Repainting pre-paints

[paintminion]

We used acetone to take off some of the paint/color in cases where we needed it off--with the clear plastic casting where we wanted to keep the clear plastic. It was short time only, and we washed after as well as before.

 

But for everything not working with a clear plastic, we just use brush on because it's easy, no fumes for me, and done anywhere, even with little kids. I don't ever use brush on primer straight, but water it down a bit...and wait for a reasonable amount of drying time before beginning. The mini doesn't need to be solid white to be ready to paint.

 

Here's a Dreamblade Ogrol repaint I sold recently...If any of these take more than an hour or two of my time, it's a waste. Most of these will never get the paint time back in cash earned. So this is "Tabletop" good enough for me on these things.

 

 

Can't find my link to an original though....

[Arkblade]

Ok the prepaints need to be washed in warm water and dish soap. Then Krylon matte primer or Duplicolor sprayed in light coats and then you can go to town painting. It is the prep and basecoating that matter. After that the painting will go fine.

I'm going to have to agree with this.

 

Tamiya or Duplicolor primer is what I use to cover over the repaints from WoTC.

 

works everytime for me.

 

RM

I've had much luck with DupliColor primers as well.

 

A couple of things I've found repainting WotC plastic minis:

1. It's not worth trying to remove the original paint - anything that softens the paint will also soften the plastic. Just wash the mini, and prime over the top. (I use a brush-on primer, mostly for weather reasons).

2. Test your primer or sealer first - one of the sealers I tried just never dried where it touched the original mini (it was ok where it just touched the paint).

3. I'd probably stick to acrylic paint - it tends to be more flexible when it dries, which is a good thing when the mini is so bendy - and, it's less likely to chemically react with the mini.

Have fun - there's a lot of really nice sculpts hidden under the bad paint

I must agree that it's not worth it to try to strip the original vinyl-ish paint.

 

Personally, I have only had limited experience with repainting factory painted minis, but one thing I do know is that the outer protective covering on them are slick. Slick = bad for paint adhesion (including primer). What others have been saying about using dish soap is a good idea. I would even go a step further and use an old toothbrush and give it a good scrub with soap and water. While rinsing, use the toothbrush to scrub out all the soap. Once the mini dreis, primer should stick to it no problem. If your primer sticks, there's a good chance your paint will too...not matter what medium.

 

smithmeg is right on the money with the comment "there's a lot of really nice sculpts hidden under the bad paint".

 

[tbrehaut]

I've repainted lots of the WotC prepainted minis (D&D line) and have never had a problem with them. In many cases, I simply painted right over top of the existing paint. Clean? Nope. Washed? Nope. Primed? Nope. Should I have? Perhaps -- haven't experienced any problems yet, though. There's no chipping, no cracking, and the paint seems to work just fine. And the minis ride around in little fishing tackle boxes rubbing against eachother and bouncing all around.

 

For pieces where I want to do a complete repaint (and not just a quick touchup) I have primed with my usual black primer (GW Chaos Black Primer, until I get something else), and continued painting. I prefer painting metals as the detail is generally better, but have found the pre-painted minis pretty forgiving for repaints.

[morganm]

Have fun - there's a lot of really nice sculpts hidden under the bad paint

 

I completely agree. Take a close look to some of those plastic minis from WotC. They have very shotty paint jobs (usually) and tons of detail that's either caked on with one color or not even painted at all. Don't get me wrong; the quality of a white metal Reapermini in detail is far superior but those plastics from Wizards have a suprising amount of detail for the rubbery resin they are molded from.

 

I've had pretty good luck repainting or just adding to WotC prepainted plastics. Filling in a lot of the detail with Games Workshop acrylic paints is really easy and turns out nice. I don't even prime them if I'm just filling in some detail or repainting small sections. A quick base coat, let it dry, then start painting on that section. That base coat gives the paint something to grab onto and it's even stuck well after drying.

 

It's also great practice for a newbie like me. I certainly don't feel bad about hosing up a .50 cent prepainted plastic vs. messing up on a $15.00 Reaper mini.

[Darkstar]

While this is an old topic resurrected, Morganm, if you ever wanted to strip those minis you're talking about, I found out through trial and error that you want to use Easy Off Oven Cleaner in the yellow can.

 

Put your prepaints into a tupperware. Put on a gas mask, go outside. Spray the Easy Off into the tupperware, completely covering the minis and put the tupperware lid on.

 

Let it sit for 24 hours or so.

 

Take a toothbrush, dishsoap and warm water and scrub off the paint.

 

You'll be left with a completely stripped and cleaned up blank ready to accept primer.

[morganm]

Thanks! I'd really like to try that on some of them that have OK detail.

 

Another aspect to the prepainted resin is that you can see a lot of the model itself with the contrast color brings out. For me atleast but I have a tough time seeing even with my glasses =P Maybe time to get some good light and good glass !_!

[Midnight Lurker]

While this is an old topic resurrected, Morganm, if you ever wanted to strip those minis you're talking about, I found out through trial and error that you want to use Easy Off Oven Cleaner in the yellow can.

 

Put your prepaints into a tupperware. Put on a gas mask, go outside. Spray the Easy Off into the tupperware, completely covering the minis and put the tupperware lid on.

 

Let it sit for 24 hours or so.

 

Take a toothbrush, dishsoap and warm water and scrub off the paint.

 

You'll be left with a completely stripped and cleaned up blank ready to accept primer.

 

 

Craaaazy!

 

Easy Off doesn't melt the plastic? I would have figured you would have nothing left after 24 hours but a pile of goo!

[Madog Barfog]

Put on a gas mask, go outside.

