff so PVA glue etc are all good and with adequate drying time between coats or layers (days not minutes). The first layers should be matt as they have marginally better adhesive qualities (irregular surface structure) but then painters and decorators have done this for years on woodwork- 1. primer (matt), 2.undercoat(matt),3. the colour coat (gloss or semi gloss), 4. varnish coat(gloss) and so have the great artists with their masterpieces.

I watched a TV programme on the building of the 35 mile long NEAT* Gotthard Base tunnel which opens in June of this year and was surprised how many times those clever engineers found solutions from the past. With 35 miles to tunnel re inventing the wheel was not an option. I like the idea of the try outs on the sprues but then give the research some breadth and plunder history a bit and read a bit more on what processes are taking place. Watching and reading about how paint dries sounds a bit existential but in this instance could reduce the number of painted sprue duplicates and make them a bit more worthwhile to test ideas. Zinc Chromate was/still is used to prime aircraft parts-Rust-oleum?

Hobbies are a bit hit and miss and I have bits of polyethylene in the shape of figures that I painted with poor paint, not primed or washed or anything that have paint coatings as fresh as they were applied 50 years ago with my greasy crisp flavoured hands. A bit hard to replicate now but rapidity and enjoyment were the main considerations then.

Finally aerosols are fine but an airbrush produces a finer spray at a higher constant pressure and that is why they are used commercially. If the figure batches are small then two minutes spraying and 20 minutes cleaning with the airbrush seems a winning argument for the aerosol.

David

*new trans Alpine rail link -Neuen Eisenbahn-Alpentransversalen

Re: painting 1/72 polypropylene figures - i've tried, than cried :)

Just bought Norman Cavalry. Where can I find painting details for this and other Strelets. Thanks!

Re: painting 1/72 polypropylene figures - i've tried, than cried :)

Try spraying it with Plastidip transparent spray after the painting is done. It's transparent rubber that prevent chipping/flaking. I've been using it for year, without it I would not be able to paint soft plastic minis.

After this a layer of matte varnish is recommended as it's pretty shiny.

Re: painting 1/72 polypropylene figures - i've tried, than cried :)

Thanks for showing, So I need lots of preparation. I think if much better if I hire boston house painters than doing it by myself.