Hi,

I'm thinking of repainting my X-wing minis, but I have a few questions for my fellow repainters:

1. Do you strip the miniatures first? If so what is safe to use? Don't know if the plastic for X-wing is very different from that for standard miniatures, it seems softer at least.

2. Safe to use varnish on them? Do you think varnishing them is needed?

1. I do not strip them. If I wanted to completely repaint a mini, I'd hit them with Formula P3 primer first.

2. I always varnish, either matte or gloss depending on what look I'm trying to achieve. I use Army Painter clear matte varnish about 99% of the time.

My "portofilio."

I am not an expert but I have painted a few of the miniatures from x-wing. For the most part I don't think you need to strip the paint, the existing coat works well enough as a priming layer. If you want a fresh start for a paint job I'd suggest several layers of just very thin paint of a base color you'd like to use, but again, I mostly just have worked from the out of the package state and I have been happy with the results. I am sure someone who strips the models will chime in and offer suggestions for stripping agents, they'd know more about that than me.

I varnish mine with a basic matte spray finish, just to keep the paint from chipping, You can do them without the protective layer, it will make them easier to repaint in the future if you want, but I like to just keep my stuff safe rather than open to future repaints.

I don't strip my models either. The standard paint jobs are fine to paint over if you use the right paints. I like to use Citadel base paints to start and then layer over those. I will say that if you're using inks, they might not work quite as well applied directly to the out of box model because I'm pretty sure FFG coats their models with a light coat of varnish and that can mess with inks. But you should be able to paint over the top no problem.

Hi,

I'm thinking of repainting my X-wing minis, but I have a few questions for my fellow repainters:

1. Do you strip the miniatures first? If so what is safe to use? Don't know if the plastic for X-wing is very different from that for standard miniatures, it seems softer at least.

2. Safe to use varnish on them? Do you think varnishing them is needed?

1. NEVER EVER DO IT!

I always used nail polish remover (that is pretty mild) back in the Games Workshop gaming day, and it worked fine every time. I used it once on my Tie Fighter to strip paint.

Lets say....that Tie needeed LOTS AND LOTS of precise work to even look spaceworthy again...and i was able to save it only cause i realised something is wrong in time. Xwing plastics is like you said very soft indeed.

Acetone free nail polish remover works, if you keep exposure time on the mini short. Piece of paper tissue with the remover to remove paint with careful moves, immediately rinse in dish water.

But as said above, mostly not necessary. If you have a paint which covers badly, like e g. yellow tones, and you want to paint minis which are green plast like Hwk, Khiraxz, hou might want to strip. But a thin(!) base coat works as well instead if stripping.

I don't strip the minis - I just base them black or grey usually. You can however strip them safely using 'Simple Green' (I have done this once). Simple Green is a household cleaner that is very mild. Leave the mini to soak overnight and the paint will slough off like snake skin almost.

Varnishing is almost a must as the paint does chip off the most vulnerable points - like the chin of the x-wing for example.

I don't strip the models, paint goes over the top nicely without loosing details.

I don't varnish either.

As a test I've soaked the minis in Purple Power, Simple Green and my favorite, Super Clean. With the exception of the Y-wing the only thing that was removed completely was the wash. The Y was almost completely stripped of paint. The Super Clean did disassemble an X and 3 As without damaging the plastic.

When I begin to paint my remaining Rebels, I'll just get rid of the wash and reprime them. Note some of the ships are molded in color so no amount of soaking will strip the paint.

If you use Super Clean be aware that it will etch glass according to the instructions. Use plastic instead.

A question for those that have painted minis before. Has anyone used the primers from Badger? I believe it's called Stynelrez.

This is why we need a painting & mods forum.

Hi,

I'm thinking of repainting my X-wing minis, but I have a few questions for my fellow repainters:

1. Do you strip the miniatures first? If so what is safe to use? Don't know if the plastic for X-wing is very different from that for standard miniatures, it seems softer at least.

2. Safe to use varnish on them? Do you think varnishing them is needed?

1. I have, however I don't think it is necessary. I would strongly suggest washing the ship in warm soapy water prior to paint though, it gets some of those pesky oils off the ship that could cause paint to act oddly.

2. Matte varnish after the paint job is always a nice touch, it makes the model the same sheen (especially useful if you do a heavy wash on acrylics and get some pooling). Like others have said before it really helps protect your model during play.