Of you who have done a number of re/alt paint jobs, do you simply paint new colors over the old, prime over the whole ship then paint, or strip the paint and start from scratch?

Striping is unnecessary. You can prime it, but a thin coat is best, I have usually just overpainted, as the paint on the model makes a good base.

Thin your paints a little and you won't lose the details..

Depends on the colour scheme your going for.

If your just changing a few panels then over paint

If your changing the colour of the whole model strip and repaint

I don't like priming over because you can easily lose detail

There are some very successful repaints with out the need to strip. There are some very scarey stories involving turning a mini into slag.

image re-posted from BGG

Slave-I, on the other hand, has the strongest/brightest colors to try and just prep and paint over, usually only close-up photos and ultra bright lights ever reveal any of the old paint scheme.
If you have an airbrush I recommend just airbrushing thin layers of primer to cover the original color.

Otherwise you can just paint right over the original with very little prep.

Just paint over it. Thin your paints.

Of you who have done a number of re/alt paint jobs, do you simply paint new colors over the old, prime over the whole ship then paint, or strip the paint and start from scratch?

Otherwise you can experiment with washes fairly easily.

If you're using acrylic paints, just make sure that the consistency is good. If it's too thick, it'll look like it has been applied with a spatula. If it's too thin, it won't cover well and will require multiple coats, and end up hiding the detail.

Try and avoid using gloss colours as they tend to be thicker and don't cover well. Typically I only use a gloss black on the cockpit glazing, and matt everywhere else.

The paint on the models is thin enough that generally you don't need to strip first. If you do want to strip it, make sure it's not going to be toxic to the model.

Good luck.

With my slave 1 I lightly dusted with some Halfords grey plastic primer just to mute the scheme.

I'd be concerned about stripping. Simple Green normally requires some scrubbing and most ships have a few delicate parts (X-Wing lasers for instance) that would be problematic. As others have said, a simple reprime and thinned paints will work fine. About the only thing I would strip would be the large ships (in particular the shuttle) as they would be far less fuss to clean up.

Stripping is not necessary.

Even if painting a Firespray, just thin paints and multi coat.. trust me, the original paints will not be an issue for you.

I'd be concerned about stripping. Simple Green normally requires some scrubbing and most ships have a few delicate parts (X-Wing lasers for instance) that would be problematic. As others have said, a simple reprime and thinned paints will work fine. About the only thing I would strip would be the large ships (in particular the shuttle) as they would be far less fuss to clean up.

Even the large ships dont need to be stripped.. and a shuttle even less so, it's white, a perfect primer color.

Can anyone clarify what happened to the X-Wing pictured above?

Can anyone clarify what happened to the X-Wing pictured above?

Yes,

Reckless Fable over at BGG forums posted this image after he had soaked his X-Wing in Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer for an hour.

Striping is unnecessary. You can prime it, but a thin coat is best, I have usually just overpainted, as the paint on the model makes a good base.

Thin your paints a little and you won't lose the details..

I agree thats what I have done also.

I'd be concerned about stripping. Simple Green normally requires some scrubbing and most ships have a few delicate parts (X-Wing lasers for instance) that would be problematic. As others have said, a simple reprime and thinned paints will work fine. About the only thing I would strip would be the large ships (in particular the shuttle) as they would be far less fuss to clean up.

Even the large ships dont need to be stripped.. and a shuttle even less so, it's white, a perfect primer color.

It's also covered with brush stroke marks which is why I would strip it and repaint it using the airbrush.

There are some very successful repaints with out the need to strip. There are some very scarey stories involving turning a mini into slag.image re-posted from BGG

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My son suggests using this XWing for a Dagobah diorama!

I'd be concerned about stripping. Simple Green normally requires some scrubbing and most ships have a few delicate parts (X-Wing lasers for instance) that would be problematic. As others have said, a simple reprime and thinned paints will work fine. About the only thing I would strip would be the large ships (in particular the shuttle) as they would be far less fuss to clean up.

Even the large ships dont need to be stripped.. and a shuttle even less so, it's white, a perfect primer color.

It's also covered with brush stroke marks which is why I would strip it and repaint it using the airbrush.

I've done a repaint of a shuttle, no issues.. only brush strokes are the ones I left.. which were few

Finished with a gloss coat then decaled the wings and tail. Then another gloss coat to seal the decals.

Hi, I use the factory painting as an underpaint. Than the airbrush than the brushwork.

Happy painting and please show us your results

Dark Curse