I have been looking at post with pictures and ships people have repainted and customized, and now I think I am ready to give it a try. I was wondering what kinds of paints people use plus if there are any pointers you would give a new guy on this.
Customizing & Repainting
I use Vallejo paints and Games workshop washes. The Vallejo will cover without needing priming, but use several thin layers, not one thick one.
Are you familiar with miniature painting already? If not, build up your confidence by doing little bits - customising the stripes/R2s on your X-Wings, swapping your A-Wing red to blue, adding an engine strip to the Falcon, that sort of thing.
For that I found the Citadel paints were fine, directly over the existing paintjobs.
Some black/brown ink helps, these minis have lovely texture and the inks make good use of that by seeping into the crevices.
After you get the hang of it, you can be more ambitious with paint stripping your Firespray to make Kath Scarlett's ship etc.
Good luck, and post the results here!
I don't have a lot of eperience, as this is my first miniatures game, but I use the Citadel paints simply because that's what my FLGS carries. Works great, no need to strip anything
I've repainted a Fire Spray, and an A-Wing.. Put the red stripes on a TIE interceptor, and given about 5 TIEs, and a B-Wing a heavier 'wash' than they come with.. but I like to do that kind of stuff..
I use Vallejo paints and Games workshop washes. The Vallejo will cover without needing priming, but use several thin layers, not one thick one.
I find detail can rub off if you don't prime, but you can get away without it as long as you varnish when your finished (and I will generally varnish as I go to stop things getting destroyed as I go).
For a look at what I have done and how, have a look here:
http://teamcovenant.com/veldrin/2013/11/04/ice-squadron/
Ive just tried a nuln oil wash on a y wing, ruined it, any suggestions?, might try a drybrush but not sur what colour, have valljo and gw paints, help.
Rodent is correct, varnish is a must.
Ive just tried a nuln oil wash on a y wing, ruined it, any suggestions?, might try a drybrush but not sur what colour, have valljo and gw paints, help.
I used it as well and it did not act as expected.
Were you putting it directly on the plastic models?
Yes, are these things not based?
Yes, are these things not based?
I don't think all of them are no... The X-Wing definitely aren't
I've been out of painting since I sold that last of my GW stuff some years ago. I thought their citadel range was supposed to be new and improved and all fancy yet the nuln oil did not flow and I ended up with a dirty grey A-Wing. I'm thinking I didn't shake it ENOUGH?
Edited by Clan BlasterNuln Oil is really good, so it's probably the surface your applying it to, or you being out of practice.
I find that washes need to be well shaken and still watered down. I usually paint a patch of the color onto my pallet, let it dry and then test the wash before I apply on the actual mini.
What I've mostly been using, pretty much just for making the engines look like they're actually on, and adding some color to the R2 units, is Testors/Model Masters plastic model paint. Is there any reason I should know of not to use this if I decide to go further? And will an over-paint work for changing an A-wing color? I also had really bad luck with Nuln Oil on one of my attack wing minis, the Reliant. I dipped a relatively big brush in water and just put a little oil on it, tamped it so there wasn't a ton of liquid that would stream all over, but it went really weird and irregular, didn't go into the cracks. Now my poor starship looks like there's mold growing on it, even after trying to soak it up and applying white back over it. You can kinda see it in the background here:
For a look at what I have done and how, have a look here:
http://teamcovenant.com/veldrin/2013/11/04/ice-squadron/
I really like the look of Ice Squadron. I want to try something like this but maybe with green. Since I haven't ever painted minatures before I think I am going to practice first on my micro machines. What kind of paint did you use?
tooth brush fixed it, the nuln oil worked well on ties, naff on x wings and y wings.
What should I look for in a varnish? Is it all in spray form or are there bottled brush on versions I should look for?
I use Vallejo Gloss spray varnish, then I paint on Vellejo Matt Varnish.
I'm with Rodent here, Vallejo is an excellent product.
I've been repainting with Model Masters enamel paints right over the factory finish. No varnish. They've all been holding up fine under lots of play.
Lots of examples on the blog: http://goblinhall.com/
True, but Enamels are a pain to blend and involve cleaning with solvents. The are definitely harder wearing, but you can get that by varnishing Acrylics.
I really like the look of Ice Squadron. I want to try something like this but maybe with green. Since I haven't ever painted minatures before I think I am going to practice first on my micro machines. What kind of paint did you use?For a look at what I have done and how, have a look here:
http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/92926-ice-squadron-custom-painted-rebel-ships/
http://teamcovenant.com/veldrin/2013/11/04/ice-squadron/
http://teamcovenant.com/veldrin/2013/10/05/painting/ http://teamcovenant.com/veldrin/2013/10/09/painting2/
Skull White
Ice Blue
Astronomicon Grey
Dheneb Stone
and the Nuln Oil wash
and then seal the minis with a varnish.
Edited by Veldrin