Hi all

This is a question for all painters out there.

I recently painted all my Imperial fighters and am working on my Rebel ones. As I finished and varnished the TIEs though, I realized that with the paint on their stand 'nubs' they no longer fit into the (already tight) peg holes. I tried drilling out the stand holes a bit bigger but it didn't make much difference. The only thing I could think of was to strip the paint off JUST the peg so that it will fit in the stand.

What have you guys done? Any tricks I'm missing? And/or what do you do with the stands? Do you leave them clear?

I've found that they're usually fine after priming them, although a coffee stirrer helps. Biggest thing is thin your paints if you're using citadel or other thicker paint. As for the trees, mine are still transparent.

Well, I suppose part of my problem is that even with the primer, pushing them in to the stands causes the paint on the nub to tear and peel up, forming a kind of, for lack of a better term, rolled condom effect lol. Ugliest thing ever.

Well, I suppose part of my problem is that even with the primer, pushing them in to the stands causes the paint on the nub to tear and peel up, forming a kind of, for lack of a better term, rolled condom effect lol. Ugliest thing ever.

I don't have that issue. Perhaps you're layering too much primer.

I chop them off with a pair of diagonal cutters, file down the remains with a very small file, and superglue on a mini-magnet.

Who hasnt primed some plug'n'plag models on the sprue to only later realize their terrible mistake but its a simple fix......

simply run a file lightly around the nub, and I mean **** gently, until it fits again

use the same technique that you use to remove mold lines and you wont go far wrong.

Or if you have ALL OF THE MAGNETS do what FoaS suggests

I've had to scrape the pin mounts on several CR90's and Neb-B's after getting a little too much paint on them. By little too much I'm talking a thin coating of primer was enough to keep them from fitting.

Thanks guys. I like the file idea...but I also like the CHOP IT OFF idea lol. Ill file them for now and if I get sick of the look...SNIPSNIP

Paint them on a stick. You should do this anyway to minimize touching with oily hands. You can use coffee stirrers or get plastic q-tips, cut them in half, remove the cotton, then put a longitudinal 1/4" slice in one end to open it up just big enough to fit the nub.

I use a number of old paint brushes with appropriately sized holes drilled in the end, to hold them and cover the peg whilst painting.

You can just scrape off the paint with a knife or your thumb nail and re-insert them into the stands.

I used to do this but then I realised that if you are careful applying the initial coat (Citadel Calestra Grey) you can paint them while still 3 Ties are stuck on the bases. Not great for can spray primers or airbrushing but Citadel Base paints have loads of pigment and you just apply to the model in one coat with a size 1 brush.

I just flat out don't paint the pegs. I paint my fighters standing on q-tip tubes, keeps the paint off the pegs for me.

Using airbrushed Vallejo primer, it was durable/thick enough that it actually put cracks in the clear plastic receptacle rather than peeling.

That's not what I wanted either, but if you're having a problem with primer or peeling, make sure you wash your minis, apply paint thin, and allow a week for the paint to come to full cure.

I haven't done this for fighters, but I can verify that RIT dye works great on the ships. I died my nebulons with black dye to darken them without losing the stock paint apps. I ultimately repainted them completely anyways after doing some mold line and gap work, but this doesn't add any thickness whatsoever.

Thanks again guys. I've been just scraping the paint off the nubs for the Imperial fighters (because those I actually painted on purpose), and then trying my best to avoid getting paint on the Rebel ones. It's just tedious. *sigh* Wish I had thought of this BEFORE painting them all lol

Take some super fine sand paper and halve it by putting the corners together. Take a sturdy model (like an A-wing) and put its peg at the halfway point and use it to pull the sand paper tight. Pinch the sandpaper together with your fingernails so that it's a good hold but with enough "looseness" to spin. Spin the model to fine-sand the nub until it spins more freely, rinse and repeat.

Now your primer and pain should flesh it out enough for a good join at the stand and not roll your hard work up around the base.