 

Sorry, I'm not adding a gas mask to my painting supplies.

[Darkstar]

Craaaazy!

 

Easy Off doesn't melt the plastic? I would have figured you would have nothing left after 24 hours but a pile of goo!

 

The only problem I noticed with that plastic/rubber (whatever the hell it is they use) is that fragile stuff like staves and such were weaker and more prone to breaking.

 

I had an old toolbox with some stripped figures in it that I never got around to painting, where some of that stripped plastic had been sitting for 5 or more years. When I got around to cleaning it out, there was nothing wrong with the plastic, they were just fine.

 

On another note, I've stripped and repainted two entire armies, a space marine and eldar army using Easy Off to soak them, both metal and plastic and after years no problems have happened. So as far as I can tell it's perfectly safe for the plastic, even after many years.

 

Sorry, I'm not adding a gas mask to my painting supplies.

 

 

Fine by me. However, I do recommend anyone spraying large quantities of aerosol oven cleaner into a receptacle use adequate ventilation and a filtration device notwithstanding.

[brushforhire]

here is a hulk repaint i did.

Just painted it black with a brush. Then just painted like normal. I use scotch tape on the base to protect the letters and markings. then spray clear coat like i do for any other miniature. I have a guy that i repaint heroclix every so many months. I am currently working on the Hellboy box set i will post pics when done.

 

One point of advice is don't be afraid to paint on extra details. If you ever look at St. Petersburg painted 54mm figs from russia alot of the detail they have are not even scultped on such and necklace, eyebrows, and all the little stuff that gives a figure character. I do realise that 28mm is very different scale but you get the idea.

[Joe Kutz]

I've been playing around with the various bendy plastics that most prepaints are made out of and have come across a few different things...

 

1) Certain plastic formulas make repainting difficult without taking added steps. The plastic seems to have a higher concentration of plasticizer which prevents paint applied to them from fully curing under normal circumstances. There are ways around that - but it takes a bit more effort. One of the easiest involves baking the paint in place which helps to drive out the plasticizer that leaches into the paint.

 

2) Most of them are PVC - just like the plumbing pipe and other rigid plastics you are probably familiar with. The main difference is that the plastic has an additive (varies buy line and batch) which forces the plastic to remain pliable, as opposing to curing in a rigid state. This allows them to use simple two piece molds without being limited to really simple cookie cutter forms.

 

You can make the bendy plastic rigid by soaking the prepaint in a bath of mineral oil. The length of time will vary based on the plasticizer used as well as the amount which is used in the plastic mix. I have found that 24 hours will remove enough plasticizer to deal with the sticky paint issue mentioned above. In order to make the mini completely rigid, it will take a bit more time (48-72 hours). You can reduce time by heating the bath to between 100 and 150 degrees, though use caution when heating liquids in this way (a laboratory hot plate is the ideal way to handle it).

 

There are a few different chemicals which actually will work much faster than mineral oil, however they also tend to be a bit more hazardous to deal with - and can have negative effects on the plastic itself. Hexane seems to have been the best I have used so far.

 

3) With a few exceptions, the paint itself doesn't actually conceal details on the mini. If you do feel a need to strip the paint though, toss the mini in a jar filled with fine sand (I use 100 micron cut sand from my bead blaster) and roll it around for 5 or 10 minutes (I actually use a modified dog toy for this and let one of our dogs handle the rolling). The sand will work to etch the protective coating which prevents many paint strippers from working on it. Once it has been etched by the sand, you can actually use most safe paint strippers like Simple Green in order to remove the paint.

 

4) If you make the plastic rigid, it will behave just like normal PVC. It is a thermal plastic, so if you have a bent sword or leg - don't try to just bend it straight. Chances are very good it will snap. You can heat the area that is bent and bend it back into place. When you have it where you want it - hold in place and let it cool. The part will remain in the new position.

 

5) If you don't feel like dealing with the plastic issue at all and don't mind the bendy aspect, take a look at purpose made flexible paints. They come in a lot of different formulas but most are low toxicity paints (they are often used in film for makeup work). I've come to really like Badger Airburshes FreakFLEX line. Large selection of colors, and you can bend it all over the place without worrying about it cracking. Remember though, if you use a primer or a clear coat it should also be a flexible formula. Otherwise the primer/clear coat will crack and take the paint with it.

[skya]

That was a ridiculously helpful amount of info. Thanks Joe, I'll have to experiments with some of that.

[brushforhire]

wow. i must say that is an awsome bit of info and the chemicals and making the mini rigid. thanks!

[Joe Kutz]

That was a ridiculously helpful amount of info. Thanks Joe, I'll have to experiments with some of that.

 

I tend to be a bit ridiculous in the amount of info I supply.

 

A note for those who are curious, baking on paint doesn't normally involve your stove (at least not without running into some problems). When I am working fast, I use a light that is on one of those articulated arms and just move it really close to the mini. Note, that will not work with the energy saving bulbs. Higher wattage equals more heat and you will get it baked on faster. Make sure you don't move it too close and melt the plastic though.

 

You can find other designs for similar, yet more advanced versions of the same concept. Most involve a lightbulb and a coffee can or similar configuration. You can add a bit more control to things with a dimmer switch or a thermostat to help control the heat of the bulb as opposed to adjusting the distance.

[brushforhire]

as to add on the heat source thought. They do make bulbs that only are supposed to give off heat for reptiles. So there is no light, just heat. I think they are made of ceramic and can bee purchased at just about any pet store. One of those with a cheap silver, metal work light shade may be pretty useful. Probably make the working environment terrible warm though. just a thought.